Headphones

Bose headphones are a family of headphone products sold by the Bose Corporation. The company was a  pioneer in the development of headphones that use active noise cancellation technology.

Timeline of headphones

Some names have been abbreviated and at times full names have been shortened to save space
("QC" = QuietComfort; "SE" = Second Edition;"IE" = In-Ear; "MIE" = Mobile In-Ear)
("AE" = Around-Ear; "OE" = On-Ear; "BH" = Bluetooth headset)
Sources: Bose owners guides

TriPort Headphones

The "triport" earcup structure has three miniature air ducts that claim to allow the drivers to make larger excursions before distorting.

Bose's work with active noise-cancelling headphones

Bose's consumer range of active noise-cancelling headphones are called QuietComfort. For industrial noise-cancelling applications, Bose produces the A20 Aviation Headset, Space Shuttle Headset and Combat Vehicle Crewman Headset.

Noise-cancelling headphones development

The idea of personal noise protection by actively controlled headphones was originally documented in a 1960 Russian patent application. In the United States, the idea for active noise cancellation for helicopter and aircraft pilots was patented by Dr. Lawrence J. Fogel as early as the mid 1950s U.S. Patent 2866848, U.S. Patent 2920138, U.S. Patent 2966549 and Canadian patent 631,136. According to Bose, the company started noise-cancellation involvement after Dr. Amar Bose went on a 1978 flight to Europe, utilized the headphones provided during the flight only to conclude that he couldn't really enjoy the sound with the roar of engines in the background."

In 1986, Bose applied their noise-cancellation technology to develop headphones to protect the hearing of pilots participating in the first non-stop around-the-world flight.

One source notes that "nearly simultaneously, the US company Bose and Sennheiser in Germany presented active headsets for aircraft pilots," citing a 1986 American Society of Mechanical Engineers paper about the Bose product and a 1988 Funkschau paper about the Sennheiser. Bose's first noise-cancelling headsets were released to the public in 1989.

After about 10 years of research and development Bose released their first consumer level noise reducing headphones for pilots called the Aviation Headset, released in 1989. The current model includes (non-adjustable) electronic equalization.

Like all such technology, it mixes an inverted sample of the ambient sound outside the headset with the sound that reaches the inside of the headset, partially cancelling out the noise. Active (battery-powered) noise cancellation is never perfect, and is better at low frequencies than at high frequencies. The power source for these active noise cancellation headphones is batteries. All Bose noise cancellation headphones are closed-air to increase passive noise reduction.

Commercial airlines

Depending on the flight American Airlines provided QuietComfort 15 headphones or Bose QuietComfort 3 headphones for use by passengers in premium flight classes (sometimes also business-class) on some long-haul flights. Bose has made American Airlines several special edition versions of the QuietComforts starting with the original QC1 that had blue ear cups and an American Airlines logo on them. American Airlines became the first airline to offer the QuietComforts. American Airlines allowed each of their First and Business Class passengers to use a pair of the QuietComfort 15 on long-haul flights to Europe, Asia, deep South America and select First Class transcontinental flights.

On 1 July 2006 JAL started to offer QuietComfort 2 headphones to First class customers on some flights Air-India also offered QuietComfort 3 headphones to its Premium Class customers on some long haul flights. Cathay Pacific provides their First and Business Class passengers a pair of customized Quiet Comfort headphones.