[SilverEars]

I have also stopped using mine and gone back to the Mobius. I only use the NC 700 when I need the ANC.

Mobius is bad sounding wireless too.

NC 700 has so much potential with microphone, high quality mic, accelerometer to power off the device, design and feel. But, unfortunately they gimped the most important part, wireless SQ.

 

[Monstieur]

return it and get another ANC hp if you really need a one. You can get XM3 and have extra $50 in your pocket.

The XM3 has terrible distortion compared to the NC 700 and weak bass with no impact if you EQ it to neutral. I got the NC 700 for $279 so I decided to keep it.

 

[Monstieur]

Mobius is bad sounding wireless too.

NC 700 has so much potential with microphone, high quality mic, accelerometer to power off the device, design and feel. But, unfortunately they gimped the most important part, wireless SQ.

The Mobius sounds identical both wired and wireless. That further suggests that your source has a lousy AAC encoder. Nothing apart from iOS & macOS have a transparent AAC encoder for Bluetooth.

 

[ZenErik]

The sound quality is definitely not garbage compared to the XM3. The XM3 has better codec support. I don't see much reason for Bose to NOT support these codecs, but I would argue that the QC35ii and NCH700 both sound better than the XM3 regardless. Personal preference comes into play, of course. To me whether stock or reducing the bass with an equalizer the XM3 does not sound quite as good.

The XM3 also has an issue where the sound gets all garbled and distorted when going over bumpy roads or if your subway trains aren't always smooth underground. Just my experience though. Have tried three different XM3s. All have the same issue.

What it really comes down to is that none of the current options are 'perfect' or anywhere close to it. In addition the NCH700 is more of a side grade than an upgrade to both the QC35ii and XM3. The extra cost for the 700 isn't really worth it. That said, I am happy with mine. Returned QC35ii and XM3. For my tastes the QC35ii and 700 are about equal. Both have positives and negatives. I only went with the 700 because I like the limited edition soapstone color. That and there is something more satisfying about having the newest product even if it's just a sidegrade. The XM3 sound on bumpy roads kills it for me, but I am looking forward to trying the XM4. The XM3 surely has the best noise canceling of the 3 current options I've tried. I don't think the difference is insignificant, but I do think the two Bose options are easily 'good enough'.

 

[Monstieur]

The XM3 has better codec support. I don't see much reason for Bose to NOT support these codecs

aptX and aptX HD are inferior to AAC, and add unnecessary licensing costs. They are by design low complexity ADPCM-based codecs. Their "quality" is nothing more than marketing spin. The NC 700 uses a Qualcomm chipset IIRC but does not license their codecs. LDAC not being psychoacoustic, has an unnecessarily high bitrate and is likely worse than 256 kb/s AAC.

 

[SilverEars]

After a flight I realized how much superior XM3 ANC is over Bose.

XM3 wireless SQ and ANC is superior over the Bose.

 

[Randonneur]

Another sound quality impression, after demoing these in store with wireless.

The sound quality is total garbage for a $300+ set of headphones. Overpowered bass, the mid (vocal) range was just sucked out and hollow sounding. I didn't go into the demo with high expectations, but was amazed by how bad these were. My Sennheiser HD25s sound better than this.

Maybe people buy these for the ANC, but I prefer a fifty cent pair of foam ear plugs for flights.

 

[buzzlulu]

+1
AND
the ANC pressure effect drives me crazy. I don't think I could last more than 10 minutes let alone an entire flight

 

[xenoVa]

This headphone is such a failure.

ANC
XM3 > NC700 >QC35

Comfort
QC35 > XM3 > NC700

Sound
XM3 > QC35 >>>> NC700

NC700 sounds so bad. How can they release this headphone, don't they listen to the headphone even once before releasing it?

 

[SilverEars]

This headphone is such a failure.

ANC
XM3 > NC700 >QC35

Comfort
QC35 > XM3 > NC700

Sound
XM3 > QC35 >>>> NC700

NC700 sounds so bad. How can they release this headphone, don't they listen to the headphone even once before releasing it?

Have you tried wired? NC700 sounds much better wired (with powered on), but wireless SQ sucks.

 

[AlwaysForward]

I like it a lot for whatever that’s worth

 

[ZenErik]

It's a solid ANC headphone even if not the best thing ever made. If you notice it's mostly the same few people repeatedly posting about how bad it is. Some sort of vendetta against Bose, I guess.

 

[MacedonianHero]

+1
AND
the ANC pressure effect drives me crazy. I don't think I could last more than 10 minutes let alone an entire flight

Really? I find the ANC pressure quite a bit higher on both the XM3 and QC35.

 

[MacedonianHero]

Another sound quality impression, after demoing these in store with wireless.

The sound quality is total garbage for a $300+ set of headphones. Overpowered bass, the mid (vocal) range was just sucked out and hollow sounding. I didn't go into the demo with high expectations, but was amazed by how bad these were. My Sennheiser HD25s sound better than this.

Maybe people buy these for the ANC, but I prefer a fifty cent pair of foam ear plugs for flights.

Overpowered bass? Maybe the XM3, Bose went for a more balanced approach...and the HD25s are pretty sad IMO.

 

[Randonneur]

Overpowered bass? Maybe the XM3, Bose went for a more balanced approach...and the HD25s are pretty sad IMO.

Yep, bass sounded thick and overly present compared to the recessed vocals. And certainly, yes, the HD25s are not that the best that money can buy... but they are still better than the NC700 in terms of tonal balance.

The NC700 sounded so messed up that I spent a while trying to figure out if pressing buttons would somehow scroll through a range of EQ presets before concluding that's the way the headphones were supposed to sound. Then I walked out of the showroom wondering what Sony was trying to achieve with this product.

If you like the NC700, then more power to you I guess.