Buzz
With the completely wireless Live Pro + in-ear headphones, JBL aims high with active noise cancellation and focuses on sound quality with powerful 11 mm drivers and long battery life. The typical range is from 6 to 10 mm, making this the largest segment for earbuds. The JBL Live Pro + may look like a copy of Apple's AirPods, with microphones placed at the end of two small stems. This is to bring the microphones closer to your mouth so the recipient on the other end of the call can hear you better.
The Live Pro + features both active noise cancellation and ambient sound (external noise is amplified so you can hear your surroundings) and you can activate and switch between these sounds by pressing the button on the left earbud. Download the My Headphones app to make adjustments, where you can select different noise cancellation modes.
Various Noise Cancellation Modes
Everyday is standard, while Travel focuses primarily on noise in airplane and train cabins. Active is for outdoor use. Of course, I haven't tested it on a plane, but regardless of the mode chosen, the earbuds reduce noise comfortably, without the sensation of ear vacuum. Active reduces a wider frequency range, leaving only a faint hum. For example, I hear much lower keyboard typing noise on PC in Active mode and mouse clicks sound brighter.
Like with all other headphones and earbuds, the noise cancellation feature may introduce a slight buzzing from the integrated microphones. If you prefer not to hear this, you can turn off the noise-canceling mode.
The ambient mode can also be customized within the app. Choose between Ambient Aware, allowing you to observe your surroundings, and TalkThru, which also mutes the music so you can talk to someone without needing to pause the music first. When I'm working in the office, I often prefer the ambient mode, so I can hear if my colleagues want to communicate. When I have a home office, it also happens that delivery drivers come to the door, so it's a big advantage to hear them speak.
Voice Assistant
The JBL Live Pro+ supports voice assistants, and within the app, you can choose whether you want to summon the assistant with the left or right earbud. Note that this function will then replace the current mode, which is noise cancellation and ambient mode on the left plug, pause and resume music on the right. You can only choose between Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa, not Siri. JBL argues that iPhone users would opt for AirPods anyway; personally, I'm not entirely convinced this is wise.
Impressive Battery Life
The battery life of the Live Pro+ is at the top tier for completely wireless earbuds, with seven hours of full charge and two full charges from the integrated battery of the charging case. With the active noise cancellation feature, the plugs last for six hours.
Perfect Fit
The earbuds are extremely compact, and in my ears, they fit perfectly with the silicone ear tips. It also comes with four other sizes, so you have a total of five fitting options to choose from. More than most competitors offer.
Bluetooth Connection Options
Live Pro+ offers several Bluetooth connection options for audio quality. Normal uses the standard SBC audio codec and promises a more stable connection, although with slightly reduced sound quality. Music provides the best sound for music, while Video has minimal latency and is best for movies and gaming. This applies only to Android, as it switches between aptX HD and aptX Low Latency. With iPhone, these modes are identical, as AAC is used.
It's also worth noting that you can choose to connect only one earbud, in cases where communication is your priority and you're not listening to music initially.
Equalizer Settings
The Significance of Sound Quality
What's even more crucial for sound quality is JBL arguably boasts the most impressive equalizer (EQ) settings I've ever seen for in-ear or earbud headphones. Its range spans from 32 Hz to 16 kHz, allowing precise adjustment of frequencies with a +/- 3 dB margin.
Superior Sound Quality
Straight out of the box, there's a rich and immersive bass response, making bass-heavy tracks in electronic pop music come alive. The midrange, however, is where it falls short. It feels somewhat thin and subdued, lacking the depth for vocals to stand out amidst the music, and instruments lose their vibrancy. The soundstage is flat and lacks dynamism, bordering on dull. And the bass can be a bit too sharp, contrasting with the lacking midrange.
No disaster by any means, but there's no denying the open and clear sound from Huawei Freebuds Pro. And compared to the Sennheiser CX 400BT, while it lacks some midrange energy compared to the Freebuds Pro, it offers a richer spectrum of tones than those accompanying the JBL Live Pro+.
Sound Quality through EQ Settings
According to settings, the earbuds couldn't be recognized. Suddenly, they became energetic and lively, with a completely different impression in resolution and airiness than before. The bass now sounds much more uniform, vocals clear, and the timbres of acoustic instruments entirely different.
Excellent Speech Quality
Finally, we must mention the perspective on speech quality. For JBL Live Pro+, the user's voice is conveyed to the receiver impeccably. The voice is very clear and distinct, and you can easily hear the difference between 's' and 'f' sounds. This is something most earbuds struggle with. JBL has some compression artifacts at the top end, but no disasters. Here, JBL's plug is also one of the better plugs.
JBL Live Pro+ – Conclusion
JBL Live Pro+ is a pair of earbuds with tremendous potential. They fit snugly, have many great features, and both noise cancellation and ambient mode work very well.
Sound straight out of the box is perfectly fine, but the midrange is too soft. Fortunately, EQ adjustment in the app works really well so you can get the sound you desire. With just a few tweaks, I got better sound from these than from some of my favorite products in the price range.
You could call it cheating, because after all, I had to keep quiet about the sound. Without good EQ, the Live Pro+ would lose a star. If the sound coming out of the earbuds straight from the box had been what I got, they might have been overwhelmed. Instead, we end up with a solid filter, because not all users feel equally comfortable with EQ settings.
