JBL Everest 300 Review

Landing on my desk today, the JBL Everest 300 has the odious mark of yet another ill-executed lifestyle headphone.  From sculpted ear cushions to Bluetooth 4.1 to “legendary JBL pro audio sound,” this headphone is pulling quite a few punches.  At $149, though, is it worth the cheddar, or even your money?  Let’s give her a listen.

JBL Everest 300 Review

The Everest 300 comes with a micro-USB charging cable, an removable audio cable, and some literature on the headphones.

Built almost entirely out of plastic, these headphones feature slim aluminum extenders for addition resilience.  The thick pleather padding on the headband and earcups does offer some comfort, but the slight clamping force of the headphones is still a small annoyance.

These headphones feature a hinged design for greater portability.  Controls on the left earcup pertain to playback and volume control, while power and pairing are handled by controls on the right earcup.

The battery is rated at 20 hours, and the Everest 300 is a snap to pair with your smartphone.

Specs

Frequency Range:  10-22,000 Hz
Impedance:  NA
Sound Pressure Level (SPL):  NA
Total Harmonic Distortion (THD):  NA
Bluetooth Version:  4.1

Like most consumer brands, JBL has a habit of not releasing technical specs.  While the frequency range is slightly wider than the standard 20-20,000 Hz, the impedance is almost definitely 32 ohms.  Volume is probably close to 115 or 120 dB – not too shabby at all.  Harmonic distortion is probably somewhere around <0.3%.  It uses Bluetooth 4.1 protocol.

Low End

It should come as no surprise that the JBL Everest 300 is a tad bit bassy.  However, despite this emphasis on bass, there is still some decent low-end detail in the sound.  Control is good, and bleed is kept to a minimum.

Mids

With some compression and a slight loss of detail, the midrange isn’t that fantastic.  Overall, there is a sense of fidelity to instrumentation and vocals, but it still lands shy of awesome.

High End

The highs on the Everest 300 are far from bright.  Hell, they aren’t even as bright as they should be.  Rolled off and skimping on a sizeable amount of detail, the highs are lackluster.  While I can forgive the slight compression in the mids, the underdeveloped high end really grinds my gears.

Soundstage

Decent depth and a great sense of placement come together to deliver a palpable sense of soundstage on the Everest 300.  Even taking into account the on-ear design, this is a truly impressive sense of space.

Other Observations

On part of the packaging, there’s a photograph of some Trendy Young People (what you and I would probably identify as a hipster) throwing their hands up at a Color Run.

JBL has clearly intended to capitalize on some youth segment who doesn’t need much in a midrange and damn near nothing in terms of high end detail.  And yet, these headphones still sport a good low end and an impressive soundstage.  They’re also Bluetooth.

The Everest 300 is a weird headphone.  But I can’t decide if it’s good or bad.

Recommendations

As far as recommendations go, I am almost at a loss to really stack the Everest 300 up against another headphone.  Few headphones in this price range offer wireless connectivity and such a vivid soundstage.  While there are plenty of similarly-priced options out there, they may not even measure up to what the 300 does well.

Instead of cross referencing a bunch of different models at different prices, this may just be one of those headphones that needs to be demoed.  Maybe my ears are finally failing me, or maybe this headphone just can’t  be pigeon-holed, but do me a solid:  check these out and let us know what you think about them.

Final Analysis

An audio oddity born of the marketing gurus at JBL, the Everest 300 is equally terrible and fantastic.  I can’t decide if I love or hate it, but I do have to give props to the Everest 300 for not being like any other headphone I’ve listened to. if you’d like to give it a go, JBL Everest 300 is available at an unbeatable price at Audio46 using discount code “majorhifi” for 10 percent off during checkout. It’s also available at a competitive price on Amazon from authorized retailers.