JBL Tour One M3 Smart TX BT/ANC over-the-ear headphones – nothing compares (AV review)

JBL Tour One M3 Smart TX comprises excellent over-the-ear headphones and an exceptionally useful Smart TX touch-screen controller. Pair them and nothing compares!

JBL makes excellent BT speakers and soundbars, but this is the first time they have paddled—sorry, made a huge splash—in the premium space dominated by Sennheiser, Sony, Bose, et al.

So the JBL geniuses worked on making a premium headset that measured up for sound signature, ANC effectiveness, build quality, convenience, and added that ‘je ne sais quoi’ (a quality that cannot be described)

That was to adapt the touch screen controller from its class-leading JBL Tour Pro 3 BT/ANC earphones, and upgrade its already excellent Tour One M2 over-the-ear headphones.

The result is the JBL Tour One M3 Smart TX, a solid competitor to the ‘big’ guys and with the flexibility of the Smart TX to boot.

We tested against the Sennheiser Momentum 4, Sony MX-1000M5, Bose QC Ultra and Sonos Ace for this review.

Let’s look at a few of the JBL Tour One M3 features

• My absolute favourite feature is that it folds flat into the headband to fit a smaller hard case for travel. I currently use an old, well-worn Sennheiser PXC 550-II that does this, and I cannot stress enough that travellers need this feature.
• It has a built-in Digital-to-Analog Converter (DAC) for lossless, high-quality sound. Few (apart from Sennheiser) have this, allowing simultaneous charging and listening from a USB-C port.
• Multi-point (2 connections that work flawlessly) for smartphones, tablets and computers.
• A very comprehensive app
• New supersoft ear pads and headband for superb comfort
• 2 hours charge (and fast charge) for a massive 40/70 hour BT/ANC On/Off.
• Eight mics for superb hands-free call quality
• ANC is now class-leading, actively cancelling 30dB at <1Hz and excellent passive isolation from the new supersoft pads.
• Auracast enabled

What is Auracast?

It is part of the new BT LC3 codec.

• Auracast allows an audio signal from a transmitter (e.g., tour guide systems in museums, public address systems and increasingly in TVS) to be transmitted to unlimited receiving devices (e.g., headphones, hearing aids) within a fixed transmission radius.
• The app selects one of the available Auracast channels (these might be for different languages), and audio is transmitted to the earphones.
• This may be the answer to hearing-impaired people’s use of TVS.

Australian Review: JBL Tour One M3 Smart TX over-the-ear headphones SKU JBLTOM3AVIBLK

Note: Our review is on a pre-production ‘Gold’ set. Headphone firmware is 3.6.0, and Smart TX is 2.6.0. As these are not available until 1 July, we will retest with later firmware at release.

Website	JBL AU Website JBL UK site (for specs)
Price	$549 but not available until 1 July
From	JBL Online, Harvey Norman, JB Hi-Fi, Bing Lee
Warranty	1-year ACL
Made in	China
Company	JBL (founded in the mid-40s) is short for James B. Lansing. (Yes, he was the Lansing in Altec Lansing.) It is now part of the Harman group of companies owned by Samsung.
More	CyberShack JBL news and reviews

We use Fail (below expectations), Pass (meets expectations), and Exceed (surpasses expectations or is the class leader) against many of the items below. We occasionally give a Pass(able) rating that is not as good as it should be, and a Pass ‘+’ rating to show that it is good but does not quite make it to Exceed. You can click on most images for an enlargement.

First Impression – slightly confused

Having reviewed the superb JBL Tour Pro 3, the most feature-full BT/ANC earphones yet, I knew the basics of the Smart TX touch screen, but you need to understand how these headphones work with and without it.

They are BT ANC headphones until you connect them to the Smart TX transmitter. It connects to any 3.5mm, USB-C, or USB-A sound source and communicates with the headphones using BT LC3, a new codec offering better fidelity and battery life. So, some of the dozen functions below are dependent on the Smart TX, and you don’t need to open the app.

Display a photo screen saver	Play, pause, skip	Volume	Manage calls
Customise spatial sound	BT	ANC, Talk through	Auracast
EQ	Timer	Clock	Voice Aware
Silent now	Notifications	Day/Time	Flashlight
Language	And More

So don’t be confused. Buy these as premium headphones with the convenience of a remote control not found in any premium competitor.

ANC – Exceed

ANC removes external noise, leaving the music largely untouched. It uses external microphones to identify the noise, which the AI chip subtracts from the music stream.

Some people claim Bose is the leader, some say Sony, and Sennheiser says too much ANC affects music quality (and it’s right).

As we are not on an international flight every week, we have developed a signal generator test that emulates aircraft noise from low and mid bass (like aircraft noise 20 to 100Hz) and low mid (like AC hums, 100Hz to 1000Hz). We don’t like ANC to go much above 1kHz, as the headphone’s passive ear cup isolation should handle that.  

We measured a 30dB reduction at 100Hz (excellent), and ANC was effective to 1000Hz – perfect.

• Sony: 30dB reduction at 100Hz and cuts out a 500Hz (still lets low mid noise in).
• Sennheiser: 30% reduction at 200Hz and cut out at 1000Hz (slightly late reduction, but does not want to affect music quality).
• Sonos: 20% reduction at 200Hz and cuts out at 2000Hz (very late and insufficient reduction – best for television).
• Bose: 35% reduction at 500Hz (20% at 100Hz) and cuts out at 1000Hz (I can see why Bose is considered the leader, but it is very late at 500Hz, well behind JBL at 100Hz).

The big guys all have decent ANC, but the JBL has it right.

Talk through – Exceed

Excellent ability to hear your surroundings, and a side tone feature to listen to your voice in the headphones.

Connection and Codecs – Pass+

You can connect the headphones to any Bluetooth (BT) source using SBC, AAC and LDAC (Hi-Res) codecs. The bit rate is adjustable from 15/24/32, and the sample rate is 44100/48000/88200/96000.

You can also connect to the Smart TX via BT 5.3 LE LC3 (Low Complexity Communication Codec), which adds Auracast. LC3 uses a high compression rate yet low bitrate (ranging from 160 to 345 kbps) that does not sacrifice sound quality compared to SBC and AAC. It is more stable, has lower latency, higher audio quality, and lower energy consumption.

The Smart TX can only be connected to a music source via a 3.5mm (anything with a 3.5mm stereo jack) or USB-C/A (PC/MAC, tablets and smartphones). In both cases, the Smart TX uses its 550mAh internal battery (claim: 18 hours), although it also charges while connected to a USB-C (or USB-A with the supplied adapter).

The App – comprehensive and adds value

It has so much flexibility, but for the most part, it is best left at the defaults.

Personi-Fi – personal hearing test – Pass

It is JBL’s proprietary ear seal and hearing test. It plays a series of tones and reinforces the frequencies you need. This can make a massive difference to the hearing-impaired.

Personal Sound amplification – Pass+

Allows you to hear more of the outside world – heading aid style

Left Right sound balance – Amazing

Just because we have two ears does not mean they hear at the same volume or frequency. Personi-Fi is the first step, but you can adjust the left/right sound balance.

EQ that works – Pass+

It has a real EQ with studio (flat and the default for all tests), Bass (mid/treble recessed), Club (bass/treble increased), Extreme Bass (extreme bass and treble recess), Vocal (recess bass and treble for clear 1-4kHz mid), and Jazz (bass/treble increase and mid recessed). If you know what you are doing, you can modify any preset, or if not, create your own Frankensound.

A low-volume EQ also acts like night mode by boosting bass and treble at low volumes.

Spatial Sound – Pass+ for spatial and Pass for head tracking

Spatial sound is decoded by the host device, not the headphones. When you have spatial sound like Dolby Atmos or DTS:X, it will attempt to place the sound objects around, above, below, and behind, and it does an outstanding job.

It offers off, fixed, and head tracking with movie, music, and game presets. Head tracking is courtesy of a 3-axis accelerometer/gyro and can be calibrated. Once calibrated (looking straight ahead), turning or bowing your head can move the sound relative to the calibration point.

Yes, head tracking works, although I have seen slightly better and more responsive on the Sonos Ace.

Hands-free calls – Pass+

The app offers sound level optimisation (caller’s volume), sound setting (caller’s voice tone), Voice setting (your voice tone), and Voice Awareness (sidetone—how much of your voice you hear in the headphones).

We tested calls in the office, out walking and in busy streets, and all offered excellent hands-free.

ANC was particularly good at removing the surrounding sounds and focusing on my voice.

Relax Sound – Pass, but don’t try to sleep with headphones

It has several so-called relax sounds – waves, night, fire, forest, and water, so we tried this. Suitable for sitting in a chair, but terrible for wearing in bed as the headphones were too large.

Battery – Pass+

The headphones have an 850mAh battery, and the claim is music playtime with BT and ANC on/off of up to 40/70 hrs.

Now, there are a few tricks to this. Battery life depends on:

• Using them as Bluetooth headphones with SBC or AAC codecs and ANC on/off.
• Connected via the LC3 codec to the Smart TX with ANC on/off
• Lossless LDAC via BT or cable from the Smart TX.

We tested for maximum battery life BT/ANC/SBC, which tops at 55 hours, well above the claim. The Smart TX tops at 15 hours, which can be extended by turning the screen off when not in use.

Tests

• Sennheiser: 56 hours
• JBL: 55
• Sonos: 32
• Sony: 30
• Bose: 26

Charge and Play – Exceed

It has one feature (shared with Sennheiser) that we love: You can listen and charge simultaneously from a USB source like a computer.

Comfort – Pass+

We wore these for a full workday. Over-the-ear headphones can get hot and heavy, but the new supersoft faux leather and padding, combined with their 278g weight, made them quite comfortable. The swivelling cups gave an excellent fit and reduced perceptible clamp weight.

Ear Cup depth 19.5mm	Ear Cup External height 99.8mm	Ear Cup External width 78mm
Ear Cup Internal height 64mm	Ear Cup Internal width 42mm

• Sonos: 312g
• Sony: 250
• Sennheiser: 293
• Bose:240g

How does the JBL Tour One M3 sound? – Exceed

It has 40mm dynamic drivers, which are pretty large. Theoretically, these work from 10Hz to 40kHz and up to 94SPL.

With the caveat that you have so much flexibility via EQs (that work), Personi-Fi, and more, we reset to factory defaults.

Via BT SBC, it has excellent mid-bass and is flat to 5kHz, with a slight dip to avoid harshness. Then, it recovers some high treble. It is one of the best BT sound signatures you will find.

Via Smart TX, the 20Hz to 5kHz range is similar, but after the harshness dip, the upper treble recovers strongly and adds that air, that feeling of being there.

Below are sound signature graphs for the others.

Sony has DSEE HX that upscales 2.0 to a higher resolution. It is manufactured music, but it sounds pretty good. The mid-bass is late, missing a lot of musically important bass. We can’t explain the dip at 2-3kHz except to say that it may be extreme clipping. Otherwise, it has excellent treble.

Sennheiser is the closest, with a reputation for sound quality over ANC. It has excellent mid-bass and is almost flat to 6kHz with a dip to avoid harshness and then strong treble.

Bose is pretty good with excellent mid-bass but has an untidy high treble.

Sonos is also pretty good, with a slightly better focus on clear voice. True Cinema upscales from 2.0 to 7.1.4 – manufactured sound but nice.

Sound signature

It verges on the most desirable neutral sound signature, but in practice, it is warm and sweet for movies and music. The sound presets make a difference as there is enough signal to recess bass, mid and treble.

Frequency	JBL Tour None M3 and Smart TX
Deep Bass 20-40Hz	Nil
Middle Bass 40-100Hz	Starts at 40Hz with a linear build to 100Hz – good
High Bass 100-200Hz	Flat to 5kHz
Low Mid 200-400Hz	Flat
Mid 400-1kHz	Flat
High Mid 1-2kHz	Flat
Low Treble 2-4kHz	Flat
Mid Treble 4-6kHz	Flat
High Treble 6-10kHz	Dip at 7kHz to avoid harshness, then recovers strongly to 20kHz.
Dog Whistle 10-20kHz	Mostly flat

Continued

Volume	85dB (excellent)
Sound Signature type	It has no deep bass, so no subwoofer room-shaking effects exist. Mid bass starts at 40Hz and builds nicely, giving it most of the musically important bass and some oomph. Upper bass is good, as it is on most BT headphones. Mid (low, mid, high) is superbly clean and flat (good) and focuses on a clear voice. Treble (Low and mid) is flat and strong, suitable for musical instruments. High Treble after the dip to avoid harshness is strong and adds a certain feeling of air, as if you were there. Technically, this neutral sound signature gives the EQ a blank canvas to deliver almost any music style.
Soundstage stereo	This is a closed-back design, so the sound comes from inside your ears.
Soundstage Spatial	Spatial music adds considerable width, depth and height, making you feel inside the action. Headtracking is effective.
Comment	Its only challenger for music quality is Sennheiser. Bose is too manufactured, Sony lacks that important treble to make you feel there, and Sonos has slightly better voice and superb head tracking when used with a Sonos Arc/Ultra.
BT (headphones)	The BT SBC or AAC codec slightly crushes the mid-bass and high treble, while the Smart TX does not exhibit that at all. There is decent Left/Right separation.
Read	How to tell if you have good music (sound signature is the key – guide).

Voice Assistants – all – Pass+

You need to press the multi-function button to hail the voice assistant of the connected phone.

Travel Case – Exceed

The fold-flat and inward design means a small, hard-sided case that fits anywhere. It stores the Smart TX and the two 1.2m cables.

Build – Pass+

It is primarily plastic, but the slider adjustment and hinges are metal. It should last well.

Maintenance – Pass

There should be original and third-party replacement batteries, ear pads and headbands.

CyberShack’s view:  JBL Tour One M3 Smart TX over-the-ear headphones – nothing compares

As we said in our first look, the big guys should be very concerned because JBL is stomping on their turf with arguably a better headset and a unique Smart TX transmitter.

After using it for a week, I must sadly tell my Sennheiser Momentum 4s that JBL is a serious audio contender, and my foldable PXC 550-II may be relegated to the family.

Competition

Let’s say you would be happy with any of the following. Brand loyalty and cognitive dissonance go a long way (look at Apple sheep), but perhaps it is time to become a loyal JBL user.

• $699 Sonos Ace: Great for TV, especially with a Sonos Arc/Ultra
• $649 Bose QuietComfort Ultra: great ANC, but its sound is what Bose thinks you want to hear. Fold flat.
• $639 Sennheiser Momentum 4: It still produces the best sound because it refuses to compromise on ANC compression. It has the Qualcomm aptX codecs. It does not quite match the functionality of the JBL app.
• $549 Sony WH-1000XM5: This is a good all-arounder, but its ANC and sound signature are behind JBL. Its DSEE upscale is impressive.
• $549 JBL Tour One M3 and you get Smart TX!

JBL Tour One M3 Smart TX Ratings

It is unique in many respects, especially when used with the Smart TX and for its LC3 transmission and Auracast abilities. Our ratings system is for the whole, but as BT/ANC premium headphones, they rate with the rest, and extra points are awarded for the Smart TX. All ratings are adjusted to the 2024 update.

• Bose: 84
• Sony: 88
• Sennheiser: 89
• Sonos: 80 (as it is still a work in progress)
• JBL: 90

• Features: 90+5 – Fully featured app, EQ that works, terrific battery life and the +5 for the Smart TX
• Value: 90 – At $549, it is the feature and value class-leader.
• Performance: 90 As BT/ANC, they are up there with the best, but add the Smart TX and you get exceptional battery life and sound quality.
• Ease of Use: 85—It is easy once you figure out how to use these with the Smart TX. It loses a few points for the 1-year warranty.
• Design: 90 – extra points for fold flat, and they are well-made.