[starfly]

Looks like Bose just announced these today:

https://www.bose.com/p/headphones/bose-quietcomfort-ultra-headphones/QCUH-HEADPHONEARN.html

Codec support appears to be SBC, AAC and AptX Adaptive.

Curious how these perform.

Can be pre-ordered now, available early October. Cost $429.

Some initial impressions:
https://www.cnet.com/tech/mobile/bo...adphones-quietcomfort-ultra-earbuds-hands-on/

 

[Hemlocke]

This was expected, but killing off the QuietComfort II earbuds so quickly and releasing them with slight tweaks as the Ultras is kind of strange. Still, I have been waiting for the over-ear Ultras, so I pre-ordered a pair this morning. They even offered the ID.me military and veterans discount ($30) on the checkout page, which was handy.

 

[starfly]

I'll wait to read reviews before I order one, but am otherwise interested. My number one most important criteria for these kinds of headphones (wireless/ANC/over-ear) is comfort and ANC and Bose has always been really good in both areas. Sony is better on ANC, but not on comfort. The Airpods Max are very competitive ANC wise, but they're heavy and not as portable.

I wish Apple would start implementing more advanced codecs on their phones instead of just AAC. Oh well.

 

[pecotunkA]

hey I genuinely thought about getting these new high-tech flagship Quietcomfort Ultra's for a second instead of the MM-100's which are more or less the same price.

I heard of the leaks, and it seems to have been officially announced days ago and it's already in-stock at stores near me to check out!
but I looked up the specs for the Quietcomfort Ultra, and was disappointed to see them for a "all new flagship competitor".

first of all the good, they seem to use all-new 35mm drivers which might mean a noticeable improvement in sound (similar approach to Sony and their 30mm drivers used in recent models). and they have a "auto calibration" feature everytime you put them on, to tune the sound to your earshape, seal and hearing. but.. that's about it for the "new" and "class leading" stuff.

battery life is still a disappointing 24 hours like all of their old models. seriously? no improvement at all for $650? an early review says they support SBC, AAC, and AptX adaptive. but on my local region Bose website they only mention SBC and AAC is supported in the specs (same as their old models).
also, like with their older models there is no "ANC off" mode, only ANC on and Ambient on. meaning you can't disable it in the app or settings at all and there is no way to extend the 24 hours battery life (spec measured with ANC on).

the only extra thing one can hope for is dramatically improved ANC on the Ultra's compared to the QC45's and the XM5's. but class leading ANC, 35mm drivers and auto calibration is not worth $650 at launch in my opinion (local price, equivalent to USD$420).

 

[Monstieur]

I bought both the QC Ultra Earphones and Headphones. I returned the Earphones and kept the Headphones.

The Earphones randomly played static noise in the left channel, and the battery drained unevenly while idle. The build quality of the both the case and earphones was not up to par compared to the AirPods Pro. The difference in sound quality was not enough to justify giving up the seamless user experience of the AirPods Pro.

The Headphones are a marked improvement over the QC 35. The treble distortion is finally gone. I used the EQ to reduce the mids to -2 as electric guitars sounded too harsh. The bass is a bit excessive even with the built-in equal loudness compensation. The sound stage is narrow, but the overall frequency response and distortion are very good. The noise cancelling is excellent, but for a mild amount of cabin pressure. The clamping force is just right. I use it with the Creative BT-W5 USB dongle in aptX Adaptive Low Latency mode which brings down the latency to ~50 ms. In aptX Adaptive High Quality mode, the latency is 3x as long with poor lip sync.

Spatial audio sounds excellent, but it's incompatible with head-tracked Dolby Atmos on iOS / macOS. If you enable spatial audio on the QC Ultra while Dolby Atmos is enabled, you are incorrectly applying two HRTFs. In Still mode, spatial audio has head-tracking which works as well as the AirPods. In Motion mode, spatial audio does not stay firmly locked in the direction you're facing. If you turn your head quickly, the sound stage drifts to the side and snaps back after a short delay. On the AirPods, the sound stays firmly locked in the direction you're facing. The capacitive touch strip is unreliable and frequently results in unwanted volume changes when trying to make fine adjustments or trigger the long-press shortcut.

The yoke design puts even pressure around the ears unlike the AirPods Max's single-point attachment at the top which puts most of the pressure above the ear. The Focal Bathys has superior frquency response, dynamics, and sound stage, but the noise cancelling and user experince is lacking. The Focal Bathys also constantly crackled in aptX Adaptive Low Latency mode which made it unusable on PC. I would rather have a dedicated low latency work headphone like the Audeze Maxwell where passive isolation is enough, and a dedicated travel headphone like the QC Ultra with superior noise cancelling.

If you spend some time tuning the EQ, the QC Ultra is probably the best noise cancelling headphone overall, especially with aptX Adaptive Low Latency.

 

[starfly]

I bought both the QC Ultra Earphones and Headphones. I returned the Earphones and kept the Headphones.

The Earphones randomly played static noise in the left channel, and the battery drained unevenly while idle. The build quality of the both the case and earphones was not up to par compared to the AirPods Pro. The difference in sound quality was not enough to justify giving up the seamless user experience of the AirPods Pro.

The Headphones are a marked improvement over the QC 35. The treble distortion is finally gone. I used the EQ to reduce the mids to -2 as electric guitars sounded too harsh. The bass is a bit excessive even with the built-in equal loudness compensation. The sound stage is narrow, but the overall frequency response and distortion are very good. The noise cancelling is excellent, but for a mild amount of cabin pressure. The clamping force is just right. I use it with the Creative BT-W5 USB dongle in aptX Adaptive Low Latency mode which brings down the latency to ~50 ms. In aptX Adaptive High Quality mode, the latency is 3x as long with poor lip sync.

Spatial audio sounds excellent, but it's incompatible with head-tracked Dolby Atmos on iOS / macOS. If you enable spatial audio on the QC Ultra while Dolby Atmos is enabled, you are incorrectly applying two HRTFs. In Still mode, spatial audio has head-tracking which works as well as the AirPods. In Motion mode, spatial audio does not stay firmly locked in the direction you're facing. If you turn your head quickly, the sound stage drifts to the side and snaps back after a short delay. On the AirPods, the sound stays firmly locked in the direction you're facing. The capacitive touch strip is unreliable and frequently results in unwanted volume changes when trying to make fine adjustments or trigger the long-press shortcut.

The yoke design puts even pressure around the ears unlike the AirPods Max's single-point attachment at the top which puts most of the pressure above the ear. The Focal Bathys has superior frquency response, dynamics, and sound stage, but the noise cancelling and user experince is lacking. The Focal Bathys also constantly crackled in aptX Adaptive Low Latency mode which made it unusable on PC. I would rather have a dedicated low latency work headphone like the Audeze Maxwell where passive isolation is enough, and a dedicated travel headphone like the QC Ultra with superior noise cancelling.

If you spend some time tuning the EQ, the QC Ultra is probably the best noise cancelling headphone overall, especially with aptX Adaptive Low Latency.

Thanks for the review. Sounds like it could be interesting enough. Might have to give it a try at some point, and good to hear that the ANC is excellent as that would be the main reason for me to get one, for travel.

For home use I have other wired headphones I'd prefer. And for the gym or office I prefer in-ears so it doesn't mess up my hair

 

[theexexpat]

I bought both the QC Ultra Earphones and Headphones. I returned the Earphones and kept the Headphones.

The Earphones randomly played static noise in the left channel, and the battery drained unevenly while idle. The build quality of the both the case and earphones was not up to par compared to the AirPods Pro. The difference in sound quality was not enough to justify giving up the seamless user experience of the AirPods Pro.

The Headphones are a marked improvement over the QC 35. The treble distortion is finally gone. I used the EQ to reduce the mids to -2 as electric guitars sounded too harsh. The bass is a bit excessive even with the built-in equal loudness compensation. The sound stage is narrow, but the overall frequency response and distortion are very good. The noise cancelling is excellent, but for a mild amount of cabin pressure. The clamping force is just right. I use it with the Creative BT-W5 USB dongle in aptX Adaptive Low Latency mode which brings down the latency to ~50 ms. In aptX Adaptive High Quality mode, the latency is 3x as long with poor lip sync.

Spatial audio sounds excellent, but it's incompatible with head-tracked Dolby Atmos on iOS / macOS. If you enable spatial audio on the QC Ultra while Dolby Atmos is enabled, you are incorrectly applying two HRTFs. In Still mode, spatial audio has head-tracking which works as well as the AirPods. In Motion mode, spatial audio does not stay firmly locked in the direction you're facing. If you turn your head quickly, the sound stage drifts to the side and snaps back after a short delay. On the AirPods, the sound stays firmly locked in the direction you're facing. The capacitive touch strip is unreliable and frequently results in unwanted volume changes when trying to make fine adjustments or trigger the long-press shortcut.

The yoke design puts even pressure around the ears unlike the AirPods Max's single-point attachment at the top which puts most of the pressure above the ear. The Focal Bathys has superior frquency response, dynamics, and sound stage, but the noise cancelling and user experince is lacking. The Focal Bathys also constantly crackled in aptX Adaptive Low Latency mode which made it unusable on PC. I would rather have a dedicated low latency work headphone like the Audeze Maxwell where passive isolation is enough, and a dedicated travel headphone like the QC Ultra with superior noise cancelling.

If you spend some time tuning the EQ, the QC Ultra is probably the best noise cancelling headphone overall, especially with aptX Adaptive Low Latency.

Thank you for this. I'm considering these headphones now as I read that airpods max is only a refresh next year (usbc port + colours). How is the build quality of these pls? I remember trying qc35 and being shocked at how cheap they felt.

 

[Zimmy68]

I'm stunned that USB-C audio is not supported in their high end model.

 

[Look in]

Thank you for this. I'm considering these headphones now as I read that airpods max is only a refresh next year (usbc port + colours). How is the build quality of these pls? I remember trying qc35 and being shocked at how cheap they felt.

I have recently had a pair of QC45 and the quality was rather good for its money. I compared them with Bose QuietComfort (new model) and the sound was a notch better, imho. Quality wise they remained the same. I still miss Ultra to compare all the three at once.

 

[Look in]

I have recently had a pair of QC45 and the quality was rather good for its money. I compared them with Bose QuietComfort (new model) and the sound was a notch better, imho. Quality wise they remained the same. I still miss Ultra to compare all the three at once.

...one thing that kept me thing of all the time was the name: why would you name our headphones QuietComfort 35, then QuietComfort 45, and finally just QuietComfort. Boom! I was puzzle once I saw those in a store.

 

[Roybenz]

Got them today, and it’s the best Bose yet. No surprise NC is superb, best I’ve heard. Way more comfortable than APM and Bathys. Bathts may have the edge in SQ tho. Spacial audio is great.

Now i need to play with EQ.

 

[starfly]

Got them today, and it’s the best Bose yet. No surprise NC is superb, best I’ve heard. Way more comfortable than APM and Bathys. Bathts may have the edge in SQ tho. Spacial audio is great.

Now i need to play with EQ.

Good to hear they're more comfortable than the APM. I thought APM comfort was quite good, but didn't want to be pigeonholed into the Apple ecosystem with such an expensive headphone (yes, they'll work with any device, but obviously work best with other Apple products. I do use an iphone and macbook otherwise, but might not use it forever). So if the Bose Ultra is even more comfortable, they're definitely on my short-list for my next wireless ANC cans.

 

[Monstieur]

Thank you for this. I'm considering these headphones now as I read that airpods max is only a refresh next year (usbc port + colours). How is the build quality of these pls? I remember trying qc35 and being shocked at how cheap they felt.

The build quality on the AirPods Max and AirPods Pro is 10/10. The QC Ultra Headphones are actually a 9/10 but they feel like a 7/10 due to the lightweight materials and sharp edges.

 

[Roybenz]

Yes. But the weight distribution around the ears is miles ahead the apm. Would pick it 10/10 times over the apm for NC and comfort

 

[itshammy]

Got them today, and it’s the best Bose yet. No surprise NC is superb, best I’ve heard. Way more comfortable than APM and Bathys. Bathts may have the edge in SQ tho. Spacial audio is great.

Now i need to play with EQ.

Have you made any headway on the EQing of these cans? Asking for a friend....the friend is me