First thing’s first. The initial impact of the JBL Tour One true adaptive noise-cancelling over-ear cans through respected company Harman isn’t only their solid sound quality, it’s how damn comfortable they are – another example of Harman taking their audio products an extra step or three.
Personally, I do a lot of walking, which allows me a very decent amount of time to indulge in a wide variety of tunes to drown out traffic drone while enjoying the way producers manipulate the sonic spectrum, so I’ve put in a lot of hours with the Tour Ones and now feel kind of barren when not wearing them – and appreciate their impressive noise-cancelling abilities.
My regular ’phones for the past couple of years have been JBL’s TUNE500BT, which I’ve never had a concern with. Indeed, they’ve been a self-bought bonus, delivering heft in the mid range, a pronounced bass response, plus clarity in higher zones compared to a lot of cans I’ve gone through. JBL’s Tour Ones, though, add to that bang.
True, they’re larger than most cups I’ve rolled with – at a depth of 2.1cm, a width of 4.2cm and a Spock-friendly height of 6.2cm – but that form enhances the listening experience. It’s got me thinking a lot about the exciting future of music, as it allows for sound to be presented on more holistic angles.
The clarity of stereo separation here is worth the price of admission alone – both horizontal and vertical. Drums especially – both physical and electronic – rebound densely around your sensory range, while bass is always comforting and guitars let you know where they’re showing off.
Even with hard-working 40mm drivers taking up the lion’s share of the cans’ physical space, I won’t say these are the best-possible headphones on the market, but I will say they’ve been an ANC treat across a wide range of musical genres across many hours of treading concrete, ignoring public transport hell or kicking back on a couch.
When it comes to genres, the Tour Ones are happy with pretty much anything – as well as podcasts, where true-crime hosts seem to talk in an exaggerated baritone…
The deep, protruding bass of gangsta rap didn’t phase the Tour Ones, while ’60s and early ’70s rock and proto styles didn’t showcase flaws like high-grade cans often will.
Then, tender acoustic styles or newer pop tunes – Adele, Taylor, etc – showcased talents and warm production.
Indeed, this pair offer new dimensions to songs I’d grown tired of but know very well.
Their ability to highlight falsetto vocals, for example, means classic soul tracks resound in the heart, and big jazz names – Miles, Coltrane, etc – are well looked after.
On that note, JBL boast on the box that this set is “Designed to inspire”, and the fact they enhance musical experiences means that isn’t just a copywriter earning their coffee money.
If there’s anything I found a bumble it’s that the larger earpiece size means I often turn off play by accidently tapping the right side, where the easy options to pause, forward, etc, reside.
The battery life – at around 25 hours – will keep you rocking, and there’s the capacity to access voice assistants from Amazon and Google if you’re into that sort of thing.
Adapting your sound EQ on the JBL app is easy enough and always fun, though the presets feel good enough to roll with unless you get bored. 8/10
Pros
These cans are very comfortable.
They’re very easy to set up.
The associated JBL app is a bunch of fun to play around with.
They have a 2.5mm jack input if you want to connect straight in, and come with a cord in the box.
The included case is very sturdy.
Cons
The size of the ear-pieces means it’s easy to press the right side, which will turn off your tunes.
Comfortable, but they feel quite large so they take a bit of getting used to if you normally roll with a smaller set.
The on/off switch could have a more pronounced LED.
Longer battery life would be welcome.
