Are Bose QC3 Headphones rain safe?

Author: Ross C Brown

22 Jun

Bose QuietComfort® 3 Acoustic Noise Cancelling® Headphones

Since April I have been the proud owner of a set of Bose QuietComfort® 3 Acoustic Noise Cancelling® headphones and I love them. Originally I decided that they would be my ‘working’ headphones but they have more or less become my ‘main’ headphones.

The audio quality is second to none and the noise canceling features are amazing, making my daily commute on the bus almost bearable and car trips almost silent. I’m yet to test them on the plane. Using them daily, I am thankful that the headphone lead is detachable at both the headphone and jack ends. I often end up catching the cord on one thing or another and much prefer the cable breaking away from the headphones as opposed to yanking the £275 headphones off my head and onto the floor.

The headphones are not perfect however. As the editors over at CNET.com note, ‘when the battery dies, so does the music’. Another complaint of my own is the inability to turn off the noise canceling feature. I often wear these while walking from place to place, I’d love to be able to turn off the noise canceling to allow me to hear traffic, etc.

Living in Scotland I am accustomed to the rain, however I am a little worried about wearing them in the rain outside. Are the headphones rain safe? If anyone knows the answer to this, please drop me a line in the comments.

Closing up, I’d say the Bose QuietComfort® 3 Acoustic Noise Cancelling® headphones are a must for anyone who longs for comfortable headphones with amazing sound quality. At £275 ($540 USD including tax) they might not be for everyone but they are defiantly worth saving for.

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7 Responses for "Are Bose QC3 Headphones rain safe?"

Dad June 27th, 2008 at 11:33 am 1
save up for them like you did?!!!
I think not.
Rory June 29th, 2008 at 1:29 am 2
I imagine that a) they’d be mostly fine in rain, but b) there’s a small chance they may short, however c) you’re unlikely to get electrocuted.
That said, I’ve never actually had a pair of this model in my hands to investigate closer. Most noise-cancelling headphones I’ve seen seem to suffer in terms of sound quality (which is why I prefer closed cans, e.g. Sennheiser HD280), but I’ve heard that the QuietComfort series doesn’t. Although you pay for that quality, I guess.
mel September 8th, 2008 at 12:51 am 3
That doesn’t seem like too intelligent of a decision on Bose’s part to not offer the option to turn noise canceling off. Personally, I couldn’t justify spending that much money on a pair of headphones that don’t let me toggle that, for exactly the reasons you mentioned. What if a bus is announcing stops and you can’t hear it? Hopefully Bose will take a hint.
Matt September 8th, 2008 at 4:04 am 4
I have to say that these are amazing, but i have a problem with not being able to turn off he noise canceling feature. Also i could not think of spending that much money on them.
Rogers Starks September 8th, 2008 at 4:48 am 5
Bose QuietComfort® 3 Acoustic Noise Cancelling® headphones sound like a mouthful. Or better yet an ear full! Bose is by far the leader in the field here and with their innovations and new products clearly will stary there. Their audio quality is second to none.
Rogers Starks September 8th, 2008 at 6:23 am 6
Here again, you have Bose taking the lead with the new Bose QuietComfort® 3 Acoustic Noise Cancelling® headphones. Everyone should have a pair of these.
Jessi September 8th, 2008 at 8:47 am 7
You said they’re worth saving for, but are they really? If you can’t turn off the noise-canceling bit, they may not be waterproof, and the battery dying kills the music as well…..275 seems a bit much for a set of headphones that aren’t truly multipurpose.

I think the cables breaking away at both ends would drive me crazy, too, but it makes sense why it’d be a good thing for some people.