JBL makes a lot of headphones, but its Tour One M3 sit at the top of the stack. To borrow a phrase from Bill Hader’s indelible character, Stefon, these headphones have everything: quality sound and noise canceling, incredible comfort, immaculate calling performance, and this weird little transmitter device that lets you control them wirelessly and even transmit audio from wired sources like a turntable. Even if you never use the transmitter, the M3 are great, and for some reason, the Mocha colorway is on super sale at Walmart for $170 below retail price.
The Tour One M3’s blitz of features might be intimidating to some, but these noise cancelers also stand on their own for basic use. The sound performance isn’t the best I’ve heard at their price point, but it’s still quite good, with brilliant instrumental separation and enough detail to surface new moments in songs you’ve heard dozens of times. The noise canceling is even more impressive, able to suppress low-end sounds like airplane drones and midrange noises like vocal chatter as well or better than some of the best noise cancelers out there.
Features include everything from a volume limiter to keep your hearing safe to Smart Talk that pauses sound when you speak, and a Sound Level optimizer that evens out voices on calls. Speaking of calling, the Tour One M3’s excellent microphones and software combine for impressively clear calls that reduce noises around you as well as any pair in their class.
As for the transmitter device, it can feel a little gimmicky when it comes to controlling the headphones, since you can just as easily control settings in the app, but connecting it to wired sources offers real value. That’s especially true if you want to listen wirelessly to legacy audio sources like an older amplifier or turntable. What’s more, the system uses a new Bluetooth protocol called Auracast, which lets you share audio lag-free with an unlimited number of supported devices, including other JBL headphones and Bluetooth speakers like the Flip 7.
Getting back to basics, JBL’s Tour One M3 are convenient to use, and their thick foam pads offer a fit as comfortable as any headphones I’ve tested in recent memory. The Mocha version may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but it’s been holding at its low price for some time now, so it’s worth hopping on the deal now if you’ve been considering a new pair. If you’re looking for the best deal around on a pair of great noise-canceling headphones, this one will be very hard to beat.
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