Sure they did: http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-noise-cancelling-headphones/ . Scroll down to 'Software update “issues”' section. They re-measured their old unit after upgrading it to 1.2.10, so there is no possibility they were testing it against downgraded 1.0.6. ... View more

I would not call it a solution unless you use QC35 only for skype. Headset mode is useless for listening to music since it is both bad quality and enables sidetone. ... View more

**bleep**, I would hate to talk to you when you are not calm then .  And your ears are so great as to tell you difference between 1.0.6.325 firmware originally embedded in the headset and the one available for download? Man, I would love to be able to 'hear' binary checksums, would definitely help me at work. The fact that some people managed to 'restore' ANC by doing downgrade/upgrade cycles strongly suggest you have no idea what you are talking about, since it would be impossible if 1.0.6 on upgrade site was indeed 'bad'. A bug in Bose mobile app affecting some people is much more probable. ... View more

Calm down dear.  Do you even understand what a 'forum' is? Hint: it is not an echo chamber reserved for only most ridiculous opinions.  I do have a job, thanks for asking. How about you? Writing angry rants might be taking quite a bit of your time and energy. As to what is happy customer doing here: providing some first-hand observations that might help people trying to find some sense in this whole firmware upgrade mess.  ... View more

To be honest, when I read things like "all headsets from 2017 have nerfed ANC" or '1.0.6 firmware available for downgrade is not the 'real' 1.0.6' then I know it was written by conspiracy theorists.    ... View more

I could be convinced by that if not for the fact that I stopped feeling 'pressure' after one day, without updating anything or even installing bose app. It is not real pressure, it is just your ear being confused by suppression of low frequencies. Most people get used to it quite quickly and stop feeling it. While trying to investigate claims of 'broken ANC' I tested multiple demo units of QC35, QC25 and even one Sony MDR-1000X - I never felt any pressure again. ... View more

 What else would you expect them to do with returned units? Test, recertify, sell - that's the standard way of dealing with returns. ... View more

1) I don't believe it. This claim came as a response to people who said there is no difference between their upgraded headset and unupgraded demo units from Bose store. Then others started claiming that even QC25 (which is not upgradeable) has been downgraded. Sorry, but we are getting into conspiracy theory realm here. Also notice how the cutoff date of 'good' headsets keeps changing - first it was 2017, then Oct 2016 and finally August?  2) Yup 3) There were various methods (for example downgrading to 1.0.6 then upgrading to 1.3.2), but they all seem to work for some people and don't work for others 4) That's right. I have not noticed any differences between 1.0.6, 1.2.10 and 1.3.2 (high) setting. I generally tested it by running something like 'bar ambience' on youtube for several minutes, setting volume to where I could barely hear it, doing firmware update and then listening for several minutes again.  ... View more

I am not convinced it is Windows issue. I also have Plantronics Voyager Edge which does not have this problem - as long as skype call is active, no windows sound are audible at all. I guess it prioritises HSP over A2DP instead of trying to serve both at the same time as QC35 does. ... View more

I wonder if upgrading via mobile app is the problem. I might be wrong, but I think that all people who broke ANC during upgrade to 1.2.10 did it using mobile app. Since the app does not allow downgrade, I assume you performed downgrade and second upgrade (1.0.6 -> 1.3.2) using btu.bose.com ? ... View more

To clarify: upgrade from 1.2.10 to 1.3.2 stalled at 97%, so you interrupted it and the headset was still on 1.2.10? Was it done using app or btu.bose.com? Have you noticed better ANC immediately after downgrade to 1.0.6 or only after upgrade to 1.3.2?    I am reading various reactions to 1.3.2 and they seem to be all over the board: some people report better ANC, others no change from 1.0.6 and some others say it is worse. ... View more

Another nice change in 1.3.2 is much improved stability of connection to a phone. Previously, when connected to Sony Z3 Compact, pause/play and skip track rarely worked (about several hours after every restart of the phone). Now it is really solid. ... View more

That sounds like Hands-Free mode (call mode) activating and staying on for some reason. Are you using them with PC? If yes, could you try opening 'Playback devices' window and disconnect 'Bose QuietComfort 35 Hands-Free' ? Or simply disconnect from all devices and then restart the headset. ... View more

It looks to me that you don't have much technical background actually. It does not matter how 'BT' operates - Bluetooth receiver is not directly coupled to headphone coils. There is some processing before that - you know that QC35 uses active EQ, right? There is a DSP that does the processing, it might introduce delay and this delay might depend on firmware. ... View more

Thanks for the 'low' ANC setting - it is much better when going outside on a windy day. ... View more

What makes you think that receiving side cannot buffer as well? It is not related to Bluetooth, but in case of audio communication over a network is it pretty common for receiving side to use 'jitter buffer' to smooth out differences in packet arrival times. ... View more

Note that new headsets are still coming with 1.0.6 . I would say there is not all that much confidence in 1.2.10 actually. ... View more

What happens in June? The recall program ends in 2 days, but new reports of decreased ANC performance caused by 1.2.10 are still coming in and Bose Connect app still recommends update to everybody who buys QC35.  ... View more

Very easily: all currently sold units have 1.0.6 installed. ... View more

Correct on all counts. ... View more

larrrs wrote:   You probably know that your experiment, while maybe better than most described here, is flawed as well; first off you know what device (FW) you're listening to, second off your ears are absolutely unreliable for this kind of test. For one, they automatically adapt their sensitivity to sound exposure (time, intensity, spectrum) at several stages in the sound wave / signal path.     You are right about incredible adaptability of the ears.I purchased another QC35 as a gift for my sister this weekend, so I could not resist temptation to do another comparison test. Sitting next to noisy dishwasher, I put on her unit - complete quiet, feeling of isolation, great. Then I removed it and after several seconds put on mine - no feeling of isolation, audible (just a little) 'clunking' from dishwasher. **bleep**! QC35satisfaction, here I come! But then I swapped them once again just to make sure and ... I still could hear the same thing. So either mere contact with my ears is enough to destroy ANC, or hearing simply adapts to very low noise. I did another test next day (using youtube recordings of a320 cabin noise and 'bar ambience') - results were inconclusive and the test accidentally turned into blind one when I accidentally mixed up headsets and walked away with the wrong one. If I went only by my first impression, I would be completely convinced that there is a big difference in ANC effectiveness between the headsets and probably would be firing an email to qc35satisfaction asking for a replacement right now.   ... View more

You can check production date by looking at serial number (which should be affixed to the warranty card). First digit after letter 'Z' indicates year (6 - 2016, 7 - 2017),  next 3 digits are day. As for firmware, I remember admin saying that all new units have 1.0.6 installed. ... View more

To be fair, people complained about 'drastic' reduction in ANC which is something that could be detected without blind test. I still would not trust memory to tell me if something used to be louder of course. Before doing the upgrade, I set a noise source and adjusted the volume to highest that I still could not hear in headphones. Then, without turning it off, I performed upgrade and checked if I still can't hear it. Assumption was that significant reduction in ANC would make 'almost audible' noise actually audible. ... View more

According to Bose there is no issue at all with current firmware. Actually I would be suprised if they released any future update considering how the last one was received. Refund program has been announced because it is cheaper to refund a dozen or so headsets (and selling thousands more in meantime) then have irritated (rightly or not) customers complaining all over the internet. ... View more

Apparently there is a big conspiracy inside Bose to destroy their ANC and hand the whole market to Sony and Sennheiser. First they came for new QC35 units - if you have new one, it is broken. Then they created firmware update designed to sneakily downgrade older units. Sure, if you go to a store and compare QC35 to QC25 it will sound about the same, but that's only a proof that conspiracy took care of QC25 as well.  I also tested my QC35 against Sony MDR-1000x without noticing any big differences, but the shop assitant looked shifty enough to be actually a Bose employees in disguise. If you have older QC25 or QC15, watch out - ninjas will be sneaking into your house and replacing them any time now. ... View more

Unfortunately no, since I would not know how to describe it anyway. Does noise gets cut by half? Or maybe 70%? I don't know. It turns loud noise into less loud noise, that's all I can tell you.    ... View more