JBL EON Compact Unboxing/Initial Review (Continuation)
 

I was told the original thread has so many posts that it may be closed so I have started this new thread to continue the discussion.

Thanks Aaron,

UPDATED reviews:

CON:
No one

UNDECIDED:
DavidE (Bose S1 user): Honky. [Bose S1 on its way for battery slef-draining fix]

Wweiss : Battery draining problem?

PRO:

AaroUSA (QSC K8.2 & Bose S1 user): better tone than Bose, loud enough for the use.

Guitargabor (Bose S1 user, ex-AER user): Tone is more pleasing than Bose. Loud enough for the use.

Bonedigger (Fishman Mini Charge user): likes the tone, functionality, form factor, and EQ adjustability.

SpruceTop (Baggs Synapse user): Happy with tone and power.

Cuki79 (SR JAM150+ & Laney AH4x4 user): I confirm the honkyness. So far, I am sold with the EQ and am ready to compromise with the intrinsic tone.

MartinGitDave: thinks that JBL sounds better than the Bose S1, loud enough. Like ther everb better than the bose.

DID NOT MATCH HIS/HER APPLICATION:

StephenT (Schertler JAM400 user, QSC CP8 new user, likes Bose S1): Upper midrange bump. Not flat enough voicing, weak output. Happy to find the QSC CP8 instead.

Please tell me if I misinterpreted your toughts.

I like the tone of this unit and the functionality is great. So, it's not just that it's loud enough, though that was my initial concern. So, for my part, put me in the like category for tone, functionality, form factor, and EQ adjustability.

I was dissapointed to here that it has about the same volume as the Bose S1. Meaning it is definitely not louder than my current battery powered amp, the Carvin S600B. I think for next busking season I'll be looking at the CP8/Beaudens combo. Thanks for all the reviews everybody!

As cool as the S1 and Eon Compact look, I will stay on the sidelines whilst the industry competes for a while.

Orange has now introduced the Orange Crush Acoustic 30 (& yeah, I know it's more like the Loudbox charge, being an acoustic amp and not a full-range pa thingy). Alto has the Uber, Uber LT and Uber FX - different form factors and less bells and whistles, but WAY lower price-point too. I also know that the Uber FX weighs considerably more than the JBL and Bose. Personally, I like access to physical knobs rather than BT gadgetry and realize there is a tradeoff in weight for that. I expect there to be new offerings by a lot of companies in the months/years to come.

For the price these l'il guys are, the amount of glitches is disturbing - at least for a skeptic like me. Battery drain, Bluetooth pairing problems, etc. Again, I said FOR ME. Not dissing the products.

I know that new tech always has issues to fix as it moves forward. my hats off to those of you that jumped in feet first. Me, I'll wade in the shallow end for a while, I think.

I do think that these in-depth reviews are great resources for people on the fence so people can go in with eyes wide open.

Having owned the S600B, and currently owning the JBL(s) and Bose S1, I can attest that the Carvin was a more traditional loud speaker design with the added benefit of the high frequency array. This new JBL unit is just a slightly tweaked Bose S1 design with a larger speaker allowing for and extended low end, and slightly flatter frequency response.

When talking about and comparing volume is everybody using the volume on battery as a reference. Initially, as these were just coming to market there was pending concern about volume on battery power. What has everyone been experiencing

It is done

I don't think there's a volume difference between battery and ac.

I found the JBL to be louder than the S1. Noticeable without a meter using an SM58 plugged into channel one on both.

I've had no battery drain on the JBL (my S1s are at Bose getting fixed now) and no connectivity issues on either. Ever. With multiple apple devices, new and older.

Not everybody does, but in the previous thread, an experienced musician and reviewer has a video where he cannot get his JBL to link to his BT. It could be a one off problem, but I doubt it, because JBL's Eon series is known to have this issue as well. I say this as someone that just bought a pair of Eon 610's (don't care about the BT function).

Another AGF'er awoke to a drained battery in his Compact. I'm not saying this is a widespread situation or will be, but nobody thought it would be when it happened the first time with the S1 either.

You cannot have had the JBL long enough to rate it's reliability. At this point, no one has - that's my point.

Playing JBL today went for lunch break came back after 20 Min. speaker was off and the App was disconnected. Had to press the power button and link the App again. Slow,as we know. Found out this is normal, a built in battery protection kicks in after 20 Min. of no signal. Pro or con? Again this would not be an issue with
other portable PA's.

Harry mentioned in the comments in his video that a new BT 5.0 compatible phone fixed his issues.

Good questions... This the problem of most app controlled mixer. However, the JBL still has the same physical controls as the Bose. So once you have dialed your guitar and vocal tone, once you have adjusted the master EQ to the room: you should be able to handle it with Bass, treble and volume if needed.

In this case, only the 6-10s safe button requires to be patient.

As far as leaving stuff ON for 20 minutes while you are not in the room... Nowadays, I don't know if it makes sens anymore. I would not leave my guitar out of sight that long either.