[angelom]

I am starting this thread because --after my very long experience with bluetooth headphones and earphones-- my expectation of the new Bose QuietComfort Ultra (QCU) isn't very big, BUT I still have very much curiosity because I still think the QC35 is one very, very good product even after so many years of its release.

My present favourite headphone (for almost one year) is the very excellent T+A Solitaire T, a ANC headphone (releasing in November 2022) that is unique because the design by the T+A engineers is first for creating a very good closed-back wired headphone for audiophiles and then, after achieving this, they adding very special BT and ANC features that are unique in the world of BT and ANC earphones and headphones. This is a headphone that in BT ("High Quality") mode giving true audiophile sound that is surprisingly very, very close to the completely passive mode (meaning: wired and headphone switched off).

BUT the Solitaire T costing 1300 euros in Europe and $1600 USD in the USA and usually the customers with interest in this headphone paying a lot of attention too to wired performance, and sometimes possibly using an amp and maybe a DAC too. The QCU costing $430 in the USA and 500 euros in Europe ($532 USD!) and is a very different headphone for different type of customers, a headphone that, in my opinion, can easily comparing with very more expensive ANC headphones like the Bowers & Wilkins PX8, Apple's AirPods Max and maybe, in some aspects, to the even more expensive Focal Bathys.

I don't have a full review yet, but after 3 hours of listening and testing, I have some important comments and conclusions. I will posting more impressions in next few days. So....

1. For me, very personally, the first thing I want mentioning is that this is only the second headphone (the other is the Solitaire T) that having artificial leather earpads and NOT making my ears hot and sweating quickly. I deciding turning on the heating and reaching 27-29 celsius for my testing of this aspect. This is critical for me because all other Bose headphones (QC35, QC35 II, NC700) and Sony headphones (XM1, XM3 and XM4), ALWAYS making my ears hot quickly and getting sweat often too, so I never keeping this headphones, except the Sony XM3 for using when hoovering my house, but even this is problematic! The AirPods Max is terrible for me, not only for this same aspect, but is also irritating my skin! Other similar headphones, if not having real leather earpads, are always problematic.

2. Sound quality. Excellent! Not only for a consumer product, but a very balanced sound with bass that don't disappointing at all, and treble --always the very more problematic frequency in my experience-- of very good quality. Mids with Bose headphones are always good and this isn't exception. The DSP tuning of this headphone is excellent. I remember the NC700 having a peak in upper mids that I don't liking at all, and always thinking that the QC35, in general, having better balance in all the spectrum. For me the QCU having very clearly better sound than the PX8 and AirPods Max AND many others headphones and earphones.

3. I don't have interest in "Immersive" audio (spatial audio) because with the AirPods Max and AirPods Pro 2nd Gen and AirPods 3 this feature for music isn't really convincing me 70-80% of time. With podcasts and films is great but generally not for music. BUT I have a BIG surprise (maybe shock!) when I hearing "immersive" audio in the QCU. In several of the tests I'm doing (I need doing more) the results are very more positive that I expecting. One thing is that isn't so drastic or artificial like some comments and reviews I seeing, but is VERY clearly audible and making difference in sound in, generally, very good ways. My surprise is that Bose isn't doing really a gimmick here but doing proper research. BIG surprise.

4. The design is excellent, very similar to QC35 and having combination too with the NC700 design, so we getting a new headphone with very nice appearance AND excellent comfort...and isn't a heavy headphone at all. For me the QC35 is incredibly comfortable, probably still the best in my complete experience. The NC700, after 30 mins, more or less, I always needing adjusting because something isn't right. The QCU, after 3 hours, is just great. Even the Bose logo in the earcups, for my surprise, is subtle, one aspect I love. The B&W PX8 is exactly the opposite and I really NOT liking this.

5. The travel case is very small, compact, and of excellent construction quality and design. Is more small than my Sony XM3 even!

I need testing more, with wired mode for example, BUT I already know that wired mode isn't giving very good sound because this is a headphone with DSP tuning like the majority of BT/ANC headphones today.

I think, from my readings, that USB-C audio isn't possible. I will testing in next few days.

The slider for volume in the right ear cup is responding very well, but I prefer still the old physical button of the QC35 that giving me more precise control of small volume steps.

24 hours battery life (18 with immersive audio) for a headphone today isn't exactly great but isn't terrible either (this is with ANC or awareness modes on). 30 hours in 2023 is the minimum I expecting.

Like with the NC700, and even the very expensive Focal Bathys, you can't switching ANC off in the QCU. You having only ANC or awareness modes. BUT, at least Bose is giving very different levels between full ANC and complete awareness mode.

I don't testing the 3-bands equaliser simply because the factory sound is really very good. 3 bands is better than the 2 bands of the very more expensive PX8 or the limited only presets of the even very more expensive Solitaire T, so this is excellent from Bose.

I will testing ANC tomorrow and comparing with the excellent Sony XM3 and AirPods Pro 2nd Gen. By the way, awareness mode is giving very realistic outside sound. You also having a 'blocking wind' mode in ANC that, from my readings, is very effective.

I will testing telephone quality calls too if possible.

 

[Hemlocke]

Interesting that you like the sound of this and not the Bose 700. They must havd worked around the sound with software and design since the QCU use the same drivers as the 700, at least according to The Verge.

 

[Maukey]

Thanks Angelom for starting this thread. I've added it to my watch list. I agree with pretty much everything you've said.

 

[itchyears]

Yup cheers @angelom for the review, interesting you find the sound quality better then PX8s and its good to hear people discuss the ear sweat issue more, I too can relate to your ear sweat issue I could not stand many of my previous headphones so its good to hear even with bose QCU pads are doing well.

I would have been tempted to try them out but I believe they don't support LC3 yet and no ones sure if they even get LC3+ support which is more important to myself.

I am waiting on the new Philips fidelio L4 also, hearing good things about them and thread seen here and should be out I believe next month or so.

 

[angelom]

Yup cheers @angelom for the review, interesting you find the sound quality better then PX8s and its good to hear people discuss the ear sweat issue more, I too can relate to your ear sweat issue I could not stand many of my previous headphones so its good to hear even with bose QCU pads are doing well.

I would have been tempted to try them out but I believe they don't support LC3 yet and no ones sure if they even get LC3+ support which is more important to myself.

I am waiting on the new Philips fidelio L4 also, hearing good things about them and thread seen here and should be out I believe next month or so.

Thank you for this information, itchyears.

2 things that worrying me a little about this new Fidelio headphone:

1. The shape of the earcups. Always with round earcups my ears don't fitting well, and I need forcing part of my ears inside the earcups; this is a typical problem for many people with this types of earcups shape. This is true in the past with the B&O's H7, H9 and Dali's IO-6, and is probably why B&O changing the shape of the earcups for the first time in many years for the top of the line H95 (release in 2020) that fitting my ears very well. The earcups shape of the QCU are great, similar like in the old QC35, and, in difference with many headphones, they are deep so your ears are never touching the drivers.

2. The other thing, not so important for majority of people maybe, is the big travel case (that I seeing from the photos). The new QCU case is have fantastic size and solid construction, probably the best case I seeing in my experience.

But this new Fidelio ANC headphone is looking very interesting from different aspects. And is have excellent battery life!

 

[itchyears]

Thank you for this information, itchyears.

2 things that worrying me a little about this new Fidelio headphone:

1. The shape of the earcups. Always with round earcups my ears don't fitting well, and I need forcing part of my ears inside the earcups; this is a typical problem for many people with this types of earcups shape. This is true in the past with the B&O's H7, H9 and Dali's IO-6, and is probably why B&O changing the shape of the earcups for the first time in many years for the top of the line H95 (release in 2020) that fitting my ears very well. The earcups shape of the QCU are great, similar like in the old QC35, and, in difference with many headphones, they are deep so your ears are never touching the drivers.

2. The other thing, not so important for majority of people maybe, is the big travel case (that I seeing from the photos). The new QCU case is have fantastic size and solid construction, probably the best case I seeing in my experience.

But this new Fidelio ANC headphone is looking very interesting from different aspects. And is have excellent battery life!

ahh good point, I totally forgot to ask you if your ears touch the driver but good to hear its not effecting you. Another QCU owner mentioned his ears touched his driver sadly, but maybe had bigger ears though.

I prefer my ears to not touch the driver on the inside also, its more comfy and more space for the ears to breath only the PX7s2s and PX8s from B&W I have found to work best with my ears, id imagine the bose QCU its a trial and error though.

This is why I was considering Bose, Philips or going back to PX8s since the Px8s were the most comfortable headphones I ever had.

There is one reviewer of the Philips L4 that mentioned they redesigned the cups to make it more deep but he did mention his ears grazed the driver units still but it was much better then the philips L3.

 

[angelom]

Another QCU owner mentioned his ears touched his driver sadly, but maybe had bigger ears though.

I prefer my ears to not touch the driver on the inside also, its more comfy and more space for the ears to breath only the PX7s2s and PX8s from B&W I have found to work best with my ears, id imagine the bose QCU its a trial and error though.

This is the first time I see a person having problems about a QC earcups touching the drivers. The QC35 and QCU having very similar angled driver position inside the earcups. I almost can guaranteeing (98% sure) that if the PX8 is comfortable for you, the QCU will offering similar comfort, and probably better even because the headphone is more light in weight with less clamping force too.

------------------------

More impressions about the QCU.

About the sound. People that liking bass don't needing worrying about bass quantity, and sub bass is very good too. In my second day I deciding the bass is little strong for me sometimes (depending in the master/recording of the album I'm listening), so I deciding using the Bose EQ and doing -3 or -4 (I'm not sure this is dBs or not because you only seeing a max of +10 and a minimum of -10 and is always in 1 number increments allowing for small changes. This is very good). The good news is that the EQ is working very well, very effective with not big and drastic changes. In my quick test the EQ is working better with normal stereo than with immersive audio. The bass band is focusing more in mid bass and this is good because sometimes the mid bass is have little more elevation than is my preference.

In one very quick test of ANC with construction happening outside my house, the QCU is performing a little better than the excellent ANC of the Sony XM3, so this is good news. My surprise is that the AirPods Pro 2nd Gen (earphones) performing very similar like the QCU. Maybe Apple improving ANC a little with one of several firmware updates they doing in last 12 months. This is only testament how excellent is the ANC of the APP2 earphones. BUT I need more tests for checking the blocking of different frequencies. In my test today the noise is more in low bass and low mids frequencies.

Awareness mode is really impressive because is so close to what you're hearing in real life without wearing nothing. And both with ANC or awareness mode you can't hearing hiss that typical in others ANC headphones (a problem that several Focal Bathys users complaining about, for example).

Problem. With my MacBook Pro (16" from 2021 with recent new Sonoma macOS) the play/pause function isn't working. Only the first press is ok (either for play or pause), then after this first press the button is never responding at all. I have the Sony XM3, B&W P7 Wireless, the Solitaire T and 3 different pairs of AiPods and they don't having this problem at all. With my 2 iPhones (15 Pro and XR) everything is working perfectly. I trying factory reset of the QCU but same problem is persisting. I'm receiving a replacement from Amazon tomorrow but I think is very probable I have the same problem. I'm sure is possible fixing with firmware update but, if this is true and not only a problem with my unit, maybe Bose taking a long time fixing this.

One thing that is giving me little frustration is that sometimes when I want pressing the multi function button for play/pause/next/previous track accidentally touching the volume slider and obviously I changing the volume. BUT I'm sure this is something that with practise is becoming not a problem at all. I still preferring the old physical volume buttons.

One other problem that only today I'm experiencing is that with my iPhone the music is stopping completely after 15-20 minutes then I need pressing play again. Strange. If this is a real problem, I'm sure firmware update fixing this. Yesterday I don't having this problem possibly because I'm changing music a lot in my 3 hours of testing.

 

[itchyears]

androidpolice Bose quietcomfort ultra review

 

[lmf22]

@angelom, thanks for sharing your impressions. I like that one of the first things you mentioned is comfort. With almost all closed-back Bluetooth headphones I've tried, they make my ears warm/hot pretty quickly. That kind of discomfort is distracting and takes me away from the music. Many reviews don't mention this aspect of closed-back headphones. (Or maybe this doesn't happen for the majority of people.)

I had this problem with the Sony XM4, and to a lesser degree, the Focal Bathys (the bigger and deeper ear cups of the Bathys helps a bit). The Bathys' sound quality is amazing, but I wonder if the Bose QuietComfort Ultra's comfort will win me over. After reading your impressions, I might give the Bose try.

 

[Audiophile PT]

It seems that HD Audio (APTX) is not working with all devices even if those devices have APTX codec support.
In fact, Bose advertising about HD Audio Codecs on the QC Ultra is confusing and not totally clear.

 

[itchyears]

@angelom, thanks for sharing your impressions. I like that one of the first things you mentioned is comfort. With almost all closed-back Bluetooth headphones I've tried, they make my ears warm/hot pretty quickly. That kind of discomfort is distracting and takes me away from the music. Many reviews don't mention this aspect of closed-back headphones. (Or maybe this doesn't happen for the majority of people.)

I had this problem with the Sony XM4, and to a lesser degree, the Focal Bathys (the bigger and deeper ear cups of the Bathys helps a bit). The Bathys' sound quality is amazing, but I wonder if the Bose QuietComfort Ultra's comfort will win me over. After reading your impressions, I might give the Bose try.

So true about the reviewers, perhaps they are A/B testing for short periods or taking breaks so tend to rush the comfort side of things in their reviews.

I too find these headphones with pleather or protein type padding to get hot and sweaty, I have the beyerdynamic DT-700Xpros which have a velor almost fluffy padding and its good but am pretty sure those things are just absorbing any moisture or sweat from my ears and no real way to clean them quickly.

So far the best pads I have found and the most comfortable for my ears and ear health in general are the B&W PX8s, they use nappa leather pads I can wear them for hours and not worry about much. Its still a good idea to give ear and eye breaks still.

 

[angelom]

I had this problem with the Sony XM4, and to a lesser degree, the Focal Bathys (the bigger and deeper ear cups of the Bathys helps a bit). The Bathys' sound quality is amazing, but I wonder if the Bose QuietComfort Ultra's comfort will win me over. After reading your impressions, I might give the Bose try.

I have a problem with XM4 (not with the XM3 that I still have) where after 10 minutes more or less my right ear specially is touching something inside the earcups and becoming uncomfortable.

The comfort of the Bathys isn't so bad for me like XM4 but still problematic for me after 30 minutes more or less because I keep adjusting the position because isn't completely comfortable. And this is one of 3 reasons why I returning the Bathys.

---------------------

I receiving my QCU replacement from Amazon today. The problem of music stopping after 15-20 minutes disappearing completely, but the problem with play/pause with my MacBook Pro is still happening. I hope a firmware update fixing this soon.

After listening more time, I think I'm more happy, in general, with -4 bass in the EQ, mids and treble I'm not touching. The EQ is very good. Like I saying before, people that liking bass will not disappointing in the bass factory setting, and then you still having 10 positions for elevating bass!

I don't speak Korean but here is a 20 minutes video that having some good ANC comparisons with Bose NC700 and others very interesting graphs. The interesting parts beginning at 11:00 minutes until the end.

 

[angelom]

More comments about the QCU.

I don't like the multi function button noise that is making every time you pressing this. I changing tracks constantly and pausing and paying too more or less often, and the noise of this button is very loud. BUT I think I can living with this. I don't remember this noise in the buttons of the old QC35.

The volume slider is always responsive BUT the changes in volume are more big than I want, and, again, I'm person that is changing volume ALL the time. I finding that if I using the part at the top and not the middle section of the slider, the changes in volume (up or down) are more small. This is good but still not ideal for my critical volume preferences. BUT I can living with this, but not with the Bathys where this problem driving me crazy.

After more relaxing time and not worrying about comparing this or that, I think now my preference is -4 bass and now +1 mids and still 0 treble. With this settings, the sound, for my more neutral preference in sound, is really very good.

Also, I think maybe is my psychology that insisting I am more old school and I'm listening the majority of time in normal stereo. BUT "immersive" (spatial) audio is really very good and NOT a gimmick.

One thing that I like about immersive audio is that, in difference with Apple's AirPods Max, AirPods Pro 2nd Gen, or AirPods 3rd gen, isn't necessary having a connection ONLY to Apple devices for enjoying spatial audio. With the QCU I can connecting to my Panasonic TV and choosing in the app if I want normal stereo or the 2 variations of "immersive' audio. This is excellent, and is nice, too, that I can controlling the volume from the slider in the QCU. And if I connecting to my Apple TV, play/pause working perfectly.

I must insisting, too, that awareness mode in the QCU is excellent too, very natural sounding, with not artificial extra volume/amplification or digital sound.

About comfort, heat and sweat with the earcups and headband, in my second day, and after more than 3 hours with about 23-24 degrees celsius, absolutely no problematic heat or sweating at all, and still very comfortable.

 

[itchyears]

Interesting interview with Bose regarding future of BT technology and Sound and their future products of the new snapdragon technology here

 

[angelom]

Here is somethging that is very interesting about ANC.

This morning I comparing the noise from a chainsaw that workers are using for cutting some thick branches in some trees in front of my house. This noise is very, very loud in mid and high frequencies.

I comparing the ANC with my QCU, my Sony XM3 and my Apple AirPods Pro 2nd Gen (earphones). The result is a big surprise:
The AirPods Pro (APP2) offering VERY clear the best ANC, in second place is the QCU, and in third place, by small margin, is the XM3. I'm sure Apple improving the ANC of the APP2 with firmware update because I don't remember the APP2 blocking so much this mid and high frequencies in the past. Is a long time I don't have this type of loud noise for comparing.

I will comparing later ANC performance with low frequencies with a loud fan that I have in max position and with airplane cabin noise simulation with a YouTube video using speakers.