Bose QC Ultra Gen 2 Is WAY Better Than You (Probably) Think

Official Content
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TL;DR: The Bose QC Ultra Gen 2 is far more advanced—and far better sounding—than most people realize. Now, out of the box it delivers a heavily V-shaped signature with big bass and bright treble, but beneath that default “store demo” tuning is an extremely sophisticated system designed to overcome the acoustic challenges of closed-back headphones. Once the bass and treble are dialed back in the Bose Music app, the QC Ultra Gen 2 reveals an exceptionally balanced sound profile—one that is arguably better than the Sennheiser HDB 630—and a more refined overall presentation than the previous QC Ultra.

A major part of the improvement comes from Bose’s active systems. The headphone adaptively corrects leakage and seal differences for consistent low-frequency performance across users, but it also has what Bose calls "CustomTune." CustomTune plays a calibration stimulus each time it powers on, “snapshotting” your specific ear canal response and applying a personalized EQ correction. This helps minimize the massive midrange variability inherent in high-acoustic-impedance conditions like closed-back designs. The result is a more stable, individualized frequency response.

While overall attenuation isn’t higher, Gen 2's ANC better prioritizes acute, sudden noises. You also get manual control over ANC, including the ability to fully disable it. Other upgrades include lossless USB-C audio and refreshed color options, though the glossy yokes may not appeal to everyone. Comfort remains class-leading—lighter and more agreeable over long flights than both the Sennheiser HDB 630 and Focal Bathys.

Sonically, the QC Ultra Gen 2 still requires user input to reach its best performance. The default tuning is heavy-handed, but with app adjustments (e.g., –6 bass, –4 treble), it becomes clear, balanced, and excellent sounding. ANC-off mode slightly worsens the tonality in the bass and midrange, so people should use it with ANC enabled—even if you turn the ANC level down.

Compared with the HDB 630, the Bose offers less advanced EQ capability (simple 3-band shelves vs. full 5-band parametric), no low-latency dongle, and less flexibility as an all-purpose headphone. But for travel-focused buyers who care about comfort and noise cancellation first and foremost, the QC Ultra Gen 2 os the more compelling choice thanks to its superior ANC, comfort, and acoustic compensation system.

Overall, the QC Ultra Gen 2 is a highly refined and remarkably intelligent ANC headphone that deserves far more credit than it gets. It’s not a must-upgrade from Gen 1, but for new buyers willing to spend a moment with the app, it delivers excellent sound, top-tier comfort, and some of the smartest acoustic engineering available in a consumer headphone.

This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://headphones.com/blogs/reviews/bose-qc-ultra-gen-2-is-way-better-than-you-probably-think
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I think it would be great to have data on exactly what filters are used for each of the adjustments, as well as exactly what the mid filter affects. According to one measurement I saw, increasing the mid band to +5 with no other adjustment seemed to yield a pretty good result, but it’s the only one I’ve seen. Could you test/corroborate that?

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Here’s the thing — even if someone says, “This part is better than the HD630,” that’s ultimately just a subjective reaction. You can always respond with “Well, that depends on the person,” which means the discussion doesn’t really go anywhere.

The “better” points people mention aren’t backed by any official numbers, either. And unlike Sennheiser, Bose doesn’t publish the technical details of their EQ implementation. At best, we only know the number of bands and roughly where the adjustments start. But the importance of those features is also user-dependent, so that argument ends pretty quickly.

It’s not that I’m saying Bose is bad. It’s more like… the way we have to evaluate them ends up being similar to how we judge home appliances:
“This toaster feels like it browns better,” or “This fan feels like the breeze is softer,” — very subjective, because the manufacturer hides almost all of the technical information.

For what it’s worth, I’m still using the Gen 1 and will probably keep using it until it dies. I genuinely like it.

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Thanks for bringing this to our attention, @Resolve. I would not have considered the Bose QC Ultra Gen 2 otherwise. I just ordered a pair of these
in purple
for my wife
:smiling_face_with_sunglasses:

They will be replacing her Apple Airpods Max.

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I’d actually say it is backed by data. The measurements show that for the mids and up through the ear gain, the QC Ultra Gen 2 is notably more linear, and that is one area where it’s worth making some adjustments with PEQ on the HDB 630. The key advantage for the latter is that you can make those adjustments.

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@Resolve How large and comfortable are the Bose pads compared to the Sennheiser HDB 630? I like how the 630 sounds, but they cause me significant discomfort directly behind the ear due to what I imagine is the clamp force/seal combined with the smallish pads.

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Pretty similar size TBH. Maybe with more depth to them? Like overall I do find the bose to be slightly more comfortable. But the HDB 630’s comfort isn’t bad for me.

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Thanks. I like the sound and the app/features but may need to return the Senns and try the Bose if comfort doesn’t improve.

Thanks again!

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Took a look at both the HDB630 and the QC Ultra Gen 2 and ended up going with the QC Ultra Gen 2 for the slightly better comfort, lower heat build‑up, and lighter weight. I’ll be using them mostly at work, where I can run them wired into a PC and use Equalizer APO to dial in the sound.​​

For you (or anyone else) who has spent time EQ’ing these, what would you recommend as a good starting point for Equalizer APO settings on the QC Ultra Gen 2?

AI suggested this as a starting point:

Preamp: −4.0 dB
Peak: 35 Hz, Q 0.7, gain −2.0
Peak: 80 Hz, Q 0.9, gain −2.5
Peak: 220 Hz, Q 1.0, gain +1.5
Peak: 900 Hz, Q 1.0, gain +2.0
Peak: 3.5 kHz, Q 1.0, gain −1.0
High‑shelf: 6.5 kHz, Q 0.7, gain +1.5
High‑shelf: 10 kHz, Q 0.7, gain +2.0

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@Resolve bookmark this review and post it in reply to any claims of Headphones.com influencing your reviews behind the scenes. :smirking_face:

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What are the EQ adjustments you would recommend in the bose app to improve the audio?

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Oh no the haters don’t care about the times it doesn’t suit their narrative lol.

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I go -5 in the bass and -4 in the treble, something like that.

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For anyone curious about full parametric EQ settings for the Bose QC Ultra Gen 2 I bought a pair and settled on the EQ settings below.

For the bass I 100% agree that it’s hard to improve on the in app EQ bass slider - these headphones really just need a 3-ish dB drop across the whole bass shelf.

As for the mid-range it feels just a tad thin at stock settings and does benefit a bit from a broad ~1 dB lift across the whole range (~500-3000hz). You could probably do this in the in app EQ too.

For the treble though it’s nice to be able to tweak things a bit more as it’s only really the 9000hz peak that is extra spicy and the rest of that range doesn’t need to be toned down quite as much.

Generally speaking I was really surprised just how right Resolve was about the simple in app EQ settings just being exactly where you need them to be to quickly get great sound.

Preamp: -4.5 dB
Include: example.txt

Filter 1: ON PK Fc 35 Hz Gain -2.0 dB Q 0.70
Filter 2: ON PK Fc 90 Hz Gain -3.0 dB Q 0.90

Filter 3: ON PK Fc 800 Hz Gain +1.5 dB Q 0.80
Filter 4: ON PK Fc 2000 Hz Gain +1.0 dB Q 0.80

Filter 5: ON PK Fc 9000 Hz Gain -4.0 dB Q 2.00
Filter 6: ON PK Fc 12000 Hz Gain -2.0 dB Q 2.00
Filter 7: ON PK Fc 16000 Hz Gain -2.0 dB Q 1.50

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@Resolve since you didn’t talk about staging and other subjective sound characteristics: What I always disliked about Bose was a 3 blob effect that they had for me, is this solved here? Do they sound more natural and actually like a headphone now?

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Maybe a little? I wouldn’t say this does the spaciousness effect particularly strongly but it’s also not overly intimate once you use the bass and treble filters in the app. But then it also has spatial audio with snapshotting and head tracking for people who want that experience.

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Using a parametric eq like Poweramp for phones, what would you do? I would love to wear the QC ultra 2 because my momentum 4 are just not working for comfort. But the sound in my opinion is way better. I tried eq but I apparently suck at it. Could you help out with suggestions?

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TBH… I think QC Ultra Gen 2 sounds better than M4 when you go -5 and -5 for bass and treble in the app. So long as CustomTune is triggered correctly. With regards to poweramp, I’m not sure about that one since I don’t use it. If you were to EQ though, maybe see if you’re getting some peaks in the low to mid treble band in situ. CustomTune can’t really account for that.

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I mean there are apps to gain full eq for phones. So I want to chose a headphone that is super comfortable and has good anc. The hdb 630 sound great, I had them here, but comfort and anc ain’t it. But other than simple peaks I don’t seem to be skilled enough to eq a sound profile that I like. So you don’t bother to eq Bluetooth headphones with 3rd party apps?

I have open back passive headphones but I noticed that I listen to music waaaay more often on the go so I need Bluetooth headphones to sound really good for me. I like the sound of the M4. I like the sound of the HDB630. Also like the hd600 and edition xv just fyi. I listen mostly to metal.