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Bose Sues Beats for Patent Infringement Over Noise-Cancelling Headphones

gjvon said:
Okay, this is just ignorance.
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What part is ignorance? They did wait until after Apple announced the acquisition (even if it is unrelated). It will take at least a decade for them to see any money. Many people think Bose speakers and headsets are pretty terrible. A lot of folks like them, but they have more than their share of detractors.

So, what is ignorance? Seems like the person you attacked and called ignorant was pretty accurate and informed.
 
Yeah, we're all rich.

lazard said:
Go with high quality custom IEMs like the JH Audio Roxanne. The HD800 is nice but you can't wear that on the go.
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At $1,299 for a pair of these in-the-ear phones, not a chance! :eek:

The whole idea of "noise canceling" is to wear "cans" around the entire ear so you block out external noise e.g. plane noise, crying kids, barking dogs in the neighborhood, sirens, yada-yada.

Are Bose best? No idea
Are Beats? Probably not, but they look cool.

So, there must be other noise canceling "can rigs" out there for well under $1,000 that blow these two away. Anybody?
 
DavidLeblond said:
Bose felt threatened. For the longest time they were the #1 name in expensive sub par audio equipment until Dre came around and took the crown.
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Subpar I think not. I found no one who made better headphones than Beats for great sounding headphones that work really nicely if you like pop music, rock music, rap and R&B and country and western music.

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Moopy Sac said:
I don't own either because you can get the same or better for a fraction of the cost (except Bose probably does have the best noise cancelling, but probably not worth four times the price of something with 90% of the noise cancelling/sound quality). But Bose has much better balance and Beats has $30 worth of bass.

On both you are paying for the symbol on the side.
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It's just like the people who claim I'm paying for the apple logo on the back. It's just an opinion. It doesn't make it valid for my needs. Thank you for your input.
 
gjvon said:
Seeing that we are not audio engineers, we have no say in what WE believe is right and wrong regarding the matter. I am sure an Engineer could tell when someone has copied their blueprint.
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We haven't used blueprints since 1993.

I can still remember the smell of ammonia filling the office though.

Thanks for that.

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AdonisSMU said:
Subpar I think not. I found no one who made better headphones than Beats for great sounding headphones that...
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Stop. Quality is not subjective in this case. All this stuff is disposable consumer junk.
 
Well I guess Apple's next move is to end its close friendly association with Bose. Bose speakers will soon disappear from Apple Store shelves. LOL :p

But the timing is disingenuous. They decide to sue Beats only after cash-rich Apple takes it over? Why only now?
 
thekev said:
There are still much better headphones within a similar price range.
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A little offtopic but what would be the best headphones with this form factor ?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0041Q3W...TF8&colid=2X6XSG5DCOH5E&coliid=I1O75LKZZSI4E7

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00000JB...TF8&colid=2X6XSG5DCOH5E&coliid=I3UMHCYIHW4D73

Meaning smaller and with foam and not huge and with leather, because the huge/leather ones are difficult to wear for long periods of time and are heating your ears.
The price doesn't matter, but they should have a very good low frequency response and less emphasis on highs.
 
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If the acquisition hasn't closed, then Apple should walk away... Beats are poor quality anyway.

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AdonisSMU said:
Subpar I think not. I found no one who made better headphones than Beats for great sounding headphones that work really nicely if you like pop music, rock music, rap and R&B and country and western music.
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I'll start with Sennheiser and let others throw some names in. Heck even Sony are better than Beats. (All IMO of course)
 
gnasher729 said:
It's ridiculous how people post here when they have no idea what a design patent is, which describes _in a very detailed way_ things like "design", "look" and "feel". It's equally ridiculous how you can make a complaint like this when the words "design", "look" and "feel" were not mentioned in the patents involved here at all.
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It is also ridiculous that people reply to comments without even going to the second page!

Now go read the second page and learn how to Internet. Or go back to Yahoo News.
 
SgtPepper12 said:
I heard their implementation of ANR is regarded the best. I don't think the patents are about the general idea of ANR, they are about a specific implementation. If you think about it, there are many problems with the technology that are non-trivial to solve, like which kind of microphones are used, where they are positioned, how the signal is amplified, how it is processed etc. As always with acoustics the realisation is not as straight-forward as the idea sounds.
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I'm sure it's far from simple to do well. I know in aviation at least effective ANR depends in part on passive noise reduction (ear seals), and I'm sure the mic and other issues. Many of the tricks are also going to be in firmware. I am wondering if any or all of these are subject to patents. Usually firmware and software is covered by copyright.
 
AdonisSMU said:
Subpar I think not. I found no one who made better headphones than Beats for great sounding headphones that work really nicely if you like pop music, rock music, rap and R&B and country and western music.

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It's just like the people who claim I'm paying for the apple logo on the back. It's just an opinion. It doesn't make it valid for my needs. Thank you for your input.
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Well, at least you have all of those cool kids making you feel better about your purchase.

/Comparing the subjective preferences wrt OSs to SOUND? Good call.

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ThunderSkunk said:
We haven't used blueprints since 1993.

I can still remember the smell of ammonia filling the office though.

Thanks for that.

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Stop. Quality is not subjective in this case. All this stuff is disposable consumer junk.
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Fashion is part of quality in this case. If people are willing to admit as such, in theory I could see where they are coming from.

You never see people argue that their Rolex tells better time than a Timex. Because Rolex owners are comfortable that their watch is a fashion accessory and not just a time piece.
 
bearboy said:
Oh no, here comes the Apple/Beats apologists!:mad:
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No, more like... the people who don't assume that they have done anything wrong based on next to no available information.
You are free to assume guilt on the basis of next to nothing.... but i will side with those who would actually prefer to know the facts.
 
Bose would have been better seeking damages before apples legal got involved, bit of a mistake.

I find noise cancelling to be nasty and buy headphones without it personally. I can see how bose has invested in development of the technology, the patents are almost impossible to understand and don't use any audio/technical language i'm familiar with despite being involved in audio on a deep level myself.

I find it odd that they have patents for aspects of the technology but not the whole idea? They would have to prove to a very uneducated jury how beats has cloned those patents and that is a very hard task because beats have probably reengineered the idea in a different way anyway. There are certain issues involved with cancelling noise that physics dictates must happen for a waveform to be cancelled out. That is not something that you can patent, only the process or specific hardware.

Noise cancelling is so widespread in headphones now, it seems hard to defend against it's broad use now. I'm sure you need to actively defend patents for them to be valid.
 
sebastian... said:
A little offtopic but what would be the best headphones with this form factor ?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0041Q3W...TF8&colid=2X6XSG5DCOH5E&coliid=I1O75LKZZSI4E7

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00000JB...TF8&colid=2X6XSG5DCOH5E&coliid=I3UMHCYIHW4D73

Meaning smaller and with foam and not huge and with leather, because the huge/leather ones are difficult to wear for long periods of time and are heating your ears.
The price doesn't matter, but they should have a very good low frequency response and less emphasis on highs.
Click to expand...

Beats typically fall in a much higher price range than those. I've had decent luck with Sennheiser. If you're looking for decent cheap headphones, these are my favorites. I have the older version, and they've lasted at least 4 years without problems beyond earpad replacement. The older ones were only around $30, which was ridiculously cheap for their quality. I use those as a pair I can take anywhere, as they're cheap enough that I don't worry about damage. The new ones do cost more though. I haven't tried the exact model linked. Some of their more expensive ones available as cans are decent, but they cost way more money.
 
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rmatthewware said:
Fascinating that they wait until Beats is acquired by someone with deeper pockets. Good luck getting any money, though. If Bose ever gets a payout, it'll be ten years down the road. And the general impression I get from people who work in the speaker business is that Bose isn't really that good.
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So that makes patent infringement ok?
 
cjmillsnun said:
If the acquisition hasn't closed, then Apple should walk away... Beats are poor quality anyway.

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I'll start with Sennheiser and let others throw some names in. Heck even Sony are better than Beats. (All IMO of course)
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Nope. Sony head phones are terrible. Sony and Sennheiser sound like they artificially turned up the treble so as to make the bass sound less heavy. Sennheiser is better than Sony by a long shot but that's still not a ringing endorsement from me. I also like Sennheiser better than Bose head phones sound quality wise. I don't like them better than Beats. Their head phones sound terrible and bass sounds really muffly when you turn up the sound or when the bass is very very deep.
 
Ok put your money where your mouth is

So every time I read a thread about Bose, I hear, no pun initially intended, but now that I think of it, pun. Anyway, people go on about how bad Bose are, and how crappy the sound, etc. But they never seem to offer *their* top list of headphones. I've used Bose, Sony, Sennheiser, and probably dozens more over the years.

So, for those who don't like Bose for whatever reason, why not list your TOP FIVE HEADPHONES so this thread could be constructive and rather than saying "the sound sucks," people can go and try out the other brands that offer superior sound quality.
 
ThunderSkunk said:
We haven't used blueprints since 1993.

I can still remember the smell of ammonia filling the office though.

Thanks for that.

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Stop. Quality is not subjective in this case. All this stuff is disposable consumer junk.
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Like our iPhones, iPads, Macs etc.. It's all disposable junk...but here we are on a MacRumors forum pining away over disposable junk.
 
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