Bluetooth Speaker as a Guitar Amp - JBL Flip Review

[jonfields45]

I've got a Traveler Escape MKII (which BTW I think sounds much better with its Baggs Element than the MKIII does with the newer tuner integrated Shadow) and an A6 Ultra, both of which I would like to be able to play at acoustic guitar volumes with something that fits in the gig bag. We had an old Altec inMotion Air (too big for this spec) and I tried its external input and found it sounded really good and was certainly louder than any dreadnought.

So I started my hunt and bought a Bose Soundlink II, a JBL Flip, and a Logitech UE Boom. All of these are small enough to fit in the accessory compartment of the gig bag (or for the very light and small Flip, along side the guitar neck inside the bag after wrapping the Flip with a leather guitar strap).

I also bought two Hosa 10' adapter cables: (1) 1/4" TRS male to 3.5mm TRS male to hook the headphone level output of the Traveler to the stereo aux input of the speaker. (2) 1/4" TS male to 3.5mm TRS male to hook the mono output of the A6 to the stereo aux input of the speaker. Since the BT speakers' aux inputs are intended for headphone level signals, to make the A6 work I needed to rail its tone and volume controls at max, though that seems to be no impediment to good tone.

The Bose sounds the best for music of those I tried and is now my kitchen and porch music system. However, for guitar it sounds wrong. I am willing to speculate that the DSP sound enhancements that factor heavily in its marketing, are too much for clear sounding guitar. These little speakers with tiny short throw divers simply can not reproduce the bass response I am thinking I hear with MP3s. I have read of techniques where higher harmonics are synthesized to fool the ear into hearing a fundamental that is not there...

The UE Boom is in the same class as the Bose. I did not try its programmable EQ to see if one of the other settings might clear its problem with guitar.

So here is the eureka moment...the JBL Flip sounds great with guitar, but is no where near the Bose or UE for MP3s. It is loud, clear, reproduces the shimmering highs, and has sufficient bass (if you have ever notch filtered a dreadnought for feedback, its peak volume is well above even the open A string). If you don't push the Flip into distortion, it is able to do a 3 hour jam session on its batteries alone (maybe more). It is incredibly small and light, perfect to pack with the Traveler for an airplane ride (the Traveler guitar is the only travel guitar I've gotten past the the cabin stewards with ALL the overheads closed and in theory filled, and had no trouble stowing up top).

I've got my Fender Passport Mini on eBay because the Flip simply sounds better.

Jon

[jonfields45]

A small update. I resumed Bluetooth speaker testing by attempting to record my guitar and use my phone to play it back into speakers in the store. Low and behold, more expensive speakers sound better than cheaper ones and no funky distortion. I went home and found using the graphic EQ in a Zoom MS-50G to attenuate 160Hz about 6 dB got rid of the offensive distortion in my Bose Soundlink II and still left it better sounding than the JBL Flip with no attenuation. The Flip still sounds amazingly good for something that fits so easily in a gig bag. Using the Zoom to add some reverb (and to gain up the guitar level signal closer to headphone level) makes the overall tone with either speaker even better. Four hour jam sessions do not run out the Flip's battery. My recording was bare bones from my A6 to my HP laptop and there must have been some bass attenuation in that set up.

Jon

[jonfields45]

Just bought a JBL Flip 2 on sale for $90 at Best Buy. It sounds a little better than the original Flip; a bit fuller. It still retains its advantage over the more expensive Bose speakers which sound unnatural as they try to reproduce bass for which they are too small to accomplish. The main motivator for buying the Flip 2 is it now uses a standard micro USB cell phone charger so I don't need to pack yet another charger on vacation. Jon

[Carmel Cedar]

Jon: I love this solution - and inspired by it, got a Flip 2. It's a cool speaker, but my initial attempts at getting it to play any sounds from a passive pickup and also my Taylor T5 are failures. Tried two different Hosa 1/4" TRS male to 3.5mm TRS male cables, so don't think it was a bad cable.

Is there something obvious I should be doing to get this to work? A switch I need to activate on the Flip 2? Or do I need to run the signal through a preamp to get the signal right? Gratefully appreciate any thoughts!

[jonfields45]

You will need to set the volume on the Flip to is absolute max and you need a mono to stereo converting cable (3.5mm TRS to 1/4" TS, for example Hosa CMP-110). A TRS to TRS cable will leave one of the Flip's channels unused and sound weak. You can get my email off the link in my signature and I can help you work it out. The Flip2 sounds great with my T5z plugged directly into it. With the T5z settings at their notches and the Flip volume all the way up, it is a bit louder than any normal acoustic. A passive guitar might not put out a strong enough signal to get decent volume even with the correct cable. I have not tried it. Jon

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/CMP110/
http://hosatech.com/?s=cmp-110

[Carmel Cedar]

Jon: I just tried the Fire Eye Red Eye pre-amp on the passive pickup guitar, and it seems to work reasonably well. Not the loudest thing, but now I can hear it! Will experiment a bit more with T5 and will report back. Thanks so much!

[Carmel Cedar]

Wow, the T5 sounds fantastic with the Fire Eye and the Flip 2. A little more involved than a direct "plug guitar into speaker" solution but still very portable. This makes the T5 much more likely to accompany me to a friend's home for a jam... . Thanks for sharing this idea Jon!!

[jonfields45]

The Hosa CMP-110 cable (or equivalent) will make it a plug and play solution. Even with a preamp, a TRS to TRS cable will only use one side of a stereo speaker. I've tried a CMP-110 with a Taylor T5z, Godin A6 Ultra, Fender Telecaster Acoustasonic, and a Traveler Mark; all with excellent results (and all active guitars).

I did use a preamp with a TS to TRS cable in the beginning, and on occasion, I overwhelmed the front end of the Bluetooth speaker and it distorted. Putting the speaker volume on absolute max guarantees you won't run too hot into the speaker.

Jon

[Adam38]

I was just telling my wife last night I wish I could pair my guitar with a Bluetooth speaker. I'm surprised we haven't been given this capability yet. With all the fancy built-in preamp and robotic tuning units on guitars these days, surely they can fit a Bluetooth unit, small enough to fit in a cell phone, on a guitar. A Bluetooth amp would be great too. I'd love to have wireless capability without the bulky, expensive units offered today. I probably could've started a new thread with this post LOL.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by Adam38

I was just telling my wife last night I wish I could pair my guitar with a Bluetooth speaker. I'm surprised we haven't been given this capability yet. With all the fancy built-in preamp and robotic tuning units on guitars these days, surely they can fit a Bluetooth unit, small enough to fit in a cell phone, on a guitar. A Bluetooth amp would be great too. I'd love to have wireless capability without the bulky, expensive units offered today. I probably could've started a new thread with this post LOL.

Hi Adam…

Hello and Welcome to the forum! Glad you jumped into the thread…

Similar to how a computer needs an interface between it and the guitar to record, all it would require would be a Bluetooth interface which would accept a ¼" input, and some device which would add Bluetooth to the input section of amp/sound board/snake etc. Does this exist?

The idea of using uber-small speakers while fine for very small situations would not be practical for all of us. But a 5-8 pound high quality 15watt battery operaable (option) amp with a 6.5" coaxial speaker might interest a lot of us.

UltraSound has already shown us how good a 14 pound, 15watt amp, with 3 way tone (plus presence), 8in coaxial speaker, and XLR/¼" in/out can be (good enough to operate as an acoustic stage amp/monitor). It's the AG-15M model & it sells for $139.

Think of a battery operable amp ¼ that size which would put out 70% as much volume and quality sound. It would only need to be ½ the size of a Kleenex box. And if it weighed in at similar to UltraSound prices/quality it would benefit loopers, and effects using players go mobile much more readily.

Especially if the Bluetooth interface could be sold/adapted to existing rigs.

Well, I can dream can't I?



°

[jonfields45]

I am pretty sure Bluetooth has too much latency for music... Jon

[Carmel Cedar]

Jon, the Hosa cable I bought (2 of, was I excited about this idea or what!) was: Hosa Stereo 3.5mm Male TRS to 1/4in Male TS Mono Interconnect Patch Cable Regular 10 Foot: J02167 001 03 Think this is the identical one to the CMP110 listed on Sweetwater (I got mine at Musicians Friend, which provided the above description).

Sounds like I have the right cable - but without preamp, acoustic guitar with a passive pickup is really quiet. With the Red Eye, I can hear it, but it sure doesn't fill a room. But this solution with the Taylor T5 sounds awesome. And, I just tried T5 without the Red Eye, and it sounds GREAT - very usable as a "direct connect" solution. Opens up a new set of options for playing the T5 outside the home!!

Must be especially sweet with that svelte T5z - what an ideal combo.

[jonfields45]

The T5z in a gigbag with the Flip in the pouch is louder than a dreadnought and smaller than a parlor!

The Flip's aux input is headphone level, much higher in voltage than a passive guitar. Another solution for a passive guitar is a small headphone amp. I've got one that recharges with a cell phone style
USB charger and is only slightly larger than a standard 1/4" plug.

http://www.amazon.com/Bravo-Audio-Re...+headphone+amp

Jon

[dannyg1]

Is this rig competitive with your Passport Mini? BTW, how about a quick review of the Passport Mini for those of us who've never heard one?

[jonfields45]

I really did not like the Passport Mini. When I use the Flip all you have are the controls on your guitar and volume on the speaker (which I recommend you rail at full volume). I plug in and it sounds great. I've spent the last year experimenting with hybrid guitars (Telecaster Acoustasonic -> Godin A6 Ultra -> Taylor T5z) and I can't beat the Flip (I also carry a Zoom MS-50G programmed for a touch of hall reverb and a footswitchable Fender Twin model set for mild overdrive if I want R&R or Blues Electric). I learned to play on electric and switched to acoustic in my 20s and now I can have both in situations where previously only an acoustic was appropriate.

The Passport Mini has nearly infinite control hooked up to a PC using Fender's Fuse software. And I would sit there and tweak and tweak; never quite happy with the acoustic guitar results. Away from the PC I was often really not pleased and for example, there are no tone controls on the Mini for real time adjustment. I was more successful with the electric tones and liked them OK. Volume wise the Flip and Passport are about the same.

So the bottom line is if you like the sound of your guitar's pickup system, then the Flip2 just gives you that louder and sounds great. The MS-50G is easy to tweak on the fly for distortion. The Passport Mini was for me endless frustration. I sent it off on eBay and came clean in my ad that I did not find it useful for acoustic guitar.

Jon