I think you're really missing the point here. I specifically said that DSP works well in Audeze because of their low distortion. They certainly don't have a monopoly on that characteristic.
Bose is not an Audiophile product, I agree. But you are severely underestimating their talent level. They have profile after profile of top class engineers.
Here are the Job Requirements to Apply:
Now that there's no question of the talent level, we have to ask: what is the spec they're required to design for? It's certainly not tailored nor targeted to the average head-fi demographic. They are focused on creating products for many people. However, I know these kinds of engineers. They pride themselves on exceptional engineering.
Now, the reason many dynamic drivers distort with EQ is because they are already exhibiting distortion without being pushed out of their measured performance. Audiophiles aren't very technical and sniggle at things they don't understand while buying $2000 snake oil cables. The fact that they exhibit the dismissive behavior toward DSP does not hold factual merit toward DSP inherently causing distortion in anything but an Orhto. Outside of the already mentioned GrapheneQ, Sennheiser achieved incredible distortion characteristics on the HD800, which takes DSP quite well. Biodynamic designs also take DSP well.
Does Bose absolutely slaughter THD like the above? No. They have a few things they optimize like cost of parts, comfortable materials, design engineers, human factors engineers. Etc. Where they may be a silver medal in THD, it's certainly a B+ or level performance, before factoring in that they achieve this while performing state of the art ANC and DSP.
Don't take my word for it, here is Tyll's analysis of the QC35:
https://www.innerfidelity.com/conte...reless-noise-canceling-headphone-measurements. Again, the comparison of ANC vs Audiophile isn't quite neutral playing grounds. IMHO, I owned the Sony M3 for over a year and the B&W PX before that. I greatly prefer the Bose due to the Harman-esque tuning, low distortion, human factors, equal loudness curves etc.
Now, I'm not saying that the 700 is an Audiophile headphone like an Audeze. I love Audeze. And Bose. They are basically my 2 brands these days. Yes, I have a Mobius. It's actually my least fav Audeze product. I personally know their CTO, Dr. C. I've auditioned prototypes and have experienced the entire range.
But on an anecdotal note about the Bose 700 bass: I primarily listen to EDM where sub-bass is a focus area and high-quality transient response performance is important due to the speed of changes going on. I do feel that the Bose is the only ANC/Consumer style headphone that gives me the personal satisfaction that can come within punching distance of my Audezes. It was weak compared to the QC35 prior to this update. Trust. They slam now.
But at the end of the day, your point simply lacks merit on a factual basis. Orthos don't have a monopoly on distortion. Integrated design processes can keep distortion within ranges where it's perceptually immaterial when designed as a coherent system. If you're going to counterpoint this, please include some research materials to add to this deep discussion instead of shouting from the echochamber.
Feel free to poop on this product with your opinion, though.
That said, in the end, I kept the WH1000XM3 as my travel/flying wireless NC headphones.