Design and features:These headphones work with or without the noise canceling feature being turned on. You can use the noise-canceling feature without listening to music. These headphones can be used wirelessly with Bluetooth devices or can be cord connected. When cord connected they have low sensitivity when the noise cancelation feature is turned on; so while they can provide satisfying volume levels when used with home audio equipment and higher powered portable audio devices, they may not be a good match for lower-powered portables. When not powered they have high sensitivity so they can provide satisfying volume levels when used with home audio equipment and lower-powered portable audio devices. The Everest Elite 700 has an integrated microphone and volume, music player function, and call connect/disconnect controls that work with paired Bluetooth devices. Additional features include an auto calibration tonal equalization function and earcups that fold for ease of carrying and storage. When used with the free My JBL Headphones app for Apple and Android devices it has preset and custom tone equalization, defeatable auto off and voice prompt functions, allows the choice of adjusting the room monitoring function or switching the ambient noise canceling function on or off with a button on the headphone, and can receive firmware updates. This model comes with a detachable 51-inch long audio cable with a built-in mic and call answer/music player control button for wire connected iPhone/iPod/iPad and smartphone use, a USB charging cable, and a carrying case.
Sound quality: The Everest Elite 700 has five operational modes: noise canceling on (Bluetooth or powered and wire connected), noise canceling off (Bluetooth or powered wire connected), and noise canceling off (unpowered wire connected). It performed best with the noise canceling feature turned on, and in that mode the sound was the same if it was used wirelessly or powered and wire connected. It provides excellent active noise reduction and, after the auto calibration function has been used and with the tone equalization turned off, delivers sound quality that falls in the very good range - it reproduces music and voice very well although it does have some noticeable sonic quirks. The overall sound can be summarized as fairly even but slightly soft. Bass (as in bass drums, bass guitars, stand-up bass, etc.) has good impact, is fairly detailed, and goes fairly deep. The midrange (voices, guitars, horns, etc.) is fairly even, but somewhat hazy. The treble (cymbals, the upper range of violins, etc.) is fairly extended, but slightly smeared (sounds that should have a delicate shimmer sound blurred) and somewhat subdued. While the sound has a good sense of liveliness it is somewhat closed-in -- sound-wise it is somewhat obvious that you have something covering your ears. The Bluetooth and powered wire connected modes with the noise canceling feature turned off also sound the same, but the sound is thinner, rougher, and slightly washed out compared to when the noise canceling feature is turned on; while the sound quality drops a bit it is still in the very good range. In all of the powered modes the EQ settings of the My JBL Headphones app do have a noticeable effect on the sound of these headphones. In unpowered wired mode the sound drops into the good range - it becomes bass-shy, much thinner, hazy, and takes on a noticeable plastic resonance. In the noise cancelling mode these headphone provide excellent noise reduction, but the character of the noise reduction changes a bit depending on the direction that the noise is coming from. When the noise is coming from the front noise reduction cuts the low tones a bit more than the high tones, and when the noise comes from the sides or rear the noise reduction is fairly even across the entire frequency range. A slight hiss is audible when music is not present to mask it.
Comfort: We found that these headphones produce a sense of moderate pressure around the ears. As typical of over-ear models the pads might feel hot and/or sticky after prolonged use. When wearing this model while walking the vibrations from each foot step can be heard through the headphones.
