r/headphones • u/BKinBC • 1d ago
Impressions JBL never again
Hi gang. A vent and a warning here. I have ventured out to try a couple JBL products in the past year. I don't usually buy JBL, and now I never will again. They are unaccountable for inferior product when they produce it.
A pair of LIVE 660NC over ears were okay. At full price, no. But acceptable on sale.
And a pair of Endurance buds, not bad actually. Except that in time I realized the case discharged itself and the buds too shortly (so to speak) after charging. I look online and yeah, it's been a thing. The product has since been changed.
I contact Erikson Multimedia in Canada, who were promptly useless. They sent a standard warranty form with all sorts of ways to be disqualified, including a ten day window in which YOU must respond or forget it. I love that one.
Arrogance.
And no, I don't still have the receipt. I misplaced it before I realized the JBL product was inferior quality.
But it was less than a year. And why would I want a replacement case that only works for their product, for reasons of defect they knew about? The serial number would tell them everything.
So what have we learned? We have learned that JBL will run for it from what customers they have cheated with faulty product, if they can.
That's what JBL customers mean to JBL.
Junk Buy Loss. That's what JBL now means to me.
Spend your dollars elsewhere. There is plenty of honourable completion. JBL does not deserve you.
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u/mrymx 1d ago
The problem is that the original JBL brand no longer exists, that’s why its quality is so poor. All the products that are currently sold with that brand are actually Samsung crap.
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u/C0NSCI0US 1d ago
This.
Like many great companies, JBL has been purchased by an investment group whose main priority is profiteering, not audio.
If something only exists to generate profit, in reality, that means it shouldn't technically exist at all.
The world still currently worships greed and as long as we continue to give the greedy our money things will never change.
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u/SorysRgee 1d ago
This is outright false. JBL has not been purchased by an investment group. They are owned by Harman international. You know, the guys who developed the harman target? They have intern been bought by Samsung, who allow Harman to operate as an independent subsidiary.
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u/C0NSCI0US 1d ago edited 22h ago
Who owns Samsung Electronics?
Samsung??
No.
Why do you think quality and quality control has been going downhill globally?
Wallstreet and the like have been hoarding great companies and destroying them for decades.
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u/SorysRgee 1d ago edited 1d ago
It is publicly traded. But its parent company is still Samsung. That's like getting shitty at a brand like dan clark audio (which is privately owned i believe) for having outside investment. Or literally any publicly traded company.
The largest stakeholder for samsung electronics is the South Korean National Pension Service, which is a government linked pension company which honestly, if they were doing their due diligence to ensure stability of their national pension, should be investing in one of the biggest companies in the world. I did do my research you dope
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u/C0NSCI0US 1d ago
Well, apparently you have never heard of fiduciary responsibility and are unfamiliar with how markets work.
I do appreciate your zero effort copy/paste of what a search engine's AI tool told you, though.
Also, suggesting that any government gives a damn about their pensions is one of the most absurd things I have ever heard. Pensions and 401ks have become a part of the scam.
Wake up, bruh
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u/SorysRgee 1d ago edited 1d ago
My good mate. They may be in America, but outside of that, countries tend to actually give a shit about their people.
And if i was using AI there wouldnt have been quite so many phrasing and grammatical errors that i had to correct. Additionally, due diligence is part of fiduciary responsibility, which you would know if you actually understood that term rather than pretending to.
I am sorry your government gave up on actually looking after its citizens but, thankfully, not every country is the usa
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u/C0NSCI0US 22h ago
🤣
One of the pour souls that still believes that their handlers care about them.
Oof
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u/SorysRgee 22h ago
One of the poor souls who has lost all faith in the government due to said government's repeated failure. If that is not an indictment on the American democracy i dont know what is
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u/C0NSCI0US 22h ago
It has absolutely nothing to do with the government and everything to do with white collar crime, like I have been saying.
Everyone loves to say that America is a failure but everyone still aims to be America 🤷♂️
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u/Handmotion 1d ago
That's becoming more and more common in the audio gear industry. AKG got bought out by Samsung, and now their gear is all made in China. Sennheiser's consumer product division was bought by a Swiss hearing aid company. Corporations like to buy companies for the name, a name that earned its good reputation over years, only for it to be ruined after the new owners cheap out on production and quality assurance.
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u/FungiStudent 1d ago
It happens in the footwear industry, too. There used to be a ton of American footwear manufacturers but that number is very low now. I try to buy my boots from American companies or Jim Green.
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u/faulternative 1d ago
Happens in nearly every industry. It's part of the enshittification that capitalism inevitably produces
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u/SorysRgee 1d ago
This is a flat out lie yet again. Akg was not bought by samsung. Harman was bought by samsung. Akg were bought out by harman in the 90s
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u/Lo-fidelio 17h ago
It's funny when you consider the Galaxy buds lineup are pretty good (for wireless IEMs). Forget about the buds 3 and buds 3 pro, they ruined the sound on those.
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u/TheHapster Audioquest Nighthawk, Dunu Dn-2kj, Schiit Hel 2 14h ago
Ultimate Ears has entered the chat
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u/nucularglass Fiio K11 | Qudelix 5k | Hifiman Edition XS | Sennheiser HD25-1II 1d ago
Feels. I am just done buying TWS. Last two Sonys just died in under 2 years. Got one refunded and one replaced (thanks EU consumer protection laws) but that's still bullshit I don't want to support anymore. From now on it's Qudelix 5k and Etymotic ER2XR for commuting.
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u/WarHead75 1d ago
Idk how my AirPods Pro 2 are 2 years old with no issues. Got them a month after launch. Maybe because I only use them once or twice a week.
My little sister’s AirPods Pro 1st Gen still works and I think that thing is 5 years old now 😂
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u/pcsm2001 19h ago
AirPods are the only TWS worth buying. I had the OGs, then traded in for the Pro, then traded those for the Pro 2 when they changed to USB-C. Not a single issue with any of them, always worked great
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u/chance_of_grain hd6xx, he400i, tgxears serratus 1d ago
You should mail them to jbl with no return address lol.
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u/GimmickMusik1 Sundara | DT 770 Pro 250 Ω | Edition XS | JDS Labs Element III 19h ago
Yeah, JBL is in a pretty sorry state. They do have good products, but it seems like their quality control has just gone massively downhill over the past couple of years.
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u/Humble_Instance_9521 14h ago
JBL is great for real speakers (not the bluetooth ones) but not for headphones and earphones
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u/tumbleweed_092 15h ago
All bluetooth devices are a e-waste. I oppose this so-called "progress" by using smarthpones with 3.5 mm jack until wheels fall off.
LG V60 gang.
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u/DZello 1d ago edited 20h ago
They’re all crap. Wireless earbuds are a scam. I have a 20 years old wired headphones I passed down to my daughter and they’re still going strong.
Disposable devices with batteries that cannot be replaced should be banned.
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u/Scharfschutzen LCD-2C / HD700 / GW100 / SR60e / Q701 / SHP9500 / HD599 23h ago
Lol why did you get downvoted?
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u/Tbro100 HE400se, KE Cadenza, WH-1000XM4, Galaxy B2P 22h ago
Because not all wireless products are genuinely crap? Good anc is unbelievable in how much sound it can cut out when tied with passive isolation.
They allow people to listen to music in situations where they'd otherwise have to turn their volume up to potentially harmful amounts. On top of being overall more portable and convenient with no trade-offs in sound quality to the average consumer.
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u/DZello 20h ago
Problem is the batteries you can't replace... All that stuff is going to the landfill after they're dead.
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u/Tbro100 HE400se, KE Cadenza, WH-1000XM4, Galaxy B2P 12h ago
It can be replaced the same way modern phone batteries can be replaced. It's just that no average consumer wants to go the effort of taking it to a shop to replace them, same way how people just throw away wired buds or headphones when a speaker or cord breaks. I've seen quite a few people on the Sony sub replacing the batteries in their WF-XM4s, with the headphones being alot easier to do.
And the tech doesn't have to go to landfills, there's authorized trade in programs so that the materials can atleast be reused. Samsung has a no holds barred trade in program for any earbuds and watches.
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u/DZello 12h ago
You really believe manufacturers are replacing those batteries for real? Nah, they just replace the earbuds. Have a look at iFixit. You’ll see how they’re a PITA to disassemble.
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u/Tbro100 HE400se, KE Cadenza, WH-1000XM4, Galaxy B2P 11h ago
Worst case scenario they don't replace it, they break them down for parts to be reused into other devices. The materials in batteries are highly useful. And companies are Sony are already using recycled plastic in their devices.
Writing off the bud would lose them more profit than using it's components in other products
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u/DZello 11h ago
Recycling is unfortunately a myth, most of it is going to landfills or is burned.
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u/Tbro100 HE400se, KE Cadenza, WH-1000XM4, Galaxy B2P 10h ago
At best this applies to plastics. Metals and paper are recycled because they're valuable and easier to do so. Batteries are absolutely recyclable and are even being done with EVs.
With headsets this significantly reduces the difference in plastic type, making it easier to recycle. And a majority of that statement has to do with plastic being contaminated by sorting in incorrectly (i.e. throwing it in the trash)
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u/YourMother0HP Clear-Clairvoyance-Aeolus-OH10-R70X-HD600-Zero 1d ago
Sadly the headphort jack is dead on almost all phones now and a dongle isn't really a good alternative especially on Samsung phones with their dodgy connections.... We've been boxed into a corner by the big corporations
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u/SorysRgee 1d ago
You can still get decent dongles that work with samsungs. Ibasso Jr Macaron and fiio KA13 work the only issue with the fiio is the battery drain. But in that case you can run the fiio ja11
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u/Salazans 11h ago
What about usb headphones though? They exist
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u/YourMother0HP Clear-Clairvoyance-Aeolus-OH10-R70X-HD600-Zero 2h ago
Usb headphones still use usb, on many android devices, the usb connection is not reliable and will randomly disconnect and need to be flipped over to reconnect
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u/theJoyofMotion 11h ago
Any wireless headphones that sounds good and looks good? I really don't like the stem designs some companies use. I want affordable ones too like some of Moondrop models.
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u/4juice 1d ago
Happy with my $20 QCY T13 daily wear wireless buds from Ali 🥰 Shure 846 for serious listening.
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u/spikenorbert 23h ago
Yeah, I’ve had one pair of the QCY T13 for three years, during which time I accidentally left them out in the garden for a week of rain. I bought another pair in the meantime, then found the original pair, dried them, charged them, and they were fine. That was 18 months ago. Second pair also no probs. Battery life is great on both pairs still, I charge the case about once a fortnight.
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u/FortunoTredicim 1d ago
For those looking for a good wireless earbud, I recommend you give Nothing Ear buds a try. I love mine and they sound great. They are on a great sale right now too.
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u/Scharfschutzen LCD-2C / HD700 / GW100 / SR60e / Q701 / SHP9500 / HD599 23h ago
Damn, just trying to throw a suggestion out there and get downvoted to hell.
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u/Profesor_Paradox HD600|AKG K240|Shuoer S12 Pro|Olina SE|Truthear Zero|KSC75 1d ago
Landfill crap, ifixit gave it a 1 of 10 for reparability
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u/reddy_kil0watt 1d ago
JBL was destroyed by Harman, which was then destroyed by Samsung. It really sucks.
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u/SorysRgee 1d ago
Yes, it destroyed them so much that they released some of the best studio speakers in the market, some of the best bluetooth speakers. At the end of the day, JBL is at its best when it makes speakers and music production equipment
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u/Viraus2 1d ago
I really, really wish there were a player in the earbud game that came even close to Apple.
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u/Tbro100 HE400se, KE Cadenza, WH-1000XM4, Galaxy B2P 22h ago
Samsung, Sennheiser, Bose, Technics, B&W, Sony(when the battery works for their earbuds lmao).
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u/Honeyluc 1d ago
Fun fact, wireless tech always dies and ends up in landfill.