Sound impressions
The listening experience is a bit of a mixed bag to be fair to the J88 after a few days burn in. The problem you will remember is that I said that the J88 comes from the house of Harman and outside of the AKG K518/618/9 set of cans they just don’t do bass in the sense you are expecting from the meme on the box “Pure Bass”. It is not bass light, it just doesn’t slam to a deep level or go deep enough to really hit hard like their 518/618 stablemates. This is marketed to the hip and young and sort of a consumer/streetwise pitch and its a little too polite compared to the say the M50 but certainly a bit heavier than the Soundmagic HP100.
The mid bass has also a slight hump tuned right in there combined with a quick roll off on the sub-bass levels making it a slightly muddy bass response overall. I tried EQ’ing it a touch to emphasize the bass and treble and get that gentlmanly v-cuve injected with a bit of devilment with varying degrees of success. I did enjoy it more with rock or mids-orentated rock tracks that needed just a touch more bottom end weight. Dave Lee Roth’s “Just like Paradise” sounded more convincing with a better balance balance. The v-curve of the J88 added a touch of fun and weight and retained a better degree of clarity than I thought it would.
On the upside the drivers did display a more mature level of refinement and clarity on the lower treble that does benefit from the Harmon expertise and shall we say favored tuning levels found in more expensive headphones. I did have to jack up the treble and bass EQ somewhat to get close to the level of fun in a v-shaped can I now look but to it’s credit it lacked almost any sibilance or harsh attack though making it an easy and fun enough headphone to listen for extended periods.
The J88 has a fairly small soundstage even for closed headphones so it will suit those looking for a more intimate and warm sound signature rather than something like the Soundmagic HP100 which is much airier and expansive. The Urbanears Zinken also at 7k has a lot more gusto and a smaller form factor which I found more appealing for bassheads and the Marshall Monitors have that x-factor and brand name that makes things really competitive at thyis price point.
Final Thoughts
I found the J88 to be a very mixed bag to be honest. The packaging and look have brought JBL headphones kicking and screaming to the burgeoning consumer market finally and the color schemes are much mroe modern and relevent. I do think the J88 bass is perhaps a bit too subtle compared with the ATH-M50 and its stable mate the K518/618DJ but I am not advocating bass at all costs. The clarity on these 50mm drivers is pretty good actually, above average in all fairness so those looking for a bit of weight to the bottom without being over powering and some decent clairty and dont mind giving up a bit on soundstage might quite like these for the price point.
Technical Specifications
8 Hz – 24000 Hz Headphone Frequency Response
Over-the-head Design
Wired
32 ohm Headphone Impedance
Circumaural Closed Headphone
50 mm Headphone Driver Units
3.5 mm Headphone Jack
More info on the JBL range can be found at: JBL Philipines FB Page
