Panasonic RP-DH1200

Design

You can knock Bose for many things, but design isn’t one of them: the QuietComfort 15s are a well-designed set of headphones. They look good, aren’t very big, fold up to add to portability, and have a detachable cable if you just want to use them for active noise cancellation. The RP-DH1200s are bulky, fold up a bit, but since they’re big, it doesn’t help that much. Their cord is also detachable, but since the headphones don’t have an active cancellation feature, it only helps with portability—and only slightly.

Panasonic RP-DH1200	Bose QuietComfort 15

Frequency Response

Neither set of headphones had a particularly impeccable frequency response. The RP-DH1200 has a huge drop in it around the 7kHz range, but otherwise

Panasonic RP-DH1200	Bose QuietComfort 15

Distortion

The QC15s have a lot more distortion than the RP-DH1200s, primarily because you can’t shut off their active noise cancellation.

Panasonic RP-DH1200	Bose QuietComfort 15

Tracking

The Bose QC15s have an erratic tracking towards the high end, but are more even in the low end.

Panasonic RP-DH1200	Bose QuietComfort 15

Isolation

The QC15s isolate crazy well. They’re some of the best active-cancellers we’ve reviewed. If you’re going to be in a noisy environment, the QC15s are a great pick.

Panasonic RP-DH1200	Bose QuietComfort 15

Comfort

We thought the QC15s were far, far more comfortable. They weren’t as tight, and since they didn’t have so much weight in the band, it didn’t slide around as much.

Wear
Panasonic RP-DH1200	Bose QuietComfort 15

Verdict

If you’re looking for a cheap set of cans to wear around the house, you should probably go for the RP-DH1200s. If, on the other hand, you don’t mind spending a bit more for a set of headphones you can comfortably wear on the morning train or bus commute, the QC15s fit the bill.