JBL Eon One MK2 Portable P.A. — A Real-World Review

Portable P.A.s must be lots of issues—highly effective sufficient for a professional, easy sufficient for a novice, sturdy sufficient to journey, and versatile sufficient to sound good in a foul room. Over the previous few months of testing, I’ve discovered that the JBL EON ONE MK2 All-In-One Rechargeable Column Speaker checks off all these containers.

TESTING THE JBL EON ONE MK2

The makes use of for a transportable P.A. are countless, as they will present reside sound in all places from occasions at homes of worship, colleges and group conferences, to musicians enjoying in a small setting like a espresso home and even busking on the road.

All Mix Real-World Reviews take a look at tools in working conditions the place it has to ship, so I used the EON ONE MK2 for 2 sorts of purposes: a number of library lectures, the place it needed to deal with spoken phrase and laptop computer audio, and extra conventional live-music use, i.e., reside and recorded music at a vacation social gathering.

Testing it in all these conditions, the system was simple to move and arrange. The EON ONE MK2 is just below 43 kilos, so it’s not light-weight, however you’re not going to throw your again out earlier than a gig both. It is sturdy and cleanly designed, too, so it slides into the again of an SUV or a automobile trunk with out snagging on something.

WHAT YOU GET WITH THE JBL EON ONE MK2

The coronary heart of the system is the primary cupboard, which not solely serves up bass but additionally serves as a base. Supporting a three-part array column, the cupboard itself homes a 10-inch bass-reflex woofer, which supplies low finish right down to 37 Hz.

The column, in the meantime, is residence to the system’s rechargeable battery (6 hours of use from 2.5 hours of charging) and a phalanx of eight 2-inch tweeters in a c-shaped array. The tweeter association allows you to cowl a decent-sized viewers whereas providing you with some slack in relation to putting the system in a room. If you’ve got a less-than-ideal acoustic setting and have to position it off-axis to your viewers, the 140-degree horizontal dispersion is useful, whereas the 30-degree vertical dispersion ensures the EON ONE MK2 will be heard no matter whether or not it’s on the identical degree as the group, above it on a stage, or beneath it on the backside of a corridor with raked seating.

The again of the cupboard is designed to soundly maintain the tweeter column’s three segments throughout transport; when faraway from their slots, the tweeter array, a spacer and the battery slide collectively to assemble the array column, which in flip drops right into a socket on the cupboard’s prime (as a result of the spacer is hole, it could be nice if it had a small compartment to hold the P.A.’s one unfastened merchandise—the AC twine).

CONTROL OPTIONS FOR THE JBL EON ONE MK2

Removing the segments from the cupboard reveals the built-in mixer on the again, based mostly round 5 channels—three XLR-1⁄4-inch mixture connectors, a line enter and a 3.5 mm Aux In; channels 1 and a couple of provide phantom energy if wanted. There’s additionally a pair of USB slots, a vibrant, shade LCD show, and 6 multifunction knob/button encoders for quantity/menu entry, acquire, bass, mid, treble and reverb. While it’s all well-labeled and accessible, the management panel is recessed into the cupboard, which I discovered made the labels tougher to see in low-light settings. Luckily, the system can be managed remotely through Bluetooth with the free JBL Pro Connect app.

The JBL Pro Connect app simplifies entry to the P.A.’s onboard options, which embody some simply discovered EQ presets for spoken phrase, female and male vocals, acoustic guitar and bass. For those that need to take a deep dive into the onboard DSP, accessing it through the app is the way in which to go, as it will possibly shortly get you into the customizable settings of the Lexicon results (reverb, refrain and delay), dbx Driverack choices resembling Automatic Feedback Suppression, and a Ducking by Soundcraft function. Making adjustments through Bluetooth means there’s a 2- to 3-second lag earlier than listening to the outcome, however that’s a small value to pay for having the ability to management the system remotely.

[JBL released a major update to the JBL Pro Connect app after this review went to press; the new V.11 adds BLE security, a hardware system lock and more.]

REAL-WORLD USE OF THE JBL EON ONE MK2

My library lectures, delivered in a small group room, a lecture corridor and a former college gymnasium, required a wired mic on Ch 1, and sound from a laptop computer inputted by the Aux In 3.5 mm enter on Ch. 5. In every venue, the EON ONE MK2 was greater than in a position to maintain its personal, offering readability because it coated the crowds with out knocking them over. The system can dish out 123 dB peak when utilizing AC or 119 dB peak when operating on battery energy; maybe unsurprisingly, I didn’t have to get that loud within the libraries.

Audio from movie clips performed again from a laptop computer retained their energy and musicality, and utilizing the spoken-word preset gave form and definition to the talking voice, which significantly helped within the former gymnasium.

As for enjoying reside music—the EON ONE MK2’s raison d’être in any case, because it’s primarily geared toward solo performers—it made amateurs at a loud social gathering sound pretty much as good because it may, and clearly skilled musicians may actually profit from the system’s output. I plugged two vocal mics and an electrical guitar into it, and every one had an outlined relative presence within the ensuing sound. The female and male vocal presets introduced some appeal to the mics, and everybody sounded much better than they deserved (myself included). Meanwhile, trendy pop performed again through Bluetooth (Taylor Swift’s omnipresent Midnights) sounded stable and grounded with out that barely hole really feel that some audio system have when enjoying again Bluetooth materials.

FINAL THOUGHTS ON THE JBL EON ONE MK2

The JBL EON ONE MK2 does lots of issues effectively, answering the wants of a different person base that can use it for an equally broad variety of purposes. Setting up and tearing down is straightforward and fast, and the design is sturdy however nonetheless fashionable. The built-in mixer and DSP choices shall be comparatively intuitive for execs, however novices will need to dig in and get to know their new system earlier than placing it in entrance of an viewers. While utilizing the JBL Pro Connect app is non-obligatory, I’d suggest it for the straightforward entry to deep settings and the flexibility to make adjustments remotely.

The most necessary facet of a P.A., nonetheless, is its sound, and that’s the place the EON ONE MK2 shines, benefitting from JBL’s many years of expertise because it supplies clear, satisfying audio that covers an area effectively. The JBL EON line has been a favourite for musicians and professional audio specialists for many years, and the EON ONE MK2 supplies one other prime instance of why.