JBL TOUR ONE M2 HEADPHONES REVIEW

Oscar Stewart takes a listen to the JBL Tour One M2 headphones costing £279.

JBL is not a name you would necessarily associate with high-end audio (although they do make some good studio monitor speakers), and this review is of a product that is more consumer-oriented. Harman, who are owned by Samsung, do in fact own quite a few heritage brands in the audio world so when I got asked if I wanted to review the Tour One M2, I was intrigued to see how they sound.

These are a consumer product, but the Tour name suggests that they want to appeal to those who have an interest in the audio quality, and not just the JBL brand name. The Tour One M2 are a Bluetooth over-ear headphone with ANC (active Noise Cancelling) and accompanying app that gives you control over the functionality and sound, but can they appeal to a wider customer base?

FEATURES AND BUILD QUALITY

The packaging of the JBL Tour One M2 seems to hint at a more sophisticated product, with the “Hi-Res Audio” sticker proudly on the front and key features listed on the back. They are not looking to appeal to teens who just want bass at the expense of fidelity, instead, they seem to want to appeal to businessmen who want a fashionable and yet great sounding headphone.

The Tour One M2 feature a touch panel on the right ear cup to play/pause music and skip tracks, a volume rocker button on the bottom of the right earcup, and the power/pairing switch above it. On the left earcup you have a button to switch between ANC/Ambient/Passthrough modes and the USB-C charging port. There is a 2.5mm jack socket on the right earcup which allows these to be used in a wired mode.

Battery life is quoted at 50hrs with ANC off, and 30hrs with it on, which is excellent. There is a fast charge too which allows for up to 5hrs playback off a 10-minute charge.

Wired mode works with ANC on or off which is handy, and the Bluetooth supports multi-point connection to two devices.

Oscar found the JBL Tour One M2 well made and comfortable

The JBL Headphones app allows you to fine-tune these headphones, and I was really impressed by how feature-packed they are for the price. You can change the level of ANC, turn Adaptive ANC off, and change what the touch panel and ANC buttons can activate/change. There’s a Personi-Fi EQ setting that tests your hearing and creates a custom EQ curve to boost/lower frequencies you are sensitive to or cannot hear as well. This little feature is becoming quite popular, and if you have trouble with certain frequencies, it can really help deliver a more complete audio experience.

There are also a few pre-set EQ profiles and the ability to create your own (it’s not limited to 5 bands either, you can add points at certain frequencies and lift or cut them) – Interestingly there is a “Studio” pre-set which looks to cut a bit of the bass, giving you a more linear sound based on the standard sound of these headphones. There’s also a Low Volume Dynamic EQ which boosts the bass and treble when listening at lower levels, sort of like the loudness button on older integrated amplifiers.

JBL includes a Spatial Sound setting creating a simulated “surround sound” like experience – with 3 levels, Movie / Music / Game. There’s also a smart talk feature that when you start talking it lowers your music and allows you to have a conversation without taking the headphones off, then continues to play the music once the conversation is over.

Smart Audio Mode allows you to choose between Audio and Video mode, allowing for optimised audio quality for each type of media content. SilentNow is designed to help you sleep when traveling, activating noise canceling whilst turning off notifications and media sounds.

As well as being Bluetooth enabled the JBL Tour One M2 also have the ability to be wired

Voice assistant can be set to Google, Alexa or device standard – press and hold the right earcup touch panel to interact with your voice assistant. You can turn off the voice prompts that tell you when you’ve changed a setting, along with being able to set a max volume limiter and configure the Auto Power Off time.

There is a huge array of features in the app, some you will find yourself using, others not so much, but it is good that you can tune them to your personal preference.

The build quality is great too, they are rather understated and the JBL logo is featured in a much smaller font than on some of their budget models. These really do appeal to a different market, the sleek matte black finish and the subtle black-chrome accents look very classy, the headband is well padded and the earpads are comfy too. All the buttons feel good and the headband has metal inserts for strength. Honestly, they feel like a very well put together product.

COMFORT

I personally didn’t have any comfort issues with the Tour One M2. The headband padding is sufficient to distribute the weight evenly and the earpads were deep enough to not cause any issues there either.

These are closed-back headphones so your ears do tend to get a little warm at times, but overall I found them to be easy to wear for long periods of time. The clamping force felt just right, feeling secure on my head, but they never felt like they were clamping too hard.

SOUND OF THE JBL TOUR ONE M2 HEADPHONES

Let’s start off with how they sound in their default ANC-on mode – that’s the one most people are likely to use, in my opinion. These caught me off guard a little! I think most people in the audio world have the perception that JBL makes bass-heavy consumer products that won’t appeal to audiophiles in the slightest. These change that narrative for me – they do still have a slightly thick and warm sound, but there is real detail and depth, allowing these to offer up some pleasant surprises.

This Wild Life – Roots and Branches is a heartfelt song from this acoustic duo and the vocals come through in earnest, with such beautiful tone and nuance. The guitars fill the space around the vocals and there is a lovely sense of warmth to the sound.

Heavier tracks have great energy, there is perhaps a little too much body for those low-level listening sessions at home, but there is a sense of drive and fun to them that makes them more enjoyable when out and about. The great thing about this additional bump in the low end is that it doesn’t rob the midrange of presence, and the treble still manages to cut through the mix with good energy.

Halestorm – Painkiller had Lzzy’s vocals still front and centre with thunderous bass notes that are punchy yet not too overwhelming, the distorted guitars are moderately crisp, and the treble is well presented with good space and extension.

These are a closed-back design with Active Noice Cancelling

The new Skindred album Smile came out recently and the Tour One M2 really got me grooving to some of the more dub/reggae songs on the album. They present the sound in an engaging way that makes you simply enjoy what you are listening to instead of trying to nitpick. No, these would not be my first pick for epic orchestral music, but for general on-the-go listening and traveling I want something that’s fun, not boring.

The slight added thickness to the sound is much less noticeable when you use these out and about, and the ANC does a very good job of drowning out external noises. The sound with ANC on is mildly warm, very engaging, and punchy with good detail retrieval for an ANC Wireless headphone.

Turning ANC-off takes away a little bloom from the sound, and there is perhaps a slight reduction in overall warmth, but they still retain the main traits of the sound with ANC-on. This is quite pleasant as there are a few headphones out there that have wildly different sound signatures between ANC-on and off. ANC-off really doesn’t bring anything to the table that would make me favour it over ANC-on during everyday listening (unless you’re worried about battery life).

Ambient Aware works extremely well; you get the same sound quality but with the ability to tune (via the app) how much outside noise you would like to hear. Often this mode kills the sound quality but, on these they just allow you to listen with a bit of awareness, very helpful in certain environments.

Talk through does what it says, essentially lowering the volume to barely audible and allowing you to have a conversation and hear the person you are talking to.

EQ presets are admittedly, not something I tend to use but the Studio One had me curious, and to be fair it works. The Studio preset just cuts the slight bass bloom and offers up a more composed and linear sound signature. The slight toning down of the bloom allows the lower midrange to sound slightly less masked and they do end up sounding a little more neutral.

For example, Ben Ottewell – Stone, another acoustic track with male vocals, really benefits from having that bass toned down. It allows his vocals to sound a little cleaner and less influenced by the bass region. The nice thing about this preset is that it really does only affect the bass and lower midrange, leaving the rest of the sound alone. They don’t lose their enjoyable and punchy sound, it just cleans it up a little.

I did also run the Personi-Fi hearing test and tried its custom EQ for my hearing.  Whilst there was a slight increase in some treble notes, I didn’t find myself using that EQ in normal use. This mode can really help people with hearing loss at certain frequencies, and it is something that is not just a gimmick.

Spatial sound really doesn’t do anything for me when listening to music, it sounds a little artificial and I think music still sounds best in stereo rather than a simulated surround. However, turning the smart audio & video mode to video and turning spatial sound to movie really did sound fantastic when watching some short movie clips on YouTube. Top Gun Maverick was immersive in terms of the sound performance, and Jurassic Park had excellent positioning and rumble – if you are planning to watch movies these work very well indeed.

JBL supply a useful app that adds to the feature set of the Tour One M2 headphones

I decided to test them in wired mode with the iFi GO Link DAC/Amp dongle, and whilst it is very handy to have a wired mode, and the treble does come across a little more extended, the overall sound is better in wireless mode. Wired they sound quite bloated and lacking control and definition; these have clearly been tuned with DSP to work best in wireless mode.

CONCLUSION

Well, coming into this review I didn’t quite know what to expect, but the Tour One M2 have really impressed me. They are not the last word in refinement or utmost fidelity, but they are brilliantly enjoyable.

The sound has a slightly full and warm tonality that is fatigue-free and engaging, the Studio EQ preset tightens up the sound if you like, and there are a ton of other features in the app.

ANC is very effective and the spatial sound works wonders for movies, yet for everyday listening and traveling the sound quality is surprisingly good.

Bass is full and punchy, the midrange is clean and has great presence, and the treble is crisp and well-extended.

These are not your typical “consumer” sounding product, so if you appreciate good sound and are looking for an all-rounder headphone, these should 100% be on your shortlist.

AT A GLANCE

Build Quality:

Plastic with metal accents and faux leather headband and earpads

Very well-finished and sleek too

Sound Quality:

Full and warm, but with good detail retrieval and presence

Engaging and punchy, perfect for everyday listening

Value For Money:

The features and sound quality more than justify the price tag

We Loved:

The fun yet detailed and open sound

The comfort and features

We Didn’t Love So Much:

Slight bloat in the bass and poor sound in wired mode

Elevator Pitch Review: The JBL Tour One M2 shows that JBL can make a great-sounding wireless headphone. These are not for the bassheads out there, the Tour One M2 are more sophisticated than that, and sound excellent for a wireless headphone with ANC. They’re packed full of features without sacrificing the overall sound quality, which is punchy and engaging, yet detailed at the same time. Suffice it to say, I am thoroughly impressed by what the Tour One M2 have to offer.

Price:  £279

Oscar Stewart

SUPPLIED BY JBL

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