For some reason, I started believing that good quality headphones were worth a hefty price. The problem? Good quality headphones do not exist.

Take for example Bose. Now, perhaps it’s my age… or maybe liking The Sharper Image catalogs as a kid… but I had always considered Bose to be a “premium” brand. After all, it does come with a premium price.

With a premium brand (or price), one would expect good quality; including:

• Great Sound
• Built to Last
• Quality Parts

It’s the last two that I just can no longer find.

With Bose, I had bought the QuietComfort headphones to use on long flights (as well as in areas where I would benefit from some noise cancellation). They were a hefty price (around $350) and I did a lot of pro/con before Yeni finally pushed me to just get them.

They were fine. They did a decent job of cancelling noise, were a bit warm to wear, but not something that would cause an issue for a long flight, and the sound was fine. Wasn’t anything that made me think “WOW,” but also nothing to complain about.

The quality though was poor. After about 30 hours of use, the “foam” ear cups started to break away. Couldn’t imagine that this was normal, but according to Bose and may other users… yes, it happens all the time.

For a headset that would serve well in conference calls, I tried out the Jabra Evolve 75 – with the optional charging stand… around $350.

And, today (after maybe 200 hours use):

My airpods being plastic don’t have this problem… but if you’re like me… you just didn’t love wearing them. I much prefer a headphone. But, I also prefer something that lasts.

Maybe it’s time for me to embrace the pod style.