Tomorrow Bose will begin selling its latest noise-canceling headphones, the QuietComfort 15. The new model replaces and improves upon the age-old QuietComfort 2 model, sporting pretty much the exact same design, but with improved noise-canceling ability. The QC15 adds a microphone on the outside (the QC2 had just one mike, on the inside) and upgraded electronics that kill even more noise. The noise-canceling process is still strictly analog. Like the QC2, it runs on a single AAA battery.

Bose unveiled the new pair in New York City today. A well-crafted demo showed off the improved noise cancellation, cutting out considerably more of a 90dB recording of airplane noise than the QC2. Overall sound quality was pretty much the same. Comfort-wise, though, I still prefer the QuietComfort 3.

Why did Bose jump right up to 15 instead of calling these QuietComfort 4? Apparently it was a marketing decision to better sell the headphones in other countries, so we shouldn't infer that QC's 4 through 14 didn't work out. The QC15 sells for the same price as the QC2, $300.

Via Bose