JBL EON Compact Unboxing/Initial Review (Continuation)

[Groberts]

Originally Posted by martingitdave

Gary,

Your gear choices have been great. We’ve all enjoyed the videos you posted along the way. There’s no question that the Anthem works for you. You get a terrific tone. I wouldn’t change anything, if I were you. I think since you play out regularly/professionally, and many of us only play out occasionally, the expectations from our equipment is different. Most of my rehearsal, performance, song leading, and enjoyment is purely acoustic. And when I do amplify, it’s not all that loud. :-)

A few thoughts;

1. I have met such awesome people here and Dave, you are super awesome. (As are many others, too numerous to name in one post)
2. Note to self: Proof-read for grammatical errors before posting. LOL
3. Great point considering the circumstances surrounding each players needs and the parameters that matter most frequently
4. What works for "me" is not necessarily best for anyone else.

[DavidE]

Originally Posted by Cuki79

It is not possible to have chorus and reverb on guitar and only reverb on vocals.

You have tunable a FX send for each channel. But you have only one FX signal chain. It means that reverb, chorus and delay are on one single line (like a pedal chain). If all 3 fxs are on, everything you will send (guitar, vocals, aux) will get all 3 fxs.

I just figured out that this is incorrect!!! Each effect block has it's own level control for each channel, so you can have any effect or combination of effects on each channel! Excellent!

[martingitdave]

Originally Posted by DavidE

To me this is a major design mistake. But I can get all the effects I need for my guitar from my pedalboard (Boss AD10), so it's workable for me. I'm going to be home testing my JBL today. Finally. One of my S1s came back from Bose so I'll probably still take that one to my hospital gig tomorrow. But if my back isn't better, I'll probably take the JBL and my Bose Compact to a gig in a couple of weeks where I'd normally drag out the L1MII. I actually have a JBL 610 just sitting around as well and could take that. Too many choices....

I can add different amounts (or none) of reverb, chorus and delay to each channel.

[DavidE]

Originally Posted by martingitdave

I can add different amounts (or none) of reverb, chorus and delay to each channel.

Yes! Just figured this out myself after reading Cuki's post.

[DavidE]

I just got done with some side by side testing of the JBL vs. my S1 using a Martin OMC Aura. Tried it with Aura on and off.

The S1 has a sound that I just love, especially with a piezo. I prefer the tonematch off frankly for guitar and mic.

I'm happy to report that while it sounds different, I really like the JBL Compact. All of my acoustic/electrics have active preamps and there's enough gain in the line channel to clip the output of the JBL, so that issue finally seems to have been resolved.

I set the global eq for Performance after testing all the global choices. I was able to get enough eq from the onboard bass and treble controls for my liking. The app allows for more control which is just a bonus in my book. And while Performance EQ makes the bluetooth output lower (from a prior test), it does seem to make the output louder with the guitar.

I really like the effects on the JBL and now that I know how to put any combination on any channel, I'm very happy with that.

Low end is an interesting thing on these units. The Bose has a LOT of bass in my view. Unless I'm the right room, I have to reduce it. Even in tilt back mode. I compared 3 of the 4 S1 bass positions to the JBL and the S1 can get too bassy and become mushy. The JBL can provide a tighter and clearer bass punch to my ear. I probably should try another guitar on it to be sure, but I think that's a fair assessment.

I do think I can get the JBL louder than the S1.

Battery life on the JBL seems to be pretty outstanding. I haven't had the need to recharge it yet and haven't kept track of the hours, but I give it a big thumbs up.

At the end of the day, I'll keep them both (well, all 3 since I have two S1s). But I can recommend the JBL.

Cuki: Please put me in the plus column.

[Cuki79]

Originally Posted by DavidE

I just figured out that this is incorrect!!! Each effect block has it's own level control for each channel, so you can have any effect or combination of effects on each channel! Excellent!

Can you please explain to me?

I can adjust the amount of send to the FX line and I can adjust the amount of each FX (chorus, reverb, delay) on the FX line.

But I can't have Reverb+Chorus on channel 1 and ONLY Reverb on channel 2. Because Chorus has only one knob

[Cuki79]

UPDATED reviews:

CON:
No one

UNDECIDED:

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.

DavidE (Bose S1 user): Happy with the tone, FX, loudness and battery life. still love the Bose S1 and will keep both.


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.

[wweiss]

DavidE

I too have the Bose S1 and love it, trying to decide about the JBL Compact

If you have two Bose S1's under what circumstances would you leave the Bose at home and take the JBL. I know they have different tones and the JBL has superior EQ, but the Bose is just so good why would you need three speakers?

[lpa53]

Originally Posted by Cuki79

Can you please explain to me?

I can adjust the amount of send to the FX line and I can adjust the amount of each FX (chorus, reverb, delay) on the FX line.

But I can't have Reverb+Chorus on channel 1 and ONLY Reverb on channel 2. Because Chorus has only one knob

I don't own the amp but am playing with the app in Demo mode. I may be wrong in my assumptions, but the images below show what I imagine would apply all three effects to Channel 1 (guitar) and Reverb only to Channel 2 (mic). Note that when the Reverb section is highlighted (blue frame), the FX Send for both Channels 1 and 2 are > 0 (Reverb applied), but when the Delay and Chorus sections are highlighted, the FX Sends for Channel 1 are > 0 (FX applied), but the FX Send for Channel 2 is 0 (no Chorus or Delay).

By the way, I'm not sure what the "Return Level" dial does.

[DavidE]

Originally Posted by Cuki79

Can you please explain to me?

I can adjust the amount of send to the FX line and I can adjust the amount of each FX (chorus, reverb, delay) on the FX line.

But I can't have Reverb+Chorus on channel 1 and ONLY Reverb on channel 2. Because Chorus has only one knob

Each effect block (click on reverb, then click on delay, then click on chorus) has it's own mix level for each channel.

[DavidE]

Originally Posted by wweiss

DavidE

I too have the Bose S1 and love it, trying to decide about the JBL Compact

If you have two Bose S1's under what circumstances would you leave the Bose at home and take the JBL. I know they have different tones and the JBL has superior EQ, but the Bose is just so good why would you need three speakers?

When I want to use it with my duo and need a 3 channel mixer without taking an outboard mixer for one.

I don't "need" half the gear I own. LOL. I got a ridiculous deal on the JBL so it was worth adding to my arsenal. Since I can get the JBL louder than the S1, I will be taking it with me to Florida when I drive down to our townhouse to use on its own.

[DavidE]

Originally Posted by lpa53

I don't own the amp but am playing with the app in Demo mode. I may be wrong in my assumptions, but the images below show what I imagine would apply all three effects to Channel 1 (guitar) and Reverb only to Channel 2 (mic). Note that when the Reverb section is highlighted (blue frame), the FX Send for both Channels 1 and 2 are > 0 (Reverb applied), but when the Delay and Chorus sections are highlighted, the FX Sends for Channel 1 are > 0 (FX applied), but the FX Send for Channel 2 is 0 (no Chorus or Delay).

By the way, I'm not sure what the "Return Level" dial does.

This is correct. When you click on one of the 3 effects blocks, there's a highlight around it. Not very intuitive, but once you do it it's a light bulb moment.

[Cuki79]

Originally Posted by DavidE

This is correct. When you click on one of the 3 effects blocks, there's a highlight around it. Not very intuitive, but once you do it it's a light bulb moment.

Thanks DavidE and Ipa53, I got it!

[Cuki79]

I did a quick measurement of the JBL eon one compact Master EQ presets (Flat, Speech, Music, Perform)

Indeed MartinGitDave and DavidE are right, there is a 3.5 dB boost in "Perform mode".

• Flat mode is ... flat
• Speech mode adds a hard cut below 200 Hz. A small cut at 500Hz to clean the mud, a boost around 1 kHz for clarity and a cut aorund 6KHz for de-essing.
• As expected "Music mode" is a "loudness" kind of EQ with a boost at 100 Hz and 1 kHz
• Note the 2KHz cut in perform mode... Is it for the crossover artefacts?

[wweiss]

So does Perform cut Bluetooth gain?