Bose TriPort Headphones
- Design: Over the Head
- Usage: Consumer
- Sound Mode: Stereo
- Connectivity: Cable
- Compatibility: Home Audio Personal Audio Computers
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Great Portable-Not So Great Quality
Pros
Great style, comfortable, isolate some sounds
Cons
Questionable build quality, distorted/bassy sound, not a very good value, utterly trounced by lesser-known-brand headphones
Recommended it?
No
The Bottom Line:
If you value style and bass-emphasized sound over all else, spend away...if you can sacrifice those, there are better options.
I have to give a disclaimer: I don't actually own a Triport, but I've listened to them extensively through friends, store fronts, etc. Therefore, I'm a little qualified to say that these headphones are good...to an extent.
Let me explain. Bose has established a name for audio quality, with advertisements everywhere, and their products sound good. However, from my experience, they're a little too much marketing, and you can find better audio companies if you look hard enough. These companies (for headphones, Sennheiser, Grado, beyerdynamic, AKG, etc.) can't ace Bose on marketing genius, but do make headphones that sometimes approach the Boses in style, and many cans that would thrash any Bose in sound quality. Anyway, on to the Triports; they're $150 pretty much everywhere you go, and are usually the most expensive cans you can buy in Circuit City or Best Buy. You'll see, though, that perhaps Bose makes a little too fat of a profit off of these...
First off, looks and comfort. These headphones are very stylish, with flashy, metallic paint on the earcups, a minimalist black headband, and the name "Bose" displayed prominently on the headband hinges. They're comfortable, too, with soft, padded leather and deep earcups providing for long-term coziness around the ears, although they may get a little hot in the summer. I have to take fault with the build quality, though; the aforementioned headband is a little flimsy in my hands, and I've personally seen another's Triports break apart after only a few months of what I would say normal use. If you buy these and they break, you can send them back to the corporation-I believe they simply replace the set, if under a 1-year warranty. Still, it's not as solid as you would expect for $150. Perhaps, you're buying these because of the isolation they give, being "sealed" headphones. They do cut out some noise on the streets, but still too little to prevent compromising hearing. If you want more silence, you can either step up the QuietComfort 2, or take a cheaper option of canalphones.
On to the sound. In this field, I'm a little disappointed...Bose has put in a number of acoustic details to tune the sound, like putting ports in the earcup (hence, "Triport") to prevent resonance, but creates a somewhat distorted sound in these. The Triports have an emphasized midbass and bring out the mids in general, but don't put out as much of the lowest bass (explosions in movies, for example) and mask the high trebles. This makes them sound great when listening to contemporary rock or hip-hop, but not so much on classical, jazz, acoustic rock, etc. For those genres, the overwrought mids and midbass will keep you from hearing the tiniest details and such, and can be annoying, especially with orchestra music where the balance is thrown off. Furthermore, the sound isn't really punchy and lively; for me, they can get a little "muddy". Also, these suffer from "blobs"; in other words, any sound is only in the middle and extreme sides of the head, instead of being nice and spread out like on a good speaker system. On a receiver, these don't really improve that much, but perhaps those with better amplifiers can get more sound out of the Triports. Overall, not worth $150...
So I've ranted on these headphones. What do I recommend? If you don't mind sound leaking in from outside, you can buy something from a company I mentioned above; if you want a more natural presentation (like speakers) and more detail, a similarly-priced Sennheiser HD 555 is great and balanced, and not too bad on style either. If you like rock, want that punchy sound, and don't care too much about looks, consider a Grado headphone, like the SR-60 for only $70 (much livelier than Triports). If you're buying Triports for portable use, look instead at canalphones like the Shure E2C or Etymotic ER-6i; these don't provide as full of a sound as their full-sized brethren, but isolate more than even the QuietComforts (think earplugs). You just can't be afraid of putting them in your ear canals...
If you value style, need comfort and portability, and are willing to put up with less-than-audiophile sound, though, than the Triports will fill that niche.
Let me explain. Bose has established a name for audio quality, with advertisements everywhere, and their products sound good. However, from my experience, they're a little too much marketing, and you can find better audio companies if you look hard enough. These companies (for headphones, Sennheiser, Grado, beyerdynamic, AKG, etc.) can't ace Bose on marketing genius, but do make headphones that sometimes approach the Boses in style, and many cans that would thrash any Bose in sound quality. Anyway, on to the Triports; they're $150 pretty much everywhere you go, and are usually the most expensive cans you can buy in Circuit City or Best Buy. You'll see, though, that perhaps Bose makes a little too fat of a profit off of these...
First off, looks and comfort. These headphones are very stylish, with flashy, metallic paint on the earcups, a minimalist black headband, and the name "Bose" displayed prominently on the headband hinges. They're comfortable, too, with soft, padded leather and deep earcups providing for long-term coziness around the ears, although they may get a little hot in the summer. I have to take fault with the build quality, though; the aforementioned headband is a little flimsy in my hands, and I've personally seen another's Triports break apart after only a few months of what I would say normal use. If you buy these and they break, you can send them back to the corporation-I believe they simply replace the set, if under a 1-year warranty. Still, it's not as solid as you would expect for $150. Perhaps, you're buying these because of the isolation they give, being "sealed" headphones. They do cut out some noise on the streets, but still too little to prevent compromising hearing. If you want more silence, you can either step up the QuietComfort 2, or take a cheaper option of canalphones.
On to the sound. In this field, I'm a little disappointed...Bose has put in a number of acoustic details to tune the sound, like putting ports in the earcup (hence, "Triport") to prevent resonance, but creates a somewhat distorted sound in these. The Triports have an emphasized midbass and bring out the mids in general, but don't put out as much of the lowest bass (explosions in movies, for example) and mask the high trebles. This makes them sound great when listening to contemporary rock or hip-hop, but not so much on classical, jazz, acoustic rock, etc. For those genres, the overwrought mids and midbass will keep you from hearing the tiniest details and such, and can be annoying, especially with orchestra music where the balance is thrown off. Furthermore, the sound isn't really punchy and lively; for me, they can get a little "muddy". Also, these suffer from "blobs"; in other words, any sound is only in the middle and extreme sides of the head, instead of being nice and spread out like on a good speaker system. On a receiver, these don't really improve that much, but perhaps those with better amplifiers can get more sound out of the Triports. Overall, not worth $150...
So I've ranted on these headphones. What do I recommend? If you don't mind sound leaking in from outside, you can buy something from a company I mentioned above; if you want a more natural presentation (like speakers) and more detail, a similarly-priced Sennheiser HD 555 is great and balanced, and not too bad on style either. If you like rock, want that punchy sound, and don't care too much about looks, consider a Grado headphone, like the SR-60 for only $70 (much livelier than Triports). If you're buying Triports for portable use, look instead at canalphones like the Shure E2C or Etymotic ER-6i; these don't provide as full of a sound as their full-sized brethren, but isolate more than even the QuietComforts (think earplugs). You just can't be afraid of putting them in your ear canals...
If you value style, need comfort and portability, and are willing to put up with less-than-audiophile sound, though, than the Triports will fill that niche.
