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As a researcher in acoustics (another field though) this post illustrates beautifully the difficulties of the field: how each of us feels different about sound

As a researcher in acoustics (another field though) this post illustrates beautifully the difficulties of the field: how each of us feels different about sound (psychoacoustics), how even minute mechanical details have a noticeable impact on acoustic performance... FWIW I can confirm that this post shows great expertise in acoustic engineering, from the focus on the customer interviews/fieldwork (it is still very difficult to predict through synthetic tests in the lab how actual human will rate sounds) to the paired acoustic tests (we suck at comparing more than two sounds, we need pairing like in the ophthalmologist), the use of a critical listener, etc.

gerardbeckerleg 7y ago
I agree it is very thorough, what is really strange from my experience with the QC35 is that they haven’t found any problem. The noise cancellation in my earphones was working perfectly, performed the upgrade, and now I can hear the person next to me typing when I couldn’t before. 100% there is a problem with the firmware update no idea how they couldn’t find it with that amount of testing.
- gerardbeckerleg 7y ago
  Doing a bit more digging, it looks like the report from Bose is testing the wrong issue. They tested 4.1.3 to 4.5.2 where as the issue is from 2.x.x and 3.x.x update to 4.5.2. https://community.bose.com/t5/Around-On-Ear-Headphones/Bose-QC-35-Firmware-4-5-2-Noise-Cancellation-Investigation/td-p/285741/page/2 https://community.bose.com/t5/Around-On-Ear-Headphones/Bose-...
  - mlvljr 7y ago
    ^^^
- matsemann 7y ago
  Maybe the person got a new keyboard? Maybe you just didn't notice it before but now that you've started thinking about it it's impossible not to notice? There can be a thousand factors, and these 20 objective tests are easier to trust than subjective listeners.
  - gerardbeckerleg 7y ago
    Very true, which is why I chose to respond to this thread in particular as the OP was highlighting the difficulty in testing acoustic performance and praising the expertise of the engineers and I really do appreciate the task at hand. If I was reading this thread without experiencing it for myself I would be saying the exact same thing. Unfortunately for me (and lots of others according to the Bose forums) my subjective experience is the complete opposite of the outcome of these tests. Luckily it is looking like they tested the wrong upgrade path which is reassuring as I have no idea how I could refute the tests otherwise.
- s_gourichon 7y ago
  Interesting. The report says they tested airplane noise, which spreads on a wide spectrum of frequencies but is a continuous noise. A keyboard noise is very different : short bursts. Maybe there is a regression in that case, which the method in their report would not spot.
- nickkell 7y ago
  I started started hearing loud typing and realised I was using the headset's microphone!
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
gen220 7y ago
I’ve been on a tour of the Bose Mountain facilities in the last 5 years (knew somebody who worked there in the experimental electronics space), and I can confirm that, on the inside, they are absolutely meticulous with their acoustic engineering and testing, more than anything I’ve seen before. They really treat it like rocket science. There were sound rooms built to simulate a variety of real world environments, complete with realistic RF interference. They could test other equipment alongside their own, to be confident that they were producing real value for their customers. They’re pretty secretive so I won’t go into more details out of respect, but it was very cool and definitely made me a loyal customer. All that aside, like you said the psychoacoustics thing is very real, and knowing them, they’re probably working on it.

gerardbeckerleg 7y ago

I agree it is very thorough, what is really strange from my experience with the QC35 is that they haven’t found any problem. The noise cancellation in my earphones was working perfectly, performed the upgrade, and now I can hear the person next to me typing when I couldn’t before. 100% there is a problem with the firmware update no idea how they couldn’t find it with that amount of testing.

gerardbeckerleg 7y ago
Doing a bit more digging, it looks like the report from Bose is testing the wrong issue. They tested 4.1.3 to 4.5.2 where as the issue is from 2.x.x and 3.x.x update to 4.5.2. https://community.bose.com/t5/Around-On-Ear-Headphones/Bose-QC-35-Firmware-4-5-2-Noise-Cancellation-Investigation/td-p/285741/page/2 https://community.bose.com/t5/Around-On-Ear-Headphones/Bose-...
- mlvljr 7y ago
  ^^^
matsemann 7y ago
Maybe the person got a new keyboard? Maybe you just didn't notice it before but now that you've started thinking about it it's impossible not to notice? There can be a thousand factors, and these 20 objective tests are easier to trust than subjective listeners.
- gerardbeckerleg 7y ago
  Very true, which is why I chose to respond to this thread in particular as the OP was highlighting the difficulty in testing acoustic performance and praising the expertise of the engineers and I really do appreciate the task at hand. If I was reading this thread without experiencing it for myself I would be saying the exact same thing. Unfortunately for me (and lots of others according to the Bose forums) my subjective experience is the complete opposite of the outcome of these tests. Luckily it is looking like they tested the wrong upgrade path which is reassuring as I have no idea how I could refute the tests otherwise.
s_gourichon 7y ago
Interesting. The report says they tested airplane noise, which spreads on a wide spectrum of frequencies but is a continuous noise. A keyboard noise is very different : short bursts. Maybe there is a regression in that case, which the method in their report would not spot.
nickkell 7y ago
I started started hearing loud typing and realised I was using the headset's microphone!

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

gen220 7y ago

I’ve been on a tour of the Bose Mountain facilities in the last 5 years (knew somebody who worked there in the experimental electronics space), and I can confirm that, on the inside, they are absolutely meticulous with their acoustic engineering and testing, more than anything I’ve seen before. They really treat it like rocket science. There were sound rooms built to simulate a variety of real world environments, complete with realistic RF interference. They could test other equipment alongside their own, to be confident that they were producing real value for their customers. They’re pretty secretive so I won’t go into more details out of respect, but it was very cool and definitely made me a loyal customer. All that aside, like you said the psychoacoustics thing is very real, and knowing them, they’re probably working on it.