[kidodz]

Hello Headphone Experts and Audiophiles,

I have a pair of QC35.
Drivers are out of order.
Out of warranty.
No way to send to Bose for repairs as I live far from their offices.
So I'm on my own, and would like to kindly request the forum's help.

After some research I have determined that the original drivers have the following specs:

Driver type: dynamic
Impedance: 32 Ohms
Max. voltage: 1V
Max. current: 25mA
Nom. power rating: 20mW
Max. S.P.L.: 118dB
Text printed on the original driver: GW 32 ohm 20mw + some numbers that look like a serial

I will be replacing the drivers.

Most people buy replacement drivers with the following specs.
They are sold on Ali Express at a good price, feedback is generally positive.
The best seller driver replacement specs are:

Type：Cone Permanent-magnet dynamic loudspeaker.
Dimensions：40mm 1.5 inch
Input：Nominal input 20mW Maximum input 30mW.
Nominal Impedance：32Ω ±15% At 1000Hz test
Lowest Resonance Frequency：87Hz ±20 %At(0.8V)
Output Sound Pressure Level：132 ±3dB
(At 1000Hz 0.8V 20mW SoundChecktest )
Effective Frequency Band：F0～5KHz-10dB
Distortion：5 % less than 20mW, 1000Hz more than BuzzRattle.
Must be normal at sine wave 0.8 V,25～6 K Hz,/uf．
LoadTest：Must be normal after load test：white noise 20mW 96 hours.

I would like to attempt a mod with upgraded drivers.
I have found other types of drivers, they seem to be of higher quality and differ somewhat in specs.
But I am a total Newbie, so I'd love some help and guidance.

Option 1 are called 'titanium' drivers, have the proper dimensions and impedance, have successfully been used on Marshall major 2 BT headphones to replace OEM parts.
They seem to be better build.

Specs for option 1:

Product name: 40mm headphone speaker unit
Rated impedance: 32 ohm
Rated power: 0.5 W
Frequency characteristics: Deep Bass (low frequency).
Membrane material: Imported titanium film.
Frequency: 20Hz-20KHZ
Sensitivity: 111 dB/W
Distortion: 2 TMD%

Option 2 are labelled 32 ohm 40MM three-film composite super soft bass headphone speakers .
They were successfully used on JBL Live 650btnc with better sound than the original OEM, according to feedback.

Specs for option 2:

Rated impedance: 32 ohm.
Rated power: 0.03 (W).
Frequency characteristics: full frequency band (full range).
Diaphragm material: three-membrane composite.
Shape: round. Size : 40mm .
Magnetic circuit form: internal magnetic type.
Type: electric type (moving coil type).
Uses: high fidelity (home use).

Question:
Is it possible to replace the original OEM drivers with Option 1 or 2 above?
Generally what should I look for when choosing drivers, the intent is to have better sound and longevity whilst keeping ANC working?

Thank you!

NB : edited for formatting

 

[GREQ]

To simply answer the question, yes it's completely possible to replace the drivers with practically ANY 40mm 32 ohm driver...
... however...
Doing so would be a pretty bad idea in most cases.

The reason being that the DSP circuitry inside the headphone is designed specifically for the original drivers and their natural frequency response.
The DSP won't know that there is a different driver inside the headphone and will still apply the same corrections that were designed for the original driver.
This may lead to some very funky and unwanted peaks and dips in the frequency response... so you might end up with extremely thin sounding bass, or very harsh treble, for example.

I personally would try to replace them with as close to the original drivers as possible.
So... something cheap that looks identical to the originals.
These should do the trick; they look pretty close to the originals.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/400...-1;3.26;-1;-1@salePrice;EUR;search-mainSearch

Save your money and upgrade driver projects for passive headphones.
Then you can do all the tuning you like with ear pads and damping mods.

 

[kidodz]

To simply answer the question, yes it's completely possible to replace the drivers with practically ANY 40mm 32 ohm driver...
... however...
Doing so would be a pretty bad idea in most cases.

The reason being that the DSP circuitry inside the headphone is designed specifically for the original drivers and their natural frequency response.
The DSP won't know that there is a different driver inside the headphone and will still apply the same corrections that were designed for the original driver.
This may lead to some very funky and unwanted peaks and dips in the frequency response... so you might end up with extremely thin sounding bass, or very harsh treble, for example.

I personally would try to replace them with as close to the original drivers as possible.
So... something cheap that looks identical to the originals.
These should do the trick; they look pretty close to the originals.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4001053726811.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.0.0.139d65c3m3qn5i&algo_pvid=23479a83-24ea-4397-8430-66e96dc7e1d8&algo_exp_id=23479a83-24ea-4397-8430-66e96dc7e1d8-1&pdp_ext_f={"sku_id":"12000026459671800"}&pdp_pi=-1;3.26;-1;-1@salePrice;EUR;search-mainSearch

Save your money and upgrade driver projects for passive headphones.
Then you can do all the tuning you like with ear pads and damping mods.

Thank you for taking the time to answer. It makes sense to stick with drivers as close as possible to OEM to take into account the DSP processing.

I had several Bose ANC headphones going south on me on average every six months. Warranty claims are not practical where I live and it is becoming an expensive habit to replace these units with new ones @300 dollars a pop each time it happens, hence the desire to go for a DIY solution with an eye on longevity of the drivers.

My experience may be due to intensive usage, as I keep the headphones on several hours a day for noise cancelling, but it seems Bose drivers are known to fail fairly often based on my readings on reddit and such. I stick with the Bose brand due to the efficacy of their ANC feature, and availability of the product locally. Have tried the ANC Momentum from Sennheiser, also available locally, they sound better but are less efficient ANC wise, and not as comfortable to wear for a long time, and I have no experience with Sony.

What do you think of the claims in the following offering?

They claim to have created an improved driver specifically for QC35, with better materials, the store seems legit and has good ratings but the product has not been sold yet so no feedback. I am not knowledgeable enough to understand whether their claims make any sense

Would you be so kind as to take a quick peek?

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002665062477.html

Thank you!

 

[GREQ]

Thank you for taking the time to answer. It makes sense to stick with drivers as close as possible to OEM to take into account the DSP processing.

I had several Bose ANC headphones going south on me on average every six months. Warranty claims are not practical where I live and it is becoming an expensive habit to replace these units with new ones @300 dollars a pop each time it happens, hence the desire to go for a DIY solution with an eye on longevity of the drivers.

My experience may be due to intensive usage, as I keep the headphones on several hours a day for noise cancelling, but it seems Bose drivers are known to fail fairly often based on my readings on reddit and such.

What do you think of the claims in the following offering?

They claim to have created an improved driver specifically for QC35, with better materials, the store seems legit and has good ratings but the product has not been sold yet so no feedback. I am not knowledgeable enough to understand whether their claims make any sense

Would you be so kind as to take a quick peek?

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002665062477.html

Thank you!

Honestly it looks like they're just cheap generic drivers with black stickers put on to make them appear as something more than they are.
Take those stickers off and they're just as cheap and generic as the one I linked above.

Weird that Bose drivers fail so often.
This is just me thinking out loud, but I wonder if the ANC or DSP is too aggressive, or the amplifier inside the headphone is deliberately putting out too much energy and slowly burning out the voice coils due to planned obsolescence.
That's not normal at all.
Or it could just be because they DO actually use cheap generic drivers in their headphones in the first place