JLab GO Air review – SoundGuys
Busybodies rarely have time to fiddle with half-baked features, which is why the JLab GO Air has made an impression among the utilitarian crowd. As the name implies, these wireless earphones are for listeners constantly on the go. For $30 USD, you can’t go wrong. We spent two weeks with the GO Air to inform you of its pros and cons before you buy.
Editor’s note: this JLab GO Air review was updated on May 9, 2023, to update the format and expand the alternatives section.
- Listeners on a budget should get the GO Air because it’s among the best ~$20 wireless earbuds you can buy. It’s durable, has a nifty USB charging cable integrated into the case, and the earbuds feature touch controls.
- Athletes may want to snag these earbuds because they’re IP44-rated and can handle all sorts of sports from rock climbing to running. Plus, the GO Air is uniquely affordable; if a part breaks outside of the two-year warranty, it won’t be too devastating to replace.
What’s it like to use the JLab GO Air?
Just like the JLab JBuds series, the JLab GO Air is all plastic from the charging case to the earbuds. While it may not be the most eye-catching, it reduces the cost and weight of the headset. Each earbud has an angled nozzle protruding from it; these are large in diameter and may prove uncomfortable for listeners with small ear canals.
The open charging case looks cool, but the internal magnets aren’t strong enough to keep the earbuds in place.
While the IP44 rating means the earphones are durable, they’re not impervious to scratches. The case has an always-open design that looks unique and makes it easy to grab the earbuds but isn’t very protective. If you drop the case, the earbuds will fly out and get scuffed up.
On the bottom of the case is JLab’s famed integrated USB charging cable, featured in all of its true wireless products to date. You can charge the case from anywhere without fiddling around with a separate charging cable.
While I was initially skeptical of its durability, JLab claims to have tested this component to withstand 10,000 bends before showing signs of wear.
How do you control the JLab GO Air?
JLab The left and right earbuds have designated controls.
A touch-capacitive pane on each bud is easy to operate and allows users to control virtually anything without removing their phones. Each earbud panel has different controls that take a moment to memorize, but the relatively steep learning curve is worth it. Commands aren’t registered 100% of the time, which is almost common with JLab products.
Does the JLab GO Air stay connected?
The GO Air supports mono listening, which is excellent when listening outside.
While these buds are extremely cheap for the wireless category, JLab doesn’t skimp on wireless technology. The GO Air uses Bluetooth 5.0, and the same proprietary Dual Connect technology as the more premium JLab JBuds Air Icon.
Effectively, this works similarly to Qualcomm’s TrueWireless Stereo Plus, and creates an individual connection to each earbud, yielding fewer connection hiccups. Bluetooth multipoint isn’t supported, but that would be pretty remarkable if it was included at this price.
As far as high-quality Bluetooth codecs are concerned, the GO Air supports AAC and SBC exclusively. This means iPhone users can stream high-quality audio with consistency, but Android still struggles with the AAC wireless codec depending on which device you use. This is ultimately okay, though, because auditory masking proves a greater problem than on-par codec support. There’s only so much you can demand from super-cheap earbuds.
To initiate pairing the JLab GO Air with your smartphone, remove both earbuds from the case. This action will make the LED indicator on each bud flash white and blue. Enable the Bluetooth function on your device and select JLab GO Air.
To perform a manual reset of the GO Air, keep the earbuds in the charging case and remove the JLab GO Air from your phone’s Bluetooth devices.
Then tap on the earbud in the charging case seven times, until the LED blinks blue three times. Do the same tapping on the other earbud. Afterward, you can remove both earbuds from the case, and one LED will be a solid white color, while the other will blink blue and white. You’re now ready to re-try the pairing process.
How long does the battery last on the JLab GO Air?
The earbuds lasted 4 hours, 5 minutes in our battery test where we play music constantly, peaking at 75dB(SPL). The case supplies three extra charge cycles. Plopping the earbuds in the case for 15 minutes yields 60 minutes of playback. This isn’t nearly as impressive as what we’ve seen from Anker Soundcore, but it’s better than nothing (and matches the rate of the more premium JLab JBuds Air Icon rapid charge feature). The case takes two hours to charge fully, while the earbuds take 90 minutes to charge fully. This is fairly slow, but again: these buds are just $30 USD—more premium components will be more expensive to manufacture.
How well does the JLab GO Air block out noise?
Passive isolation is pretty good if you can find the proper ear tips.
Isolation is very good if you’re able to maintain the seal. If reviewing earbuds has taught me anything, it’s that I subconsciously move my ears a lot. Some ear tips and large-diameter nozzles lose their seal easier than others, and that’s the case for the JLab GO Air. When I achieve a proper fit, the buds substantially block out background noise. JLab doesn’t provide nearly as many ear tips with the GO Air as it does with its more premium options, which makes sense, so you may have to look into third-party ear tips.
Hold up! Something’s different:
This article’s frequency response and isolation charts were measured with our old testing system. We have since purchased a Bruel & Kjaer 5128 test fixture (and the appropriate support equipment) to update our testing and data collection. It will take a while to update our backlog of old test results, but we will update this review (and many others!) once we’re able with improved sound quality measurements, isolation performance plots, and standardized microphone demos.
These will be made obvious with our new chart aesthetic (black background instead of white). Each new mic sample begins with the phrase, “This is a SoundGuys standardized microphone demonstration …”
Thank you for bearing with us, and we hope to see you again once we’ve sorted everything out.
How does the JLab GO Air sound?
The JLab GO Air sounds very bass-heavy. It’s important to keep realistic expectations when purchasing a pair of cheap earbuds. While the GO Air affords some premium features and a durable build, the fact remains that corners have to be cut to keep the price down.
Bass notes are louder than midrange notes; the latter is where the fundamental frequencies of most instruments fall. Unfortunately, this means your music may sound worse than it should, for example: making it sound like songs lack clarity. The sound is fine for the price though, and to be expected. Plus, if you’re coming from super cheap gas station buds, you may even find this to be a good upgrade.
Lows, mids, and highs
The song Save Myself by VINCENT begins with an upbeat chord progression on a bass guitar as VINCENT vocalizes the first verse. By nature of the emphatically emphasized low-end, it’s immediately apparent how the bass makes it hard to hear any vocal notes once the kick drum enters at 0:19.
The emphasized bass of the JLab GO Air makes it difficult to hear vocals over basslines and kick drums.
As VINCENT sings, “Maybe we could fix this,” the breathlessness of their voice is audible (0:30). If you skip ahead to the chorus, it’s hard to hear the second syllable as they sing the word “myself.” While it’s common for vocalists to drop the last sounds of a given word, this is the fault of the tuning that renders VINCENT’s voice nearly imperceptible, a shame. These wireless earbuds have a fine sound for commuting and working out, but aren’t for analytical listening.
Can you use the JLab GO Air for phone calls?
Each earbud has a microphone, which is great because it means you can use either bud for mono listening and still accept calls.
That said, microphone quality leaves a lot to be desired as it heavily attenuates low frequencies while retaining accurate reproduction from 600Hz and higher. JLab prioritized speech intelligibility over vocal accuracy. The emphatic low-end under-emphasis produces a “hollow” or “distant” sound.
JLab GO Air microphone demo (Non-standardized):
How does the microphone sound to you?
1690 votes
Should you buy the JLab GO Air?
Listeners can control virtually everything directly from the touch panels.
The JLab GO Air is for the utilitarian and this pair of earbuds is definitely worth picking up if you can find it. Since the release of the GO Air POP, it may become more and more challenging to find the original GO Air. Still, listeners who want something affordable that does plenty of things well enough should get these buds.
Sound quality isn’t the best but you can always tame the bass response by cycling through JLab’s EQ presets. The integrated charging cable is a feature that I’ve grown quite fond of over the years, and something I’m happy to see included here.
Anyone who wants a more technologically impressive pair of true wireless headphones will have to ramp up their budget.
JLab Go Air
JLab Go Air
Affordable • Bluetooth 5.0, quick auto-connect • Integrated USB charging cable
MSRP:
$30.00
Go anywhere with the GO Air.
Consumers who don’t care for fancy features or high-quality audio should get the JLab GO Air. The buds are comfortable enough for daily use, and stable enough for exercise. Microphone quality may not be the best, but it’ll get you by for a quick call, and the integrated USB charging cable is a great JLab perk. Listeners who want better sound quality for a similar price should consider the Anker Soundcore Liberty Neo.
See price at Amazon
Save $13.00
What should you buy instead of the JLab GO Air?
You can connect both or just one earbud to your phone, and control playback with the touch panels.
The JLab GO Air POP ($24 at Amazon) has its advantages over the JLab GO Air, namely that the POP’s charging case has a lid that prevents the earbuds from flying out if you drop it.
The GO Air POP uses Bluetooth 5.1, compared to the GO Air’s Bluetooth 5.0, so you may experience battery improvements. We certainly have: the GO Air POP lasts just over 11 hours on a single charge compared to the GO Air’s 4-hour battery life.
If you want to spend a bit more while staying under $100, we recommend the Jabra Elite 3. The Elite 3 costs $59 at Amazon and has aptX support for high-quality, low-latency streaming from Android devices. These earbuds are durable, too, and merit an IP55 rating.
Frequently asked questions about the JLab GO Air
One company isn’t necessarily better than the other, but there are differences between them. For one, Skullcandy has a more fleshed-out app, and its software features include Tile tracking and Spotify Tap. Meanwhile, JLab’s mobile app lags behind the competition. Both companies manufacture affordable products with similar build qualities, though.
No. JLab has yet to release any companion app for their earbuds.
The company has released the JLab Audio App, but it’s merely a marketing tool that promotes sales, discounts, and includes a (not-so-useful) burn-in tool.
JLab’s customer service team is responsive and can be reached via phone (+1 405-445-7219) or email ([email protected]). Every JLab audio product includes a 30-day guarantee whereby consumers may return or exchange merchandise within 30 days of the purchase date. Wired audio products have a lifetime warranty, while wireless ones include a two-year warranty.
JLab Go Air Review | PCMag
It’s hard to make earphones that deliver quality audio for under, say, $40. Under $30, you start to expect less. Less than $30 with no cable? Expectations are not high. With the new JLab Go Air, a $29.99 pair of true wireless earbuds, there are problematic on-ear controls, a useless app, and some seriously sculpted, bass-heavy audio. But if you need a cheap pair of exercise-friendly, wire-free earphones, you simply won’t find a better deal.
The black Go Air earpieces have the JLab logo on the outside, and as far as exercise-focused models go, they feel rather small. That’s impressive, because the fit is actually quite secure—typically, we see larger earpieces with fins and hooks, but these are small and fin-free. Internally, 8mm neodymium dynamic drivers deliver a frequency range of 20Hz-20kHz. The earphones are compatible with Bluetooth 5.0 and support AAC/SBC Bluetooth codecs.
The outer panels of the earpieces have touch-sensitive controls, with the left ear handling volume down (single tap), track backward (press and hold for a second), and power (hold for three seconds). The right ear raises volume (single tap), controls playback (double tap), skips forward a track (press and hold for a second), handles call management, and can also be used to power down. Both ears cycle through the three EQ modes with a triple tap. Those modes are JLab Signature, Balanced, and Bass Boost. There is no neutral or off mode.
The sensitivity of the buttons is problematic—it often took multiple taps in testing to get the controls to register touch, and that means for commands that require multiple taps, as several of them do, you stand a good chance of misfiring.
This makes for some of the more frustrating on-ear controls we’ve tested.
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The charging case is one of the more peculiar designs we’ve seen in the true wireless realm. There’s a hardwired USB cable with almost zero extension to it, which can make charging annoying. And there is no cover—the earpieces are exposed when docked.
At this price, any level of water resistance can be considered a plus, but the Go Air ‘s IP44 rating is merely decent—it can only stand minor splashes and some exposure to dust/dirt particles. This rating isn’t high enough to withstand water pressure from a faucet or dunking underwater, but should withstand a sweaty workout and a damp washcloth without issue.
The JLab Audio app and Burn-in Tool is, perhaps, the least useful app we’ve encountered for true wireless in-ears. It’s clunky, and exists more as a marketing tool for JLab than as anything useful. Your earphones probably also don’t need “burn in,” but at least using the tool can’t hurt. Mostly, the app is there to allow you to connect to the JLab store and spend some more money. Ultimately, there’s really no compelling reason to download this app, and you can absolutely skip it and avoid the sales pitch.
JLab estimates battery life to be 5 hours, with the case capable of carrying 15 additional hours. Your result will vary, however, with your volume levels.
Performance
We listened to music in all three EQ modes, but our test results described below are in Balanced mode, as it supposedly has no enhancements—JLab Signature mode has boosted bass and “amplified vocals,” and Bass Boost mode pushes the bass even further.
On tracks with intense sub-bass content, like The Knife’s “Silent Shout,” the earphones deliver a powerful low-frequency presence that avoids distorting at top, unwise listening levels and maintains a powerful thump at more modest volumes.
In Bass Boost mode, this track sounds ridiculously unbalanced—the lows overwhelm any sense of clarity.
Bill Callahan’s “Drover,” a track with far less deep bass in the mix, gives us a better sense of the Go Air’s general sound signature. The drums here sound full and robust in Balanced mode, and thunderous in the other two modes. Callahan’s vocals are delivered with solid low-mid richness and a decent level of treble edge. The acoustic strums and higher-register percussive hits have a bright presence to them—this is a balanced sound signature, but it is scooped, with a focus on lows and highs, less so on mids.
On Jay-Z and Kanye West’s “No Church in the Wild,” the kick drum loop receives enough high-mid presence for its attack to retain its punchiness, while the sub-bass synth hits that punctuate the beat are delivered with serious depth. In Bass Boost and Signature modes, these synth hits and the drum loop are simply coated in added bass depth—those who enjoy extra oomph for their workouts might appreciate it, but anyone seeking a sense of accurate audio will want to stick with Balanced mode.
That said, even Balanced mode can sound weirdly scooped and pinched—the vocals here are never overly sibilant, but the whole track sounds quite sculpted.
Orchestral tracks, like the opening scene from John Adams’ The Gospel According to the Other Mary, have a crisp, bright presence that accentuates the higher-register brass, strings, and vocal parts while receiving some extra bass anchoring. It’s not a terribly accurate sound, but it doesn’t sound as wildly sculpted in Balanced mode as it could. The other two modes serve to essentially remove the mids from the equation, and are not sensible for orchestral recordings.
The mic offers average intelligibility. Using the Voice Memos app on an iPhone 8, we could understand every word we recorded, and the mic signal was strong. However, there was also some obvious Bluetooth distortion fuzzing up the recording, so there’s a trade-off between signal level and overall clarity. As far as true wireless in-ear mics go, however, we’ve heard worse on far more expensive models.
Conclusions
If you need a cheap pair of true wireless earbuds for exercise, that’s the obvious appeal here. The touch controls are unreliable, the sweat-resistance is modest, and the audio is geared to those seeking serious bass boosting, not accuracy. If you can live with all of those qualities, then the JLab Go Air earphones represent a solid value—how could they not at $30? In the sub-$100 true wireless realm, we’ve tested a few other pairs worth mentioning, including the $45 EarFun Free, as well as the more expensive, far superior $80 Anker Soundcore Liberty Air and $99 Cambridge Audio Melomania 1.
JLab Go Air
Pros
-
Inexpensive
-
Powerful bass depth
-
Secure fit
Cons
-
Touch-sensitive controls are hard to operate
-
Modest sweat-resistance rating
The Bottom Line
JLab’s Go Air earphones are far from the best true wireless earbuds you’ll find, but at $30 they’re the most affordable.
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JLab Go Air True Wireless Headphones
Review
The true wireless headphone market is evolving, with features like noise cancellation and built-in artificial intelligence becoming the norm for the course above a certain price point.
Meanwhile, on the other end of the scale are options like the JLab Go Air headphones, which are part of a growing phalanx of super-cheap true wireless headphones that skimp on smart features to keep prices below $50/£50.
We spent some time researching the Go Air True Wireless and came to the conclusion that you do get what you pay for when it comes to buying headphones, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
What about Black Friday and Cyber Monday?
Black Friday is coming soon and we’ve already seen a great deal on JLab Go Air – and you can expect more from November 27th. If you miss Black Friday, don’t forget that Cyber Monday is approaching November 30th, giving you another chance to save. For all the latest discounts, visit our Black Friday Headphone Discounts page.
Pricing and Availability
The JLab Go Air True Wireless are only $29/£29, and while we’re still waiting for official pricing confirmation outside the US and UK, it costs around AU$40.
These are very cheap for a pair of true wireless headphones. For context, the new Go Airs are $20 cheaper than even the brand’s previous budget model, the JBuds Air, which we gave four out of five stars in our review.
However, when you compare them to our current favorite true wireless headphones, you’ll realize just how cheap JLab’s new headphones are: The Sony WF-1000XM3 is $230 / £220 / AU$400, so Go Air headphones come along.
for a fraction of that price.
Design
Available in white, green, black and navy blue, the JLab Go Air True Wireless Headphones feature a functional design very similar to the JBuds Air. Like these buds, the Go Airs snap magnetically into their charging case, but a quick look at the case gives you some idea of how JLab managed to keep the price of these headphones so low: there’s no lid, and the buds are open to the elements.
The magic of the magnets means the earbuds don’t fall out of the case if you hold them upside down and we can confirm that a strong wiggle won’t push them out of the case (we can’t promise the same if you decide to throw the charging case across the room) .
While the JLab Go Air feel safe in their case, the lack of a lid means they’re exposed to dust or any other debris in your bag or pocket – as a result, you’ll likely need to clean these buds fairly regularly.
The materials also hint at the low price of these earphones, yet everything seems rather plasticky.
While that’s not necessarily a bad thing (especially considering these headphones are IPX4 sweat-resistant, making them suitable for workouts), the Go Air definitely won’t win any design awards.
As with previous JLab models, the charging case has an integrated USB charging cable that plugs into a slot at the bottom of the case; this is a handy feature that means you won’t have to find the cable every time you need to charge, but it’s worth bearing in mind that if this built-in cable breaks, you won’t be able to top up your charging case or your headphones.
The Go Air themselves are much smaller than the JBuds Air (20% smaller to be exact) and come with three sizes of gel tips so you can achieve a snug fit. We found them to be quite comfortable and they felt secure enough to work with, although the option to add ear fins would have been nice for an extra layer of security.
The outer shells of the earbuds have the JLab logo, and you’ll also find touch controls here that you can press to play and pause music, skip tracks, change the volume, and adjust the sound profile (more on that later).
You can also double-tap the left earbud to call up your phone’s voice assistant, whether you’re using Siri or Google Assistant.
We tested a pre-release pair of Go Airs for this review, and JLab tells us that the touch controls still need to be polished with a software update coming before their release date in March.
Whatever the case, we found that the controls worked well most of the time, although they sometimes struggled to register the difference between two or three taps – we won’t mind them as this should be fixed in the coming weeks (We will definitely re-test this feature to verify).
Battery life and connectivity
Again, when it comes to battery life, you get what you pay for with JLab Go Airs. You get 15 hours of battery life from the charging case and up to five hours of battery life from the earbuds alone.
This is the lower end of the range for true wireless earphones, although it’s not much worse than Apple’s AirPods, which last about 24 hours in total.
We found that the claimed battery life was about right when listening to music and podcasts at moderate volumes.
However, when it comes to connectivity, we have no complaints. With Bluetooth 5.0 support, pairing is fast and efficient, and once your Go Airs is initially paired with your device, they will connect automatically when you take them out of their case.
One interesting feature that belies the low price of the JLab Go Airs is the ability of two headphones to connect independently of each other; This means you can listen with one earbud while the other remains in the charging case, which can effectively double battery life (if you don’t mind listening to music with just one ear).
Sound quality
The sound quality of the JLab Go Air True Wireless headphones leaves much to be desired; So while we don’t expect audiophile-level playback at this price point, it might be worth spending a little more if you want to do justice to your songs.
Like other JLab headphones, these headphones support three different EQ presets: JLab Signature, Balanced and Bass Boost.
JLab Signature boosts high and low frequencies, while Bass Boost only boosts the lowest frequencies. As you might have guessed, the Balanced is designed to deliver a smooth sound, without boosting any particular frequency over others.
Of the three, we generally preferred the Balanced preset, finding the mids too recessed with JLab Signature and the lows too muddy with Bass Boost.
Listening to Little Simz’ Selfish, the individual rap vocals were quite noticeable in the mix, but we found the bass to be extremely muddy, seeping into the mids and making the track sound rather fuzzy.
The wide string, which usually pairs well with brooding backing vocals, sounded muffled and harsh, while the usually harsh percussion sounded dull.
The lighter and airier sound of the same artists’ 101 FM performed better, with pleasing musicality in bouncing sine waves; however, the bass overwhelmed almost everything else. There was a noticeable hiss on both tracks that obscured the music itself – this hiss is present even when the music is not playing.
The Beach Boys ‘Haven’t It Be Nice sounds more expansive than some of the more bass-heavy tracks we’ve listened to – and while the JLab Go Airs don’t do it justice in terms of audio fidelity, they do capture the character of the song really well. with bright brass and bold vocal harmonies.
There is a noticeable lag when watching videos with these headphones, which can be quite annoying, especially if you want to use Go Air for mobile gaming. No support for codecs like aptX Low Latency, which is to be expected at this price point; but even at under $30 these headphones are too slow to recommend for video.
Final Verdict
The big takeaway from a few days of JLab Go Air True Wireless Earbuds is that, as we said, you get what you pay for. They are by no means suitable for audiophiles who want fantastic sound or gamers who need low latency Bluetooth connectivity, but we can’t ignore this extremely low price.
The introduction of true wireless headphones for under $30 means that a once-expensive form factor is suddenly available to more people than ever before.
Looking for a cheap pair of true wireless headphones for your kids? JLab Go Airs might be the best option.
They can even be a good choice if you just want a spare pair of true wireless headphones in your bag, just in case your best headphones run out of battery en route, or if you want an inexpensive pair to go camping or hiking. festival, so you don’t have to worry about losing your valuable Sony WH-1000XM3.
If you really can’t put up with the poor sound quality on offer here (and it’s bad, make no mistake), but you like the sound of JLab’s low prices, you can check out the JBuds Air Executive – for $69 (about £55). / AU$100) they are slightly more expensive but offer better sound and better battery life.
What’s more, the Lypertek Tevi True Wireless Earphones cost £99 (around $130/AU$140) and are nearly flawless for the price.
- Why 2022-2023 is the year you should finally buy
true wireless headphones
JLab Go Air Review | PCMag
It’s hard to make quality sounding headphones for, say, less than $40.
Under $30 you start expecting less. Less than $30 without cable? Expectations are low. With the new JLab Go Air, a $29.99 pair of true wireless earbuds, there are problematic on-ear controls, a useless app, and some seriously sculpted, heavy bass. But if you’re looking for a cheap pair of wireless earphones that are suitable for sports, you simply won’t find a better deal.
The black Go Air earphones have the JLab logo on the outside, and as for the exercise-oriented models, they seem rather small. This is impressive because the fit is actually quite secure – we usually see larger earbuds with fins and hooks, but they are small and without fins. Internal neodymium dynamic drivers with a diameter of 8 mm provide a frequency range from 20 Hz to 20 kHz. The headphones are compatible with Bluetooth 5.0 and support AAC/SBC Bluetooth codecs.
The outer panels of the headphones have touch controls, with the left ear controlling volume down (one press), track back (press and hold for a second), and power (hold for three seconds).
The right ear increases the volume (single press), controls playback (double press), skips a track forward (press and hold for a second), handles call control, and can also be used to turn off the power. Both ears switch between three EQ modes with a triple tap. These modes are JLab Signature, Balanced and Bass Boost. There is no neutral or off mode.
Button sensitivity is problematic – in testing, it often took multiple presses for the controls to register touch, meaning that for commands that require multiple presses, as some of them do, you have a good chance of misfiring. This makes for some of the most frustrating on-ear controls we’ve tested.
The charging case is one of the most unusual designs we’ve seen in true wireless. There is a wired USB cable with almost zero elongation, which can be annoying to charge. And there is no cover – the headphones in the docking station are open.
At this price, any level of waterproofing is a plus, but the Go Air’s IP44 rating is just decent – it only withstands minor splashes and some exposure to dust/dirt particles.
This rating isn’t high enough to withstand the pressure of tap water or being submerged underwater, but it should handle a sweaty workout and wet washcloth without issue.
The JLab Audio and Burn-in Tool app is perhaps the least useful true wireless headphone app we’ve come across. It’s clumsy, and exists more as a marketing tool for JLab than anything useful. Your headphones probably don’t need to be “burned” either, but at least using a tool wouldn’t hurt. Basically the app is for you to connect to the JLab store and spend a little more money. After all, there is really no good reason to download this app and you can skip it completely and avoid the ads.
JLab estimates a battery life of 5 hours with an additional 15 hours in the case. However, your result will depend on the volume level.
Presentation
We listened to music in all three EQ modes, but our test results below are for the balanced mode, as it supposedly has no improvement – JLab Signature mode boosted bass and “boosted vocals”, while Bass Boost mode still pushed the bass more.
On tracks with intense sub-bass, such as The Knife’s “Silent Shout”, the headphones provide a powerful low-frequency presence that avoids overhead distortion, unreasonable listening levels, and maintains a powerful punch at more modest volumes. In Bass Boost mode, this track sounds ridiculously unbalanced – low frequencies overwhelm any sense of clarity.
Bill Callahan’s “Drover”, a track with much less deep bass in the mix, gives us a better idea of Go Air’s overall sonic signature. The drums here sound full and solid in the balanced mode, and thunderous in the other two modes. Callahan’s vocals showcase a solid richness of lows and mids and a decent level of highs. Acoustic drums and percussive hits in the upper register have a bright presence – it’s a balanced sound signature, but it’s sparse, with an emphasis on lows and highs, less so on the mids.
On Jay-Z and Kanye West’s “No Church in the Wild”, the bass drum loop gets high enough in the mids so that its attack retains its punchy power, while sub-bass synth hits that punctuate the rhythm sound serious.
depth. In Bass Boost and Signature modes, those synth hits and drum loops are just covered in extra bass depth – those who like extra power for their workouts can appreciate it, but anyone looking for a precise sounding feel will prefer to stick with the balanced mode. However, even in balanced mode it can sound strangely clipped – the vocals are never overly whistling here, but the whole track sounds quite sculpted.
Orchestral tracks, like the opening scene from the John Adams ballet. Gospel According to the Other Mary have a crisp, bright presence that emphasizes brass, strings and vocals in a higher register while gaining an extra bass anchor. It’s not a very accurate sound, but in balanced mode it doesn’t sound as strong as it could. The other two modes serve to substantially remove the mids from the equation and are not suitable for orchestral recordings.
The intelligibility of the microphone is medium. Using the Voice Memos app on the iPhone 8, we could understand every recorded word, and the microphone signal was strong.