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Comment by riazrizvi | Hacker News Reader

I bought my first pair of QC 20’s in 2015, and experienced mechanical failures over the years as you might expect. They replaced the first two pairs free. Then they let me buy the next two at cost. Considering I use them about 70 hours a week every week, I think their customer service has been absolutely fantastic. I’m waiting for their in-ear noise-cancelling wireless earpods that are due out this year. I don’t care how much they cost.

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Huh. I bought my Sennheiser PXC 450 nearly 15 years ago, and used it daily, as well as on regular transatlantic flights, for about 8 years and I only had to replace batteries and ear cushions and one cable, never the whole thing. That's a crazy rate of device replacement.

My PXC 450 still going strong as well, I think 7 years now. I have replaced the cushions once and will have to do it the second time soon, but will most likely continue using these at least for some years as they just don't seem to break. I have looked into wireless options, but so far I haven't really seen enough benefit to switch. And my worry is that once I switch, I need to get new ones every second year do to headphones just breaking or battery dying. I really don't want to do that, for many obvious reasons. I have also a lot of good higher end headphones that so far I have been able to fix every single obe with manufacturer spare parts when they wore down.

I find that alarming you need to get new headphones so often. I've used my boses while commuting for over a year now with no trouble luckily, but this doesn't sound good.

My office headphones have always been Beyerdynamics. I've owned a pair of dt880s and now dt1770 pros and used them almost daily. The 880 I bought in 2003 and 1770 in 2016. Both work with no trouble and deliver perfect sound. I expect them to last for a few more decades...

The qc20s are earbuds, it's been my experience that they die more often. Partly from being in bags and pockets, and part from the wire-bud connection breaking down. Part of the reason I only buy mmcx models, so you can replace the wire when it wears out

I bought a pair of Etymotic Research ER4p IEMs in 2011, and was not even remotely gentle with them. They worked fantastically until 2017, at which point one of the cables came loose, and while I could have replaced the cable for $50 (Alas, not a user-servicable part), I decided that I wanted a second pair as a backup, and the replacement has user-servicable cables. My father, who is somewhat kinder to his electronics than I am, has been using the same pair of ER4p's since 2008 or so.

Quality earbuds don't need to be fragile.

I went through 5 pairs in 18 months but it was because I slept with them in, and realized that was the source. Have had one pair die in 3 years when I don't sleep with them in, and I'm pretty careless (they fall on cement sometimes, get banged against the car door, etc).

Beyerdynamics make great headphones, have had my dt770 for 8 years. Their earbuds on the other hand; I have not owned a pair which lasted through the warranty period (3 pairs).

Wouldn't touch any of the non-studio lineup from either Beyerdynamic or Sennheiser. The dt770/880 and 1770/1880 are great.

Wow. I bought mine back in 2009ish, they survived till around 2014 after near daily use. I wanted Bluetooth so i upgraded to the qc35 and they’re my current pair. I am super brand loyal now, but i will admit my AirPods are taking a lot of my ear time.

I went to Sony's and then started working from home, but still got AirPods Pro. Haven't used Sony's for months.

> I use them about 70 hours a week every week

Do you work too much, or do you only ever take them off to shower and sleep?

Doesn't sound unrealistic if you consume a lot of audio media when working and in your free time.

168 hours in a week, minus the 70 hours leaves 98 hours free. Lets say you sleep 8 hours a day, 56 hours each week. 98 - 56 leaves 42 hours where they are not sleeping and not wearing the headphones. More than enough for showers!

I think I also listen to music or podcasts for around 9-10 hours a day currently, one way or another (for example, I usually listen to music while showering, way more fun). Most of the time I have background music on, unless I'm outside hiking or social gatherings. Then one of my hobbies are making music... But right now I'm doing 0 hiking and 0 social gatherings, so lots of music.

I listen to music almost all my waking hours as well, but with speakers.

It makes my ears too itchy inside if I wear cupped headphones for more than 3-4 hours straight. My theory is that it build up humidity from my body but it's not ventilated because the headphones' cups are tight.

Anyone else with that problem? How do you avoid itchy ears after wearing headphones for longer times?

> How do you avoid itchy ears after wearing headphones for longer times?

Don't! I also have the same problem if I wear headphones for too long, usually 2-3 hours, so about the same as you (got the Bose QC35), so I usually only use those headphones when I want to make sure I remove bright noises from the environment, like airplanes.

Otherwise, at home (which is 100% of my time because of the lockdown) I use speakers (same for showers, using speakers). Then office environment I usually have my in-ear headphones that have superior bass compared to my headphones and I can wear them for the full day without feeling anything on the top of my head or my ears.

> Don't!

I wish! But I have the pleasure of working in an "open office"... I have to wear headphones (or 3M construction earmuffs/PPE when I don't want music) just so I can hear myself think in the middle of all the chatter.

Yeah, I feel you. Try getting some in-ear headphones or similar, that doesn't wrap around your entire ear. Switching between in-ear and headphones makes the problem go away for me (I also normally spend a lot of time in a office room with 10 other people from different departments, all together, so noisy environment)

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