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Flagship offerings from Apple, Sony, Bose, and other premium consumer audio giants often dominate the conversation about headphones. JBL tries to win back some of this market share with its premium Tour One M-series headphones, but can’t compete with its rivals’ skillful use of higher-quality build materials, more advanced noise cancellation technology, and smoother app user interfaces.
Also: I listened to flagship headphones from Sony, Bose, and Apple — and this pair leads the pack
However, JBL’s strength lies where its competitors are not as successful: midrange headphones. JBL has refreshed its Live-series headphones live 780ncThe Yoke is offering its traditional suite of “I can’t believe these are in a pair of midrange headphones” features in a redesigned frame with slimmer branding and an overall look that most users can get behind.
If premium headphones aren’t in your budget or interests, JBL’s $250 midrange option may be the right choice for you. here’s why.
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more than meets the eye
Like its predecessor, the Live 780NC supports Hi-Res audio via a wired connection, with higher quality wireless audio streaming via LDAC and more power-efficient streaming via LC3. Like the JBL, the 780NC has a clear bass response, with a full, heavy thump that can mask details but makes high-energy tracks exciting to listen to.
Ne-Yo’s “Champagne Life” has clear vocals, with mid-range frequencies, and high frequencies adding a touch of sparkle to the sound profile, yet without revealing an extraordinary amount of detail.
Also: After trying out these boomless headphones at the office, I’m feeling hopeful for the future of work tech
Overall, the JBL Live 780NC has an enjoyable sound profile and a wider soundstage than expected. Although not as airy as premium offerings, they offer more stereo imaging than Bose’s midrange QuietComfort headphones and are better suited to less bass-heavy tracks than Sony’s Alt Wear. Yet, like its counterparts from other brands, JBL’s in-house Spatial Sound is missing entirely, at least with music.
Preceding official Dolby licensing, JBL is using proprietary upmixing software to apply layers on top of your tracks, creating the illusion of additional height and width. Enabling this feature connects to Some? Musical dimension, but it’s so artificial-sounding to me that I can’t like it any more than stereo.
In addition to their stunning sound quality, the Live 780NC headphones offer a number of software and audio features, including adjustable adaptive noise cancellation, multiple spatial audio modes, JBL Personi-Fi 3.0 for personalized audio, wear detection, Bluetooth multipoint, and TalkThrough for clear personal conversations without removing the headphones.
noise cancellation
The fit of the Live 780NC is similar to the previous generation, offering a lightweight construction with comfortable clamping force. However, the 780NC have slightly shallow earcups, which may cause discomfort for those who need more spacious earcups.
Noise cancellation is decent; It’s stronger than the 770NC due to more microphones and better algorithms, but not as strong as JBL’s premium Tour One M3. Despite this, even JBL’s best noise cancellation doesn’t compare to its rivals from Apple, Sony or Bose.
Also: What is Bluetooth 6.0? How the latest standard fixes the audio problems we’ve learned to live with
JBL isn’t a strong contender in this specific area, but the noise-canceling qualities of the Live 780NC may be enough, unless noise cancellation is your number one priority.
In an office setting, you’ll hear keyboard clicks and office conversations, so I can’t imagine they’ll be the most performing headphones on a train or plane. If you’re looking for stronger noise cancellation at a more affordable price, consider Bose or Sony.
Auracast loophole for iPhone
One of the most interesting things about the Live 780NC is their in-app Auracast and LC3 support, which allows iPhone users to take advantage of an otherwise unavailable feature. I first tried this feature with Sennheiser’s RS275 TV headphone bundle, which allowed users to join or start Auracast broadcasts within the headphones’ companion app. However, Sennheiser’s TV headphones are not as suitable for use outside the home.
I connected the Live 780NC to my iPhone 17 and joined the Auracast broadcast from my nearby Pixel 9 Pro, paired with my Sony WH-1000XM6 headphones. I didn’t see any option to start an Auracast broadcast from my iPhone, but I could see where to join others.
Also: I talked to Bluetooth representatives about the future of connected audio, and it’s cooler than I expected
Joining the Auracast broadcast from my iPhone was easy, but I had to first enable LE audio on the Live 780NC. It’s common to unpair and reboot the headphones to switch from a traditional Bluetooth radio to LE audio, but with the 780NC the process is particularly slow and unreliable.
Still, once you turn on LE Audio and enable LC3, it performs well and consumes significantly less power than Apple’s default AAC codec. I noticed that after an hour of listening my 780NC used about 10% of its battery when connected to my iPhone via AAC, and about 5% when connected via LC3.
ZDNET’s shopping advice
JBL LIVE 780NC These are a testament to JBL’s strength in making solid midrange headphones, in what can be a challenging product category for some of its competitors. Although you can find more premium build materials and stronger noise cancellation in more expensive headphones, JBL’s Live 780NC covers the basics — and covers them well.
If you’re eyeing an affordable pair of headphones with great sound, reliable battery life, and useful software features, the Live 780NC won’t disappoint.
However, if better comfort and noise cancellation at a price under $400 are your priorities, Bose and Sony may be better choices. Bose’s middle system QuietComfort Headphones They’re more expensive than midrange options from JBL and Sony, but they surpass both companies in comfort and noise cancellation.
On the other hand, Sony’s alt wear The headphones offer long battery life and solid sound and noise-canceling performance for about $100 less than the Bose.
