Design and features:The headphones work with or without the noise-canceling feature being turned on. You can use the noise-canceling feature without listening to music. These headphones can be used wirelessly with Bluetooth devices or can be cord connected. When cord connected they have medium sensitivity regardless of whether the noise canceling feature is turned on or off, so they can provide satisfying volume levels when used with home audio equipment and all but the lowest-powered portable audio devices. The LIVE 650BTNC has integrated microphones and volume, music player function, and call connect/disconnect controls that work with paired Bluetooth devices. Additional features include support for Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa digital voice assistants when it is used with Bluetooth devices that have those capabilities and that, if needed, have the appropriate apps installed, and earcups that fold and swivel for ease of carrying and storage. This model comes with a detachable 47-inch long audio cable with built-in mic and call answer/music player control button for iPhone/iPod/iPad and smartphone use, a USB charging cable, and a carrying pouch. The free My JBL Headphone app for Apple and Android mobile devices can be used to change the sound of the headphones, to show the battery level, and to set up the digital voice assistants.
Sound quality: We found the LIVE 650BTNC provides excellent active noise reduction, and when Bluetooth connected and used in the noise canceling mode, delivers sound quality that falls in the Very Good range - it reproduces music and voice very well although it does have some noticeable sonic quirks. The overall sound can best be summarized as bassy with a slightly etched midrange. Bass (as in bass drums, bass guitars, stand-up bass, etc.) has good impact and deep, but is prominent and somewhat boomy. The midrange (voices, guitars, horns, etc.) is even but is a bit grainy and etched (a bit more sharply outlined then it should be), and can be somewhat overwhelmed by the bass. The treble (cymbals, the upper range of violins, etc.) is extended and slightly prominent and smeared (sounds that should have a delicate shimmer sound blurred). This model does a decent job of recovering the room ambience of a recording (the sense of the acoustic space in which the audio program that's being listened to was recorded). The sound also has a good sense of liveliness and is somewhat open--sound-wise it almost seems like you don't have anything covering your ears. The other connection/noise canceling combinations produced lower sound quality and sound characteristics that were different from the Bluetooth noise canceling mode. When the headphones are cord connected with the noise canceling feature turned off the bass becomes subdued and the midrange becomes thinner, somewhat hazy, takes on a noticeably plastic resonance (something like what you would hear if you talked into a semi-rigid plastic cup), and the sound quality drops to Good. In the cord connected mode with the noise canceling feature turned on the bass gets more boomy and the overall sound becomes a bit muffled; the sound quality drops a bit more but still remains in the Good range. In the Bluetooth mode with noise canceling feature turned off the bass becomes subdued, the midrange becomes more grainy, somewhat hazy, and takes on a very noticeable plastic resonance, and the sound quality drops to Fair. Regardless of how they are connected, when the noise canceling feature is turned on these headphones provide Excellent noise reduction across the entire frequency range with the low frequencies reduced the most. A slight amount of hiss can be heard when no program material to drown it out. The noise reduction characteristic is slightly different depending on the direction from which the noise is coming - when the noise is coming from the front slightly more high frequency noise can be heard. A slight amount of background hum may be heard when these headphones are used in the noise canceling mode and are cord connected to AC powered audio equipment. The tone settings of the app do have a noticeable effect on the sound of these earphones.
Comfort: We found that these headphones produce a sense of moderate pressure around the ears. As typical of over-ear models the ear pads might feel hot and/or sticky after prolonged use. Users with larger ears might find that the over-the-ear fit of the ear pads feel cramped, or that the ear pads sit on, rather than around their ears; in that case the less-than-ideal fit around the ears might interfere with the earpad seal and reduce the noise reduction capabilities of the headphone. Some users may find that when they lean far forward the headphones feel a bit unstable and shift forward, but not to the point of falling off. Incidental contact with the control on left earcup can cause unintentional engagement of digital voice assistant feature. When wearing this model while walking muffled vibrations from each foot step can be heard slightly through the headphones. When using this model with the audio cable model the sound of the cable rubbing on clothing may also be heard faintly through the headphones.
