[RamGuy]

Am I the only one that find the sound signature lacking? I got them for free, and I prefer them during plane rides due to the ANC and the ANC completely blows my B&O BeoPlay H9 and it's excuse for ANC out of the water. But man, there is just something really off with the audio on these and the app doesn't allow any kind of customisation in regards to EQ, normalisation, loudness or anything. First I thought it had something to do with the really aggressive ANC as ANC will always have an effect on sound signature and overall sound quality and the Bose QC35 gives you this really noticeable "cabin pressure" feeling so they clearly scarifies something to achieve this level of active noise cancellation. But as we are able to reduce and even disable ANC within the Bose Connect-app using the latest firmware's I can say it has nothing to do with ANC as the sound signature feels just as awkward with ANC disabled.

I have a lot of headphones and IEM's. I currently own Shure SE846, Westone UM3X, Apple AirPods, B&O BeoPlay H7 (rev1), H7 (rev2), H9, Bose QC35, Sennheiser HD650 and HD800. And previously I owned Westone 4R and Beats Studio2 Wireless. Yeah, my list is getting rather long.... And I have to admit that the Bose QC35 has the most awkward sound signature out of the bunch. It's not isolated to my specific ones either as I own two pairs, one for my girlfriend as well and it sounds just the same. I describe it as "awkward" as the audio quality isn't bad per say, but there is just something off with it sound signature. Listening to vocals in music, podcasts and audiobooks and voices just doesn't sound right to me. They sound different on the Bose QC35 compared to pretty much everything else I own and it's not in a good way. I could get used to it if it wasn't for the fact that I use other headphones all the time, so the awkwardness is so abundantly clear to me every time I use the QC35.

It's really sad as the ANC is stellar, they are really light and comfortable (even though I don't like their design/look) and the multi-point/multi-device is leaps and beyond everyone else. They don't work as seamless as units with Apple's W1 chip, but they do have a seamless integration and can move between devices like no other (besides the ones with W1) can. All the BeoPlay's I own have to be re-paired in order to move from device to device, even though they claim they support multi-point, something they clearly doesn't. So the Bose QC35 are so darn close to being "perfect", especially now as you can tune-down that somewhat overly aggressive ANC when you prefer comfort over noise cancellation as having it on full creates this cabin pressure feeling. But the sound signature just puts me off, it makes me not want to use them unless I really want the ANC.

 

[Graham Baker]

No you are not the only one - I tried three pairs of QC35's, the first had extra loud hiss in the left cup after about 10min use, the replacements had what seemed to me to be bad harmonic distortion in both cups (rather like speaker cone poling) and the next replacements still had some weird 'detached' and gritty sounding top end, the same as the two previous pairs. So all three pairs seemed to me to have a gritty/steely and detached top end, mainly with poor low quality mp3's that I just couldn't live with.
I sold them and bought a set of Sennheiser PXC550's. For me the audio from these is much smoother in the top end, it's coherent, even with my poor quality mp3's.

 

[sdchew]

So the Bose QC35 are so darn close to being "perfect", especially now as you can tune-down that somewhat overly aggressive ANC when you prefer comfort over noise cancellation as having it on full creates this cabin pressure feeling. But the sound signature just puts me off, it makes me not want to use them unless I really want the ANC.

I have quite a few of the headset you have and agree that the ANC is good thou I don't consider the QC35 as near perfect. The mic is totally hopeless for calls.

 

[MacedonianHero]

No you are not the only one - I tried three pairs of QC35's, the first had extra loud hiss in the left cup after about 10min use, the replacements had what seemed to me to be bad harmonic distortion in both cups (rather like speaker cone poling) and the next replacements still had some weird 'detached' and gritty sounding top end, the same as the two previous pairs. So all three pairs seemed to me to have a gritty/steely and detached top end, mainly with poor low quality mp3's that I just couldn't live with.
I sold them and bought a set of Sennheiser PXC550's. For me the audio from these is much smoother in the top end, it's coherent, even with my poor quality mp3's.

I personally thought the PXC550 was third behind the QC35 and MDR1000X (in terms of both NC and sound quality).

 

[richpjr]

I see that the QC35s are on sale this week. Wonder if they are clearing stock for the rumored replacement...

 

[neil74]

I just picked some up today to use on my commute.

1 - As expected the SQ is not as good as my P7Ws. They sound ok though
2 - The volume on them is really quite low
3 - They are very comfortable, fold down nicely, have great NC so are great for a commute

But.....

They drop audio when moving. I have a 2 mile walk from the station and they drop audio at least once a minute, often several times. Tried different pockets to no avail, looking at the bose support forums this seems to be a known issue that is quite common and there is mention of it in this thread too.

So back they go and probably for a refund rather than exchange.

 

[Graham Baker]

I personally thought the PXC550 was third behind the QC35 and MDR1000X (in terms of both NC and sound quality).

I think the bass/bottom end on the QC35's is superior to the PXC550 out of the box, but once you set up the EQ to your liking in the PXC's 'Director Mode' they come alive and they stay that way, the 550's effects/EQ modes stay permanent for ever, until disabled/modified by the owner

 

[Graham Baker]

I just picked some up today to use on my commute.

1 - As expected the SQ is not as good as my P7Ws. They sound ok though
2 - The volume on them is really quite low
3 - They are very comfortable, fold down nicely, have great NC so are great for a commute

But.....

They drop audio when moving. I have a 2 mile walk from the station and they drop audio at least once a minute, often several times. Tried different pockets to no avail, looking at the bose support forums this seems to be a known issue that is quite common and there is mention of it in this thread too.

So back they go and probably for a refund rather than exchange.

Agreed, I also have the P7w's and the QC35's are nowhere near in audio or physical quality. Then again you are comparing apples to oranges - the QC35's are supremely comfortable, very light and have the best ANC, the P7w's are (IMHO) more of a home-use hi fidelity headset, no ANC and nowhere near as comfortable.
Also the P7w's are incredibly loud, far more than my PXC550's/QC30's or QC35's...
I never had any problems with BT drop-out and the QC35's, in fact I could wear them right through my house with the phone (Note 3) charging in a far room.
What device are you using the QC35's with? I 'did' have problems connecting them to my MacBook... if you are using an iPhone perhaps it's more of an Apple problem?

 

[MacedonianHero]

I think the bass/bottom end on the QC35's is superior to the PXC550 out of the box, but once you set up the EQ to your liking in the PXC's 'Director Mode' they come alive and they stay that way, the 550's effects/EQ modes stay permanent for ever, until disabled/modified by the owner

I respectfully disagree as I found the more natural QC35s more to my flavour. That said, the NC was best on the Bose headphones out of all three (and comfort for my noggin).

 

[canthearyou]

I've had mine for a month so far. I use it in the office while doing paperwork. It blocks out almost everything. I think it has a very acceptable sound reproduction. I have placed numerous calls with it and people on the other line have no issues with hearing me. I can leave my phone(S8) on the desk and able to walk 25 or more feet before any sort of dropouts.

 

[Zimmy68]

I just picked some up today to use on my commute.

1 - As expected the SQ is not as good as my P7Ws. They sound ok though
2 - The volume on them is really quite low
3 - They are very comfortable, fold down nicely, have great NC so are great for a commute

But.....

They drop audio when moving. I have a 2 mile walk from the station and they drop audio at least once a minute, often several times. Tried different pockets to no avail, looking at the bose support forums this seems to be a known issue that is quite common and there is mention of it in this thread too.

So back they go and probably for a refund rather than exchange.

I have both headphones also.
I had the same problem with QC35s, updating the firmware seemed to fix it. If you haven’t already, try that.

 

[MacedonianHero]

I have both headphones also.
I had the same problem with QC35s, updating the firmware seemed to fix it. If you haven’t already, try that.

I love the P7's sound! Really tasty sounding headphones. That said, they are a bit too big, bulky without as good noise isolation (as the QC35s) for me to use them when I travel.

 

[ben_r_]

Same here. I can walk really far from my phone and they stay connected perfectly.

I think of all the Bluetooth headphones I tried these sound the nicest and the ANC works by far the best, but I didnt buy them to be my main, high quality headphones. I just got them to wear at work.

 

[Blaze55]

Very warm sounding. Sometimes too warm but still much better than most of the other stuff on market.

 

[neil74]

Consensus on the bose forums seems to be that this is a hardware issue affecting certain batches and that an update does not fix it, so I just decided to box them straight up and have them with me at work today to return. I guess I could give the update a try and return them tomorrow instead?

Out of interest for those who are not having this issue what phone do you have? I have an S8+ Wondering if the Bose's just maybe do not play nice with devices with the newer BT standard?

Tempted to give the Sony's a try as I do want some NC headphones but something about them just turns me off.