You can get noise cancelling headphones for under 150 euros. Lots of them. Too many. Dig through the depths of Amazon and you'll find thousands of options, most of which end up in a landfill before you even manage to memorize the model number. The JBL Tune 770NC and the Valco VMK20 both sit in this price bracket, but they represent pretty different philosophies.
One is the budget model from the world's biggest speaker manufacturer. The other is a headphone from a 14-person Finnish company, tuned by a guy whose ears are literally insured.
What do you actually get for your money?
The JBL Tune 770NC is JBL's budget-line headphone. It does everything just okay. ANC exists, sound exists, Bluetooth works. Plastic build, plastic pads, plastic experience. Nothing wrong with that in itself, except that after about a year and a half the pads start crumbling, and then you buy new headphones. And so the cycle continues. JBL's parent company Harman (which belongs to Samsung) says thanks.
The VMK20 costs the same or a bit more. It's got a Qualcomm chip, aptX Low Latency support, four-mic ANC running on an ADI chipset, a Class AB amplifier, and 40mm drivers that Jasse tuned to sound like music is supposed to sound, not like an algorithm's best guess at what teenagers want their bass to sound like.
The fabric cover was designed by Lauri Lumme, and it holds up to use better than JBL's fake leather, which starts flaking right around the time the warranty runs out. Coincidence? Maybe.
Noise cancelling: let's be honest about it
Neither of these is a Sony WH-1000XM5. Gotta say it out loud. ANC under 150 euros won't turn your office into a soundproof studio.
The VMK20's ANC works well on low frequencies: plane hum, office AC, train rumble. It won't help with screaming kids. Nothing helps with that. On the VMK20, ANC has its own dedicated button and works independently of Bluetooth, so you can use it as pure noise dampening without any music playing. Handy.
The JBL Tune 770NC's ANC is, well, it's there. It works. Doesn't dazzle, doesn't embarrass itself. Roughly the same level, maybe a touch less even. Both produce a faint hiss when ANC is on without music playing. That's physics, not a defect.
Sound quality
This is where the VMK20 pulls ahead. Jasse's tuning shows. The midrange is clear, the bass is controlled instead of mushy, and the treble doesn't hiss. The JBL Tune 770NC sounds kind of flat: the bass is boosted but imprecise, and the overall effect is like listening to music through a cardboard tube. Fine for background listening, but if you're actually listening to music and not just having it on, you'll hear the difference.
The VMK20 supports aptX Low Latency, so you can watch videos without lip-sync issues. The JBL has SBC and AAC. Fine for music, but you'll notice the lag in movies.
Battery and practical stuff
VMK20: 45 hours of listening. JBL Tune 770NC: about 44 hours. Basically a tie. Both charge via USB-C. No drama here.
The VMK20 weighs about 250 grams. Light. The JBL is roughly in the same class. Both sit on your head comfortably enough, but the VMK20's fabric pads breathe better in summer heat. Fake leather and sweat, you know exactly what that feels like.
Why choose Valco?
- Repairability. The VMK20's parts can be swapped out. The pads twist off, and Jasse's team repairs the units in Kajaani. JBL's budget headset is disposable: when it breaks, it's broken for good.
- Sound quality. Jasse's tuning versus JBL's algorithm. You'll hear the difference.
- Finnishness. Every purchase funds 0.000001% of our Death Star. Henri's Alfa Romeo won't fix itself, and even the Ferrari still needs a budget line item.
- A warranty that actually means something. 24 months, and warranty service actually means repair, not "email us and wait a month" purgatory.
- ANC with its own button. Small thing, but handy. No digging through app menus.
Who should go with JBL?
If you need headphones tomorrow and your local shop has the JBL Tune 770NC on sale, and sound quality isn't a big deal to you, get it. Seriously. It's a perfectly functional headphone for casual use. If you're mostly listening to podcasts on the bus, you probably won't notice the difference.
If you're already invested in JBL's app and ecosystem and that matters to you, that's a valid reason too.
We're not so insecure that we need to claim a competitor's product is garbage. It's just not garbage. It's okay. We're trying to be better than okay.
Summary
| | VMK20 | JBL Tune 770NC |
|---|---|---|
| Sound quality | Jasse's tuning, clear and precise | Bass-heavy, flat |
| ANC | 4 mics, dedicated button | Functional, nothing special |
| Codec support | aptX HD, AAC, SBC | AAC, SBC |
| Battery | 45h | ~44h |
| Repairability | Yes, our own service in Kajaani | No |
| Materials | Fabric cover | Fake leather and plastic |
| Warranty | 24mo, actually gets repaired | 12mo, good luck |
If you want headphones that last longer than one tax refund cycle and make music sound like it was meant to be heard: VMK20. If you want the cheapest possible noise cancelling headphones right now: JBL Tune.
We're not the world's biggest headphone manufacturer. There's 14 of us, and half the budget goes to fixing Henri's Alfa. But we know how to make headphones. Thanks for your money, it's going to a good cause. Or at least a cause.
