JBL Quantum 600 Review

JBL’s Quantum lineup is specifically made to give gamers an edge with headsets that offer immersive sound plus software that allows users to monitor and take control of every aspect of their device. The Quantum 600, in particular, can be used in wired or wireless mode via a 2.4GHz connection, supports JBL QuantumSURROUND and DTS X: Headphone for what they claim is a realistic spatial soundstage. It’s priced at PhP8,999.

Specifications

Design and Build Quality

For what is a gaming headset, the JBL Quantum 600 offers a less shouty appearance, without losing the modern touch. There’s a metal headband topped with a plastic cap as well as some padding below. You’ll be able to make adjustments on both sides for the perfect fit. It’s nice that they also marked each step with a number, so you can easily match one side to the other.

The earcups are designed with a glossy finish on the outside, and matte on the inner section. They swivel, and can also rotate to a limited angle. The earpads are soft and comfortable to wear even for long hours. The clamping force is also just right.

The right earcup houses the power and pairing switch, while the left is where you’ll find the volume rocker, the USB-C port, a wheel which lets you adjust priority from voice to game sound, and a mute/unmute button for the microphone, which can be activated by lowering it down from the side or raising it up to turn it off. There’s also an indicator light to let you know if the mic is on or off.

The JBL Quantum 600 also features RGB lighting on the brand’s logo that’s on both earcups. The effects can be customized via the QuantumENGINE application.

Sound and Connectivity

You can use this headset wired using a 3.5mm to 3.5mm cable, or wireless using its 2.4GHz receiver which easily plugs in to a USB port. Pairing the headset with the adapter only takes a couple of steps, and connection remained stable without drops in audio. Of course, a big benefit of going wireless is that you can move around the room while say, planning out your strategy with the team via Discord, or when just purely listening to music.

The good thing about the JBL Quantum 600 is that despite its flashy appearance, the people who made these headphones did not leave sound quality out of the equation. Thanks to its over-ear design, it’s also able to isolate a lot of unwanted noise for a more immersive listening experience.

With the equalizer set to Flat, the bass offer good detail and punchiness without being overpowering, vocals come across with good clarity, and treble tends to lean on the warmer side, making it is less fatiguing and suited for long hours of use.

Detail retrieval and instrument separation is very good. Even when a lot is going in the song, I was able to hear the subtle bits that I wouldn’t recognize on some other headphones.

Personally, I prefer a more airy sound, and the Enhanced High End Equalizer setting does that, adding a bit of edge that gives the sound a bit less relaxing, but more fun.

Here’s a sample clip using the boom mic of the headset:

While loudness is actually good, I find that the sound isn’t as clean – a bit too nasal, and can also be a bit piercing. A bit more clarity would also be nice.

Software

The JBL QuantumENGINE application lets you monitor and manage your headset’s settings. You can choose from a number of equalizer presets, or manually adjust each slider to your preference.

You’ll also be able to customize the RGB lighting by choosing from a pre-defined set of effect, or you can customize an effect to your own liking using Advanced Mode. Since they’ve drilled down on this anyway, being able to set a different effect for the right and left earcups would’ve been amazing.

You can take advantage of JBL’s 3D Audio Virtualization Technology by enabling it via the Spatial Sound section. Choose from JBL QuantumSURROUND or DTS X: Headphone. I personally just turn these off as they can mess with the sound quality, but if you want to know how it fares, well, it does create that feeling of added space and distance, and depending on what mode it’s set to, it gives you that extra sense of awareness to know where say, a footstep is coming from in-game.

Lastly, the app lets you change the language, check for updates, or restore the headset to its factory settings. There’s also an indicator for how much battery is left before needing a recharge.

Battery Life

With continuous use via the 2.4GHz connection, through a combination of music, YouTube streaming, voice chat, and gaming, the JBL Quantum 600 was able to churn out around 14 to 15 hours of uptime in a single charge. Using the front USB port of my PC, I was able to recharge the battery from zero to full in two hours using the supplied USB-C to USB-C cable.

Verdict

For its price, there’s a lot of things to like about the JBL Quantum 600, it’s built well, sounds great, and offers excellent battery life. On the flipside, I think that a detachable microphone would’ve made the design better, While preference in sound quality is subjective, I would’ve also liked a bit more emphasis on the treble.

Emman Tortoza

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Emman has been writing technical and feature articles since 2010. Prior to this, he became one of the instructors at Asia Pacific College in 2008, and eventually landed a job as Business Analyst and Technical Writer at Integrated Open Source Solutions for almost 3 years.