Credit: JBL
JBL are looking to extend their audio empire into the world of video gaming through their new Quantum range.
“Our world-class team of acoustic engineers delved deep into the gaming arena to define the most accurate soundscape in gaming,” said Ms. Grace Koh, VP and General Manager for Lifestyle Audio Division of Asia Pacific at Harman.
“During the design process, we tested extensively with gamers around the world to develop the most advanced predictive algorithm for the JBL Quantum Range, making every game immersive and every gamer more competitive."
Out of the gate, the JBL Quantum range consists of seven models that vary in price and features. You could break apart the range into wired and wireless models. The short version here is that things can be broken into two camps: those that include JBL's Quantum Surround tech and those that lack it.
Models that do integrate this feature offer more immersive sound that JBL claim "expertly engineered to outperform the most popular spatial sound technologies available for gaming headsets today." How they actually fare against the best that Razer, Logitech, Sennheiser and others can muster remains to be seen but you can probably assume that JBL Quantum headsets with the feature probably sound better than those that don't.
The Quantum 100 represents the bottom-end of the range. It's an over-ear wired headset with a boom mic that comes enhanced by JBL's Quantum Signature sound tuning. The Quantum 200 improves on this by trading out a sole 3.5mm audio output for a PC splitter. Then, the Quantum 300 ups the ante by including a USB audio adapter and JBL's Quantum Surround tech. Next, the Quantum 400 adds a few more thrills to the mix. This includes DTS Headphones 2.0 support and a game-chat balance slider.
Finally, the Quantum 600 sees the range make the jump to wireless. It's beaten out only by the Quantum 800, which adds active noise-cancellation into the mix, and the Quantum One - which is the flagship of the range. The Quantum One is a wired gaming headset which pairs up JBL's Quantum Signature sound tuning with integrated head-tracking.
Enhanced by JBL's Quantum Sphere 360 tech, the Quantum One takes the immersion found in the rest of the range to a new level, promising to enable "competitive gamers to hear enemies and movements around them like never before."
Specific Australian pricing and availability for the JBL Quantum range is to be determined.
Disclosure - our coverage of CES 2020 was sponsored by Intel and Dell, who covered the cost of our flights to the US and our accommodation for the duration of our stay in Las Vegas.
