New Bose QC Ultra Firmware 4.0.20 BROKE something... 🤦🏻♂️
Bose QC Ultra Firmware 4.0.20
Today, we're discussing the new firmware update 4.0.20 for the QC Ultra Earbuds, which replaces version 1.78. If you're wondering whether this update fixes the small buzzing sound in the left earbud, it does not. Instead, the main focus of this update is to add multipoint pairing, a function that allows cycling through connected devices, along with bug fixes and general stability improvements.
Multipoint pairing seems to work well, but you do need to pause playback on one device before playing audio on another, which is normal. As for switching between devices, I haven’t found the benefit of that yet. The update only reads out the device name, and you can’t actually play anything from that device when it’s not connected. Even when it’s connected, you can’t just press play on your earbuds to start playback, you’ll need to press play on the device itself.
The only real benefit of this update is that it simplifies the process of entering pairing mode. Previously, you’ll have to use the charging case to enable pairing mode, but now you can simply Just hold the touchpad until it cycles through the list of connected devices, and enter pairing mode.
Does this update inadvertently affect sound quality, noise cancelation, or microphone pickup? And does it introduce any new issues? Let’s find out!
Microphone Quality Changed?
Unfortunately, there is no change at all to the mic pickup compared to the previous firmware version. This means there are no improvements to its call quality, regarding the noise gating feature that should be applied but it didn’t.
👉 Have a listen to the microphone quality samples.
(Mic pickup of the QC Ultra before and after the update with loud café noise and some wind noise from a fan.)
However, the QC Ultra remains the best noise canceller in the market. Let’s see if the new firmware affects this.
Active Noise Canceling changed?
From the samples, it may seem that the noise cancelling performance is not very different from the previous firmware, and may even be slightly more intense. However, I noticed that when switching from transparency mode to noise cancelling mode, the right earbud reacts slower than the left, meaning they’re not switching at the same pace. This change is very subtle, and most of you may not notice it, but it’s what I’ve picked up.
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Sound Quality Changed?
In terms of sound quality, frequency sweeps show that the tuning remains very similar. However, there seems to be slightly less sub bass below 30 hz and a bit less rolling off above 16 khz. I’m not too concerned about the change in sub bass, as very few people can actually hear the difference in this region, but some might notice a bit more air in the soundstage above 16khz. There’s also about a half db difference in the midrange, which I believe doesn’t impact the tuning as much as the changes in the highs. But, I do feel that mids sound a little more clear now.
👉 Have a listen to the sound quality.
Conclusion
From my testing, there are some changes to the noise cancelling and sound, while mic quality remains about the same. The connection with my TV and other devices now seems great. Previously, there were some intermittent signal drops, which seem to have been resolved. That’s great! Except that now, the connection with my PC is horrible, even without multipoint pairing. Previously, I didn’t experience any signal drops with my PC, but now the signal drops out every half a minute. It’s not a skip, it completely drops out for large portions of the music before reconnecting. Overall, it’s a good update, but if you need this for PC audio, I don’t recommend you update. Wait for the next patch and we’ll see if it fixes the issue.
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