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Some of you might recall a post I published a few weeks ago about my friend BJ Liederman and how he introduced me to Bose QuietComfort headphones.
Since then, I’ve been watching the prices of both the wired QuiteComfort 25 and wireless QuiteComfort 35 models. This morning, the price of the QuietComfort 25 dropped dramatically at Amazon.com. Until recently, the price was at its lowest around $280 shipped.
Since most of the time I actually prefer a wired connection to my headphones (to watch movies on commercial airlines, with SDRs on my shack PC, with portable shortwave radios and to eliminate latency) I jumped on the QuiteComfort 25 deal. Besides, if I ever decided to add wireless connectivity, I could always purchase an AirMod Bluetooth adapter. The QuietComfort 35 wireless set still cost $349 shipped. I checked Best Buy as well–they are offering the QuietComfort 25 series in their Black Friday sale today–only a dollar more than Amazon.
I just bit the bullet at Amazon. I justified it by saying this will be my early Christmas gift to myself!
That’s BJ on the left and me on the right at our favorite burrito joint.
A few weeks ago, I had lunch with my good friend, BJ Leiderman. If you ever listen to public radio programming, especially NPR, you’ve probably heard BJ’s name.
BJ is a musician, singer, and composer, and has written the bulk of the theme music you hear on National Public Radio (NPR). His music is hard to get out of your head. Every time I listen to NPR shows like Marketplace, Morning Edition, Wait, Wait Don’t Tell Me, Car Talk, or Science Friday, I hear BJ’s catchy tunes.
Moreover, BJ is an awesome fellow. But it’s dangerous hanging with him because he’s also…well, an enabler, when it comes to sound gear.
Often, when we hang out, I walk away from the meet-up with a new app, a new song in my head, or the sudden need for a new piece of kit.
Friday was a prime example. You may notice that I’m wearing headphones in the photo at the top of the page. Here’s how this played out…
BJ asked if I had seen one of his latest animated music videos–one that is was featured on his new album, “BJ.” Instead of simply showing the video to me on his phone and/or playing the music through his iPhone’s speaker, BJ ran to his car and came back with a set of Bose Quiet Comfort 35 Noise-Cancelling headphones, then handed me his phone with the video queued up.
We were in a crowded, noisy restaurant during the lunch hour, but when I put on the headphones, all ambient sounds were instantly and utterly squelched. As his video played, it sounded like I was sitting in a recording studio listening to monitors. Absolutely phenomenal.
The headphone’s noise-cancelling technology is so good, in fact, I could barely hear my own voice as I spoke.
The audio fidelity was spot-on, too––there’s a nice balance from bass to treble. Though I’m sure your audio player’s EQ could customize this.
I walk around all of the time with a cheap pair of in-ear headphones in my pocket for use with my phone, radios, or simply to decrease ambient noise while I’m trying to work or sleep.
BJ, being the cool and compassionate character he is, had this fun song animated by young adult artists with autism at Exceptional Minds Animation Studios in LA, with the support of Howard Hoffman.
In real life, his dog Maizey is a sweetheart, and certainly BJ’s fuzzy brown soulmate.
