Jaybird's new Tarah Bluetooth earphones are made with athletes and exercise addicts in mind.
They stay in place during vigorous workouts thanks to an exceptionally secure in-ear fit, and a waterproof exterior means they can be worn whether you're running in the rain or sweating up a storm at the gym.
Their sonic performance is bass-forward and powerful, though you can fiddle with the free Jaybird app's customizable EQ to create a more flat-sounding response.
For $99.99, these are solid wireless in-ears.
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Design
Available in black, blue, or gray, the Tarah's neckband-style design features a matte, flat cable with a built-in cinch for managing slack and an inline remote control located near the right earpiece.
Each earpiece has a semi-translucent silicone eartip and fin that allows some of the neon coloring of the nozzle underneath to shine through.
The eartips themselves are labeled with L and R for left and right, and you get pairs in small, medium and large—the fins are attached to the tips.
The in-ear fit is comfortable and exceptionally secure—ideal for exercise and generally long listening sessions.
The earphones have a rating of IPX7, which means they can be submerged in up to one meter of water, so they can certainly handle sweat, rain, or being rinsed off in the sink after a workout.
The inline remote houses a central multifunction button that handles playback, call management, and also doubles as the power button when held in for an extended period.
The outer plus/minus buttons control both volume and track navigation.
The remote compartment also houses the inline mic and the charging contacts.
Unlike many wireless in-ears we test, there's a short snap-on cable that uses a proprietary connection to charge via the contacts on the underside of the remote.
The mic offers above-average intelligibility.
Using the Voice Memos app on an iPhone 6s, we could understand every word recorded, and there was little in the way of audio artifacts or fuzziness.
The mic did sound a little far from the mouth, but in terms of clarity, it fares better than most wireless in-ear mics we test.
There's also the free Jaybird mobile app.
It isn't essential for the operation of the headphones, but it adds some highly useful extra features, like user-adjustable EQ.
Jaybird estimates battery life to be about six hours, but your results will vary with your volume levels.
What's missing? A carrying pouch would've been nice, but you could make the argument that the earphones require no real protection from a pouch since they have such a solid IP rating.
Performance
On tracks with intense sub-bass content, like The Knife's "Silent Shout," the earphones deliver powerful low-frequency response that will appeal to bass lovers, especially with the app's customizable EQ, which can pump it up even more.
Using the default sound signature for testing, the earphones deliver plenty of thump and don't distort at top, unwise listening levels.
Bill Callahan's "Drover," a track with far less deep bass in the mix, gives us a better sense of the Tarah's general sound signature.
The drums get the extra-bass treatment here—they don't sound overly thunderous, but they do pack some notably heavier thump than they would on a more accurate-sounding pair of in-ears.
The high-mids and highs are also quite sculpted here, too—Callahan's baritone vocals receive added treble definition, and the track's tape hiss is pushed forward a bit in the mix.
On Jay-Z and Kanye West's "No Church in the Wild," the kick drum loop receives enough high-mid presence to keep its attack fairly sharp, though it's the highs that seem more boosted here, again pushing the vinyl crackle and hiss forward in the mix a bit.
The sub-bass synth hits that punctuate the beat are delivered with powerful bass depth—the drum loop also gets some extra thump.
The vocal performances on this track come through with solid clarity—things are crisp, without extra sibilance.
The Tarah's sound signature is not for purists, but the sculpting is well-balanced.
For orchestral tracks, like the opening scene from John Adams' The Gospel According to the Other Mary, the lower register instrumentation is pushed forward in the mix in a way that purists won't appreciate.
But the boosting isn't insane, and of course, there's always that EQ in the app to tone things down.
One annoyance: The earphones tend to lop off the opening half-second or so of a newly navigated-to track.
This isn't uncommon, but it's more typical of cheaper, older Bluetooth pairs.
Conclusions
Jaybird's Tarah earphones have many things going for them—they're waterproof, they deliver solid audio that can be customized via app, and they're not terribly expensive compared with the competition.
There are a couple of quirks, like lopping off the beginnings of tracks and the lack of accessories, but neither are deal breakers, and these are top-tier $100-level wireless in-ears.
They join our favorites in this crowded category, including our Editors' Choice, Jaybird's own X4, as well as the JLab Epic Sport Wireless, the JBL Reflect Mini 2, and the budget-friendly JBL Endurance Sprint.
The Bottom Line
The Jaybird Tarah earphones deliver a powerful, sculpted audio experience with customizable EQ in a waterproof design.
