Bose QC 35 ii firmware 4.5.2

[maran]

Sony XM3 latest firmware update 4.1.1 added support for Amazon Alexa and owners complain of degraded noise cancellation feature.

Bose adds support for Amazon Alexa and owners complain of degraded noise cancellation feature...

I still think the Alexa support affect the microphone to be always on (to support picking up commands).

From Bose forum (about the mic picking up sound during calls):

”The microphones are tuned to the human voice frequency range. They automatically adjust the gain (microphone volume). In a loud environment where there are voices in the background, it is possible the microphones will pick up those background noises and bring up the gain.”

I have not upgraded, and will stay on 4.1.3 🙂

[Ali®]

Just bought the Bose QC 35 2 yesterday from the Apple Store.

Everything was perfect until the device updated its firmware. ANC is terrible now.

I found myself on this topic while searching for a resolution. 

It's so pathetic that Bose couldn't find any solution to this problem for more than one month.

I believe they are doing it on purpose. Maybe to boost the 700 series sales??... Even rtings have spotted the issue in QC35, but Bose cant?!?

Luckily Apple Stores are giving a full refund in 14 days. I will return back this headphone and probably never buy a thing from Bose again. 

Bose should know they are losing reputation which is hard to build up in the long-term.

[SoundsGoodMan]

Keep in mind they're still looking into the issue.  Yeah it sucks that it's taking so long, but I keep seeing people getting upset that they found nothing wrong.  They just haven't figure it out... yet. 

"Our team has so far been unable to replicate the problems stated here. However, please rest assured that we will continue to test the headsets, which are instrumental in our investigation of this reported issue. We will keep you updated as soon as more news become available."

(Link)

[vikasmehta27]

This just works perfectly for me. This way had to do 3 updates, one via app which BTU showed as 3.xx and then theu BTU and third thru BTU advanced mode. Did exactly as mentioned and it works like a charm. Dont know how but it does..

[billyL]

After following this thread, i decided to refund my recently purchased QC2 as well.

I was lucky enough to catch this thread soon enough so i can do that.

As others have said, after upgrading to 4.5.2 ANC does almost nothing for voices (wasn't like that at all on my older QC pair).

Another issue is that the mics are amplified when you're having a call - which makes conversation extremely annoying as all sounds around you are injected into your ears.

I've been a Bose fan for more than 20 years, i really don't know why/how this happened.

Blocking the possibility to downgrade while not providing a quick fix after so many years in the industry was a deal breaker for me.

I hope Bose will come around and fix this for all the users that can't refund their pair.

P.S:

Some say that this happens due to the fact that the mics try to pick up user commands for Alexa/Google/whatever assistant.

If this is really the case, and it can't be avoided, perhaps allowing users to disable this feature to achieve previous ANC quality should be considered.

[russ skinner]

I'm also experiencing this problem with latest update. No perceptible difference between low and high noise cancellation. Hopefully Bose can fix this, but if not they should provide an easy method of rolling back the update. Also, find it hard to understand why they cannot replicate the issue. Just tap you finger on something and switch between low and high. There used to be a marked difference - on high you could not hear the tapping. Now it's exactly the same as the low setting.

[msakhrani]

My headphones were replaced last week and they work fine without the update... I had to highlight to the support team that if the update caused my issue I cannot be punished for it...as for Bose.. Maybe they can tell us how they are testing... Because if they really just go out into the world the headphones will not work. 

Mine were clearly not working.. I was sitting at work and did the update there.. One minute it was fine and suddenly I could hear everything... 

I live with anxiety and these headphones allow me to live closer to the life I had before the anxiety attacks. It's a necessity for me and others on this thread.  This is a device I depend on to deal with public transit and being in my office.  I really hope that Bose will come to a solution. 500 Canadian is big money for me.. And spending this money is significant.. I spent it so I can have a semblance of a life where I can block out noise. 

The reports on this thread are the tip of the iceberg.. As people update this will become more significant.. I can 

[roar714]

Bose tech must broaden its team of testers.  Quite obviously Bose, a privately held company, is hermetically sealed in terms of its external communications and probably for justifiable business and legal reasons. Within that black box we have no idea what kind of “beta testing” approach the level 4 engineering staff uses before making any post production changes or in problem solving solutions when a change breaks products for a large number of customers.  Specifically, one wonders if that testing team reaches out and taps the knowledge and using circumstances of the products’ long-standing and obviously very creative customers who post in this forum. There are problem solving messages here that suggest there is much talent present in the readership (specific forum handles could be mentioned here but we know who they are).  Given the highly secretive nature of Bose’s way of responding to major issues like this thread one wonders if the core top engineers who lack any real transparency have become inbred in their thinking which, like inbreeding puppies, can have adverse effects.  If there are users in this forum whom Bose does reach out to and actively involves in the planning and problem resolution process in the way Apple, Microsoft and the big tech companies do, we probably do not see their postings here for again obvious reasons (abbreviated, NDAs).  It would be helpful if the moderator in chief who sits on the iron throne here could enlighten the masses a little on whether the *extended* active tech team includes more than an in-house brain trust.  Doing so might help the injured customers who have truly been harmed by a change remain patient, as opposed to cut and run.  To do otherwise can suggest a hubris which will diminish sales of a product in the short run and tarnish reputation and loyalty in the longer term.

[swap5]

Just logged in to share my experience. After struggling with this for days and looking up solutions, found that the below worked as indicated in prior posts and the below thread

(https://community.bose.com/t5/Around-On-Ear-Headphones/Bose-QC-35-ii-firmware-4-5-2/m-p/221323/highl...)

Steps that i followed which worked:

1. Initial updated via Bose IOS app
2. Reset headphones - Degraded ANC 
3. Installed the Bose updater app on windows 10 from btu.bose.com
4. Plugged in headphones to PC with USB cable and updated firmware: Strangely - updater website detected headphone firmware as 2.0.1.
5. Reset headphones - ANC still degraded.
6. Redid the update via BTU in advanced mode (go to the btu.bose.com update site and type "adv"  then up arrow followed by down arrow. Updater goes into advanced mode. Rerun the update
7. Reset the headphone. (turnoff wait 30 sec, plug in to wall outlet, wait 5s, unplug cable and wait 1min, turn on phone
8. ANC performance was restored

hope this helps!

[Techn]

Despite all this I'm still considering getting a pair, purely for the comfort factor. But I have a question, to reprogram the 'action button' you need to use the bose connect app. Can you do that without the app auto updating the headphones?

If a new pair works then not updating is fine. But if it's at the expense of not being able to use the app that's not great.