QC35 and QC30 for communications

[Mutnat]

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@Gsxr wrote:

Not sure what this means however, from a user standpoint this is the issue:

... 

Hope this helps and if you want to experince it, call me in the mornings / evening while I commute monday to friday and you will see what a lot of users are frustrated about.

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@Gsxr yes this is easy to reproduce.  

@ST - Hearphones I really do not think this is limited to noises within the normal frequency range of human voices, all kinds of background noise are picked up and amplified to people on the other end of the call.  I even had this happen last week on a GoToWebinar session where I was completely muted by the app but the QC30's had my mic active, and I could hear all kinds of noises that made it hard to listen to the webinar.  I was doing most of this during my transit commute, with a ton of background noise.  If you would like me to PM you my phone number or Skype for Business email address to demonstrate the issue, please send me a private message.

@ST - Hearphones wrote:

I didn't say there would be no further firmware updates for QC30, just that I don't have any news right now about when the next one will be.  I'll edit my original post to clarify.

There was a firmware update for QC30 on March 23. There was no update for QC35 on that date, so QC35 was out of step with the others. 

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Thanks for clarifying that QC30 news is just delayed and not worse.  Just a point on the more recent QC30 update--I didn't go back to re-review the release notes, but I remember most of all of it just being "catch up" fixes for things that had already made it to the QC35.  I could be wrong here, and if so I do apologize.

EDIT: I withdraw my objection here--I did just look and only a couple of the included changes were previously released to QC35.  My apologies.

[ST - Hearphones]

Hi @Mutnat

Normal frequency of voices: I can't get into a detailed technical discussion about the technology here, but check out these definitions of voice frequency and Human Speech Spectrum. A lot of what we call noise is in the same range. 

GoToWebinar session: That's an interesting situation and I've tried to recreate it here.  You can mute the microphone on your QC30 by pressing the + and  - buttons at the same time.  If the microphone is active, you should hear a voice prompt, "muted". When you press the buttons again and you will hear "unmuted".  Does that work for you?  I hope that will help in your GoToWebinar sessions.

Demonstrate the issue: Thanks for the offer.  I've recorded my own calls under lots of conditions.  I'm not questioning what anyone has said about their experiences.

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@Mutnat wrote:

@ST - Hearphones I really do not think this is limited to noises within the normal frequency range of human voices, all kinds of background noise are picked up and amplified to people on the other end of the call.  I even had this happen last week on a GoToWebinar session where I was completely muted by the app but the QC30's had my mic active, and I could hear all kinds of noises that made it hard to listen to the webinar.  I was doing most of this during my transit commute, with a ton of background noise.  If you would like me to PM you my phone number or Skype for Business email address to demonstrate the issue, please send me a private message.

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[Mutnat]

Thanks @ST - Hearphones for your reply.  The webinar was before I had learned about the + and - trick to mute, here in the community.  I will try next time for sure.  Regardless, I am very much looking forward to updates on a fix for the mic audio.

[Robertpetry]

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@Jay31 wrote:
I guess we just have to wait and see if firmware is able to fix it. However i think its a hardware design issue same as others think.

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I really think this is an issue that can be improved greatly with software.   There are multiple microphones on the headset and they can be tuned to identify voices in specific areas (between the Microphones).  Bose just needs to use all the mics on each headset during calls to ID the correct voice.   

Jawbone and Plantronics and others have done amazing things with their voice isolation during calls.  And the QC20 I have is much better too.  I think Bose knows how to do it and there are plenty of mics to leverage on the QC30 and the QC35. 

Even if I am wrong and this is not possible, we need the ability to adjust how much noise is blocked 

[Gsxr]

Please go to a mall / on a bus / train. Call your engineer over the iphone (no headset) qnd then switch to the qc30 and see the problem. Even the free earphones that come in the box for free with the iphone do a better at background noise isolation than these bose.

[ecodan]

Wow, I think you guys are completely on the wrong track. It's irrelevant what you designed for – the implementation has failed.

Let's be clear – the audio quality is terrible in any and all environments. In any environment with background noise it's nearly impossible to hear the speaker. Even in very quiet environment, the audio quality is poor and you can't be understood by Siri or any other voice assistant. I have several side-by-side recordings between various Bose models that show just how bad the sound quality is. You can do the same test.

Another post here noted that it doesn't seem that Bose is taking this particular seriously. +1 to that. I think you guys are making a huge mistake.

[ST - Hearphones]

Hi Everybody,

When you post,  please tell us the product you are using: QC35 or QC30.

Thanks!

ST

[Kroby]

I purchased the QC30 today in hopes to use this in my day to day job...which is often walking through airports or sports venues while on calls. At this point, it's clear I can't even have a conversation while in my kitchen or living room without people complaining about background noise. Thank god I tried these before heading out on a trip!

I'm an iPhone user and the supplied earphones by apple are better. This hurts my feelings because I'm a long time user of Bose, forged by a purchase while in the military at war! But if it can't be fixed in the next two weeks, I'll have to return these and quite honestly will have new opinion of Bose products!

I've always considered Bose the best, without compromise...if you are willing to bring these to market with known issues, and then not be honest about plans (timeline) to fix or say "we f'd up", you've lost my business.

[ST - Hearphones]

Hi Kroby,

Thanks for writing.

It sounds like the QC30 is not a good fit for your requirements.

There is a firmware update for QC30 in the works, but it's too far out to have a release date or notes about what it will contain.

ST

[mreckhof]

That's the thing though - it's BOSE, it SHOULD be a PERFECT fit for those requirements.  If there's one place that made ANC popular for most, it's the airport.

I'm a QC30 user with all of the same issues I'm seeing from others.  Went through support, got a replacement set, have tried to stay positive, but I'm feeling by the time this gets resolved, we'll be told all about a new model "Designed for the Road Warrier" to turn a technical issue with the QC30's into just an advertising problem because "QC30 is not a goot fit for your requirements".

I do think there is something in what was stated previously about over gaining the mic for quiet talkers.

Consider the environment folks are using the headsets in.  Say, a coffee shop or the office.  If I spoke at my normal speaking volume, people would run me out of the place.  So of course you talk quietly.  So if that's what's causing the gain to come up, bringing the background noise with it, then it sounds like somehow the rocket sceintists (and I mean that with all respect, not sarcasm) at BOSE need to figure it out.  If there was one place I'd go for people to figure that problem out, it's BOSE.  Unfortunately, purchasing the QC30's and dealign with these issues for almost 8 months now is starting to wear at that opinion by some of your biggest supporters.  Right now, I have higher regard for the plantronics headset I have to resort to (both in range and quality).