Headphone EQ

Bose QuietComfort 35 II EQ settings for Mac

Last updated: September 15, 2026

Bose QuietComfort 35 II has 4 published AutoEQ corrections, from 3 measurement rigs across 2 variants of the model, and this page carries every one of them. Below is the curve, the exact parametric filters behind it, and a one-click preset for EQBase. macOS has no system-wide equalizer of its own, so applying a correction to everything your Mac plays, rather than inside a single player, needs an app that sits on the system audio path.

Worth knowing: Bose does not publish a wired or ANC-off mode as a separate product, but the measurement community treats it as one, so this page carries both: the normal active mode and a passive set measured with the electronics out of the picture. They are genuinely different curves, not two readings of the same thing, and which one fits depends on how you actually listen. Each mode rests on two published measurements, so treat either as an informed reading rather than a consensus.

Each measurement below carries four things: the correction curve, its parametric filters, the same filters as copy-paste text in AutoEQ's format (which Equalizer APO and Peace, REW and most desktop parametric equalizers import, and which EQBase's own Expert EQ reads and writes), and EQBase's ten-band fit of that correction. The ten-band figures are what the downloadable preset applies, so what you hear matches what is written here. AutoEQ publishes its own ten-band file on the same grid, fitted to the raw measurement rather than to these filters, so the two agree closely through the midrange and can differ at the extremes.

The correction, measurement by measurement

Preamp: -4.3 dB
Filter 1: ON LSC Fc 105 Hz Gain 2.4 dB Q 0.70
Filter 2: ON PK Fc 99 Hz Gain -3.4 dB Q 0.26
Filter 3: ON PK Fc 1332 Hz Gain 3.2 dB Q 0.62
Filter 4: ON PK Fc 2633 Hz Gain -4.5 dB Q 3.08
Filter 5: ON PK Fc 5938 Hz Gain -5.2 dB Q 6.00
Filter 6: ON HSC Fc 10000 Hz Gain 1.4 dB Q 0.70
Filter 7: ON PK Fc 9646 Hz Gain 3.7 dB Q 0.99
Filter 8: ON PK Fc 4334 Hz Gain -2.3 dB Q 3.66
Filter 9: ON PK Fc 7076 Hz Gain 2.6 dB Q 5.94
Filter 10: ON PK Fc 6213 Hz Gain -3.9 dB Q 6.00

Preamp: -1.9 dB
Filter 1: ON LSC Fc 105 Hz Gain -0.9 dB Q 0.70
Filter 2: ON PK Fc 1703 Hz Gain 2.4 dB Q 0.33
Filter 3: ON PK Fc 2267 Hz Gain -4.6 dB Q 1.92
Filter 4: ON PK Fc 188 Hz Gain -1.7 dB Q 1.06
Filter 5: ON PK Fc 6301 Hz Gain -6.4 dB Q 6.00
Filter 6: ON HSC Fc 10000 Hz Gain -1.8 dB Q 0.70
Filter 7: ON PK Fc 3933 Hz Gain -2.0 dB Q 6.00
Filter 8: ON PK Fc 5005 Hz Gain 1.6 dB Q 5.99
Filter 9: ON PK Fc 1403 Hz Gain 0.5 dB Q 3.32
Filter 10: ON PK Fc 8307 Hz Gain 1.3 dB Q 5.99

Preamp: -6.4 dB
Filter 1: ON LSC Fc 105 Hz Gain 4.2 dB Q 0.70
Filter 2: ON PK Fc 132 Hz Gain -10.8 dB Q 1.01
Filter 3: ON PK Fc 1875 Hz Gain 6.8 dB Q 1.80
Filter 4: ON PK Fc 350 Hz Gain 4.6 dB Q 1.21
Filter 5: ON PK Fc 941 Hz Gain -4.2 dB Q 1.79
Filter 6: ON HSC Fc 10000 Hz Gain -1.5 dB Q 0.70
Filter 7: ON PK Fc 10000 Hz Gain 6.8 dB Q 1.17
Filter 8: ON PK Fc 5985 Hz Gain -9.8 dB Q 5.74
Filter 9: ON PK Fc 6940 Hz Gain 4.2 dB Q 4.17
Filter 10: ON PK Fc 3952 Hz Gain -3.3 dB Q 5.68

Preamp: -6.1 dB
Filter 1: ON LSC Fc 105 Hz Gain 6.1 dB Q 0.70
Filter 2: ON PK Fc 166 Hz Gain -6.7 dB Q 0.81
Filter 3: ON PK Fc 305 Hz Gain 3.7 dB Q 0.71
Filter 4: ON PK Fc 67 Hz Gain 2.1 dB Q 2.21
Filter 5: ON PK Fc 42 Hz Gain 0.3 dB Q 1.32
Filter 6: ON HSC Fc 10000 Hz Gain 4.7 dB Q 0.70
Filter 7: ON PK Fc 6169 Hz Gain -3.9 dB Q 6.00
Filter 8: ON PK Fc 1245 Hz Gain 1.3 dB Q 3.54
Filter 9: ON PK Fc 927 Hz Gain -1.0 dB Q 4.09
Filter 10: ON PK Fc 2671 Hz Gain -1.1 dB Q 6.00

What this correction changes

The largest boost is +3.6 dB at treble (8 kHz), and the largest cut is −2.0 dB at upper bass (125 Hz). Total swing across the ten bands is 5.6 dB. Averaged over its bands the treble is lifted by 1.3 dB, more than the other two, which is where most of the audible change lands.

The 4 published measurements on this page, from 3 rigs, do not agree with each other, and the size of the disagreement is worth knowing before picking one. They differ most at upper midrange (2 kHz), where the ten-band figures span 9.1 dB, and least at lower midrange (250 Hz), where they span 2.3 dB. A spread that wide usually means the rigs disagree about the seal or the coupler rather than about the headphone, so prefer the measurement whose conditions match how you actually wear them.

Applying this on a Mac

The Bose QuietComfort 35 II is worn around the ear, where the pads decide a good deal of what the measurement rig saw. Worn or replaced pads move the response, which is why several models here carry separate curves for exactly that. If yours are old, expect the correction to be a near miss rather than an exact one.

Most of the measurements behind this page were made with the headphone in its normal listening mode, and active noise cancelling changes the response it is correcting. Switching ANC or transparency on and off is not a small tone change, so a correction that sounds right in one mode may not in another.

In EQBase the fastest route skips this page entirely: open the Headphones pane, search for your model, and apply the correction. The Bose QuietComfort 35 II is in the built-in catalog along with 8,665 other models. The preset above exists for people who want to see the numbers first, or who want a specific measurement rather than the default one.

Either way the correction applies to every app at once, and the free tier carries it with no time limit. The Bose QuietComfort 35 II preset above sets the ten-band curve, which is what the free tier applies, so nothing on this page is behind a purchase.

Common questions

Do these EQ settings work on any Mac app?

Yes, if the equalizer runs on system audio rather than inside one player. EQBase processes everything the Mac plays, so the same correction applies to Spotify, Safari, YouTube, games and calls. The Music app's own equalizer only affects Music.

Where do the Bose QuietComfort 35 II numbers come from?

From 4 published AutoEQ measurements of the Bose QuietComfort 35 II, made by crinacle, Rtings and HypetheSonics. Each one is a real frequency-response measurement compared against a target curve, and each produces its own set of filters. They are all on this page rather than averaged together, because a measurement belongs to the person who made it. The 2 variants (passive (anc off), standard) are measured separately and corrected separately.

Why is the Bose QuietComfort 35 II preamp negative?

The Bose QuietComfort 35 II correction needs −4.3 dB of headroom on its default measurement, so the preset pulls the signal down by that much before the boosts are applied. Boosting a signal that is already near full scale would clip it, and the negative preamp is what buys the room. Skip it and loud passages distort.

Can I use these filters in a different equalizer?

Yes. The filter table is a standard parametric list: type, frequency, gain and Q. Any parametric equalizer that accepts those four values per band will take them, on any platform. The one-click preset is only a shortcut for EQBase users.

Other headphones with published corrections

• Apple AirPods Pro 2 EQ settings for Mac, 18 published measurements
• Sony WF-1000XM5 EQ settings for Mac, 5 published measurements
• Apple AirPods 4 EQ settings for Mac, 4 published measurements
• Apple AirPods Max EQ settings for Mac, 4 published measurements
• Apple AirPods Pro EQ settings for Mac, 4 published measurements

Credits

Correction data from the AutoEQ project by Jaakko Pasanen, used under the MIT licence. The measurements themselves are the work of the people credited on each curve above. EQBase ships the same catalog in the app, with the same attribution.

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