These JBL Noise-Cancelling Headphones Have Turned Me Into an Audio Snob.
I’ve never owned truly good headphones; it simply wasn’t something I cared about. But my recent purchase of the JBL Tour One M3 has changed my mind forever. (Our audio expert Daniel Oropeza wrote a detailed review of these headphones , which you should definitely read.)
Music is better when it sounds better.
I’ve always had a punk rock approach to audio gear—cheap and loud was fine—but using these headphones nonstop for the past few weeks has proven me sorely wrong. Music sounds better when played through decent equipment. There’s so much more nuance, even in songs I’ve listened to a million times: I can finally make out what’s actually being said in the “party talk” that creates the atmosphere of Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On,” and who knew there was so much going on in The Dead Boys’ “Sonic Reducer”? And spatial sound? Forget it: hearing different instruments from different parts of a three-dimensional space is mind-blowing. These headphones make me seriously consider stereo separation, constantly tinker with the EQ, and turn my nose up at anything but lossless. I’m listening to fucking jazz . What the hell is going on?
Silence is best when it is truly silent.
Okay, I know active noise cancellation has been around for 20 years, but I’ve never really cared about it—most of the music I listen to is mostly noise, so why would I want to block it out?—but it’s essential for blocking out all the other noise around us. These headphones are perfect for plane rides, car rides, and just for wearing around the house. I had no idea how much ambient noise I hear all day in my home office—the refrigerator running, the traffic, the wind—all vanishes in an instant. There’s nothing but silence and tinnitus (from too much punk rock).
What does an audio transmitter do?
When I first opened the box and saw this smart transmitter/controller that came with the phones, I thought, “What the heck is this?” But it turns out it’s not a heck of a thing. It’s a Smart Tx audio transmitter. You can connect it to almost any audio device and it will wirelessly stream 24-bit audio. Plug the AUX-to-USB-C cable into that old gym jack or the headphone jack on an airplane, and you can listen to music with full noise cancellation and high-quality sound. (Now that I’m an audiophile, that’s important to me.) It’s also a touch controller, so you can play around with the EQ to hear Art Pepper’s sweet saxophone tone without taking out your phone—and trust me, you haven’t heard Art Pepper unless it’s lossless audio and tuned with JBL’s “personal sound enhancement.” Basically, you could listen to The Dead Boys or something like that.
The set includes a travel case.
In the old days, I would have left the Smart Tx audio transmitter on the bus, but these headphones come with a little case that holds all my wires, and I put my audio transmitter right where it belongs because I never want to be burdened with poor sound quality again.
I could go on and on about these headphones, but I’ve realized that air is an imperfect medium for sound vibrations, so I’d rather sit back, look at the notes of Coltrane’s “A Love Supreme,” and listen to some pure music theory.