Q30 ANC not working when connected via cable

#1

I just received my q30 pair.
When I connect them via cable ANC doesn’t work and I am not able to power them ON or OFF.
They do play the sound from the connected source but that’s it.
The soundcore app also doesn’t see them when connected via cable.

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#2

Its normal and works well if that is your case. Once you are using the cable, it turns off ANC and all features on the app as that only works when connected via Bluetooth

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#3

ANC off when cabled makes nil engineering sense.

If that’s the case it’s bug, open a ticket.

#4

To me I do not see that as a bug as I had to tear down one of my Q30 to actually check the board and take a dive into the inhouse engine. I found out that once you plug in the cable, it triggers off all buttons on the headphone including the sensors. So all sound sources and effect comes directly from what is being played via the cables. Maybe its an engineering flaw as you suggested but having tear down one of my headset to take a look, I found out its just a design made to work that way. Perhaps subsequent update might get that fixed

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#5

Well that is very useful information.

So if you had it not cabled enabled ANC via button, plug in ANC, the ANC is then disabled?

I wonder if the Q35 which bundled an inline mic cable does similar or better?

In my case I dumped everything but Android and Linux so I have no need for cable. If I ever had an item which cannot transmit BT I have a aux-to-BT transmitter.

#6

Well if the headphones are designed to be able to work without power with the Aux cable, it makes perfect sense that ANC wouldn’t work. You would obviously need power for ANC to work and to connect to the App. I consider it a feature that you can still use the headphones even if they don’t have any charge left with the cable.

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#7

Hrm… not that this will help with the Q30s, but the Q35s ANC functions when cable is connected.

Mind you it has to have power as @Steve976 mentioned.

I didn’t notice about the app not seeing them, guess I’ll try that out today.

#8

Philosophy, design, engineering.

Yes agree that when you AUX connect, the volume, play, buttons should stop working, as the volume level and control is from the source.

However ANC and ambient is not related to source, it is controlling the non-source.

So if it’s not a bug in the Q30, but a design decision, the question is shifted to the Q35 what they did different?

So it’s better with Q35. That is a score towards the Q35 vs Q30 for anyone more interested in cabled operation.

#9

I wonder if the Q35’s would work when connected via cable if they had no power? It seems like that would complicate things to have them work via Aux with or without power @TheSnarkyOne. I’ve always thought it was a plus that wired headphones have the ability to work without having to rely on an internal power source.

#10

It would be logical engineering for Q35 to allow ANC and Ambient up to the point power is drained, then those function stop and they become a “dumb” headphone.

Anyone tested?

#11

I’ve always thought one would use the wired option for 1 of 2 reasons:

  1. Because you don’t have any internal power in which case ANC wouldn’t work anyway.
  2. To get the best possibly sound. In that case would you want to flavor it with having ANC on? I can’t see any scenario where having ANC on wouldn’t affect the sound.

That’s why I think it makes sense that ANC wouldn’t work while the headphones are connected via cable.

#12

In debate.

ANC on til battery drained, as an option, would be a good compromise. Based on the above seems Q35 is a better implementation.

Yes ANC worsens sound quality but can be minimised. If you’re seeking to minimise sound degradation, you’d tune the upper frequency where ANC blocks.

I suspect this is much of the engineering focus at Soundcore now.

#13

I doubt wired is now better quality than wireless, I doubt you can actually tell the difference as it just moved the DAC from a short wire to a long wire. I’d do the “pepsi challenge” blind on anyone claiming they can.

Wireless supporting highest bitrates would be required.

The over-ear Soundcore battery life now so excellent there’s no need to worry about battery. There’s enough times not being worn and even if traveling there’s a Powercore you’re carrying for your phone anyway.

No I see the need for wired is Windows 10 Bluetooth drivers issues.

#14

If your Bluetooth codec tops out at 320 kbps but you plug it directly into your CD player that is outputting at 1,411 kbps, do you really think you won’t notice a difference?

#15

That’s my point! Bitrate wireless is now up to 1Mbit. Q35 LDAC.

My 3 year old phone with 256GB storage support 2Mbit Bluetooth and 1Mbit LDAC.

Also the DAC moves and the CD player may not be as good.

I’ve helped plenty with Q30 issues, the wired reason comes up most for Windows 10 Bluetooth drivers issues and causes a microphone issue which they address in Q35. I didnt realise ANC disabled in Q30 but now fixed in Q35. That’s a score for Q35.

I’ve had Bose QC30 for years and ANC and wired was essential at the time as the media on long haul was supplied by the screen in the seats, but that became less required as tablets with offline HD content became better.

#16

But we’re talking about the Q30 and It doesn’t have LDAC. Also anyone with Apple doesn’t have it. Heck, my Android also doesn’t have it. I’d venture a guess that the majority of people are topping out at around 320 kbps with Bluetooth. Since the thread is abut the Q30, I was talking about that.

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#17

Well I tried with aux, and the anc doesn’t work :flushed: without the power on the headset.

Not much of a surprise I suppose, but thought I’d try and see.

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#18

Thanks for clearing that up. Wasn’t mentioned at Q30 launch. Q35 improved. We live and learn.

What we have yet to learn with the P3 awaits us.

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#19

wired ANC is a feature mentioned in the Q30 manual and was supported till firmware 2.10

they removed it recently and this makes me lose trust in this brand

btw the headphones sound terrible in wired mode without ANC

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#20

I believe the firmware update 2.30 was canceled, though many users got their headphones with it preinstalled or updated from an older firmware. Could you guys confirm? I’m running on ver. 2.10 and have had ANC on while wired feature since new. Has Anker released an statement regarding the loss of this feature in the ver. 2.30 of the firmware?

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