Triport OE

 

For Christmas, my wife got me a pair of Bose Triport IE headphones (In-Ear) knowing how much music I listen to on my daily journey back and forth from Boston.
I have a Nano Ipod that’s always loaded with all kinds of funky stuff.
From Mojo Nixon (Elvis is everywhere) to Anita Baker and Nine Inch Nails, I have some pretty cool stuff.
I’ve been using this pair of Sony earbuds for a few years now and my wife thought it would be nice if I had something just a bit better if only to improve the quality of sound.

She thought a Bose product would be a vast improvement to my current earbuds.

And at 99$ a pop, you would think these buds would sing, right?

I immediately put them in and gave them a trial listen.
It was early Christmas morning so I chalked up my blasé first impression to the fact that I’d only had one cup of coffee.
Maybe more Joe was needed to awaken my ‘rock and roll’ battered auditory senses.

I gave the Triport IE headphones a good listening to on the way to Boston on the following day.
Halfway to Beantown, I pulled them out and thought, God, these suck.

They weren’t any better than the crappy Sony buds I’d been using.
I was gobsmacked.

In short, the IE buds sounded boxy (blatant and annoying midrange), bottom heavy (bass up the ass), and lacking in anything resembling vocal sibilance (1.5Hz +).

I’m thinking, this is a Bose product, it should blow me away.
It really didn’t.

The icing on the proverbial cake comes when you put the damn things in your ears.
They feel like you’re inserting a cold and jelly-like cadaver finger into your auditory canal. Eeegaaads….

Must be me.

I called Bose the next day and said I wanted to return the buds, the rep asked me why.

Because they sound like shit, I said.

Ahhh, customer dissatisfaction, he said.

 

The buds were a distant memory the next day and I was back with my crappy Sony plugs and feeling a bit downtrodden.

Fast forward to a few days ago;

I’m at Target with my wife and go to see what they have for headphones.
The first thing I see is a row of neatly displayed Bose Triport IE earbuds.
Noooo, Thanks.

Next to the earbuds is a Bose display of two new headphones; one that covers the ear ($139.95) and one that ‘sits’ on the ear (OE @ $179.95).

I fell in love with the OE’s because they were foldable and sounded incredible in the store.
Obviously, they were the more expensive of the two sets of headphones but hey, I’m just being honest.
Don’t waste your time looking for a better price. It doesn’t exist.

My Christmas/ Birthday present turned out to be a pair of the OE’s.

These headphones make NIN a religious experience.
If you can believe anyone, believe me.
If you passionately listen to music on headphones, throw me a bone and click on the picture above.
My French Riviera chateau awaits…

 

~m