JBL Quantum ONE gaming headset review: A clever pair of surround headphones for PC gamers, but a disappointing lack of support for other users

The Quantum ONE is the flagship of JBL’s Quantum sequence of over-ear gaming headphones and the one mannequin within the sequence with digital encompass assist, although it’s a wired-only mannequin with no wi-fi capabilities. As we’ll see it’s very a lot focused at PC players and customers of different units will discover themselves disregarded within the chilly in the case of one of the best of the options on provide.

There’s numerous stuff within the field – the headset itself is pretty hefty at 370g and the padded cups totally encompass your ears – you possibly can actually let you know’re sporting these. There’s a 3.5mm audio cable with a quantity management and mic mute button on it, a calibration microphone that can be utilized to arrange head monitoring, a removable increase microphone for talkback and a USB-C to USB-A cable with a sport / chat steadiness dial on it. This plugs into your PC and has a 4ft size.

The cups include a good few buttons as nicely, together with a noise cancelling on/off management, a re-centering button for the top monitoring, quantity management, mic mute and numerous LEDs. Connecting the headphones through USB offers energy, at which level they gentle up with a spread of colors. The attention-grabbing options like 7.1 encompass, monitoring and noise cancelling require a USB connection and the Quantum Engine software program that powers them runs on Home windows solely. That’s to say with some other gadget, even consoles, it’s important to use a 3.5mm audio cable they usually grow to be principally only a pair of standard headphones. The software program wouldn’t recognise the headphones when operating beneath a digital PC on a Mac so once we managed to search out an precise Home windows field we had been capable of check it.

Once you do get it up and operating, it’s fairly detailed and offers in depth customisation choices together with EQ, altering lighting, encompass mode and issues like telling it your peak and head diameter to allow the monitoring to work. JBL’s personal QuantumSphere 7.1 encompass is on the market and there’s additionally a DTS Headphone X 2.0 possibility. JBL’s mode makes use of the top monitoring to regulate sound placement as you progress your head which labored nicely particularly with FPS video games the place you discover an atmosphere and enemies transfer round you. Setting it up entails utilizing the calibration mic which is kind of easy and the talkback mic works nicely, however wanted to be saved fairly near carry out at its greatest.

There’s noise cancelling too, once more solely in USB mode with a PC and that is respectable if not stellar, blocking ambient noise nicely sufficient. The 50mm drivers have a frequency response of 20Hz – 40kHz and the headphones provide a superb soundstage, with a good steadiness of frequencies even when the mid vary may really feel a bit lacklustre at factors. Listening to music in common stereo was respectable, although there are higher cans for much less cash in the event you don’t want the gaming options.

If you happen to match the precise profile – a PC gamer – these are a smart purchase, providing good, immersive encompass sound with added extras like head monitoring that genuinely elevate the gaming expertise. For anybody else although – console players, Mac customers, cell players – there are higher choices on the market. The reliance on a Home windows app to allow the attention-grabbing options means solely individuals gaming on a PC will actually really feel the profit.