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Re:Bose is open-sourcing its old smart speakers instead of b... by maximilianthe1 on Thursday January 08, 2026 @11:21AM (#46542849)
In current dynamic world product quality of a company 'today' vs '5y+ ago' may drastically change. Sadly, usually to the bad side
Re:Bose is open-sourcing its old smart speakers instead of b... by stewarts on Thursday January 08, 2026 @12:00PM (#46543400)
Bose's QC/QC Ultra lines continue to receive praise for comfort, durability, sound quality, noise cancellation, etc. They make pretty great consumer quality headphones.

Until quite recently, they were widely one of if not the most recommended wireless headphones. The new Sennheiser's that come with a USB-C dongle might have finally stepped past what Bose has been delivering, but at a higher price.

Re:Bose is open-sourcing its old smart speakers instead of b... by wincy on Thursday January 08, 2026 @12:31PM (#46543799)
My wife normally isn’t one to splurge but after her Bose headphones died, we tried a couple other brands, returned them, and went with the QC-35 II despite them being more expensive. The “comfort” part is key, she’s on the spectrum and has a hard time with headphones irritating her, and these are hands down the most comfortable.

We also like the Bose soundbar as it has a mode that makes dialogue more intelligible on our TV.

Re:Bose is open-sourcing its old smart speakers instead of b... by bornfreddy on Thursday January 08, 2026 @12:35PM (#46543869)
I had the new QC Ultra and gave it away. The sound was mediocre at best and you can't turn NC off - a dealbreaker for me (no, passthru is not the same as off). Hope it helps someone make my mistake aa they are quite pricey.

Now if I could change the firmware to turn NC off, that would be something entirely different...

Re:Bose is open-sourcing its old smart speakers instead of b... by duskdozer on Friday January 09, 2026 @07:35AM (#46553218)
Is it auto-adjusted NC? I'm thinking of the Sony equivalents that reduce or increase the strength of the NC depending on the environment, but do not allow you to just choose the strength.
Re:Bose is open-sourcing its old smart speakers instead of b... by sleepybrett on Thursday January 08, 2026 @02:49PM (#46545558)
I love my QCII earbuds, comfort and noise cancellation blow the airpodpro3's out of the water. But sadly the new hearing aid features of the airpodpros are very handy to me, so I have both. I wear the QC2's when I'm at home alone, and the app3s when I'm out and about and expect to have to have some conversations. My ears aren't so bad yet that I need hearing aids, but they are bad enough that I'm forced to lean in more than I used to. Aging is the worst.