Some years ago, Bose was on top of the world with noise-cancelling headphones. All they had to do was make the ANC tech incrementally better over time, and change nothing else. It's the easiest playbook on the planet, how did they manage to fuck it up so badly?
In current year 2023, my headphones crash and drop audio at least twice a day. The app forces me to sign in again every single time I open it. Sometimes the headphones connect to computers but don't advertise that they can do audio.
@danderson Sony has taken over this segment in a big way. You’ll enjoy them. If you wear them for long periods, I highly recommend replacement pads from Dekoni. The suede-texture is excellent.
I cannot emphasize enough that all Bose had to do here, was nothing. Let the audio engineers make the ANC better (which they did, from QC15 through QC45, each generation was a step up), and keep it absolutely the rockiest solidest piece of equipment you can possibly make it. I should never perceive my headphones, every time I perceive them means something went wrong.
Anyway, after today's second watchdog crash and reboot, I have Sony's offering in a shopping cart, because ffs.
@danderson I wonder if you just have a bad pair. I've been using Bose headphones for many years with no problems at all. I'm not arguing that your problems aren't real, but maybe they aren't endemic.
Also I've never used a Bose app except occasionally to check for software update, so maybe that's a factor.
@robpike It's not impossible, although many of my issues seem to stem from frequent connecting/disconnecting of devices via the app, because I have 3 devices that I want sound from and the headphones can only pair two at a time.
I suppose I could attempt an RMA, although I half expect I'd get WONTFIXed because the issues are inconsistent and involve hours of use.
@timothy I think for me QC35 was close to the peak for "I wear them 12h/day and never think about them". But the "aware mode" on the 45s is actually really nice for auditory processing issues (it emphasizes speech and knocks down background noise). It's really the theme that the audio engineers do a stellar job with each incremental generation, they're just being let down by the surrounding software and firmware :(
@danderson
"we have a settings app so you can do things you couldn't do with buttons like have more than 4 custom profiles" --> settings are trapped in an app that stores one profile per login
@danderson the Sony WH-1000XM5 are good. Not quite as comfortable imo as the QC35s but I wear them a lot and don’t think about them much, except for plugging in to charge batteries.
Add comment