BOSE AE2 Headphones Evaluation Report

BOSE AE2[AE2i] is a headset released at the end of 2010. Its predecessor is the first generation BOSE AE.AE name is derived from the English around-ear fit abbreviation, probably seems to mean that it can reach The ear size is the size of the ear, and the smaller one is the BOSE OE series. The AE2i refers to the one that supports the mobile phone call function. In addition, BOSE also launched the Bluetooth version of the AE2w. The current official website of the AE2 is priced at 1350. Yuan Renminbi.

As a BOSE brand under the $100 earphones, they can only be regarded as their entry model, while BOSE has earphones and headphones, but the most famous is their "active noise reduction" QC series. When the prawn rice users first proposed to send the test, my personal thought at the time was still "Why don't you buy a noise reduction series for BOSE headphones?" When I actually used BOSE AE2, I found some very characteristic designs.

The BOSE AE2/2i headphones achieve a full-size ear size in a smaller size, with a longer elliptical earmuff design. If you are very picky about the comfort of the headset, then the AE2 can be counted as the last one. A product with better comfort. This is better than most headphones we have measured in similar sizes, such as the Rambler H840, Aurvana Live! and even AKG K141. This is also related to its very light weight.

The BOSE AE2 earphone weighs only 140 grams, which includes all the weight of the headphone cable. We have found that it is true. The innovative Aurvana Live! does not contain the weight of the wire [presumably ignore the wire weight] is also about 202 grams [ Actually measured. In fact, the 200 gram headset is very comfortable or suitable weight under such a size, and the AE2 can achieve 140 grams, the wearing comfort is indeed the strongest feeling.

The AE2's earmuffs are large and covered with a softer imitation leather material. This material is nothing special, and certainly ensures its wearing comfort. Look carefully at the structure of the AE2 unit and you will find it special. Where.

The AE2 uses a closed design, but like many BOSE headsets, BOSE calls it "TriPort" technology. From the first visual sense, the volume of space surrounded by its headphone speaker unit to the earmuffs is relatively Ordinary headphones are much larger. TriPort means that the opening of the earphone speaker is smaller than the rear end cavity, which makes it easier to squeeze the air and improve the low frequency. This has a similar design on many earphones, but BOSE headphones, especially AE2. On, do more exaggeration.

How do general earphones implement Triport-like technology? To make the opening smaller than the opening area of ​​the rear-end cavity, the most direct way is to use the tilting unit on the headset. The vertical projection of the tilting unit is directly when wearing the earphone." Output "the area of ​​the mouth, and because the unit is tilted in one direction [can be considered to be inward], thus the volume of the cavity is exchanged, and the area of ​​the opening is output. The AE2 can only say "oblique" in this respect. The internal cavity space is also relatively large. With its very light weight, the oversized headstock [extensible up to 7 cm] feels a bit like the HD800? Of course, this is just a little joke.

Since BOSE has been positioned in business and other applications with a more introverted and stable design, AE2 does not have many young elements to reflect the details of the AE2 appearance process. But overall, there is progress over the previous QC series, as a whole. It is more detailed and not rough.

The AE2 and AE2i headphones use a single-sided cable connection. The earphone section uses a 2.5mm plug connection. In the mating part with the earphone housing, a special shape fixing method is used. In theory, the plug mounting is slightly stable. At least 360 Turn around in a chaotic manner.

In order to better evaluate this headset, we have dedicated the headset to more than 80 hours. From the perspective of product positioning, our evaluation is still based on portable audio players such as mobile phones. Mainly adopts vivo Xplay, iPhone 5s, iPad Air, etc. as the main reference. Using the integrated sound card output of Macbook Pro, Serenade USE, Music State Monitor 06 MX headphone output as an auxiliary reference. After comparing the headphones, we decided to use Rambler H840, innovative Aurvana Live!

Overall impression: You may be influenced by the reputation of BOSE and the design of the TriPort technology mentioned in the previous article, and the AE2 is a closed-designed earphone. In the traditional impression, it is thought to be a low-frequency earphone. However, in actual use, this is probably the least biased low-frequency one among the BOSE products we have used. Because TriPort gives the AE2 a very large volume, the sound of the AE2 is completely different from that of a closed-designed earphone. The sound is even more slack than the H840 and Aurvana Live!

High-frequency performance: BOSE's speaker products have never paid attention to high-frequency details. This is their design philosophy. The problem is that the details of the extremely high-frequency part [some products are even above 10kHz] are greatly attenuated. For headphones Said, AE2 does not seem to be so exaggerated, its high frequency is not so bright, it is also weaker than H840 and Aurvana Live in extremely high frequency resolution! However, the high frequency of AE2 is obviously softer, on Xplay The dynamic performance of the mid-high frequency part is better, even more restrained and slack. In terms of dynamics, the AE2 is slightly weaker, but on the source of the iPhone or IPC, it is slightly darker and the looser high frequency will be more resistant. H840 And Aurvana Live! is slightly stiff [different sources have a greater relationship].

IF performance: AE2's intermediate frequency is not heavy, still relatively neutral, and it is still rare to show a relatively relaxed state, which is slightly affected by the transient, but the overall sound is still relatively balanced, especially in the iPhone. On the mobile phone sound source such as Xplay, BOSE has always been neutral, and the slack is slightly biased towards the low-frequency style. However, the weakness is that the resolution of the high-frequency is insufficient, and the sound is slightly divergent under large dynamics.

Low frequency performance: AE2's low frequency is not exaggerated, the volume is similar to H840 and Aurvana Live!, even slightly weaker than Aurvana Live! On the one hand, the low frequency of AE2 is more relaxed than the low frequency of the above two contrast headphones, another On the other hand, the design of the AE2 seems to make the mid-low frequency and the intermediate frequency softer and thicker, but it does not help the low-frequency dive, dynamics, etc. This will also use a similar tuning style in BOSE's speaker products. But overall It is said that even in the booming electronic music and dance music, the low frequency of AE2 is not so exaggerated. Compared with H840 and Aurvana Live!, there is no particularly good level. It can only be said that the style is somewhat different. AE2 is softer and slower. The low-frequency performance of the rhythm is more natural and balanced than the two headphones. The headphones of Aurvana Live! are more dynamic, and the mid-low frequency is more powerful in the big dynamics, and the resolution is slightly better.

to sum up

We use a BOSE AE2 of around 1000 yuan to compare H840 and Aurvana Live! about 400 yuan. For readers who are not familiar with Soomal, it may be unfair. But this is not the case, Aurvana Live! from 800 yuan to 400 yuan, Soomal has been concerned about, around 2010-2011, we also measured a lot of 500-1000 yuan headphones, only Aurvana Live! performance is the most satisfactory [excluding AKG K240 and other series that require amps Overall, we think that the sound quality of BOSE AE2 is comparable to the two headphones of today's comparison, but the style and details are slightly different, each with its own advantages.

The advantage of BOSE AE2 is not in resolving power, but the performance of resolving power is not bad, but it is relatively poor. The overall style of AE2 is softer, when it is used with ordinary mobile phone as the sound source [such as iOS device with iPhone5], its The IF will be more comfortable, the high frequency will not be sharp. The H840 and Aurvana Live! are slightly stiff, but they have better resolution at high frequencies. The AE2 is not suitable for a 06 MX or a very powerful sound card. This will make its relatively slack sound become tense, and the low-frequency sense will be reduced. The resolving power is not an advantage, but the overall performance will be rather blunt.

It is not surprising that the AE2 has such a performance from the BOSE brand positioning. Instead, its sound style will be different for users who have only used BOSE speakers or QC series [old QC2] headphones. And the comfort of wearing, but also has its own characteristics. But for ordinary audiophiles, AE2 should not be the best choice for the pursuit of sound quality.