Make Bose QuietComfort 15 (QC 15) Bluetooth Wireless

Bose QuietComfort 15's are a great pair of headphones, but they're not wireless. I have no idea why Bose doesn't make a wireless bluetooth dongle for them, so I hacked together one in less than 15 minutes. Here's what you need:

- Pair of Bose QC 15's
- 3.5mm Bose QC audio plug (this needs to be the Bose one, comes with the headphones)
- cheap bluetooth A2DP dongle from eBay ($15)

Tools:
- Soldering iron & a bit of solder
- 1" of solid wire, ~22 gauge (found on most resistors and solderless breadboard kits)
- Wire clippers or scissors
- Flat head screw driver

The first step is to take apart the bluetooth dongle and 3.5mm jack. You can pry the bluetooth dongle case apart with your finger nail. The 3.5mm jack takes a bit more work. I used a small flat head screw driver and it came right off. 

You should be left with exposed circuit boards of the 3.5mm jack and the bluetooth dongle.

Step 1: Solder 3.5mm jack to bluetooth dongle

Both the bluetooth dongle and 3.5mm jack have aligning wires (red, gold, green). This makes it really easy for us.

The first step is to desolder the wires from both the 3.5mm jack and bluetooth dongle. Apply the soldering iron to one of the solder joints and pull gently on the wire. It will come freely when the solder is melted.

Once all wires are desoldered, it is time to use the 22 gauge solid core wire to bridge the two parts together. Cut 3x 0.5" lengths of wire. Apply some solder to both ends of each wire, and then solder to the bluetooth dongle first (the bluetooth dongle is more cramped). Solder all 3 wires to the bluetooth dongle first. Once done, solder the other end to the 3.5mm jack as shown in the picture.

Once all 3 wires are soldered, you're done! 

Comments

[damianow]

I found a very small device on Amazon that looks like it could work without the large protrusion. http://www.amazon.com/Miccus-Mini-jack-RX-Bluetooth-Receiver/dp/B0038MA11U/ref=pd_sxp_f_pt#productDetails

[cooljamesx1]

If you are going to try this project, at the very least get a good quality bluetooth set up to use. I did this hack and it works, but the audio quality is terrible, and I mean terrible, even with a high bit-rate set up on my computer's bluetooth. Honestly, there's a reason Bose doesn't offer a bluetooth jack for these headphones-- It's a waste of the quality.

[pipodeclown]

Great idea. I'm still a little worried about ripping the connection apart when (un)plugging, and/or ruining either of the circuit boards while soldering. Also, it seems the dongle ends up in an awkward position. Wouldn't it be simpler to cut off the female jack from the dongle and all but .5" of the Bose cable and simply solder those two wires together? My thinking is that by leaving a few inches of wire between the dongle and the Bose jack, you can plug it in, route the wire around the ear cup and duck tape the dongle to the inside (or outside) of the headband. Maybe it's the shape of my head, but I have loads of space between the headband and my head.

[shantzap]

Mike, thank you for your prompt reply. I screwed up my first attempt because I'm a total newbie at soldering. I fried the bluetooth circuit board and ripped off two of the connector nodes onto my soldered wires from putting two much torque on the wires during handing. I think I've got it down now, but had one more question for you. I'm hoping to use these headphones to wirelessly receive audio from my TV. I don't have bluetooth on my TV and only RCA jacks, no 3.5 mm audio port. Can the bluetooth receiver now in the Bose QC 15's automatically connect to a setup like this: http://r.ebay.com/nnglzD?
I just can't wrap my head around how 2 of these bluetooth adapters would automatically connect because there wouldn't be anyway to connect them manually with a digital display to confirm they are connected. Do you know how they would work or how to add a bluetooth transmission to an RCA ported TV that the Bose headphones could pick up?

[Michael Bell]

Shantzap -

Yes, that transceiver will work to send it from your TV. They should automatically detect each other when you have them both in detection mode.

Sorry to hear about your soldering job, practice makes perfect!

[shantzap]

Hey Mike,

I ended up with this:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-USB-Wireless-Bluetooth-A2DP-3-5mm-Stereo-HiFi-Audio-Music-Dongle-Adapter-/350661647408?pt=US_USB_Bluetooth_Adapters_Dongles&hash=item51a5101c30

I know it has a male end, but I plugged it directly into the Bose QC 15 and paired it with my Iphone. It connected and played just fine, but obviously bose's proprietary connector is why we're doing this because it wouldn't stay plugged in. It should work though, right? How robust are either of these chip boards? I'm not great with a soldering iron and just have a cheapo 35 watt from a computer networking kit.

-Adam

[Michael Bell]

Adam, it should be fairly straight forward. Just make sure you have some solid core wire. I used the Bose connector that didn't have the music controls on it so I wouldn't waste that if something went wrong. Both boards are robust enough I think that anybody should be able to do it. Good luck! Share pics during your own hacking!

[Joshh864]

Hey Mike,

I just read your instructions on the QC15 Bluetooth mod, they are really well done so thanks for that. I was planning on doing the mod with my QC2, I'd imagine it should work the same since the 3.5mm jack is the same and the headphones are essentially the same. The one thing that I'm unsure of is which BT Dongle I should buy, it looks like the one that you have has a female connector, which would make sense, but all the ones that I've found so far have only male connectors. For example, I was looking at this one: http://www.amazon.com/Bluetooth-3-5mm-Stereo-Dongle-Transmitter/dp/B008132PO2 , I'd be curious to know if you think that this one would work. Thanks for your help and take care.

[Michael Bell]

Hey Josh -

You need a receiver, which has the female end. You were looking at transmitters. I got mine from ebay, and there are a whole bunch of them here: http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=BLUETOOTH+HEADSET+A2DP+DONGLE+RECEIVER+&_sacat=0&_odkw=BLUETOOTH+HEADSET+A2DP+STEREO+AUDIO+DONGLE+RECEIVER+3.5MM+FOR+PC+LAPTOP+PHONES&_osacat=0&_from=R40

I couldn't find any on Amazon that were similar to the one I used. Those listings on ebay are identical to what I used.

Happy hacking!

[Cartermarquis]

Cool hack! Could the shell of the earpiece be modified to hold the bluetooth module, giving it a more "stock" appearance and offer a bit more protection for the module?

[Michael Bell]

I believe it could, but not with the PCB that comes with the cheap 3.5mm to bluetooth adapters found on eBay. The bluetooth chip itself it thicker than the shell of the earpiece, but the chip size can be shrunk (just costs more for them to produce). I wish Bose would make an earpiece that would just plug right in, and get powered from the on-board battery in the headphones directly. Maybe that's why Bose has such wide slots in the first place. Someone could also make a 3rd party accessory for the QC15's with that feature built right in. Could sell for maybe $40, $50.