Bose TriPort IE in-ear headphones revealed
By Ryan Block 
posted Oct 7th 2006 8:13PM
posted Oct 7th 2006 8:13PM
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Just bought a pair a few days ago and they are amazing. I was using a $40-50 pair before and there is almost no comparison to the Bose. The bass is very well defined, and i love the lanyard that comes with them since I play soccer and don't have to worry about getting them ripped out if the cable catches something, or someone lol.
anybody interested in the bose earphones at a very good deal i am selling them i can get them directly from the source. Anyone interested can shoot me an email coolgadgets23@gmail com.
Thanks
sammie
Great looking product. Can't wait to sell my kids to get a pair!!!
So that's what those kids are for!!
I need to sell my parents to get one of these.
dude this will really get u deaf, much worse then those iPods, good thing i dont have 1.
Actually with Bose you don't have to turn it up as high to hear full sound. So they will help in not becoing deaf...it's dumb people that deafen themselves not product. Which one are you?
I love the Sure E2c's. I use the orange soft sleeve's because I feel that they fit more comfotably - the plastic sleeves irritated my inner ear. Other than that they are great - I can stand on the subway platform in NYC and not hear the train comming - actually, that is kinda scary isn't it?
Perfect timing. Just as I was planning on purchasing a In Ear pair, but it's bad because it adds to the confusion between purchasing a Shure, Sony, Etomic, etc pair. Anyone has some advice on the Shure E2c Sony EX71? I mostly listen to music with bass like hip hop, R&B, etc.
Seriously man....for bass, you probably wanna get the Shure E4c. Speaking from experience, Bose as nothing on Shure......(except for deeper bass on their full size headphones, which i doubt these new bose earphone will excel in)
I have bose QC 2 and they are best in Class No doubt.
When in doubt BUY BOSE...
Hope it helps
I have the Ultimate Ears 5 EB. Thats the way to go with in ear headfones. they have awesome bass and really good highs. i highly reccomend them.
BOSE (Buy Other Sound Equipment)...... yay, more poorly constructed crap from Bose.
Not true Wildside. I had a pair of Sony Ex71lp and since they in ear and you dont hear the outside noise I significantly listened to them lower than my ipod ear buds
Knowing Bose, they'll be overpriced and underperforming...
In the past few years, I've "test drove" the QuietComfort 2 and the QuietComfort 3 headphones... they are fairly good at noise cancellation, but the sound quality and the price are horrendous.
I was very happy with my QuietComfort 3 but I'm would be curious at the sound on these Babies.
I wonder if they suck as much as the full-size Triports do...
I've used Sony MX51's when flying, and I actually feel like my ears adapt better to the pressure changes with them on.
Am I a mutant?
I bet they are over $150. Definitely
Hope the price is reasonable, I need new headphones. :/
Rafy, stay away from the Shure E2c, no bass, after a while the sound is ok, but way too much treble. Look at the E4c or better. THe triports are the best headphones I have ever owned, I have broken 2 of them, and spent the $149 on new pairs. I am jazzed for these.
I have Shure E2C's. They're good for pretty much anything. The sound is great, and the bass is really good - a lot of reviews say the bass is lacking, but the reason for that is the reviewers didn't fit the earphones in correctly.
I highly recomend also ordering the small soft sleeves - they don't come with the earphones, but you can buy a pack of 5 sets for a few bucks from Shure. For some reason, most people fit the smalls - the rest are too big. But the soft black rubber/plastic ones are the best for sound quality and fit.
If you want quality earphones, you're gonna have to PAY FOR IT LADIES!!!!
The sound of these earphones is comparable to professional studio monitors.
SHURE E5c or SHURE PTH E500
(PTH = Push To Hear)
I know, it's an ugly game ladies.
The only way to win is not to play.
The Price is $99
I'm guessing these plugs will go for $349. This is Bose we're talking about here.
NO HIGHS? NO LOWS? IT IS BOSE!!!!!!!!
BOSE = BLOSE
I've had the Sony EX71's for yearw, I've always loved them and never gave them much a second though. Eventually I started reading about the Shure in-ears and other in-ear types, and I got curious. I shelled out $99 to buy the Shure E2C's, and found they were hardly any different than my Sony's. Not different enough to warrant being almost twice as much as the Sony's. I know all the other Shure's are suppose to be better...I returned the ones I bought without trying the better models, oh well. I don't really WANT to hear my 192kbps mp3's in studio quality earphones anyway.
I'm totally curious about these Bose ones though...
Bose has just MODIFIED the IE with new earpieces and an additional 'holder'. You can see the new ones by noting a new wire that is black and white stripped.
That's why you use FLAC compression (or some other lossless format).
Seriously, the E2C's are definitely worth the $70. Like I said, some complain of a "lack of bass", but they just need to get a better fit. If the fit isn't good, air pressure can escape, and thus that big wave of bass dissipates out of your ear rather than being driven inwards. Get the soft plastic sleeves and you'll see the difference. I listen to a lot of techno and hard rock, and I love bass, and these earphones definitely produce it. Sure you could spend some more on the E4Cs or whatever, and they'll sound a little better in all areas, but for a relatively inexpensive set of high-quality buds, these are a good pair.
I say don't diss till we hear them. I really don't like the AE (the original Triports) both for style and sound. But I'm willing to give the OE and IE a shot. Lets just see how they sound.
Oh and the disses are silly. For one thing no one can ever agree on what they don't like about Bose. I have heard different versions of the same complaint "all highs no lows" "no highs no lows" "no highs all lows" etc. no one on the net can ever agree what they don't like about Bose. So try something other than a tag-line please :) And heck just try them out compare them to others and give your reasons why you like/dislike them. And if you dislike them let us know why the other headphones sounded better. Sound cool :)
Bose knows Broke.
more bose crap... move along and just buy the shure/ety's you were planning on.
I was given the Apple In-ear when they were first released and they were a joke. Couldn't jog or move to much because they would come out my ear. I then purchased the Sony EX71 and they were great till a cat beat em up( I almost killed the cat with my pellet gun..LOL)One thing I dont like about sony is if you loose the sleeves be prepared to shell out $14 just for two pairs...
Thanks for everyones input. I think I'm going to purchase the E2C instead of the E4C to save some money. As long as they better than the ipod standard earbuds. Has Anyone ever tried the Sony Ex91Lp?
"but they look as though they might be at least partly open -- which would be a good for fliers like us who often have inner-ear pressure problems with thpse sealed-up-tight sound-reducing earpieces."
Dumbass - the whole point of inner earphones are that they ARE sealed, if not there is no bass and terrible sound quality!
I hate the hackneyed taglines that people roll off when it comes to Bose, partly as someone said in a comment above that no two people ever agree, but especially in the case of speakers, where you have to stop and think "Ok, i've got the 802s, and need more bass, i know, i'll get a sub."
It's not like you'll get decent full-range from any other comparable speaker.
"Oh and the disses are silly. For one thing no one can ever agree on what they don't like about Bose."
Surely you jest. Go to any A/V forum and ask. You'll find "overpriced, poor sound, and low quality components" to be the answer. Go to any custom A/V installer, read any A/V magazine - they'll tell you the same thing.
http://www.hometheaterblog.com/hometheater/2006/03/what_about_bose_1.html
http://www.intellexual.net/bose.html
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=343759&highlight=bose
You want good, cheap, small, noise-reducing headphones? Creative EP-630. About $30.
I've owned Shure E3s and E5s. These are not as clearly detailed, but a WHOLE lot cheaper and sound good enough. And I actually like the fact that they're not totally noise blocking. Makes them more comfortable, easier to insert & remove, and safer to walk around in. Higher on the microphonics (cord noise from bumping into your body) though.
The best earbuds you can buy without spending a ridiculous amount of money are definitely the SONY MDR-EX71 buds.
Ugh, Sony + audio = disgrace
haha I have a pair of Etymotice Er6i's and I would HIGHLY recommend them over both the Sure E2C's. Also, check out Ultimate-Ears offerings.
I'm waiting for these bitches to see if Blose turned the company around... doubt it :(
I'm undecided for Bose products. I consider myself an audiophile, and personally think that Bose colors there sound a bit too much, meaning it is not as good a reproduction of the source as it could be. With that said, I like the comfort of their headphones, and don't feel particually aware of there prescence. The QuietComfort series does a respectable job at noise canceling, however, they exert an unusually high amount of pressure against the ear drum. And of course, the prices are way over what they should be. So, while I am willing to try these out, I don't expect to be terribly impressed with what Bose has to offer.
Is there any point to buying these or the shures if all the music on your iPod is 128kbps MP3?
I'm curious because I'm not relaly an audiophile at all. I have a pair of Grado SR60's at home and they are nice, but I find I use my stock iPod earbuds more just because they travel better. But I realy can't tell the difference in sound quality aside from the Grado's having more bass because they are bigger.
Listening to 128kpbs with any of these headphones will sound worse than cheap $10 headphones. The cheap ones at least disguise the crappy music, but a higher-end pair will make it very clear that you need to start encoding in Lossless.
Nothing beats ultimate ears.
As an aspiring audiophile I can tell you that the er71's are easily some of the best headphones that you can find at that price. What they lack in mid-range clarity they more than make up in base. Honestly, I can't think of any earbuds that can go that low.
Also, I agree with 128- bit being too low for good headphones, but I listen to 192 (or higher if I can find it) and it definitely sounds better when I use high quality headphones. Besides, lossless takes up too much space!
I use Ultimate Ears Super Fi 5 Pros and they have been wonderful. Again, you need a good seal to get the bass you are expecting. I got them for less than half the MSRP and if you look around it isn't hard to do. These give the Shure line a run for their money, beating anything Shure lists at equal MSRP.
Sorry call me thick but when i looked quickly at th picture i thought i was looking at a pair of hair driers,,,, now thats funny come on you must admit when ya look at it quick.
www.frunity.com
They are 99.95 and the best earbuds ive heard!
e2c's are definitely good, but not for bass. Ultimate ear's super.fi 5pro's are definitely your choice if you want in-ear bass.
Uk prices are 69 for the Bose in ear's.
Expected sometime in November, official launch on the 17th (this Tuesday)
Re: Bose arguments.
Ive read and looked through hours of arguments for and against Bose products being rubbish and very good, the best the worst etc.
With having seen all the evidence in arguments on Intellexual.net etc. ive found most of the arguments are contradictory. One bad thing will said, but later on something else will contradict it.
Example, one person will argue (intellexual.net being one of them) that these speakers are useless and horribly over priced, however later on yoy realise that these Bose speakers where actually tested against something thousands of pounds/dollars more expensive, thus rendering the argumant completely rubbish.
Other examples are testing an older Bose product (2-3 years) against something new that came out within the last few months. Again, old technology versus new technology. Of course other companies are going to have caught up in time.
What I do is I use test equipment, I go to a Hi-Fi store and I listen to systems where are cheaper, then I listen to the systems that I will consider buying, back to back, then I will listen to a few high end speakers to be able to guage price vs quality.
Then I take each product in turn and I use test equipment for all the response curves, impedance, wattage etc. and I then advise the Hi-Fi store on what I found so that they can advise customers properly on which system/speaker/headphone does what.
I have found that Bose systems are good. What people don't normally see is what goes on inside the system. There are PsychoAcoustics as mentioned before, the wave guide technology does work and is not an immitation of the other technology being used, it is just a different way of doing things. There are complex balancing electronics within some systems that are not found in other systems for either the same price or more. The magnets in the cones are 10x stronger than a lot of other systems I have seen which is what gives the smaller cones a 'bigger' sound. I could go on as im sure a lot of other people could.
I am not defending Bose or putting them down, but from what ive seen from tests (note, not what ive heard) they are a good system compared to other similarly priced systems. Their direct/reflecting technology works surprisingly well and their bass and highs cetainly do exist (Acoustimass has been from 35 hertz to 255 hertz, their tweeters go up to 21 KHz and why anyone needs speakers that can go higher I do not know as no one can hear about 19.5 KHz anyway - what you gonna do, pee off the local bat population???)
Bose do things differently that's all. If you like the sound then buy it, if you want something that does it differently then go and buy from B&O (please don't go down that argument route either) Shure, Sennheiser, B&W or whoever, they are all good in their own respect.
Jeez did I really write all that?
Oh and a virtual fiver to the first person that says I don't know what Im talking about. Ive seen it (note again, seen not heard) for myself, so im not going to bother taking one Iota of a note of what you go on about in defense.
cant thoes head phone increase the bace and in return have a high RF? In other words cant it hurt your ear's or damage them?
I just received my Bose Triport IE's today. I have owned many high end ear buds - Etymotic 4P,6i, and Shure E4C. In a direct comparison with the Shure, which I currently own, these are the hands down winner. The bass and dynamic range is astonishing. And the price - $100 - is amazing. These do not go all the way into your ear canal, but they are VERY conforatble and fit right. I highly recommend them. My Shure's will be on eBay momentarly!
Come on people, these are small, in-ear headphones.
The name will be expensive, so I would say a reasonable estimate for this would be about $75-90. NOT $300whatever. BOSE is at least better than other more expensive modles. Give em some credit.
I've just picked up a pair of these this morning and think they're fantastic, just be careful if you're moving around a lot with them plugged into something stationary. The fit is so snug I almost ripped my ear off when I walked away from my computer forgetting I was wearing them. As far as sound quality goes they're good as anything else I've heard, base response is great and the highs appear to be there too, perhaps they aren't BOSE?
hey, don't just assume about this product before testing out. I actually bought one last sunday. so it's been really nice. sound is clear, clisp, warm. but one thing I don't expect was Bass. well, I was wrong. it produces rich bass, not too much but strong. technically, it's not isolating earphone like Shure. but it's comfortable to wear for a long extended time. Shure is not comfortable. plus for better sound, you should squeeze form into your ears, and leave wire on the back. For bose, you don't have to. just select ultimate ear tips, then listen.
Picked up a pair of these yesterday. Gotta say I was reluctant since I couldn't try them out at the store beforehand. Now i'm so glad I did.
I first purchased the Sony fontopia earbuds for $40. I needed a pair that would stay in my ear when I run, and didn't want to spend too much. Hated them from the start. Made my ears pop and one of the speakers busted within a week.
With the Bose, I paid $99 and don't regret it for a second. The actual earbud doesn't go into your ear canal, but fits snugly within your ear. The sound is clear, crips, and rich. I was very impressed with the deep bass. Even with the volume very high, the sound doesn't crack and the bass doesn't overwhelm. I highly recommend!
Stay away from the Triport IE headphones! Priced at $99, the sound quality is worse than my 3 years old Koss headphones. No highs, no bass. And the volume on my iPod nano is extremely low. I will return them at once!
It must be your audio player, because the low and highs are simply outstanding.
I just got them today, and I only paid US$99 + tax. Reasonable price given the fact that they sound AWESOME. The bass is nice and full without too much reverb or overdoing it. The mids are solid and the treble is fair. As someone above noted, Bose makes good all-purpose higher-end but not super-high quality products (no highs, no lows). If you're looking for something that'll sound like a pair of the B&W monitors, this ain't it. But it sure beats the hell outa Sonys. Unless you have a really sharp ear and enjoy classical music or voice, these earphones more than adequately do the job. Highly recommended for the average music lover who is willing to pay a premium for a pair of good earphones. Besides, the recording quality of the music you will listen to on your iPod won't be good enough that the earphones will hamper the sound quality.
I just bought these headphones since I saw the advertising all over a particular station where I catch the train. Prior to these phones, I have been using the Shure e3c and the new Seinnheiser in ear headphones.
The Shures fit the best and has the best, clearest sound. although bass was practically non-existant compared to the other two ( and I did have it attached correctly into my ear). It's also very durable and the plug is L shaped so you will never accidentally break when you have a player in your pocket and you try to sit down.
The Seinnheiser is adequate for the price ($50). The bass is a little overpowering and you can hear the wires bump against each other through your earphones while walking. Also, the overall cable length is too short and the earpieces are assemetrical meaning one side is longer than the other.
The Bose has great sound almost rivaling the Shure. And it has very good bass response. However, it doesn't seem to be an in-ear model even though it's stated as such. There are 3 sizes that fit onto the earphone, but they all do not fit snugly into the canal. it just kind of sits there like regular earbuds. This meant that I had to play my music louder and I could hear the outside world. And it seems a little big with that pseudo grill stick out of your ear. Not very visually pleasing.
Overall, I'll stick with the Shures. The Seinnheiser are good if your not moving around while the Bose is good for quiet environments.
I first bought a pair of the Shure e2c isolation inner ear headphones. While overall, I was pleased, the bass response was lacking and they were too THICK and heavy to be comfortable. So... back I went to Best Buy and returned them for the Shure e3cs.
The Shure e3cs had amazing sound quality, overall. I was pleased with all aspects except for, again, the bass response. These earbuds sound like God speaking to you... Just... minus the bass.
I decided to pick these up, in hopes of finding a high quality earbud with better bass response. I got half of what I wanted. The bass response is quite good. The sound quality is mediocre, at best. These earbuds are SUPPOSED to rest partially falling out of your ears, while the Shure (and other inner ear earbuds) seal up tight. That again, might be a good thing for some people with ear trouble or who find inner ear isolation earbuds uncomfortable on airplanes.
The 100-180hz response is way out of whack. If you play with your EQ for a while, you might find these earbuds tolerable... but more than likely, you'll be disappointed.
I quite like the case and design overall... but not enough to make me a happy owner. I'd rather have a set of Sony MDREX90LP. These have better overall sound quality and better isolation, and carry the same price tag.
My advice? Drop the money and pick up the Shure e4cs. These have *amazing* sound and excellent bass response.
3 of 5 stars for these Bose Triport IEs.
Doesn't Sony have a patent for this "inner ear" headphone design??
I bought this type of earphones from Sony when I lived in Japan 5-6 years ago (and they still work ok!!!!)...
Doesn't Sony have a patent for this "inner ear" headphone design??
I bought this type of earphones from Sony when I lived in Japan 5-6 years ago...
So I'm a disappointed E4c Shure owner and a was reluctant to pick these up at first. But I have to say, these are quite nice. Believe it or not, they have deep bass. I've even read reviews that have said the deep bass might even be too deep. :D
As Larry said above, you don't have to shove these down into your ear canal either. They're comfortable. The problem I have with the Shure is once you get a good seal on the ear canal, you hear a thumping when you go for a run from bone conduction. Also, if the music should go quiet for a bit, then you can even hear yourself breath for the same reason. If you work out or run, the Bose are better. Yes you do hear more of the outside environment but depending on your situation, that's a good thing.
These triport ie phones are a decent pair but they are typical of Bose craftsmanship. Bose, at least in my opinion, does a phenomenal job of making mediocre speakers sound better and louder than they were ever intended to through their enclosure designs. These earbuds appear to be no different. If you look at these in person, they look identical in shape/size to the standard pack-in earbuds that come with mp3 players. The difference is the waveguide shell they put around the bud that directs the sound into your ear canal. The reason the bass is so prevalent with these is because they're designed like a vented subwoofer enclosure. If anybody knows anything about speaker enclosures, vented enclosures usually provide you with much more bass, at the expense of tight, clean sound. These buds are a clear example of this principal.
As far as the consumer is concerned, the average joe will love these. They are pretty comfortable and I must admit I enjoy not having to shove them into my ear canal like the shures. However, if you are primarily concerned with sound quality, these are far from the best. I used to own the shure e2cs (before they were stolen), and while they did have less bass, the sound was MUCH more accurate and you can hear all the detail in the music. Like previous posters have said, if you want it all you have to pay for it and the $400+ earbuds are much more in line with professional in-ear monitors. For $100, if you love bass, get the bose, if you love MUSIC, get the shures.
I just picked up a pair of the Bose Triport IEs and they are fantastic. Bass is powerful considering the setup of the unit; I think it sounds good across the board, although some people may want to play with the equalizer a bit. Comfort is second to none. Yeah, they hang out of the ear canal a bit but I have not had them shift or fall out and I often forget they're there at all. Due to the positioning, they do not really block/cancel much outside noise but they sound incredible in any moderately quiet environment. And the price is excellent for a high-end quality pair of headphones
Everyone bags on Bose.. but unless you're listening to totally lossless audio on your iPod which is doubtful because of diskspace.. and then again the iPod's sound quality--from an audiophile's perspective sux...
But i'm a normal iPod owner who listens to lots of different types of music.. i've had the quiet comfort, and a ton of other headphones, and i must say... i'm pretty satisified with the Bose Triport IE's. Only downside i've found is the eartips pop off easy and without them, you're screwed.. so order some extra ones.. sound quality is great. and at 99 bucks.. you can't beat it!
I agree with the above as far as the encoding and audio quality of the iPod is concerned. You have to calibrate the equalizer to your headphone or speakers or else the sound quality you get will be subpar. I also recommend encoding into 256 straight from the CD when possible, which is how most of my MP3 collection was put together. iTunes does this for free, you just have to go in and adjust the settings. Bose is a good company when it comes to audio products. I own two pairs of the regular Triport headphones and a Wave radio that I use as my computer speaker to watch DVD's and play games. I have also owned (and LOST) a pair of Shure E3c's and have been waiting to get a replacement. I am considering another pair of those, the E4c's, or these Triport IE's. The price for the Triport IE's is right, and they are Bose, but I am concerned about the price vs. performance. It all comes down to frequency response. The lower the frequency the driver can produce, the deeper the bass and vice versa for the treble. The Shure's were excellent for that and the fact that the ear canal was blocked off and there was no outside noise interference really made for a quality music expeerience. These are partially outside the ear and that worries me a little. I am going to test them to see how they are and I will report back after the test. Everybody has different ears and everything sounds different to different people, you just have to find what sounds incredible to you.
I have personaly done a side by side comparison with Bose TriPort(These), and the Shure E2c IEMs. They both cost almost exactly the same($99.99USD) and this is what I found:
Bose: Had some midrange, almost NO bass, heavily distorted treble, and I found them to be quite uncomfortable, plus they didn't block out much noise(when compared to Shure's E2c).
Shure: They had a good seal(for my ears[medium black earpieces]), the bass was quite good, not boomy at all. The treble was crisp and well defined, and sounded very good at high volume levels. The midrange is one of the best I've seen(for the price), and even at 100dB+ it sounds quite good. The low-mids and high-mids come in with excelent quality for the price.
Verdict: Shure is a brand to be reckoned with in today's headphone market. Bose has proven in most cases to NOT be audiophile quality. Bose does have a decent products, but they're all way overpriced(as of the mid 90's). Bose used to be good back in the 80's, but today they are relying on their name alone to sell products. Most of the people who buy their product don't know that for a comparable price they can get a product of much better quality from other brands. I have found shure to be superior in every way to Bose, in the fact's that they:
Don't cheat their customers(like Bose)
They back up their claims with a high quality product
They actually use some of their money to do REAL research. Bose CEO's just sit back and get rich by selling cheap product at an outrageous price, and devote little money toward research, despite what they claim.
If you want a REAL pair of headphones, fork over the $179.99USD for a pair of Shure E3c IEM's. They will completely and utterly blow away any bose headphones.
And if you're going to sell your kid's/Parents for a pair of cans, get the Sure E5c IEM's. They cost you about MSRP $499.99USD and are by far the best headphones on the market today(1/13/2007).
I received these bose as a present. I will spare you all the detail. Here is the bottom line. Sounds great. Falls out of my ears and the attachments fall off with the slightest pressure. The other day I lost one of the attachments. Now they are just useless. Do not buy these!!! The design of the attachements is so poor that I can not believe I blew 100 bucks on these.
I bought these headphones and I think they are a fantastic upgrade from the stock headphones that come with most MP3 players. Sure, they aren't perfect - the fit could be a tiny bit better - but I defy anyone to buy anything and not find at least one little thing that's annoying. These are great headphones, and unless you have to have the absolute best of everything, they will provide much listening enjoyment to anyone.
The sound is fine, but these are absolutely useless for any type of workout activity, No matter what size earbud you use, they do not stay in your ears for more than a few seconds if running, on a treadmill, stairclimber etc. OK if you're sitting on an airplane or subway train, but other than that, don't bother.
The NEW MODIFIED Bose IE has the fit problem solved. Look for the black and white stripped wire to identify the NEWLY DESIGNED units. They are just coming on the market (April 2007).