[Roybenz]

I ended up only mid +2

Spacial audio is great for some tracks, but not all.

 

[starfly]

So how large are the earcups on these? Can anyone that has them please post measurements (in millimeters please) of height x depth x width.

 

[Roybenz]

I would say it’s the same as the QC45 can’t notice any difference in size

 

[starfly]

I would say it’s the same as the QC45 can’t notice any difference in size

Thanks. Then these should fit my ears just fine.

 

[Not so fat head]

These are finally up and running at Best Buy if you want to listen to them. Great build and impressive sound. Looks like Bose has a hit here, they will be a top seller.

 

[Roybenz]

They are great!

 

[tomll]

I bought a pair of these to use commuting and on short trips, to complement a pair of Mark Levinson 5909 that are just too bulky and pricy for those uses.

Pros: Portability is perfect for commuting; light and comfortable; ANC is excellent; clear and responsive bass without being exaggerated; overall happy with the sound; volume slider works well, much better than other headphone touch controls I’ve had (Sony)
Cons: Buttons feel cheap and some actions are ”long press but not too long” which is annoying; earcups are a little warm for my liking; usually have to force reconnection with my iphone when i turn these on.

I‘ve tried the Immersive mode and while it does work well on some music, it distorts the sound badly on others. In Still mode I started to feel motion sickness at one point and I haven’t tried it much since!

Has anyone successfully connected these to a legacy AptX or AptX-HD device? I have non-Android Sony DAP I‘d like to use with these but it will only connect using SBC. (The NW-A55 has SBC, AptX, AptX-HD and LDAC.)

 

[ocramida]

Fyi, aptX adaptive is a specific CODEC; ie just because the source device supports AptX doesn't mean it supports all of its CODECs. Fwiw

Btw how is the overall spectral performance compared to the ML's? You mentioned bass, but what about mids/highs/spatial?

 

[tomll]

Fyi, aptX adaptive is a specific CODEC; ie just because the source device supports AptX doesn't mean it supports all of its CODECs. Fwiw

Btw how is the overall spectral performance compared to the ML's? You mentioned bass, but what about mids/highs/spatial?

I thought that Adaptive was backward compatible, but the information out there is confusing at best.

The MLs definitely offer a bit more clarity in the mids and highs for me, but where they really set themselves apart is in soundstage and instrument separation. Wired performance and LDAC are also a major difference for me.

Another thing that surprised me a bit (and maybe I shouldn’t have been) is that the isolation is so much better on the MLs that the net noise reduction on a flight is similar, even though the ANC is clearly stronger on the QC Ultra. I brought both on a recent trip to compare. In public, nearby conversations and other transient sounds sneak through a bit more on on the Bose.

For the moment I’m happy with the MLs as the “use at home and when flying long-haul” case and the QC Ultra for the day-to-day mass transit commute and shorter flights where I’m packing light. The tradeoff of portability for a bit of sound quality is acceptable, and I’m more comfortable wearing these out & about in the city than I would be something like Bathys or the ML.

 

[gotcha640]

I got these as a gift last week to replace old soundlink ae2, non-anc, lower end from qc15 generation I think.

Power is now on a button rather than a switch. Being able to positively shut off the headphones is a big deal for me.

Both the bt/power button and the play/pause button feel very cheap and bad-clicky. They also sound harsher than the previous design (I think through the qc45 was the same design as my ae2).

The surface finish of the ear cups, where you'll be touching them a lot to adjust volume touch slider or to find the buttons, is rough/matte enough that with any kind of dry/rough fingers, it's a really harsh sound, again transmitted straight through to my ear.

Build quality on the rest of the headphones is great, but the parts you touch are pretty miserable.

On the software side, not being able to turn off ANC is another deal breaker. I can't tell how long this has been a bose thing, but I need to be able to hear the kids or the doorbell or whatever, while not having my keyboard clicks and the cat three rooms over amplified.

Software, but button related, it seems the idea is to have them sleep rather than power off most of the time. When I turn them off (which is some part of the pairing button) there is no confirmation sound. So I keep holding the button down, or worse, push it again, and turn back on and get pairing mode. If it has to be a button, make the button intuitive and responsive.

Speaking of sleep, when I put them back on, they wake up and tell me state of charge and what devices they're connected to. Why can't we just have power on, play media? It feels one step from putting ads in that space.

As for forced ANC, I almost always have one ear off to hear my surroundings, even without ANC. When you can't turn it off, it's even more annoying, because you're getting cabin pressure or amplification in one ear, and nothing in the other ear.

I really wanted to love these as much as I loved the old ones, but I can't see getting over all these user interface issues.

So now I have to go tell mother in law that I need her to return the gift and see what I can come up with to ask for instead.

 

[katulu]

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

GAME OVER right there. DUMBEST design decision ever, and the reason I ended up buying a clone of the QC35's instead of the QC45s. I wouldn't use either for actually listening to MUSIC - but most of my headphone use is listening to calls or videos or just hearing protection while I play drums, and ANC kills that. So NO THANKS, Bose, may your sales go ever further down until you smarten up.

 

[pecotunkA]

GAME OVER right there. DUMBEST design decision ever, and the reason I ended up buying a clone of the QC35's instead of the QC45s. I wouldn't use either for actually listening to MUSIC - but most of my headphone use is listening to calls or videos or just hearing protection while I play drums, and ANC kills that. So NO THANKS, Bose, may your sales go ever further down until you smarten up.

I swear companies do this as a statement of "what we designed for you is so good and the best that you won't want to switch it off".

 

[katulu]

I swear companies do this as a statement of "what we designed for you is so good and the best that you won't want to switch it off".

I hear you. I had the QC45 for a day, and I was sad to return them as they were 1) limited edition blue and 2) bought on an amazon special. But, they did not fit my needs. I ended up getting the Srhythm NC35s on Amazon. They have everything I needed: I wanted the same shape profile of QC35s (specifically because of the replacement earpads I use, Dekoni suedes for QC 35), have independent ANC controls which as a bonus STAYS OFF if you want to leave it off, USB-C charging, more than double battery life, even lighter weight than QC35s. Quality is not magnificent but more than good structurally. Only downsides are the "padside" controls which are not as good as the Bose design, and that the cable for wired mode uses 3.5 to 3.5 instead of 2.5 to 3.5 like the QCs did, and you don't have mic capability in wired mode - but the much longer battery life negates much of this nitpick. They also feel a tad stiffer than the QC45s (which are a tad stiffer than the QC 35s). But at the end of the day, I am very happy with my purchase.

 

[Dimitry188]

I have just bought Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds.
Everything is fine, except for one thing:
These headphones can only be connected via Apex Adaptive.
They refuse to connect via "regular" aptX.

That is, they can connect to my Huawei Mate 20 phone (which has only a regular aptX) only via AAC...

 

[ocramida]

Fyi, Bose ultra headphones and earbuds only support aptX adaptive which is an entirely different CODEC from other aptX CODECs. And unfortunately Qualcomm doesn't support backward compatibility.