JBL EON 600 series stupidity

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Brian jojade

Senior
Jan 15, 2011
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Wausau, WI
www.happymacshop.com
So I bought a pair of the new JBL eon 615's. The idea is for some throw and go events, having a smaller speaker with built in 2 channel mixer would be great to have. The speaker has bluetooth control capabilities, so this would be an ideal easy to deploy system.

The speaker has 2 inputs and then a through output, with a level for each input, then a master control. Cool, I can plug a mic in, and music source, mix it on one speaker and then use the through output to run a line to a second speaker. WRONG.

If you look at the block diagram for the speaker, you'll find that the THRU input is tapped BEFORE the level controls. Yes, the 2 inputs are simply summed to the output with absolutely no level control ability whatsoever. What the heck is the point of that??? So much for a 2 speaker throw and go system. I'm so bummed.
 
Re: JBL EON 600 series stupidity

That is how it should be. It is a split. It allows you to treat both speakers the same way. I like it because if someone turns down one for some reason, I still have the other.
 
Re: JBL EON 600 series stupidity

Brent Handy said:
That is how it should be. It is a split. It allows you to treat both speakers the same way. I like it because if someone turns down one for some reason, I still have the other.
Click to expand...

That would be true if there was a single input, in this case it renders the mixer useless.

My Turbosound Milans have a mix output, I can mix two lines (a mic and an iPod most often) on one speaker and send that mix out to another speaker. Great setup for those low budget gigs.


Sent from my iPhone
 
Re: JBL EON 600 series stupidity

Rob Timmerman said:
QSC K-series has both loop-thru on the mixer inputs and a mixed output. What the Eon 600 series has is indeed asinine.
Click to expand...

And the JBL is not the same as a K12 is it? In our shop the JBLs sell for around $200 less. It's all about choices. The walk in customer we have isn't going to be bothered with the JBL's limitations. The Milans would be a more comparable box/price point.
 
Re: JBL EON 600 series stupidity

Brent Handy said:
And the JBL is not the same as a K12 is it? In our shop the JBLs sell for around $200 less. It's all about choices. The walk in customer we have isn't going to be bothered with the JBL's limitations. The Milans would be a more comparable box/price point.
Click to expand...

OK.

But the Yamaha DBR-15 sends a mixed signal to the link output, and the EV ZLX-15P appears to as well (although the manual isn't as clear on where the signal is picked off). And both of those are direct competitors to the EON 615
 
Re: JBL EON 600 series stupidity

Brent Handy said:
That is how it should be. It is a split. It allows you to treat both speakers the same way. I like it because if someone turns down one for some reason, I still have the other.
Click to expand...

This would make sense if the through was pre-master, but after the level control for each input. The way it is set up, you have zero mix control of the thru jack. Whatever you put in gets mixed at the input level with no adjustment capabilities. I can't see any scenario where that would be desirable.

I had to refer to the block diagram to figure out exactly what was happening, as it is so illogical to me.
 
Re: JBL EON 600 series stupidity

Brian jojade said:
This would make sense if the through was pre-master, but after the level control for each input. The way it is set up, you have zero mix control of the thru jack. Whatever you put in gets mixed at the input level with no adjustment capabilities. I can't see any scenario where that would be desirable.

I had to refer to the block diagram to figure out exactly what was happening, as it is so illogical to me.
Click to expand...

Understood, if you are mixing from the stage, through the EONs alone. But if you are using an outboard mixer, it works.
 
Re: JBL EON 600 series stupidity

Brent Handy said:
Understood, if you are mixing from the stage, through the EONs alone. But if you are using an outboard mixer, it works.
Click to expand...

And I think that's the point. For events like conventions where you may want to leave two inputs in a room and then not have to think too much about it, the onboard mixer would be perfect. However, since it does not function properly, it can not fit into this niche. It's quite disappointing for JBL, as I know someone who would jump on these in milliseconds provided the mixer worked properly.
 
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