Bose - QuietComfort 35 II

Bose qc35ii and NC700 are typically reported to still be well and sound after almost a decade. I wonder if you consider them to be high quality

The outside covers or pads? Because the pads are famously weak point in Bose headphones, but they are cheap and easily replaceable. As for the outside covers, I don't know anyone who has ever replaced that part. But I believe it is a matter of undoing some screws hidden beneath the pads.

QCs because of their physical controls - you are less likely to press something by accident while hugging your pillow ;)

Sennheiser Momentum 4 can be found close to that budget. Maybe some refurbs. They are supposed to have best sound quality, but medicore ANC. Sony ULT wear and Bose QC have much better ANC. Sony has overwhelming bass and are quite capable with EQ and loaded with features. Bose have best ANC, are most comfy and have crystal clear sound. If you don't use max volume (and isolated headphones with ANC help to avoid that), people should not hear your music.

Not a fanboy but wanted to add some things here, firstly no product is perfect and if you wanted perfect sound quality Noise canceling isnt what your after.  1-Re the clicks and hiss, yeah thats noise cancelation, thats how it works, You compromise between cutting noise and sound quality to a certain extent. If you want silence wear earplugs then these over the top. but the noisier your surroundings the noisier they will be, things like fridges, fans, pumps etc all make noise and all cause noise.  2- Turn off noise cancelation while you walk, why walk with it on? Your likely to get run over. ... I see now why bose and sony limited nc when walking in cities etc.  3-Lower the noise cancelling level on the app....jeesh. Its not that hard.  4-Turn off Noice cancelling on calls and move to a quieter area. But 100% agree and the Sonys of all generations are total dogshite with phonecalls. The only headset Ive had that were decent was the quiet comfort qc35ii that didnt cop those whiney comments. (Turn off nc and see how they hear you on a call) 5- Sounds like you didnt understand how Active noise cancellation works and bought the wrong type of headphones for your use purposes.  You should have bought studio headphones either open air or closed with reference level speakers if your that concerned about hiss. Thats how the technology works, otherwise wear ear defenders or earmuffs rather than active noise cancelling headphones. To be fair yeah they are shit on calls, but compared to my aviation headsets, the current gen of noise cancelling from ultra /700 and latest sony are almost as good as pro gear.  Theres also loads of other problems you havent discovered yet as well, ie the app is total garbage and for the ear buds they occasionally just dont connect etc. 😅

My in-ear buds fell out when I was on a discount carrier and I couldn’t reach down to retrieve until my neighbors got up. Despite the volume of the carrying case it’s the Bose QC35(ii) for me.

QC35ii, 9 years and two ear cup replacements on…still going strong. (There is a company that makes better ear cups than bose. My first two pairs of cups were bose, the non-bose have lasted much longer).

*effective ANC headphones are no longer produced* You missed out the key word 'compact'. You may not be aware of this, but some time ago before the current generation of bulkier, sometimes-foldable sometimes-not, generation of ANC headphones, there were more compact and lighter offerings, especially from Sennheiser. Unfortunately their performance (by current standards) and sometimes reliability was limited, and they lost market-share and were eventually discontinued. My take on your original post is that you were looking for this level of portability but with contemporary levels of performance. But this is clearly not the case. The nearest equivalent is probably the Bose QC35 II or similar, but using a third-party soft carry-case, not the stock bulky and heavy one.

You may get a better response if you specify the exact model of Bose headphones that you own. However I think that it's fair to say that for onebag travel purposes the community consensus here increasingly favours earbuds, and I'm completely in line with that, although for home use I still mostly prefer my headphones (Bose QC35 II) on the basis of comfort and convenience.

I have 2 Bose headphones. Both models discontinued but available cheap on eBay. QC35 II doesn’t hurt but the 700s do unless I push the bridge towards the back of my head. Annoying to have to reposition them especially since the controls are touch activated instead of buttons and repositioning tends to inadvertently trigger them. The foam on the QCs has more give to them, but I’m guessing the main reason they’re comfortable is that the QCs are straight up lighter. Doesn’t really matter how the weight is distributed if there’s less weight. Both push against glasses—I just started buying wire glasses to minimize the indent and stopped wearing earrings for the same reason. So yeah, another vote for Bose Quiet Comfort. You can also buy third party foam covers for headphones if you want to add/replace cushion or color.

Your headphones look like on-ear models. You'll probably want to switch to over-ear headphones, since the padding sits around your ears instead of pressing directly on them. I used the Sony WH-1000XM3 and the Bose QuietComfort 35 Il extensively. The Sonys lasted about two years of daily use before breaking, while the QuietComforts are still going strong after four years-with just one ear pad replaced. In terms of comfort, both were excellent, and I could wear either pair for hours without any discomfort.

Bose QuietComfort II 35 are amazing. Four years. Daily use. Most comfortable over the ear headphones I’ve ever used. Mic pickup is excellent. Can pair to two device so I can have my Mac and iPhone both paired and easily switch calls/audio between devices w/o re-pairing, etc.

I have been rocking a pair of Bose QC 35 II for about four years. All-day battery life. I wear them for many hours on end, even all day and have never seen the battery go below 60%. Microphone pickup is great (I personally can't stand boom mics). I can pair both my phone and my computer (a Mac Studio) to them simultaneously. Strongly recommend. I did have to replace the foam ear cups once, but they were only about $30 from Amazon.

what is a WC pad, and does that help with reported clamping? I'm upgrading from Bose QCII 35s. My use case is for watching downloaded stuff on long haul flights, and for music (hip-hop, ambient-chill EDM) while in a flow state in the home office; and to use while doing errands like dishes and vaccuming. That's it. I dont' care about outdoor sound, but need to be able to take serious calls on it (I use airpod gen 2 for that). I hear sony wins on sound, but Bose on comfort.....

I have the Bose QC35 II and Bose QC Ultra, both are awesome. Amazing noise cancellation and decent sound. Fantastic for work in shared spaces