I FIXED it! 👍 JBL Live 780NC Review
The JBL Live 780NC is very underrated. Yes, some things can be better, and it’s not top of the line so it’s not as exciting. But these are some of the most feature rich headphones, and they are still meant to appeal to audiophiles, like have 40mm drivers that can reproduce up to 40khz, LDAC codec support, having a whole suite of custom sound options in the JBL Headphones app like PersoniFi+ compensation, and a fantastic semi-parametric equalizer.
This makes their tuning very customizable, and later on I’ll be sharing my own custom EQ which you can try. I’ll be talking about their sound quality, as well as their mic pickup, active noise canceling and transparency modes, so buckle up!
Microphone Quality
With the Live 780NC, you can customize how your voice sounds to the other person, but what we want to know is, when you’re taking calls in very noisy conditions, can it filter out background noise?
In my testing, yes they can. They are pretty effective as cutting noise so that only my voice comes through, but in extremely noisy conditions, the noise filtering can be too aggressive, cutting into voice pickup itself.
Active Noise Cancelling
It doesn’t have the best active noise canceling, but it works pretty well. They have a decent amount of canceling in the upper bass and midrange, great attenuation in the high frequencies. This means in most noisy situations, you’re going to get a great amount of silence against traffic noises, human chatter and so on.
But they’re not going to be as effective in places with more intensive noise profiles in the sub-bass frequencies, so rumbling noises such as the noise of the plane’s engine will get through. But in a noisy cafe situation, they are going to work pretty well.
Transparency Mode
The default ambient mode is not the best I’ve tried, it still feels occluded in the upper midrange to treble frequencies so it’s not so transparent that it’s like not wearing headphones. But they do a pretty grand job of passing through and amplifying most ambient sounds near and far.
So be it for quick awareness when crossing the road, or having a face to face verbal exchange, it works. But if it’s about amplifying certain frequencies in the mids and highs, use Personal Amplification because that will make voices sound a lot louder and crisper. And you can amplify it much more than the default ambient mode.
Sound Quality
In terms of sound quality, on their default settings before doing any customizing, they sound rather flat and laid back, yet detailed and clean. Soundstaging is open and relaxed, and they’re great at resolving detail in the background.
For those reasons they’re great for orchestral music, symphonies, and concert tracks. That being said, they’re pretty rolled off in the high treble, and so they lack a bit of air in the soundstage. Vocals could be a bit more vibrant and forward, and while the bass is impactful, at times it can feel a bit too boomy.
As I said, the bass can be a bit too boomy and bleed into the mids. Also, they do need a bit more vibrance in the vocals and air in the soundstage. For that reason, I came up with this Springapore EQ for the Live 780NC. It retains all the fun bits of the bass, while cutting the 250hz to separate it from the mids, cutting out the boominess. I also brought the vocals and airiness closer to my preference.
What I like about the Live 780NC
And that is what I like about them. They can be tuned quite easily, they’re rich in features and settings, great multipoint pairing, very reliable, although you do have to pause on one device first to play on the other.
There are also some spatial audio modes and the most immersive one is Movie mode which creates more envelopment. Music mode keeps stereo and centerstaging more intact, and game mode emphasizes the upper mid frequencies more so certain sounds like footsteps and gunshots can sound clearer. Battery life is quite fantastic, up to 50 hours.
Comfort
What can be better about them is definitely their fit. They’re not uncomfortable, and their cushions are quite plush. But the clamping pressure is a bit too firm for my liking, so it takes a bit getting used to.
If you care about what accessories they come with, they’re not going to wow you. I wasn’t wowed that it came with a cloth bag, not a proper carry case, and it doesn’t have a charging cable, only a USB-C to 3.5mm cable for analogue input.
So those are my thoughts on the JBL Live 780NC headphones. Not the flashiest, but very underrated for its sound quality and customization.
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