Are Expensive Headphones Really Worth It?
If you’re stuck in Cubicle Nation, then you’ve probably discovered the value of a good pair of headphones by now. Whether they are for blasting techno while working that insanely boring project or sneaking in a youtube video, headphones have become a must-have in the office place. For those allowed to use headphones at work, being able to escape from the numerous annoying sounds produced by a common workspace to either quiet bliss or streaming music has literally become part or our focusing process. Without headphones pumping sick 80’s tunes in my ears half the day, my mind would easily wander another 10-15 times during the workday. Furthermore, headphones are great because they offer a little bit of privacy in the otherwise very public cubicle landscape. People are less likely to come over to your cube when they see you with headphones on. For these reasons and others, headphones have truly become a cube necessity - the question is are the expensive headphones really worth their price tag?
The set of headphones I’m specifically looking at is the Bose Quiet Comfort series. Bose is aggressively pushing these new headphones for the meager sum of $350. Does anyone out there have these or other high end headphones? If so what are your thoughts?
My current headphones are pretty inexpensive($35) and I don’t really have any complaints. I just looked online and for under $50 dollars, one can choose from a dozens of what appear to be decent headphones. So I’m wondering what does Bose offer that is worth 10x the price?
January 8th, 2008 at 2:02 pm
Yes, good headphones are really worth it if you are in a cube!!!
Good ones sound better, and often they are larger and fit on the head using less tension. I wear glasses, so this is really important to me. Cheap (or small) headphones sandwich my ears between the headphone and my glasses and give me very bad headaches.
Also consider a DAC (digital audio converter) and a headphone amplifier.
I have a pair of Beyerdynamic DT880s and a Fubar III DAC/headphone amplifier combination. I love them both dearly.
You can go totally crazy with it (check out headphones.com) but I think $200 to $500 invested in good headphones is well worth it.
Just be sure not to roll over the cord with your chair!
-jacob