JBL EON Compact Unboxing/Initial Review (Continuation)

[SpruceTop]

Originally Posted by lpa53

Granting your love of the Ovation, and given this thread's debate about the sound produced by the JBL, the question might be if you think the Eon One Compact produces a sound that enhances your Ovation, at the least doesn't get in the way, or is not as good as other amps in the same price range, i.e. the Bose S1. In other words, are you glad you got the JBL or would any other amp do just as well or better?l

I'm glad I bought the JBL EON ONE Compact and I'm not looking back. For what it is: a small, full-featured (with app), battery-powered PA speaker, it's a good value. I have to crank the Main Volume control way up to get a fairly loud sound so it'll never be a LOUD speaker but for sound reinforcement in small venues, it'll likely be a good, portable solution for many performers. My 2016 Taylor 614ce ES2 also sounds smooth and full through the JBL EON ONE Compact. I'm thinking of buying a second JBL Compact to amplify canned music in stereo. To be fair, I haven't played through a Bose S1 Pro and can't say how the above guitars would sound through one. My LR Baggs Synapse sounds good, too, with the above guitars but it isn't battery-powered and as portable as the JBL EON ONE Compact. Frankly, I've always managed to get good guitar tone through any of the countless large and small PA systems I've used over the years from the mid-1970s to the present. My only peeve about today's speakers is that they're all made in China whereas the same brands from way back when were all Made In U.S.A.

Regarding the Ovation standard OP1 pickup, although it looks like a UST-type pickup, it's construction is a "bending" piezo system and not a "compression" piezo system as are most if not all UST systems. The physical construction of the Ovation pickup enables the piezo crystals freer movement with greater range of motion than a typical UST compression system (Fishman Matrix and LR Baggs Element). This gives the OP1 a good dynamic range. The location of the system, beneath the strings, however, still picks up all the mechanical artifacts of the strings in motion as does a typical UST pickup.

[martingitdave]

Originally Posted by lpa53

On the JBL Compact is phantom power available only on Channel 1? I'm considering a guitar preamp that can use phantom power and wondered if it could be powered only on that channel, and if so, considering the reported issues with Channel 3 (Hi-Z) is the Channel 1 option the better solution anyway?

That would certainly work. That assumes you’re using a conventional dynamic mic and don’t need phantom for vocals. Channel 3 will be quieter than channel one depending on what kind of active/passive pickup you use.

[lpa53]

Originally Posted by martingitdave

That would certainly work. That assumes you’re using a conventional dynamic mic and don’t need phantom for vocals. Channel 3 will be quieter than channel one depending on what kind of active/passive pickup you use.

My main gigging guitars have passive pickups, one a K&K Mini and the other a (much hotter) Barbera. I currently don't have a preamp but am considering ulling the trigger on a Fishman Platinum Stage EQ unit on eBay.

[martingitdave]

Originally Posted by lpa53

My main gigging guitars have passive pickups, one a K&K Mini and the other a (much hotter) Barbera. I currently don't have a preamp but am considering ulling the trigger on a Fishman Platinum Stage EQ unit on eBay.

Fishman is a little high impedance for the K&K and OK for the Barbera. There is also the Tech21 Q strip, which splits the difference and can be phantom powered.

[guitaniac]

Originally Posted by lpa53

My main gigging guitars have passive pickups, one a K&K Mini and the other a (much hotter) Barbera. I currently don't have a preamp but am considering ulling the trigger on a Fishman Platinum Stage EQ unit on eBay.

The Barbera works fine with a 1 Mohm input impedance or a 10 Mohm inpput impedance, so I presume the 1 Mohm figure would serve both. I can tell you for sure that a typical mixer input impedance of 10 Kohms will have the Barbera sounding tinny. Doug Young did an experiment using his Barbera equipped guitar and the various input impedances available from his Grace Design Felix preamp.

A lot of folks on this forum will claim that the Pure Mini will work fine with either a 1 Mohm input impedance or a 10 Mohm impedance. That may be true, but for some reason my Pure Mini-equipped guitar sounded fine with the original Fishman Pro EQ preamp (10 Mohm input impedance) and sounded like muddy crap with my Baggs PADI (10 Mohm input impedance). I tried to compensate with the PADI's tone controls, but never could get the Pure Mini/PADI combo to work well for me. Other folks have reported that it works fine for them.

If the Barbera will work decently well with a 470 Kohm input impedance (and I suspect it will), it would be very interesting to try it with a Zoom 1A-Four. That inexpensive preamp/EFX box has an incredible array of features for the inexpensive cost.

[guitaniac]

Originally Posted by lpa53

My main gigging guitars have passive pickups, one a K&K Mini and the other a (much hotter) Barbera. I currently don't have a preamp but am considering ulling the trigger on a Fishman Platinum Stage EQ unit on eBay.

Here's the Doug Young experiment which I mentioned. It doesn't sound like the Barbera loses much low end with a 330 Kohm input impedance. The signal is weak and tinny with the 10 Kohm input impedance.

https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/...nce+experiment

[lpa53]

Originally Posted by guitaniac

Here's the Doug Young experiment which I mentioned. It doesn't sound like the Barbera loses much low end with a 330 Kohm input impedance. The signal is weak and tinny with the 10 Kohm input impedance.

https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/...nce+experiment

Thanks for the link. Similar to Doug's experience, I didn't hear all that much difference for either the K&K or the Barbera at 1M or 10M. It seems that this preamp thing is real hit or miss.

[lpa53]

I've seen some reviews saying that Bluetooth connectivity isn't good with versions older that 5.0. My android device Bluetooth is 4.1. Has anyone tested the Eon One Compact using older BT versions?

[Cuki79]

Originally Posted by lpa53

I've seen some reviews saying that Bluetooth connectivity isn't good with versions older that 5.0. My android device Bluetooth is 4.1. Has anyone tested the Eon One Compact using older BT versions?

It works on mine. It's bluetooth 4.1 and I have no problem controlling it...

[DavidE]

I just took out my Eon Compact after over a month. Funny, unlike the Bose S1, the battery was still full.

There was a firmware update. Anybody know what this does?

In all of the posts, were there any good tips for making it sound better such as specific eq?

Thanks

[Cuki79]

Originally Posted by DavidE

I just took out my Eon Compact after over a month. Funny, unlike the Bose S1, the battery was still full.

There was a firmware update. Anybody know what this does?

In all of the posts, were there any good tips for making it sound better such as specific eq?

Thanks

I cut around 2 KHz (probably the crossover frequency), it improves the sound much to my ear.

__________________________________________________ ___

Version History

1.0.3
Jun 4, 2020

Fix for firmware update failure issue.

1.0.2
May 18, 2020

1. Performance optimizations

- Connect to multiple speakers in parallel

- Quicker connection time

2. Additional parameter controls for Ducking

3. Wait indicator for completion of Association among the speakers in BT-Broadcast mode

4. Speaker blinks for 10 seconds on starting firmware update

5. Bug fixes
1.0.1
Dec 6, 2019

New features and Improvements:

•Clip and Limiter indication is now functional

•Firmware update process optimization

•Support for factory preset recall (works only with firmware v5.0.9 and above)

•Bug fixes

1.0.0
Oct 26, 2019


__________________________________________________ ________

My 2 cents,
Cuki

[wweiss]

Tested both Bose S1 and JBL Compact

Max SPL before distortion:
Bose 102.6 dB
JBL 102 dB
My problem is the clip light comes on much sooner on the JBL. When the red light flashes I don't hear distortion but I back it off because I'm paranoid.
JBL Hi-Z is a joke

Bose cleaner/brighter highs
JBL better mids and lows
JBL battery lasts forever

I kept both!

[DavidE]

Originally Posted by Cuki79

I cut around 2 KHz (probably the crossover frequency), it improves the sound much to my ear.

__________________________________________________ ___

Version History

1.0.3
Jun 4, 2020

Fix for firmware update failure issue.


Cuki

Funny thing, updating the firmware today failed 3 times! LOL.

[Cuki79]

Originally Posted by DavidE

Funny thing, updating the firmware today failed 3 times! LOL.

I never succeeded update with android. Did it successfully with iOS

[Cuki79]

Originally Posted by wweiss

JBL Hi-Z is a joke

Did you measure the input impedance?