The JBL Tour One M3 just got a better sound curve for free

We’re on the ground in Los Angeles for JBL’s 80th Anniversary Playback Tour, and one of the big announcements coming out of the event is the newly revised tuning curve for the JBL Tour One M3 headphones, available today as a free firmware update. JBL also unveiled a new green color with copper accents for both the Tour One M3 and Tour Pro 3 earbuds, alongside a redesigned app UI and an updated touchscreen interface on the Tour Pro 3 charging case.

JBL headphones have always been strong players, but the brand has faced tough competition from Sony, Bose, and others at the top of the market. The new curve sounds more like an attempt to bridge the gap with applied audio science than new hardware.

The Harman Target Curve is still in its infancy, but it’s making improvements based on what Harman says are changing listener expectations. The tone is that today’s ears are more discerning – people notice imbalance faster, fatigue faster, and want more clarity and control from premium products. The JBL response is a sound that works across genres, keeping vocals clear, and not relying too much on bass to impress.

In practice, that means a 3–5 dB boost in the 4–8 kHz range for more clarity, alongside a nearly 2 dB improvement in the lower midrange for a cleaner, more natural sound. Harman conducted double-blind listening tests with both “Golden Ears” listeners and untrained panels to confirm the changes, with results independently verified by Force Technology’s SenseLab. The company has shown popular gains in all rated categories, with significant improvements in bass, clarity, and spatial performance. We’ll test the Tour One M3 again with the revised curve and update our review with new measurements to see how it holds up.

For those who want to go further, customizing the EQ in the JBL app remains one of the most useful tools. Later, Harman also revealed that it is building an AI listening panel to optimize the tuning – drawing on decades of collected data – although human testers will always have the final say.

As Carsten Olesen, President of Consumer Audio at Harman, puts it:

The way people listen has fundamentally changed with better hardware, higher quality content, and smarter streaming making today’s ears more discerning than ever before. A new twist begins in our flagship JBL Tour One M3, designed to deliver the clearest, most natural listening experience ever.

In addition to the audio update, JBL also refreshes the interface on the Smart TX transmitter and the Tour Pro 3 touchscreen case, with a new menu system with horizontal and vertical scrolling, larger icons, updated typography, and a clean color scheme – all aimed at making advanced features easier to access with a few touches.

The firmware releases are amazing: the Tour One M3 sound curve update (v4.8.0) is available now, the Smart TX UI update (v7.7.0) is also live, and the Tour Pro 3 UI update is happening on April 30.

Making the announcement is a new green color with brass accents for both the JBL Tour One M3 ($449.95 at Amazon) and the JBL Tour Pro 3 ($249.95 at Amazon). It arrives in mid-May at specialty stores, but won’t be available in North America.