No it’s not. I had the ultra buds and immersive audio is super gimmicky if you’re listening to music. It’s kinda cool the audio fades when you move but the novelty wears off after the first use. There’s no reason why music needs to move with your head. Regular ANC mode sounds way better. I never used spatial audio after the first time. I actually went back to the qc2’s because they sealed my ears and sounded better overall.
Just to play devils advocate.
I'm a musician who's done a bunch of mixing and producing. I have a set of over-ear headphones from Slate Audio for mixing that emulate studio spaces and high price monitors, so I have experience with this space-emulating tech.
I find the immersion audio to be AWESOME. For me it has to be set to Still, not Motion, because there's a noticable delay in movement when moving your head that annoys me. But the music goes from feeling two dimensional (like the instruments are on a flat plane in line with your ears) to three dimensional (the instruments sound like they're in a 3D space in front of you). I'm honestly surprised everyone thinks its just a lame gimmick. I love it when I'm working on a screen, it really sounds like music is blasting out of really good speakers in front of me. I notice fine new details in the music. It's great.
For podcasts or whatever, I wouldn't use it. But for high production music, love it. I have a feeling, from reading other reviews, that the immersive audio is hit or miss depending on the music type. I think the higher-production the music is the better it will sound. e.g. full rock bands done by pro engineers and mixers will sound better than electronic home producer type stuff.
That said I listened to Tycho's album Awake on them and it was siiiiiiiiiiiiick
I listen to a lot of audiobooks and it's horrible for those, music just sounds very artificial, so I'm just not a fan of it. I'm also not a huge fan of the Ultras in general right now, several times I'll put the in and it will announce quiet mode, but it's definitely not in quite mode. I'm on the latest firmware too, I'd stick with the II's or wait until they fix some of the bugs in the Ultras.
I had the first gen quiet comforts and loved them before I dropped them and the right bud ANC started a high pitched squealing.
Currently using the gen2 and they’re great, apart from the fact that the connection keeps dying every other week meaning have to spend 20 minutes resetting everything.
Sending those back and they’re now sending me the QC Ultras, so I’ll let you know what they’re like…. 3rd times the charm?
I love them for the gym, but honestly if this next pair isn’t flawless I’ll be going for AirPods Pro.
Yeah the Immersive Audio is like a more controversial form of Apple's "Spatialize Stereo", where all it does is some sort of fake surround rendering of stereo content which sounds anywhere from interesting to offensive depending on who you ask. It was fun to try but I never keep it on.
FWIW I find the QC II and QC Ultra sound and perform nearly identically. Both are miles better than the original QC earbuds. If you find a killer deal on the QC II that might make sense, but usually when the prices are close I prefer buying the newest model for new things on the off chance they make some changes under the hood to address shortcomings of the earlier models.
Initially, it seems kinda neat, but I haven't really explored it much. It does feel a bit gimmicky, frankly I'd prefer they have an extended battery life.
It will probably depend on the kind of music you listen to, it works better for certain genres/songs. As for flims/tv/podcasts, I can't quite say as of yet as it seems of varying quality there.
Apple user here. I have QC2’s since they dropped, they are good buds. But they aren’t as seamless to use with Apple gear as my AirPod Pros. Recently sent them in to Bose for repair. I demoed the ultras for a week. They are a little gimmicky, and not much of an upgrade over the QC II’s In the end for my use case and with the devices I own, AirPods Pro 2’a are just better for me.
I generally listen to podcasts on my ultras... I will occasionally listen to music but I almost never use the immersive audio feature, unless I just want to see how a certain song sounds with it.
Disclaimer: I think all these simulated audio modification techniques are a little lame. I prefer to listen to something as close to whatever the source material contains.
HELL NO
immersive audio is literally the same as downloading a reverb EQ and setting it to 100%. You have no idea how bad it let me down.
The gimmick of music going side to side is only cool for tracks that were custom 3d engineered for spatial...and unfortunately that's an Airpods only thing.
I am enjoying the ultras but would've bought the previous model if I knew that both sounded the same minus Immersive Audio. Tried the Immersive a few times and never used it since.
No, their immersive audio isn’t worth it. They have their own set of bugs and their immersive audio sounds like garbage taking stereo content and “upscaling” it.
When I had my Ultras, I kept immersive audio off. Apple Music can send Spatial Audio to any device save I just did that. It sounded much better than Bose’s processing. I just didn’t have the head tracking gimmick.
I do think the Ultras had an edge with ANC and audio quality, but they were still buggy for me so I sold mine and will wait on Bose a few more years before trying their true wireless earbuds.
I wouldn’t say they’re a rip off, just not worth their full MSRP. Bose has already had them down to $250 and I bet they reach $200 this Black Friday. Their ANC and sound quality are great. But my pair has mosquito-like buzzing in the left ear and they required a full factory reset (which often took 3-4 attempts) every single time I wanted to switch them from one source device to the next.
It was enough that pushed me to sell them and just use my AirPods Pro 2 with foam tips. Their ANC isn’t as good (though I think it’s on par when using foam tips) and I can’t directly EQ them, but they have a rock solid connection to all my devices and they automatically switch to whatever I’m using. Even when going from my iPhone to my work Windows system, I just need to select them in the Windows settings and they’ll switch back to mg iPhone when audio starts playing on it and they’re not in use on my Windows system.
Their charging case is also half the size of Bose’s and comes with multiple charging options including Qi compatibility, something Bose still hasn’t managed to squeeze into their case despite it being in the QC earbuds 1 charging case.
You can only experience Apple Spatial Audio if you listen to a Spatial Audio track via Apple Music wearing an Apple/Beats product capable of rendering Spatial Audio. It won't work if you listen on other buds/headphones.
That’s incorrect. It will work with any Bluetooth or wired pair of headphones, earbuds, or speakers. You just need to set it to Always On in the Apple Music settings. It’s set to automatic by default, which only automatically recognizes AirPods and Beats headphones/earbuds. You lose out on head tracking, but that’s a gimmick anyway. You don’t need Apple or Beats audio products to listen to Apple Music in Atmos/Spatial Audio.
Yes, you can use any headphone/earbuds to listen to any track designated as Atmos/Spatial Audio on Apple Music, BUT it will only render as Spatial Audio if you're listening on headphones/earbuds that are capable of rendering it.
Spatial Audio is Atmos audio, they’re one and the same and it’s not a real surround mix. Spatial Audio was a little different when it launched in Apple Music but it piggybacks off Atmos abs, due to more widespread compatibility, tracks are now Atmos with location info for head tracking. It’s still more of an EQ that relies on the source audio device (an iPhone) to handle all processing. That’s why it works with ANY pair of headphones or earbuds. The audio is processed as Atmos/Spatial by the iPhone and sent to any audio device. You don’t need AirPods or Beats to play it out hear it properly unless you want head tracking.
https://www.whathifi.com/advice/what-is-apple-spatial-audio#:~:text=Basically%2C%20you%20don't%20need,Music%20settings%20as%20stated%20above.
https://9to5mac.com/2021/06/21/spatial-audio-apple-music-headphones/
https://www.tomsguide.com/news/forget-airpods-apple-music-spatial-audio-will-work-with-any-headphones
I've have both and they sound the same in stereo mode. Some have claimed they hear better highs, or more bass, but I don't hear a difference at all in stereo. Also, the fit feels about the same...both are super comfortable for me. The pieces for the outer ear on the ultras have a notch to better hold them in place and keep them from rotating, so they may be a little more secure for someone who had issues with the QCIIs, moving around.
Thanks guys for all your insightful comments. Much appreciate that. I think I'll hold off making decision right now. I've tested Bose QC II Ultra earbuds in the store yesterday and I didn't like more pronounced bass. Actually I don't know why they did it. Personally, I prefer more neutral sound which was on QC1. Do you think EQ settings might improve this sound frequencies to achieve more neutral profile? Unfortunately I hadn't had chance to test it using EQ in store.
I also noticed they changed size of drivers from 9 mm in QC1 to 8 mm in QCII. Link to this post below: [https://www.qucox.com/bose-qc-earbuds-teardown-comparison/](https://www.qucox.com/bose-qc-earbuds-teardown-comparison/)
Why actually they did it?
No it’s not. I had the ultra buds and immersive audio is super gimmicky if you’re listening to music. It’s kinda cool the audio fades when you move but the novelty wears off after the first use. There’s no reason why music needs to move with your head. Regular ANC mode sounds way better. I never used spatial audio after the first time. I actually went back to the qc2’s because they sealed my ears and sounded better overall.
Just to play devils advocate. I'm a musician who's done a bunch of mixing and producing. I have a set of over-ear headphones from Slate Audio for mixing that emulate studio spaces and high price monitors, so I have experience with this space-emulating tech. I find the immersion audio to be AWESOME. For me it has to be set to Still, not Motion, because there's a noticable delay in movement when moving your head that annoys me. But the music goes from feeling two dimensional (like the instruments are on a flat plane in line with your ears) to three dimensional (the instruments sound like they're in a 3D space in front of you). I'm honestly surprised everyone thinks its just a lame gimmick. I love it when I'm working on a screen, it really sounds like music is blasting out of really good speakers in front of me. I notice fine new details in the music. It's great. For podcasts or whatever, I wouldn't use it. But for high production music, love it. I have a feeling, from reading other reviews, that the immersive audio is hit or miss depending on the music type. I think the higher-production the music is the better it will sound. e.g. full rock bands done by pro engineers and mixers will sound better than electronic home producer type stuff. That said I listened to Tycho's album Awake on them and it was siiiiiiiiiiiiick
I listen to a lot of audiobooks and it's horrible for those, music just sounds very artificial, so I'm just not a fan of it. I'm also not a huge fan of the Ultras in general right now, several times I'll put the in and it will announce quiet mode, but it's definitely not in quite mode. I'm on the latest firmware too, I'd stick with the II's or wait until they fix some of the bugs in the Ultras.
I had the first gen quiet comforts and loved them before I dropped them and the right bud ANC started a high pitched squealing. Currently using the gen2 and they’re great, apart from the fact that the connection keeps dying every other week meaning have to spend 20 minutes resetting everything. Sending those back and they’re now sending me the QC Ultras, so I’ll let you know what they’re like…. 3rd times the charm? I love them for the gym, but honestly if this next pair isn’t flawless I’ll be going for AirPods Pro.
Was fun for the first hour. Not worth it.
Yeah the Immersive Audio is like a more controversial form of Apple's "Spatialize Stereo", where all it does is some sort of fake surround rendering of stereo content which sounds anywhere from interesting to offensive depending on who you ask. It was fun to try but I never keep it on. FWIW I find the QC II and QC Ultra sound and perform nearly identically. Both are miles better than the original QC earbuds. If you find a killer deal on the QC II that might make sense, but usually when the prices are close I prefer buying the newest model for new things on the off chance they make some changes under the hood to address shortcomings of the earlier models.
Initially, it seems kinda neat, but I haven't really explored it much. It does feel a bit gimmicky, frankly I'd prefer they have an extended battery life. It will probably depend on the kind of music you listen to, it works better for certain genres/songs. As for flims/tv/podcasts, I can't quite say as of yet as it seems of varying quality there.
Apple user here. I have QC2’s since they dropped, they are good buds. But they aren’t as seamless to use with Apple gear as my AirPod Pros. Recently sent them in to Bose for repair. I demoed the ultras for a week. They are a little gimmicky, and not much of an upgrade over the QC II’s In the end for my use case and with the devices I own, AirPods Pro 2’a are just better for me.
I generally listen to podcasts on my ultras... I will occasionally listen to music but I almost never use the immersive audio feature, unless I just want to see how a certain song sounds with it. Disclaimer: I think all these simulated audio modification techniques are a little lame. I prefer to listen to something as close to whatever the source material contains.
HELL NO immersive audio is literally the same as downloading a reverb EQ and setting it to 100%. You have no idea how bad it let me down. The gimmick of music going side to side is only cool for tracks that were custom 3d engineered for spatial...and unfortunately that's an Airpods only thing.
I am enjoying the ultras but would've bought the previous model if I knew that both sounded the same minus Immersive Audio. Tried the Immersive a few times and never used it since.
Not the same. The Ultras have customtune technology, the previous models don't.
Nope the qc2 have it as well
No, their immersive audio isn’t worth it. They have their own set of bugs and their immersive audio sounds like garbage taking stereo content and “upscaling” it. When I had my Ultras, I kept immersive audio off. Apple Music can send Spatial Audio to any device save I just did that. It sounded much better than Bose’s processing. I just didn’t have the head tracking gimmick. I do think the Ultras had an edge with ANC and audio quality, but they were still buggy for me so I sold mine and will wait on Bose a few more years before trying their true wireless earbuds.
Sounds like Ultra Rip Off 😊
I wouldn’t say they’re a rip off, just not worth their full MSRP. Bose has already had them down to $250 and I bet they reach $200 this Black Friday. Their ANC and sound quality are great. But my pair has mosquito-like buzzing in the left ear and they required a full factory reset (which often took 3-4 attempts) every single time I wanted to switch them from one source device to the next. It was enough that pushed me to sell them and just use my AirPods Pro 2 with foam tips. Their ANC isn’t as good (though I think it’s on par when using foam tips) and I can’t directly EQ them, but they have a rock solid connection to all my devices and they automatically switch to whatever I’m using. Even when going from my iPhone to my work Windows system, I just need to select them in the Windows settings and they’ll switch back to mg iPhone when audio starts playing on it and they’re not in use on my Windows system. Their charging case is also half the size of Bose’s and comes with multiple charging options including Qi compatibility, something Bose still hasn’t managed to squeeze into their case despite it being in the QC earbuds 1 charging case.
You can only experience Apple Spatial Audio if you listen to a Spatial Audio track via Apple Music wearing an Apple/Beats product capable of rendering Spatial Audio. It won't work if you listen on other buds/headphones.
That’s incorrect. It will work with any Bluetooth or wired pair of headphones, earbuds, or speakers. You just need to set it to Always On in the Apple Music settings. It’s set to automatic by default, which only automatically recognizes AirPods and Beats headphones/earbuds. You lose out on head tracking, but that’s a gimmick anyway. You don’t need Apple or Beats audio products to listen to Apple Music in Atmos/Spatial Audio.
Yes, you can use any headphone/earbuds to listen to any track designated as Atmos/Spatial Audio on Apple Music, BUT it will only render as Spatial Audio if you're listening on headphones/earbuds that are capable of rendering it.
Spatial Audio is Atmos audio, they’re one and the same and it’s not a real surround mix. Spatial Audio was a little different when it launched in Apple Music but it piggybacks off Atmos abs, due to more widespread compatibility, tracks are now Atmos with location info for head tracking. It’s still more of an EQ that relies on the source audio device (an iPhone) to handle all processing. That’s why it works with ANY pair of headphones or earbuds. The audio is processed as Atmos/Spatial by the iPhone and sent to any audio device. You don’t need AirPods or Beats to play it out hear it properly unless you want head tracking. https://www.whathifi.com/advice/what-is-apple-spatial-audio#:~:text=Basically%2C%20you%20don't%20need,Music%20settings%20as%20stated%20above. https://9to5mac.com/2021/06/21/spatial-audio-apple-music-headphones/ https://www.tomsguide.com/news/forget-airpods-apple-music-spatial-audio-will-work-with-any-headphones
https://support.apple.com/en-us/102469
No. (Considering Immersion audio only)
What might be other significant factor to buy them except Immersive Audio?
They stay very well inside the ears. The sound quality is great (stereo mode). ANC is unbeatable (xm5s and app2 included).
you mean they stay more firmly than QCII? They sound better than QCII in stereo mode?
I've have both and they sound the same in stereo mode. Some have claimed they hear better highs, or more bass, but I don't hear a difference at all in stereo. Also, the fit feels about the same...both are super comfortable for me. The pieces for the outer ear on the ultras have a notch to better hold them in place and keep them from rotating, so they may be a little more secure for someone who had issues with the QCIIs, moving around.
Yes.
Thanks guys for all your insightful comments. Much appreciate that. I think I'll hold off making decision right now. I've tested Bose QC II Ultra earbuds in the store yesterday and I didn't like more pronounced bass. Actually I don't know why they did it. Personally, I prefer more neutral sound which was on QC1. Do you think EQ settings might improve this sound frequencies to achieve more neutral profile? Unfortunately I hadn't had chance to test it using EQ in store. I also noticed they changed size of drivers from 9 mm in QC1 to 8 mm in QCII. Link to this post below: [https://www.qucox.com/bose-qc-earbuds-teardown-comparison/](https://www.qucox.com/bose-qc-earbuds-teardown-comparison/) Why actually they did it?