[pkshiu]

full review later, but took my new QC30 to the office today. It works wonderfully with ANC. As good as my QC20i (wired version). The earbuds are different in that there is a small hole/port at the end of the earpiece on the QC30. I wonder if that is making the sound quality better. I am testing several headphones at the moment and the sound from the QC30 is very good, and I am not a Bose fan in sound signature wise before. Bluetooth range is also much better. We are in a warehouse style office and I can walk 50 ft away, almost light of sight, and the connection holds. At home it drops at 25 ft or limited sight line.
 
P.K.

 

[Bob24]

Question for QC30 owners on how it handles multiple devices. My understanding is that it remains connected to 2 devices simultaneously and of those can play audio. What happens if one device is already playing and the second one starts playing as well? Will it stop the first one and start playing from the second one?

Also I understand it can remember 8 devices? What does that mean in practical terms? Does it simply mean that it it is actively connected to 2 devices and I turn on a third one it remembers, I need to go to the Bluetooth menu of he third device and can connect to the QC30 without putting the earphones in peering mode?

 

[pkshiu]

Question for QC30 owners on how it handles multiple devices. My understanding is that it remains connected to 2 devices simultaneously and of those can play audio. What happens if one device is already playing and the second one starts playing as well? Will it stop the first one and start playing from the second one?

Also I understand it can remember 8 devices? What does that mean in practical terms? Does it simply mean that it it is actively connected to 2 devices and I turn on a third one it remembers, I need to go to the Bluetooth menu of he third device and can connect to the QC30 without putting the earphones in peering mode?

This is the best part of the Bose bluetooth implementation. It will stay connected (watched maybe a better way to think about it) to two devices. Whichever one start playing audio it will switch to it.
 
On start up, it will search for the last two devices for connection. If one or both of them are not there, it will go down the list of previously connected devices. This does not always work. You can also press the power button briefly to make it go down the list.
 
I have not tried connecting 8 devices. But I have two laptops, one at home and one in the office. Then my iPhone is always around. So as I move between home and office, the QC30 (and soundsports wireless) will 90% of the time find the right two devices and connect without I having to do anything.
 
P.K.

 

[pkshiu]

I posted my full review here:
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/824130/bose-quietcontrol-qc30-bluetooth-active-noise-canceling-headphones-reviewed
 
TL;DR -- it's great. If you don't mind the price, this is the best ANC + bluetooth setup !

 

[Bob24]

Surprised there is so little activity here as Bose seems to be selling a lot of these?

I am seriously interested in them but was hoping for more Head-Fiers' feedback as reviews on Amazon are mixed-up (quite a few are saying noise cancellation AND audio quality is worse than with the QC20 - which I find quite surprising and a bit hard to believe).

 

[Kermy]

Surprised there is so little activity here as Bose seems to be selling a lot of these?


I am seriously interested in them but was hoping for more Head-Fiers' feedback as reviews on Amazon are mixed-up (quite a few are saying Noise  cancellation AND audio quality is worse than with the QC20 - which I find quit surprising).

In the same boat as you. I want to buy them but the reviews on amazon aren't very favorable. Might just bite the bullet and get them and return if I don't like them.

 

[bubsdaddy]

In the same boat as you. I want to buy them but the reviews on amazon aren't very favorable. Might just bite the bullet and get them and return if I don't like them.

I am beginning to think there may be quality control issues. I love mine. On my last flight, I took my QC35, QC20 and the QC30. I expected that the QC30 would come out as the least effective for NC. Instead, it blocked the mid to higher frequency sound better than both of the others. I was very surprised so I checked it on both of my flights - outbound and return. Same result. The reviews on Amazon indicate others are not experiencing the same level of NC. Also, I have had numerous conversations using the QC30 as a headset. I haven't received one negative comment about the sound of the microphone even after asking the person on the other end about the call quality. 
 
For sound, I rank the QC35 higher. The bass od the QC35 is deeper and the soundstage is incredible. The QC20 and QC30 are very comparable in SQ. 

 

[pkshiu]

I wonder if people are not fitting the earpiece properly? For IEM ANC, it has to seal. If there is no seal, there is no ANC ! Another thought is that people expects it to filter out human voice, which it does not by design.

 

[Bombarde]

I wonder if people are not fitting the earpiece properly? For IEM ANC, it has to seal. If there is no seal, there is no ANC ! Another thought is that people expects it to filter out human voice, which it does not by design.

My thoughts exactly - you beat me too it. If I go to the next smaller size tips, the ANC stinks.

 

[dweaver]

I started with the default tips and switched to the large tips and while I didn't notice a change in seal the isolation was considerably lower so I went back to the medium tips. So yup if isolation seems off it sure can't hurt to play around with the tips.

 

[jhoff80]

Is wind noise as big a problem for any of you as the Amazon reviews make it sound?  While I do travel occasionally,  my primary use would be outdoors walking or biking, so that would be a deal breaker for me. I know the first poster mentioned it a little, but that's it.

 

[dweaver]

It suffers from wind noise about as bad as any ANC product, it is their Achilles heel.

 

[rbc3585]

The thing that gives me pause is that many of the reviewers panning the anc are comparing it to that of the qc20, so presumably they know how to fit ear tips (unless the design was overhauled or something) and aren't expecting absolute silence etc. see here https://www.cnet.com/au/products/bose-quietcontrol-30/review/

 

[pkshiu]

  The thing that gives me pause is that many of the reviewers panning the anc are comparing it to that of the qc20, so presumably they know how to fit ear tips (unless the design was overhauled or something) and aren't expecting absolute silence etc. see here https://www.cnet.com/au/products/bose-quietcontrol-30/review/

I wonder if they are not used to the "up / down " control of the ANC ? There are buttons on the side of the remote (as well as the iPhone app) to turn the ANC up and down in range. Could it be user error, hitting that instead of the volume control? I have used the very old over ear version, the 20i version, and now this version. This one is at least as good as the others. Strange...
 
P.K.

 

[rbc3585]

yeah I'm not sure, having never owned a bose. I wonder if they allow in store demos of iems? Probably a bit unhygienic hahah.