Bose Upgrade Firmware
Heidi Hall
At the behest of Bose's engineering team, Jason_G asked for 20 volunteers in the UK and the US to send in their headphones for analysis to "determine a root cause for these reports." It took several days, but Bose eventually got what it was looking for and Jason_G announced on March 22 that initial evaluations had begun on the first batch of headphones that had been sent in.
"We tested the latest QC35 firmware before its release, and again after its release," a Bose spokesperson told me. "Both times, we verified that the update didn't change the headphone's noise canceling. In order to understand what else might be happening, we need products back from people experiencing a problem. That feedback has come in from such a small fraction of owners, that too few have been returned for us to do that. So, we asked those customers to send us their product. We want to help, and that's not unusual for us."
This is not the first time Bose has had a problem with a firmware release. Back in January, some in the Bose forum as well as on Reddit complained that firmware 1.2.9 impacted sound quality adversely. It also introduced a bug where PlayStation Vita users couldn't connect to their Vitas. This issue was fixed in the latest 1.2.10 firmware update.
Personally, I've always appreciated products that have upgradable firmware and can add features over time. (For instance, Bose added the ability to connect two QuietComfort 35 headphones to a device simultaneously, allowing you to share your music or watch a movie with another person.) However, occasionally updates that are intended to make a product better end up making it worse.
I wish I could report that I verified the problem that some QuietComfort 35 users are having. But I can't. After I recently upgraded a brand-new special-edition blue QuietComfort 35 from 1.05 to 1.2.10 firmware, the noise cancellation seemed as good as before.
It helped that an executive in our CNET office had the same exact limited-edition blue headphones -- Bose says it's just about to run out of that color -- and had never updated it. That made it easy for me to compare my updated review sample with his nonupdated one.
On March 24, Bose's Jason_G posted that three headphones had been received at Bose's labs in Massachusetts. "Preliminary testings have shown that the Active Noise Cancellation was performing properly on two out of the three," he wrote, with the third pair having deformed ear cushions that needed to be replaced. An additional update will be posted as soon as Bose tests more returned units.
Hi I have 4 Connect Amps that have been working fine for some years but just recently they are dropping the Audio for a few seconds which is very annoying. I have spoken to Sonos Support on a few occasions and done everything they have suggested to fix this which they say is WiFi Interference such as switching channels etc but still have problems. This happens on any music source but I have noticed when the speakers go silent the sound levels are still going up and down on the app as if its playing the audio in other words not muted, not sure if this helps identify the problem. I am getting to the point now where soon these will be removed as they just aren't worth the hassle. I have seen a few threads where people have had the same problem but the only answers I have seen are contact Sonos Support.
There is also a simple workaround in S2: set up line in for autoplay on each Connect Amp, and then use the cheapest Echo device you find that has a line out socket, wired via RCA to each Connect Amp. You are then free of S2, and the Connect Amp becomes a dumb servant of the Echo. And if you group Echos together, you can get all Connect Amps to play the same music in perfect sync as well.
this is not a network issue as all my modern Sonos Amps work just fine. This is too much of a coincidence to believe these are all suffering failing memory around the same time. Plus, a reboot solves the issue, albeit temporarily suggesting a memory leak or other firmware bug.
My device only works for less than 24 hours after power down. It is quite annoying to power down every time before you want to turn the Music on. The Connect amp has also become slower and slower through the app. Next upgrade will be Bose or Bluesound. Sonos seems to be a product of low quality, which might be the case also for bluesound, were Bose has been on the semi high end for years.
The Bose products i have dont need software support for 10 years, they just keep working, which dosent seem to be the case for sonos. If you have a product that continuously need to be tweeked and updated to work then thats not a product for me. I want a finished product.
Coming late to this discussion, I've run S1 app without ever upgrading to S2 as I have an older connect. I've a mesh WiFi running and it's definitely the connect that's the issue, no other issues with a selection of play ones, a play 3 and playbar. 30% discount to me isn't acceptable as it's a design issue on the connect and if it's memory related the S1 app/software should reflect this. All I want is access to Plex, Sonos radio and a podcast app. Sonos should fix this as it was never an issue previously.
Up until this point I had no idea that running with S1 is also an issue, going on information from other discussions downgrading was a sure fire way to stop the drop outs. Incidentally my Move gen1 started dropping out the other day at the same time as my connect amps, I guess this will just go on and on with Sonos denying any responsibility, they have now asked me to call them to go through some live troubleshooting! Not holding my hopes up!
Don't hold your breath with live support their knowledge is likely less than yours. Changed my WiFi recently and lost the S1 app, call abandoned after 1 hour with NO solution from their side. I fixed it myself by renaming the network and starting again. Sonos once had this market, but now they most definitely are also rans.
I posted on another thread before I knew about this one. We built a new house about five years ago and we were convinced by one of the contractors to install all Sonos equipment inside the house. We have seven of the connect amps along with about 10 to 15 other devices from Sonos. These connect amps all started having a problem last year like everyone else. Dropping audio. On one I use the most, there is a subwoofer in the mix. The connect amp will drop out while we hear the subwoofer still thumping along. Like everyone else I jumped through all the hoops Sonos asked me to do including submitting diagnostics and all they are telling me is the products are old and I need to update with a 15% discount.
I was curious if the new software they just rolled out (which is complete garbage without ability to modify the queue) fixed the issue with old connects? For one of my systems I did cave and buy a port, and it resolved all my issues.
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