JBL Live 660NC - Over-Ear Nc Headphones - Black

I’ve now had these for 3 years. Never had an issue, they are incredible for flights. They block out noise so well. They apply a little pressure to the head which doesn’t bother me but it may bother some. Very comfortable and they dont bother my ears. I have 10 piercings in my ears and these have never given me an issue with any of them. Well worth the money because they will last a long time. The sound quality is good, I wouldn’t mind if they could actually play louder but other than that, I love these. Will definitely buy them again

First of all, hopefully my review is fair but please read this with a grain of salt. I do consider myself an "audiophile" which frankly isn't a status symbol of my knowledge on audio, it's simply that I have hole in my pockets from spending on audio gear. I do own several high end TOTL IEMs and Headphones from the likes of Empire Ears, Unique Melody, Meze, Hifiman and Audeze, but I am also trying to be as fair as possible in my review here as I can't compare any of these brands to JBL. But on the other hand, I do have other "consumer" headphones from Sony and Soundcore, so I'm trying to frame this review around that as a comparison. I was looking for something simple that I can occasionally take with me to the gym, for walks, at an airplane, etc., where I wouldn't be absolutely paranoid about dropping, scratching or breaking them in the process. From the reviews both within Amazon and other sources, it seemed like a "safe" bet with a 4.5 rating on Amazon and some mixed reviews from other sources. I've mainly seen these compared to the Soundcore Q30 (which I bought and returned), and folks seem to generally lean towards Soundcore instead between these two. Let me start by saying there is NO comparison to the Soundcore Q30. In terms of build quality and sound quality, these JBL Live 660NCs are light years ahead. Compared to something like the Sony WH1000XM5, believe it or not, I actually prefer the tuning on the JBL, but the ANC and mic quality on the Sony is definitely better, and Sony of course supports LDAC which these JBLs don't. Frankly, not a big deal, since if I really want to hear "HiFi" music I can simply plug these into my headphone amp with the provided wired cable (which I'll get into in a bit). Sound quality: Harman target, executed beautifully. You get the boosted lows, somewhat recessed mids and boosted highs, but they respond extremely well with EQ either through the JBL app or Wavelet for Android (which I'd recommend over any headphone manufacturer app anyways). Both female and male voices are clear, crisp, not too sibilant, instrument separation is fantastic, above average staging, and there's zero "muddying" of the sound especially when EQ is applied to boost any frequency range. The bass has "rumble", but again, doesn't muddy anything - it's thumpy and fast. Again, light years ahead of the "competition" such as the Soundcore Q30. Build: Excellent. Sturdy. Doesn't feel like "cheap" plastic. Light years ahead of the Soundcore Q30, but doesn't even come close to beating the Sony WH1000XM5 in terms of comfort - the Sony headphones are like wearing "clouds" on your ears. Ear cups are a bit small (I'll get into that later). Where I was the most impressed with was when connecting these to a good quality amp. I run a Topping E50 and L50 stack, and I almost feel like they turned into a completely different headphone with a wired connection. The sound was simply fantastic, to the point where I can (and will) compare these to the sound signature and performance of the Meze 99 Neo (~$200), and frankly responds better to a Sony WH1000XM5 connected to the same source. So short version: If you can experience these with a good quality wired connection (DAC + AMP combo) I definitely recommend trying it out. Now to the "bad" stuff: Small ear cups, or maybe I have big ears. Would be nice to have ear cups that are a tad bit bigger to fit bigger ears. Wired connection - I am trying to understand why JBL wouldn't just provide a standard 3.5mm connector rather than a 3.5mm to 2.5mm connector - Why? For Bluetooth, the max supported codec is AAC, which again is fine considering the price and I wouldn't expect LDAC at this price point so this really isn't a negative call out to JBL. Are these "audiophile" grade? No. But you can't expect that for $99. What you get is an excellent pair of headphones packed with basic features, with excellent sound, portability, build quality, that won't make you cry if they break.

I ran Live 660NC on and off for five days, before it ran out of the charge. In the mean time, I also used other headphones and earbuds. So I cannot say exactly how many hours the 660's charge lasted, but it DID last long. The audio quality is good at default setting, but the JBL's app provided different settings of genres of music, plus custom settings you can add. Jazz, Vocal, Bass, Club, Studio just about covers all the spectra, but user-settable custom Eq. allows numerous additional settings. 660 has an earphone jack that allows you to go old school and use wired earphone. It comes with the extension cord just for that purpose. This over-the-ear earphone gives an improved wear-comfort than the other on-ear JBL I also own (Tune 510). I tend to wear this set more than any other sets. 660 comes with the auto-pause function that activates, when the headphone is removed. But it is too sensitive, so when I try to adjust it, or the headphone is accidentally touched, it goes to pause. I disabled it, and it is no longer pausing accidentally. Noise canceling function is quite good, as far as regular living environmental noises are concerned, as in, voice, water flowing, closing of doors, banging of vessels and utensile, etc., are concerned. It cuts out wind noise outdoors--I say, 90%. But a riding lawn mower and a prop airplane flying above cut through the force field of NC. 660 also has the provision which allows the voice to be heard. I have not used it in an airplane, so I cannot comment on that. I mostly do not use NC, because I want to hear things around me, and know my surroundings. For my purpose, I am quite satisfied with this 660. My other, Tune 510, also produces the similar quality of audio performance. I cannot really tell, if there is much difference in the audio quality. Since JBL App does not cover Tune 510, I cannot use the Eq. function on it. With Eq. function, Live 660 does much better than tune 510, but this is not fair comparison. I've listened to dance music, motets, baroque, flamenco, rock and roll, even Gregorian chants, etc. All was great to my ears. I am quite satisfied with this Live 660.

Overall, I like these over the ear headphones. Comfort: I wish they were in a slightly larger size. The only option appeared be 'medium', but large may have given my (large???) ears a tad bit more room. They are comfy enough to even lay down (on your back) and fall asleep in, if that's your thing. They are super snug across the top of your head, which I like as I wanted them for bike riding/walking/exercise. They do get a touch hot after wearing them for a bit if you are doing any sort of activity, but not the end of the world. Sound: These sound AWESOME. The extra (optional) app you can download gives you even more control on settings and can definitely enhance your listening depending on the type of music you are into. There are presets that work quite well, but also the option to add your own. OVERFLOW: Not sure if this is the correct term, but you can hear OUTSIDE the headphones, so if on a plane or near others, just be aware- it ain't private. 😂 I've not used them for phone conversations, but the mic works well with any assistant you use (I tried both Alexa and Google). Battery Life: Like whoa. I've had these for a few weeks and have NOT had to charge them yet! I'm currently just above 60% battery life. I feel like I use them quite a lot (walking the dog, doing chores, just listening to books around the house, etc.) I'm impressed with the 50 hour battery life. Noise Cancellation: Nope. It has little to no noise cancellation, especially when compared to my Google Pixel buds. Yes, those are IN ear buds, but still. The Google Pixel buds remove pretty much ALL ambient noise and even close talking. It's like you're in your own world. Unfortunately, these earphones don't do that. The only difference is the 'fuzz' sound when you turn off ANC. A bit disappointing, but not a deal breaker, as I wanted something mostly for outside and I don't need to be completely cutoff from my surroundings (cars/animals/etc) for that. Controls: I'm getting used to these. I wish the touch options granted to the Assistants (touching the side of the phones) were able to be programmed for Play/Stop/Up/Down... but it is what it is. The buttons are easy to get to, but the ANC and bluetooth buttons should be further away from each other. I find that I keep hitting the bluetooth button (which disconnects my device). Plus, the UP/PLAY/DOWN buttons are ... little. I wish they were a touch farther apart too. Color: I got the white ones, which I LOVE. I find them to be easy to clean/keep tidy and new looking. Overall: I'm keeping them and I use them often (switching between these and my Google Pixel Buds). They suit different needs and are both great in their own rights.

Was looking for a pair of over-ear headphones, and I haven't had a pair since they had cords! So I've never owned a Bluetooth pair, I've always just used earbuds. But after having allergy issues involving earbuds when working out, I decided I wanted something that didn't go inside my ears for when I'm at home. I like music all the time, not just when I'm sweating. I wanted a pair of headphones that sounded great, but didn't cost hundreds of dollars. Remembering I once had a jbl pulse speaker and how great it was, I came across these and definitely paused for a minute. There were a couple models I was looking at, but these really grabbed me seeing that they have decent bass and noise canceling. While I can say the noise canceling isn't spectacular, its definitely still really good. It also depends on the type of music you're listening to and at what volume, because quieter and easier listening music means less noise canceling ppower. I can say, I have a very busy home with 2 little kids and I don't hear much of anything when I'm wearing these, so I definitely make sure their dad is home or someone else is watching them if I plan to use these. One huge plus for me (that I didn't even realize when I bought them) is the fact that you can communicate with Google assistant with a tap of the left ear cup. This is pretty awesome to me, I didn't realize they had a feature like that! Probably my favorite feature is the fact that it detects when they're on or off your head, and pauses and starts the music automatically! Its so nice not having to press pause or play when taking them off/on for a second. They fold in nicely and store easily, even though the bag they include isn't convenient because it's a tight fit. Call and mic quality isn't spectacular, but not bad. Overall, I'm extremely happy with them because any of the cons aren't that important to me, the music is what I care about and it sounds great! I like the equalizer through the app, and how straightforward these are. The features are great and feel premium and the music and bass sound really nice. Being just under a hundred bucks, I couldn't go wrong with these and I don't regret them for a second. They also look super nice, as well. Some of the more expensive models are ugly and clunky looking, in my opinion. But for the price point these are absolutely amazing. I use them all the time and I'd definitely buy them again! My brother has beats headphones and says he wants to upgrade to these.

Great quality, sound, and convenience using bluetooth.

This is just an OK set of Bluetooth headphone for the price and from the name brand. They're convenient, have decent battery life, and have a nice interface and are pretty comfortable, but that's probably the extent of the positives. They don't get very loud, which is safe, but cranking the volume on my phone is not really pushing these things. Sound quality is average - I know you can mess with the EQ, but set on flat these things are still a bit unablanced. Bass end is a bit dull and too muddy on the bass end - not overly boomy (unless you adjust EQ to boost it even more) but not super defined. If you try to push the volume then it seems to favor the top end more and can get shrill without EQing. Leaves more to be desired. It has a feature that pauses/turns the audio off when you take them off your head, which is cool, but it will improperly trigger and cut out if you try to move the head band around or wear it in a position to not mess up/dent your hair or if you want to slip one off your ear. You can toggle this feature with the app, but kinda becomes useless at that point. They are OK at what seems to be an always discounted price. Otherwise I would consider saving a little more for a nicer set or get a higher quality studio wired set for roughly the same price as these.

I bought it on Amazon day special price, still too expensive at less than half retail. The good: Long battery life ANC Comfortable cushions (if you can withstand hot ears) Not familiar with high end HiFi headphones, but these are way better than some beats at double the price. Good distance range, can go through walls all the way to my garage. Easy to use App The bad: Ears get hot and uncomfortable. I read on some reviews that eventually this goes away with break in, which brings me to my next con, the pad doesn't cover the ear, it goes on top of the ears and if you're eating or moving around it breaks the seal and you get all the outside noise while on ANC, which again, it should go away after break in. Again to do with the pads, this should have a carrying case to protect the pads. I'm not fond of the carrying bag that it comes with. I have purchased several other brands with better sound quality for around $30 to $80 dollars. Sound peats is at the top of my list, quality and price are unmatched. Then Earfun, I love their products, I have personally purchased several UBoom speakers as gifts and a few Ear Pro ear buds. Last but not least SoundCore Liberty Pro, I love the ANC feature. I wear these for travel but my ears get tired, so I only wear them for short periods of time, hence the purchase of these JBL headphones. It's a little unfair to compare ear buds to over the ear headphones because the ear buds plug up your ear canal giving you a better seal, so take this with a grain of salt and judge for yourself.

Sound is very clear and bass is strong. Noise cancelling works good and it connect quickly with my phone. Battery last long and ear cushions are comfortable for few hours use. Very happy with these JBL headphones.

Muy buen producto. El audio me parece excelente sin ser un audiofilo. La duración de la batería no se ha demeritado. La cancelación de ruido es sobresaliente; en viajes en avión te olvidas del ruido ambiente del aeropuerto y durante el vuelo, únicamente percibes lo necesario para estar alerta. Para llamadas entra mucho ruido ambiente por el micrófono, lo que te lleva a desactivarlos para realizarla directo del celular o moverte a un lugar con ruido razonable para el sistema. Recomiendo ampliamente la marca y el modelo que adquirí. las almohadillas empiezan a deteriorarse y espero en un futuro próximo encontrar repuestos. La almohadilla de la diadema está recubierta con un textil tipo malla de muy buena calidad; estoy seguro durará hasta que los audífonos mueran. Septiembre 2025: A comprar almohadillas. El recubrimiento se desintegró. Compré unos Sony y dejé estos guardados en un estuche que les compré para mantenerlos sin que se deterioraran. Agregué un desecante para que la humedad no los afectara más. Los saqué para conectarlos a una tele y el recubrimiento se quedó sobre mi. Ahora compré almohadillas textiles. Veremos cómo resultan, pero ya es otro cuento. La diadema impecable por ser textil.

كل شي فيها رهيب بصرااحة كل شي بدون استثناء 😍👍🏻👍🏻

Péssimo. Carissimo para a qualidade que tem. Fraca conectividade, demora imenso tempo a conectar-se com outros dispositivos e depois desconectasse facilmente.

Great sound and quality manufacturing.