Posted by: Jane Douglas

When it comes to headphones, sound leakage is my big pet peeve. For two reasons:

1) Having to listen to the tinny beats seeping out of other people’s leaky earphones is annoying.

2) I don’t want other people to know how desperately uncool my musical tastes are.

Anyway. Today I’ve been testing the Reference 430 headphones from JBL (who supplied the audio tech), and Quiksilver girls’ brand Roxy (who supplied the acid-bright styling and pictured carry case). Our loaned pair is the blue-green variant. A pink-orange version is also available.

The ear cups in are on the petite side, possibly designed with teens in mind.

If they fit your delicate lugs, you’ll probably find them comfortable; the padding is covered in a velvety fabric that makes them pretty cosy. I imagine them doubling as a decent pair of earmuffs in the depths of winter.

The funky neon colouring makes the Reference 430 look a bit toy-like, as do the plastic ear cups – not in a cheap way, as the build quality is good, but these ‘phones are certainly not for the audiophile who likes their gear sleek and discreet.

Most importantly, the audio quality – for a £60 headset – is decent. To my ears, the sound is bass-focused; crank up the volume and you’ll get a good rumble going. 

I had been doing just that when I remembered my fellow editor would be suffering whatever sound leakage these headphones let out. Turns out, the Reference 430 headphones aren’t quite leak-proof.

All in all, though I wouldn’t recommend them to you for a long plane journey (at least, not if I’m sat next to you), these are a decent set of headphones: a good first upgrade from white earbuds for the iPod nano generation.