BOSE (R) In-Ear Stereo Headphones

by Bose

Product Details

• Item Weight: 0.6 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• ASIN: B0018VDADE
• Item model number: IN-EAR
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (341 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: January 9, 2007

Product Description

Now enjoy high-quality, stable in-ear headphones engineered and developed by the most respected name in sound. Bose in-ear headphones are the only in-ear headphones with the rich audio and comfortable design you've come to expect from Bose. Only Bose headphones feature TriPort acoustic headphone structure, for example. This exclusive technology developed after years of Bose research helps deliver the full range of audible frequencies in small, lightweight headphones. You hear the deep lows of your music, the warm mid tones and shimmering highs. Whatever your musical tastes, Bose in-ear headphones faithfully reproduce the subtle nuances and powerful choruses, across the spectrum of human hearing, and are engineered specifically for portable audio devices like MP3 players, and CD and DVD players.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

364 of 400 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Better than the Shure E3c and I don't work for Bose, November 20, 2006

By 

Travis Dockweiler "tdockweiler" (kalamazoo, mi USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

I'm tired of posting reviews on here for headphones, mainly because if I like something I get people calling me "deaf" or that I work for Bose. I'm sure the dozens of people who gave these 5/5 work for Bose. Uh-huh.

I'm one of those people who pretty much will try any new headphone there is. My limit is three hundred and I refuse to pay any more in most cases.

My first pair was a cheap Philips over the ear kind for $20. They worked just fine and sounded ok. I upgraded to a pair of the in-ear fontopia from Sony and loved them. Upgraded yet again to the Bose Triports and those sounded even better. Yet people insult me for liking the original Triports!

BTW i'm not a Bose "fanboy". I own their Sound Dock (which is great) and personally think their PC speakers are terrible, yet some love them. No problem there. I also had a Bose home theater system, which wasn't bad.

I noticed that Bose had some new headphones available so I gave them a try. I upgraded my Triports to some Sennheiser HD-555 headphones and for the record, they sound better, but when I bought them they cost $50 more than the triports. Of course they're going to sound better.

I went with these and previously had a bad experience with the Shure E3c. They are painfully uncomfortable and never seem to stay in your ear. I even went as far as special ordering a special ear piece from their webpage. One of the few times i've hated an earbud from day one.

These are extremely comfortable. They mostly sit just outside of your ear. You can shake your head if you wanted and they would not fall out. Unlike the Shure e3c you can put these in your ear in a second and don't have to worry about getting the perfect fit.

The reviews on here are quite funny. Someone said they have no bass. That was the case with the Shure E3c. Those had absolutely no bass at all and these have almost way too much. That's the biggest negative about them. Only on bass heavy sounds that is. On regular music it's not so bad. Then someone says you can't hear the instruments! Huh?! I'm listening to all my favorite songs and they sound perfect. There is absolutely nothing missing! NOTHING. Every single thing is there.

I compared three different pairs of headphones for hours and hours. I did my best to try and hate these, but I just honestly can not. I compared the same tracks over and over with these and the Sennheiser HD-555's and those are just slighly better.

I put in the Shure E3c and it honestly sounds way too harsh, too tinny and just plain hurts my ears. There is NO bass at all! If you love them, then that's perfectly fine. The sound from those felt just so artificial.

I'd also like to point out that the Audio-Technica ATH-EC7 Inner Ear Headphones are great. The have really light bass, but they have more detail and clarity than the Bose In-Ear headphones. They blow away the Shure E3c headphones by far in terms of sound quality, but they're somewhat expensive and hard to find. I just felt that after an hour they started to give me a headache. They sound a little too bright, but not nearly as much as the E3cs. Everything on the Bose headphones just seemed more balanced out and more "pleasing to the ear" (do I sound like I work for bose yet?).

Anyway, I think it's safe to say I was impressed with these from the day I got them. I've been using them for hours and hours and they're almost as good as my main headphones (Hd-555). I might end up switching to these full time.

Please, no negative comments! If you don't like them, then just post a review.

144 of 160 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars These blew me away and put a smile on my face!, October 12, 2006

By 

RUDY "RW" (Oregon) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

I have been looking for a great pair of in ear headphones for 2 years to use with my iPod and all of them have disappointed. I have purchased pairs for up to $250 that were not even worth half of that! This Bose pair changes all of that in a hurry. These babies are wonderful. The bass is amazing and the treble is excellent. The mid-range is a bit muted out, but the overall depth of sound is extremely impressive.

Adding to that is that this pair comes with 3 different sizes of "in ear rubber" so that they fit perfectly into your ear for optimum sound and comfort. I bought these on impulse at the Bose store because they had just come out that day and Bose has a 30 day return guarantee...and I can tell you that I will NOT be returning them. These are WELL worth the money and possibly...dare I say...underpriced compared to the competition? Bose has a real winner here. I doubt you will be disappointed.
****************
As a follow-up to my above review and after having listened to these ear buds for about 10 days, I must say that I love them even more. Until reading several of the reviews below, I had no idea that the iPod even had an EQ! The EQ is the key to getting these to sound exactly as you like. True the bass response can be very heavy, but once you adjust the EQ to your listening desires, my bet is that you will be wonderfully pleased!

44 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bose triport IE review, and an aside on the shure e2c, November 15, 2006

By 

R. J. Weinstock (New York) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

As a musician and audiophile, I feel that I know what I'm listening for when assessing sound quality. I'm pretty sure that I'm not the only one who was torn between buying the Bose in-ear and the Shure e2c, so I bought both of them.

Bose Triport IE

The bose earbuds are simply put, remarkable. The drivers pump a healthy range of tone without distortion. The bass is especially good. By good bass I mean that low frequencies such as cellos in classical music crawl on you during crescendos. I Played at least 6 different genres of music through these. The buds definitely bring the concert to your head with pure warm tone.

A VERY IMPORTANT NOTE: you might find that you have to change the eq on your device to match the bose circuitry. My personal preference on the ipod is an eq set to acoustic. Others recommend disabling the eq.

For those considering the Shure E2c:

- The shures are very good! They're not great but when fitted properly in your ear (i used the foam tips) they too pump a nice range of tone. However, I found that the shure sound felt "artificial;" it lacked the warmth and pureness that the bose had. I didn't find a bass deficiency as some other reviewers mentioned although the bass frequencies were nothing special. The shures have that great noise isolating design that blocks out external sound, a big plus if a majority of your listening is spent in very noisy areas.

The bottom line:

You can't go wrong with either bud.

If you want the best audio experience, go with the bose.

If you're willing to sacrifice some sound quality for isolation, the shures might be for you.