I presently listen to Sennheiser HD650's and Grado 325is's from a tube amp; and for portability I listen to the Westone 3's and sometimes the Phonak PFE's from a Cowon D2 and an iBasso amp. So that's what I'm used to listening to. I was looking to replace an aging pair of Koss Pro3AA that I used for caual listening on the computer. So I wanted a closed headphone that wasn't too isolating, and that was comfortable for long periods of listening.

The first thing I noticed about the Bose is that they have a lot of bass. The Bose website says that these headphones were designed with "TriPort" structure to enhance the base. Although it's not bass boost, for my tastes these Bose's are flirting with bass bloat. I wouldn't say that they are strictly bass bloated since there is still some nice definition and detail in the bass. But the bass does tend to drown the midrange frequencies. In all, I think that the bass isn't as tight or accurate as it could be, but I'm sure the bass will satisfy many people who enjoy listening to big beats. For the classical music enthusiast, the bass on these phones will be just too much to be appreciated. But then again.... these phones likely weren't designed for this crowd.

As for the midrange, you can hear that there is detail there. But it is difficult for me to enjoy any midrange detail through the bass impact. But it isn't just the bass impact that is drowning the midrange detail. Because you can also blame the powerful presentation of the high frequencies too. It's almost like having my Cowon's BBE effects turned up too high. Lots of definition in the high and low frequencies, but the midrange is left sounding a little thin. As a result, the vocals can become lost in the music. During the quiet moments of the music there is some nice sonic balance there, and that's when the midrange is finally allowed to come out and play.

Now... that being said, there is plenty of detail and extension in the high frequencies, with only a hint of sibilance to my ears. For the most part, the highs are surprisingly smooth and not as overbearing as the bass. There's a lot of sparkle and extension in the highs. This helps in adding to the detailing greatly, and results in a decent seperation of most of the instruments. These are obviously a set of headphones with which one has to play with the equaliser and audio effects on your media player to find your sweet spot.

It is very apparent these phones are intended to be a "please all". In that respect, they are a very capable headphone. And so, with the right EQ'ing you'll find your sound. I prefer a headphone that sounds a bit more neutral for listening to music. Not that my Grado's or Westone's are in any way neutral, but the Bose's definitely have their color. Strong of high frequencies, and strong of lowfrequencies.

Since I've already gotten my music listening headphones, these are fine for my purposes. I would have given these headphones three stars if I were to grade them for my own personal use. But I've given them four stars because I'm pretty sure a lot of people would like these headphones to pair with their portable players.

The Bose's are definitly much better than most sub $100 headphones. But I think that they are still just a smidgen pricy for the sound quality. However, they are incredibly comfortable, very compact when they are folded up, and they come with a nice carrying case. They also come with a couple of different lengths of cable to suit your needs. Oh... about the cable, for such a small (thin) cable these headphones do suffer from microphonics. Although the microphonics will probably not mean much to many. Microphonics are annoying for me to hear. So I'd suggest keeping the music playing.

In closing, I'm not a fan of lots of bass for music listening. And in that respect, the bass on these headphones did fatigue my ears. However, if you like detail and sparkle in your highs, and like impact from your bass, you'd probably appreciate these phones. Sonically, they're a very capable headphone. They are also comfortable for long periods of listening.

i gave the bose on-ear an overall rating of 5 because aside from the fantastic sound you get from these headphones they are so comfortable you could wear them all day. ive been working as a club dj for about 8 years now and throughout that time i have gone through my fair share of headphones. ive owned and still own headphones from denon, pioneer, shure, behringer, and sony. i will not be using the bose for work, but im sure if wanted to the on-ears are more than capable of doing the job. to anyone who is looking for awesome quality headphones look no further. ive tried everything out there from grado to the beats by dre and in my opinion the bose are the best you will find .