Bose TriPort IE in-ear headphones revealed
By Ryan Block 
posted October 7th 2006 8:13PM
posted October 7th 2006 8:13PM
posted October 7th 2006 8:13PM
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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).