There’s yet more choice for listening to tunes and not the rest of the world, as JBL releases three new noise cancelling choices.
Even though active noise cancellation technology doesn’t cancel out every form of sound — it cancels out repeatable sounds that form the definition of “noise” — it can still provide a deliberate attempt at isolating us from sounds around us.
The hum of an engine on a flight might have been what kickstarted the active noise cancellation revolution, but the technology can go a little deeper than that, cancelling out crowds of people, the roar of human traffic (when we’re all going outside again en masse), and engine noises of cars, buses, and trains.
Mostly, active noise cancellation encases you in your own little isolation bubble of your thoughts and whatever you want to listen to.
Once you’ve settled on that, it’s then a choice of how you want to enter that bubble and how much you want to spend.
This week in Australia, JBL is trying to throw something for everyone with three options, with an on-ear style, an around-the-ear style, and an in-ear style. Folks who like audio will probably know these as “supraaural”, “circumaural”, and “intraaural”, respectively, though JBL just gives them different model numbers, with the on-ear being the Live 460NC, the around-the-ear being the Live 660NC, and the in-earphones as the JBL Live Pro+.
They’ll all come with noise cancellation technology and relatively capable battery life, with both the on-ear 460NC and the around-ear 660NC sporting up to 40 hours of battery life with noise cancelling switched on, and extra ten if you decide to forgo the cancelling tech. As headphones, they have a band around your heard and differ in price by around $50, with the on-ear JBL Live 460NC costing $199.95 in Australia, while the around-the-ear variant in the 660NC (with a touch more isolation due to the bigger pads) will cost a little more at $249.95.
And then there’s the truly wireless style, the JBL Live Pro+. Much like the AirPods Pro, these will offer a truly wireless and cordless variety of noise cancellation, with the ambient mode able to let you hear parts of the world and work with what JBL says is adaptive noise cancellation.
The Live Pro+ earphones also sport IPX4 water resistance, which should be enough for sweat and a light run in the rain, while the battery offers up to seven hours of live in the earphones plus 21 in the case, coming in at $249.95 in Australia.
Of course, these aren’t the only noise cancelling headphones out there, and we seem to talk about a new pair every week, because there are plenty of noise cancelling headphones in the world.
However if JBL’s grab you more than others, you’ll find them at stores online and offline across Australia shortly, priced between $200 and $250 depending on the model, possibly lower because street prices tend to be a little more wallet friendly.
