Firmware 4.5.2 QC35 ii

[Serj]

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@Community_Admin wrote:

Hello All,

First of all, we would like to thank you all for your patience.

We would like to take this opportunity to reiterate that no changes to the software for active noise cancelling or ANC modes were made as part of the firmware update and no impact to ANC was detected during our validation testing. Our validation testing is a comprehensive process which is part of all firmware releases. We have revisited our test records and confirmed there were no changes to ANC. The way our testing was done was by using several QC35 II headphones across the latest firmware releases and measuring the ANC under the same conditions for each setup. No changes were noted.

As communicated previously by our moderation team, we asked some users who reported an issue to send in their headsets so that our SW and Hardware teams could investigate.
We did receive several units and preliminary tests show no change in the ANC. 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.

Once again, thank you for your assistance and your patience.

Your Community Team.

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Make all the results - previous fw and current ones - public. We all deserve to see the actual charts. I'm pretty sure that soon some major publications/companies/testing-labs will redo the tests, and I'm absolutely 100% sure that their results won't match yours. This situation is disgraceful.

[JAnOSC]

@Serj well, it's not like RTINGS already did it. Bose is just taking everyone for complete fools. I guess after all it's true, I have forever been hearing that Bose was a shady company, which is why I never bought anything from them besides the QC35ii, which I needed for medical purposes, as I am subject to anxiety crises and panick attacks, especially when in very stressful and noisy environments.

[jason101]

It you wear headphones to help with anxiet, especially to block out noises, I would recommend bone conducting headphones with custom earplugs.

[bimblestein]

Bose, thanks for your update.

Either we're all going mad, and the tests by that site that measured the change in the ANC are a figment of our imagination, or there is something wrong with your testing procedures.  The change is plain as day; I have a busy commute, and the morning before the update I couldn't hear people talking on the street as I walked past them listening to a podcast.  A few hours later, after the update, I can hear them.  Same street, same conditions.

You have my email address.  Feel free to reach out to discuss in more detail.  I'm a tech consultant and used to dealing with difficult issues.

[Wbmstrmjb]

Repeating over and over that "nothing was changed" is not helpful.  SOMETHING changed, whether it was the ANC code OR the larger update OR the update process which has diminished the value of what was once AMAZING ANC.  It is now almost equal to no headphones when around people/talking.

I will say one thing that gives me SOME hope that the update has value (when Bose fixes the other problem).  If I pipe even the slightest hint of music through the headphones, the ANC is phenomenal, dare I say much better than pre-update.  All the outside sounds disappear.  But no sound through headphones with high ANC on is now garbage.  That is what needs to be fixed.

Please don't say "nothing changed" again.  It clearly did and everyone should work together (but mostly Bose) to figure out how to fix it.

[gaoliang21]

I tested my QC 35 with the latest firmware in lousy commuter train station. I can hear people talking clearly more than 10 meters away when I weared the headset. However, it's funny that I can't hear them WITHOUT QC35 becuase thesurrounding machine noise suppressed their voice. The same thing happens in my office. QC35 filtred out air conditioner noice but let people voice pass through. It's very annoying to wear it right now.

BOSE: test the firmware use your own EARS!!!

[joelirwin]

@Community_Admin 

Thanks for the update.  You do have a challenge if you can not recreate the problem and as you said you need to keep testing until you can.  As I noted over the last few days in my previous posts (which I assume you have read and passed on), there are 7 basic scenarios which you need to consider.  And just because you have not found code that has changed ANC does not mean that ANC has not been impacted by those who are now on one of the two later releases of the firmware.  Clearly if so many people (I get y'all think its a really small percentage but it is stil many many customers) have had an experience where they all noticed a different in ANC before and after a change in the firmware - then there should be no denying of that fact.

You have to accept that they all heard a difference and come up with an explanation for why that has happened.  In my previous posts I provide many valid alternative technical scenarios that could be candidates for investigation.  Perhaps those avenues could be helpful to your engineers.  For example, the ANC issues could be caused by the upgrade process itself somehow.  But whatever avenue you go down, start with the assumption that there has been a change - a change that can be heard by many people... it's not imagenary or explainable through subjective listening methodologies.  Plain and simple - all these users have heard a change and they pretty unanimously are unhappy with that change and want things the way they were originally.

You have units that users claim had listening changes.  If you can not hear the difference, then you have the units - put them back to 4.1.3 (you can do it in a lab even though we can not).  Measure what you measure before you put it back and then after you put it back.  See if there is a difference.  If you hear a difference then you and the user are in agreement.  If you can't hear a difference, then upgrade it again to 4.5.2.  If you can hear a difference, again you are in agreement.  If you can't, then send the unit back to the customer and see if they can hear the difference.  If they are happy - you have a working model and a solution for those with issues.  If they are not happy, then the unit goes back to you and it still needs to be worked.

But the point here is there is a win-win.  Either you can find the underlying problem and fix it for all, or you can try to restore 4.1.3 for the customer yourself and see if that solves their issue.  And it can be done without letting the customer themselves downgrade - so you get to keep your policy intact and the customer gets what they want while you investigate the cause (if necessary).

[AshenNZ]

Hi all, I've retested again and in different conditions and unlike immediately after the update I can hear a difference between High and Low ANC. 

When I updated via the App it noted post update that the f/w was 4.5.2. 

Via the BTU it noted it was 2.0.1 - I updated via the BTU and it now shows 4.5.2. Apparently this is related to another firmware in the device which isn't updated via the Bose Connect app. Anyhow, firmware up to date.

I've also reset connections, the device as per Bose instructions. I initially thought that there was an issue, maybe there was, but now I can hear a difference between the two ANC settings, they are from memory normal. Maybe I'm just lucky!

Thanks for your update Bose I'm sure we'll hear more as testing is undertaken. I'll keep an eye on the thread to see if anything eventuates, but looks good.

Cheers

Ash

[JAnOSC]

Just received a QC35ii bought new from Amazon. Manufactured on 6 June 2019 and shipped with firmware 4.3.6. I had a QC35ii last Christmas and ANC had nothing to do with the one on 4.3.6, it was so much better. Won't update to 4.5.2.

[JackBlack]

"no changes to the software for active noise cancelling or ANC modes were made as part of the firmware update and no impact to ANC was detected during our validation testing"

oh, really?

now, with 4.5.2 Im clearly hear how my microwave oven work on kithen, ON MAXIMUM ANC LEVEL of "best" noise cancelling headphones.

no impact to ANC was detected ? This is just ridiculous!