[Akash]

I have bought the latest qc20 black and blue ribbon for $299. I also have the older version (black and grey cable). I want to report that the sound quality on the latest sound much better.

1) the sound is much more richer, with slightly better mid range than the old version.
2) there are an increase in overall bass level .. Up to double that amount. The most noticeable is the sub bass, the bass sound like their speaker system. It goes much more deeper than the old version.
3) treble is slightly more smoother. The older version might have a little more treble as it sound thinner.

Overall, the sound quality differences is not small, this is no cable change type of small differences, it's like another headphone with more bass. The new one still has that Bose house sound but it's really way better than the old version. For $50 more, I urge everyone to get the new version.

The sub bass sound similar to se846 type. Of course, this is no se846 sound level.. Not even close. But I am saying their quantity is similar not quality. I compared to my jh Angie, and I was pretty taken aback that the bass level of Bose is around 2pm on my Angie bass dial.. The Bose has more sub bass presence. Of course, the Angie is at another level, just using another example.

To be honest, when up in the air, the Bose sound really good..

Thanks for the comparisons. I have the old Bose QC20i Gray / Black, been using it for a month only then I sold it, however my friend had his replaced free from Bose just last week, ( apparently if you have gray / black ones, Bose will only replace like for like, so he could not get a new colour replacement- which is fair enough)  
 
I was trying his which is also gray / black QC20i and to my amazement I found the sound to be more forward, better bass / treble etc.
 
So I was just thinking maybe the new replacement Gray / black version is also same as the new coloured one? I did ask Bose technical help desk, what was the difference between my old gray / black and the new coloured ones and he just said it was only a colour change! Anyway I am not convinced since my friend's ones definitely sounded better...
 
Oh well I might ring Bose again and ask.... Thanks

 

[whsbuss]

  Thanks for the comparisons. I have the old Bose QC20i Gray / Black, been using it for a month only then I sold it, however my friend had his replaced free from Bose just last week, ( apparently if you have gray / black ones, Bose will only replace like for like, so he could not get a new colour replacement- which is fair enough)  
 
I was trying his which is also gray / black QC20i and to my amazement I found the sound to be more forward, better bass / treble etc.
 
So I was just thinking maybe the new replacement Gray / black version is also same as the new coloured one? I did ask Bose technical help desk, what was the difference between my old gray / black and the new coloured ones and he just said it was only a colour change! Anyway I am not convinced since my friend's ones definitely sounded better...
 
Oh well I might ring Bose again and ask.... Thanks

I'm not sure the help desk @ Bose would actually know what changes, if any, the newer design has over the original. Why did your friend have to get a replacement pair? My biggest fear is durability on the newer design. I have read many, many reviews and there are lots of complaints about frayed cords on the originals.

 

[Akash]

 
I'm not sure the help desk @ Bose would actually know what changes, if any, the newer design has over the original. Why did your friend have to get a replacement pair? My biggest fear is durability on the newer design. I have read many, many reviews and there are lots of complaints about frayed cords on the originals.

Update! I spoke to Bose technical help representatives, 2 of them individually, they both said that there was no sound difference between the old version and the new colour version...lol! I spoke to Tim, who said he has both and he can't tell any difference, he said everything is same, the cable, battery, modulator etc. but the colour.
Email me if you want to know why my friend had a replacement....
My bro has old version QC20i , I am going to check those out.....
@whsbuss are you in UK? You get 2 years warranty in EU.

 

[whsbuss]

  Update! I spoke to Bose technical help representatives, 2 of them individually, they both said that there was no sound difference between the old version and the new colour version...lol! I spoke to Tim, who said he has both and he can't tell any difference, he said everything is same, the cable, battery, modulator etc. but the colour.
Email me if you want to know why my friend had a replacement....
My bro has old version QC20i , I am going to check those out.....
@whsbuss are you in UK? You get 2 years warranty in EU.

Akash - I'm in the USA so only 1 year warranty. That's very interesting that everyone says there's no changes. So only a color design change. Earlier in this thread, Audiowood said he compared new to old. Guess Bose wants to clean old stock at $50 sale in USA. Don't know what I will do - wanted to get a pair.

 

[Akash]

 
Akash - I'm in the USA so only 1 year warranty. That's very interesting that everyone says there's no changes. So only a color design change. Earlier in this thread, Audiowood said he compared new to old. Guess Bose wants to clean old stock at $50 sale in USA. Don't know what I will do - wanted to get a pair.

What Audiowood found,  I also found with the new old version replacement...( as I mentioned previously on this thread)
 
I would buy a pair and enjoy!
 
Honestly email me for extra tips...

 

[whsbuss]

At the recommendation of both Akash and Audiowood I picked up a pair of the new QC20 in black for i-devices. I will be evaluating therefor a week and post my findings. Hopefully they will stay beyond the evaluating period.

 

[Akash]

  At the recommendation of both Akash and Audiowood I picked up a pair of the new QC20 in black for i-devices. I will be evaluating therefor a week and post my findings. Hopefully they will stay beyond the evaluating period.

 
I look forward to your review and happy listening!

 

[carmatic]

i picked up a pair of the old grey ones at basically $150 usd , surprisingly enough they are still in warranty when i put the serial number into the Bose website, hopefully this turns out to be a bargain of an investment, and that Bose isnt going to treat these grey qc20's as a separate model from the new versions when it comes to warranty claims
 
although i would have really prefered it if Bose used that micro usb port for other than charging... my understanding is that the qc20's have an ADC , DSP noise cancelling unit, DAC and finally their own amplifier , what if the DSP and DAC portion can also accept USB input? 
sure it would raise the price , but probably not as much as i have spent on a separate DAC

 

[heatofamatch]

Think of it this way, the fact that the QC20 drives itself and doesn't need the source to drive it, may mean you're getting a little more stereo separation?

 
Even before the exterior update, Bose has already done at least one unannounced change to the QC20: The 3.5mm jack is made longer, so that the torque of the cord wouldn't keep pulling the plug from the device jack. This plug is then carried over to the new version. We've got one pair of each in the family - the grey original, the original with the updated jack, and the new/current version with teal/green color.
 
Bose products are never really durable in my hands - the cord insulation on my original pair, about 18-month old, is splitting open in new & interesting ways every day. But strangely, when I think back on my 15-20 years in the headphone hobby, Bose is the only business entity I absolutely don't feel cheated by. I've heard much "better" and much better value for money, but Bose is my honest, happy place. and if nothing else, the QC headphones are definitely a game changer in my life.

 

[carmatic]

  Think of it this way, the fact that the QC20 drives itself and doesn't need the source to drive it, may mean you're getting a little more stereo separation?

thanks for your reply, i had no idea theres been an external change in the grey qc20's ... i wonder what other incremental changes could they have made under the hood as well?
 
my idea was that by bypassing the ADC stage, you get better sound quality and a lower SNR , and hopefully less of that idle hiss as well
i was using my etymotic er-4pt's for a few days when i discovered a way to have bit-copy audio on my DAC, and i must say i miss using them because i cant seem to 'zone out' to the sound as much with the qc20's ... but im sure the noise cancelling will come in handy in other situations

 

[carmatic]

also, one more question, i have read a review of the new qc20's apparently saying that their sound quality does not differ if they have been switched off or on... can anyone who has a pair of each please confirm?

 

[Audiowood]

  also, one more question, i have read a review of the new qc20's apparently saying that their sound quality does not differ if they have been switched off or on... can anyone who has a pair of each please confirm?

 
There is quite a diff of sound quality in turning on and off for both.

 

[Akash]

 
For those of you who might be curious / interested to see what it looks like inside the Bose QC20i modular power pack opened up...you can see the battery etc.

 

[carmatic]

seeing those pictures made me feel uncomfortable , somewhere in there is an amplifier with no volume control, and an ADC which means the dynamic range depends on your input volume

at the very least i would have included a 3rd LED to indicate clipping in the input stage, and a separate volume control so in effect our normal amps become pre-amps and the circuit module replaces the amp in our normal usage
 
i cant wait for the day when smartphones with OTG USB get ubiquitous enough to justify making a pair of noise cancelling earphones which has no analog input at all

 

[heatofamatch]

I don't share that sentiment because it doesn't always play out in reality -- sometimes, or for certain types of music, one may find the softness introduced by this extra A/D conversion favorable.
 
Also you're just moving the DAC from within the device to within the headphone, the words pot, kettle, black come to mind. What's to say one DAC will definitely be significantly better than the other in daily use?
 
Huawei is already selling a pair of ANC earphones that charge from two of their smartphones..one of them being the Mate 7 I believe? And Apple's created an entire spec for headphones to do exactly what you want via the lightning port. JBL may have in fact launched the product you want at CES this year and then backtracked. But you know what, A) I'd rather keep that port free for charging, B) I don't believe most headphones would use a DAC chip that beats the device's performance by a wide margin, and C) all of this is just really really gimmicky, more than it needs to be.