From pilot to passenger: A history of the noise-cancelling headphone

By Caleb Denison Published October 2, 2014

Looking back, it seems as if noise-cancelling headphones went from a technological novelty to a de rigueur accessory for frequent fliers in the blink of a red eye. But developing these noise-cancelling cans wasn’t nearly so swift. The brainchild of Dr. Amare Bose, noise-cancelling technology took well over a decade to go from concept to product, and even then, it wasn’t for consumers.

At an event held in New York celebrating Bose’s 50th anniversary, we got to witness the evolution of the active noise-cancelling headphone, narrated through accounts told by Bose employees. In our video, we take you through the timeline, from the first-ever noise-cancelers made for pilots flying around the world, right up to Bose’s just-released Q25.

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Today, active noise-cancelling is a science employed by many headphone companies, but in our experience, none of them work quite like Bose’s. After all, the company wrote the book on the technology.

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Digital Trends Editor at Large Caleb Denison is a sought-after writer, speaker, and television correspondent with unmatched…

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I'm not going to rain on Apple's parade and tell you to avoid the updated AirPods Max entirely. For a lot of folks, the move to USB-C might be the only reason they need to buy them, especially if they've been able to purge the rest of their lives of Lightning-equipped devices.

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What is it the Bose do so well? To start off, they offer the best noise-canceling performance available from a pair of headphones. In his review, Simon Cohen found that "The QC Ultra provide impressive levels of hush in a variety of scenarios." You can still get slightly better isolation with the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds or Sony WF-1000XM5 earbuds, but for most of us, having something in your ear for a long flight gets uncomfortable pretty fast. Plus, there's the worry an earbud will fall out (I find the fit on the Sony earbuds in particular doesn't always feel very secure).

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A woman wearing the Bose QuietComfort 45 around her neck.

Bose is a brand to keep your eye on if you’re looking for some audio savings. It’s often among the best speaker brands and it regularly turns out some impressive headphone deals, Bluetooth speaker deals, soundbar deals, and subwoofer deals. Here we’re taking a look at all of the best Bose headphone deals currently available. There are several more Bose headphones deals taking place than we typically see, so be sure to grab a pair if you see something in your price range. And if you’d like to see some comparable headphone options don’t miss out on today’s Samsung Galaxy Buds deals, Beats headphone deals, and AirPods deals.
Today’s best Bose headphone deals
Bose headphone deals tend to come and go quickly, with it being rare to see more than two or three sets discounted at any time. Some of today's best Bose headphone deals include the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II. They're seeing a pretty significant discount, as are a few other Bose headphone models.

When is the best time to shop Bose headphone deals?
There’s generally no better time than the holidays to land a great deal, with sales events like Black Friday and Cyber Monday often offering the largest discounts of the year. Prime Day is another great opportunity to land a deal, though the July event has now come and gone. That leaves us currently sandwiched between major shopping opportunities, and with a good amount of time before the next event arrives.