[MacedonianHero]

 
indeed. I have bought my pair two days ago and can hear the hiss too. Its pretty loud if no music is playing. The noice canceling seems not as good as is suggested. :/ I can clearly hear my wife and everything else sounds like its 10 feet away but nothing spectacular (without music playing). Is it normal or is something wrong with my cans?

 
Take them on a plane and turn them on...NC will not drown out every sound. It's meant to take out the low level frequency hums of airplanes/air conditioners/etc... I think you're expectations might have been off coming in. On a flight, nothing will put me in a "cone of silence" like the QC35s...if you're a frequent flyer, they are quite remarkable. 

 

[Roen]

I bought a pair, and I'm totally underwhelmed with sound quality. To me they sound totally flat and compressed.

Source: FLAC 16bit
Players: Power Amp / FooBar
Devices: Galaxy Note 5 / BT 4.1 Qualcomm

Quick question, how can they sound good when they're limited to SBC which sounds at best like 256kb MP3?
AAC is only on Apple devices, or can I get it on Android too? ... I only have flacs.

I have a pair of Shure 535's and some Denon AH-D5000's and they literally wipe the floor with the Bose in every respect except ANC, there's a big difference in sound.

Also with a PS Vita I notice a slight delay, having google this before I came here, the consensus seems to be SBC/AAC over A2DP has high latency due to the nature of the codec, whereas AptX has much lower latency.

Why didn't they add AptX?
Do I really need an iOS device in order to get a semblance of quality sound?
Are the Bose a little over rated and expensive for the quality and technology?

I did audition the Sony 1000x, but the QC35 seemed more comfortable and the demo sound was ~good in the shop.

Didn't take in to consideration codec support, but now I'm starting to regret as I assumed since nothing has changed with BT sound in the past 8 years, Bose would be using the best available as it's dirt cheap tech.

Convert your flacs to 320 kbps mp3, perhaps the QC35 supports mp3 over Bluetooth.

Additionally, you can use the wire. Does your phone support AptX?

Remember, you're buying Bose for the ANC, not the SQ.

 

[apaar123]

has anyone used them for workout ?

 

[gabey]

i wouldn't advise it.  it's not something you want to sweat up.  plus theyre bigger than cans that others use at the gym

 

[apaar123]

i wouldn't advise it.  it's not something you want to sweat up.  plus theyre bigger than cans that others use at the gym

btw do they block higher pitch voices well?

 

[gabey]

No they don't. Voices come through on the plane easily . I don't get why folks here find the NC acceptable for $350.

I returned mine because on a flight it was so infuriating to hear these women non stop chatting on the plane! I could hear them through the music!

Now the Sony 1000x s actually do block voices much better but are huge for the gym

 

[apaar123]

No they don't. Voices come through on the plane easily . I don't get why folks here find the NC acceptable for $350.

I returned mine because on a flight it was so infuriating to hear these women non stop chatting on the plane! I could hear them through the music!

Now the Sony 1000x s actually do block voices much better but are huge for the gym

i won't use for gym,I mainly want for blocking noise

 

[gabey]

well - i don't think theyre great for blocking voices.
 
the sonys work better with nc 
 
my suggestion is to buy both of them and see which one you end up keeping. 
 
QC35 > 1000x
comfort - feel lighter and the 1000x seem to be made for a bigger head
mobile app - switching between computer and mobile phones
 
1000x . qc35
music quality much much better
noise cancellation far superior - blocks most voices
touch controls - while finicky more usable than the qc35s
build quality - great quality - the qc35s feel like a toy

 

[apaar123]

well - i don't think theyre great for blocking voices.

the sonys work better with nc 

my suggestion is to buy both of them and see which one you end up keeping. 

QC35 > 1000x
comfort - feel lighter and the 1000x seem to be made for a bigger head
mobile app - switching between computer and mobile phones

1000x . qc35
music quality much much better
noise cancellation far superior - blocks most voices
touch controls - while finicky more usable than the qc35s
build quality - great quality - the qc35s feel like a toy

I have also shortlisted Sony MDR 100abn and senheiser pxc 550. Have you tried them?

 

[marcus1]

Do the QC35's support a aptx Bluetooth signal?  
I've already ordered the headphones plus a separate Bluetooth transmitter that appears to transmit only a aptx signal (a HomeSpot Bluetooth Audio TV Transmitter from Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/HomeSpot-Wireless-Bluetooth-Transmitter-supported/dp/B00QV77YIC/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8).  
Anyone please confirm if the QC35's will work (with the Homespot Tx) or will I have to buy a standard Bluetooth transmitter?
 
Thanks

 

[Graham Baker]

  Do the QC35's support a aptx Bluetooth signal?  
 
Thanks

No....

 

[bubsdaddy]

The transmitter should work fine with the QC35 or any other bluetooth device. The QC35 doesn't have Apt-x but it will still receive the signal. 

 

[PDevil]

I have also shortlisted Sony MDR 100abn and senheiser pxc 550. Have you tried them?

I answered your question over in those forums regarding the use of the MDR 100 ABN headphones for use while exercising (the answer is the same as using the QC35 headphones: don't).  I haven't tried the Sennheiser PXC 550's but I have tried their Momentum 2.0 headphones.  I originally returned my Sony's (MDR 100 ABN) as I was really focused more on noise cancellation and they didn't do as good of a job as the QC35's.  I thought that their sound quality was much better and I liked that you could turn NC on and off.  The QC35's are more comfortable and cancel noise better, the Sony's sound better and can last longer per charge when you disable NC.  I also think the Sony's are a little better built.  The highs and mids are more prominent with the Sony headphones while the bass doesn't feel at artificially boosted.  My opinion regarding the Sennheiser Momentum 2.0 headphones isn't great.  Their noise cancellation is horrendous but I think they sound the best (I've read that the PXC 550's sound different than the Momentum 2.0's), they also had terrible connection issues and I've also read that Sennheiser hasn't fixed that with the PXC 550 headphones.  Lastly, if you use an iPhone, stay away from Sennheiser's wireless headphones as they do not support AAC.  They support standard SBR and aptX but no AAC.

 

[Jim Bobber]

I'd have to disagree, I had the mdr 1000's for just over a week, having had the Bose for about 2 months prior. I sold my Bose to get the Sony's as I have a player that supports LDAC. First off I did no find the Sony's significantly better at all for NC, I actually found that when walking along a road as I often do with reasaonably fast moving traffic, the noise came through the Sony's at a higher pitch, it was kimd of odd. I also walk up a hill and found with the Sony's that I had to keep recalibration hem else I'd get a popping noise seemingly as altitude changed. It was nothing major, and the NC is good, but with the Bose it just works. You pay what you pay because it's the best NC out here. Active NC does not block out people talking completely but the Bose do a great job as do the Sony's. Ultimately got rid of the Sony's and went back to Bose due to terrible build quality on he Sony's. First pair had a knocking noise in the left ear cup, pretty much any movement and ou could hear it. Returned to the Sony store for another pair and out of the box same issue!

That was it for me, the sound with LDAC was good, though I prefer the base on the 35's. So I got a refund!

 

[Jim Bobber]

well - i don't think theyre great for blocking voices.

the sonys work better with nc 

my suggestion is to buy both of them and see which one you end up keeping. 

QC35 > 1000x
comfort - feel lighter and the 1000x seem to be made for a bigger head
mobile app - switching between computer and mobile phones

1000x . qc35
music quality much much better
noise cancellation far superior - blocks most voices
touch controls - while finicky more usable than the qc35s
build quality - great quality - the qc35s feel like a toy

Like you said if you can try both then do so. I'd have to disagree with most of what you have said, but that shows we are all different.

First off, I think the Sony's are only better sound wise when used with LDAC and decent quality FLACS. I have. Sony NW 25 which is why I got the 1000's the sound quality was better than any Bluetooth connection so yep it beat the Bose, but connecting the player was a bit hit and miss sometimes, surprisingly! Anyway, the Bose paired with good 320k rips on an iPhone also sounded good. I actually found the base on the 1000's to be lacking, almost anaemic. I prefer the Bose, it's fuller but remains tight enough at the bottom end to impress, when I use the Bose with the cable, and my a25 then they take on a different sound and sound much better than with Bluetooth. So I guess it varies on the source and the file quality as to sound experience!

RE NC, they are both so close I don't believe it's much of a contest, the Bose pip the Sony's for me because they just work, I never have to recalibrate the Bose and had no issues with popping and pressure which I did with the Sony's

Touch controls, nah, volume and skipping was fine, but pausing was a right pain, having to tap dead centre when you can see was a real pain. The buttons on the Bose work 100% of the time, period!

Build quality for me is no contest at all. I had the 1000's for a week, on day one there was a knocking noise in the left ear cup, if you tilted your head or opened and closed your mouth it was there, by the end of the week I could hear it when walking. It was amplified because of the fact the NC is great. I went to replace them and the new pair out of the box had the same issue. It was faint, but I figured as with the first pair it would get worse. The Sony shop offered to send them to there repair shop and see if they could figure out what the problem was. But I went with a refund

Also call quality was basically terrible with the 1000's compared to the Bose, seriously not even close. And connectivity is way better with the Bose, easily connects to 2 devices, the MDR's were trickier and many people don't seem to get it to work.

So for me the Bose pip the 1000's. I may would have probably stuck with the 1000's for the LDAC had they actually not made noises when I moved, but read the forums and people are complaining about knocking and creaking with the Sony's, I've not had any issues with now 2 pairs of Bose. Also I reckon the Sony's will look a lot worse in a year or 2. I had a pair of MDR 1BT's a year back, the 'pleather' wore off both ear cups and looked horrible in the end!

So yes, have a good play with both and see what you reckon.