Indeed the coaxial design of these small JBLs is a big advantage: this way they can be positioned very close without phase issues, thus the room reflections get proportionately less distracting. Looks like a decent offering - built in PSU is a big plus in this price range, too. Thanks for your recommendation!
I bought this over a year ago, trust me for professional and home use these are amazing, try to use the balanced cables for the best quality and lift them to your head
They are great little speakers. I had a set for my PC - just for decent sound (even for basic music listening). Since then I upgraded to a pair of Kef LS50 and a dedicated amp.
such valuable content, is difficult to find the opinion of real profesional and it's even more difficult that they present in a clear and concise way. Keep on going man!
first set of monitors and i used them for years. super amazing for their price. for mixing i would just say be careful with low end. as someone who works on bass heavy music i found myself often having my low end way too loud or way too quiet
I've been using these for over a year since purchase. I use them to mix podcasts, RU-vid vids, and instructional videos, and they're quite good. I cross reference them with Rode headphones and airpods pro. I find them to be accurate and crisp. Excellent review! Keep it up! P.S. please make a video on the best practices for video and audio in a small studio set up at home🙏
Great review Curtis, as always! It would have been good if they had given other options for power, such as powering it through one or two 9volts or being able to charge and use it without having to be plugged in...
I have had the 104 non-BT version for years, and they are each on a 12" pedestal on my desk. I use the balanced outputs from a Tascam 102i interface to drive the speakers. All audio to/from my Dell notebook computer is via USB to the 102i. In other words, I bypass the "less than optimum", to put it kindly, Dell sound card and parakeet speakers and love this setup. I use the headphone out from the 102i so that I can control the speaker and headphone volume levels independently. I have significant hearing impairment for a video guy so I will not comment other than "Dell...bad, JBL...good". It was a pleasant surprise today to see that you had reviewed these. Have a great week.
Have had these speakers for over a year as my desktop monitors. Nice clean sound. Came from Makies CR5BT speakers.. Love these! And the price is unbeatable.
Have bought these, and they just got delivered. The clarity and sound is perfect. I was actually looking for good set of speakers. So your video was right in time.
some much good going on with this speaker, but wish they had opted for a 3 way binding post over spring clips I think most people would have been ok with the size tradeoff to have a little bit of a cleaner setup.
so i have no clue , when or why but i have been watching your content for years and have even commented on your page, and as i happened to look it shows im not subscribed to your page, thats so odd, i know for a fact i was subbed to your page , but never the less keep up the good work
I have these. As you say, the bass is lacking, but I narrate videos, so no big deal. They sound very clear. My gripe is the power saving on them. They can switch off when you could do without it. Easy to sort out by touching the selector button in the front of the right hand speaker though. Good deal for the money and lots of connection options.
Thank you for this review. I've spent so much time researching monitors and audio interfaces for mixing podcasts and stand-up comedy. I think these are the monitors for me, and then I can figure out the audio interface situation another day (or never). Thanks.
Hi there. Great review presentation👍👍 Any suggestions of eq setting tweaks to give flatter frequency response to improve accuracy? Especially for mixing music?
Are these speakers great for podcasts and recording music? I'm building my portable podcast show from home 🎤 (I know it's not studio grade but love the small form factor and simple setup)
Hi Curtis, thanks for this review, I own theses and love them for the price. Do you think it would be worth connecting a sub. If so how would you do it? Thanks
These actually might be ideal for me. About to move to Korea for a teaching gig for a year or two, but I don't want to lug/sell all my studio equipment from the states unless I'm confident I'll be staying there for many many years. These sound (haha) like they will be good for doin VO editing while I'm abroad and in general when I'm traveling for anything.
Hi there! I was wondering, do you think these are suitable to use with an Audio-Technica turntable (domestic use, not pro) ? I am looking for something affordable and quite small sized, I like the connectivity options these speakers offer, as well as the turntable that offers Bluetooth connection as well. Thanks!
A warning for anyone planning to use these as 'travel monitors'. The speaker wire connectors are really poor quality and are prone to fall apart with repeated use. The spring pops out and the plastic push lever falls off. It's really annoying to put back together and becomes increasingly difficult as the assembly loosens over time. I'd recommend these only for use in fixed setups.
Excellent video as always! Are there any budget speakers you would recommend if you already have an audio interface and just want balance audio connections?
These would be my top recommendations for small monitors with balance inputs. If you want larger monitors, that's a different story, but for the size and price, these are my top pick as of today.
Very professional review BUT still no sound test - despite all reasons given I want this as this is a major factor in me having to choose to buy them. I want to hear how they sound!!!
Curtis, I think these are PERFECT for my needs! Thank you for the thorough video & great tips! I'm a Lefty & I'd like the control speaker to be on the left side. If I were to swap the red & white RCA plugs coming off the 3.5mm adaptor when I plug them into the unit,. could I have it on the left & have the audio perform correctly?
Hey Curtis, thanks for this. I hear that the headphone jack in the front has a non-flat frequency response, and behaves like it's tilted (lack of bass, way too much high-end). Is that really the case?
I just purchased a computer monitor with no integrated speakers to use with my PS5 Console. . I also use my console to watch movies So, . . . Could these help me with my gaming set up?
Thank you so much for this video. Exactly what I needed. Question: if you could get a used but good set of Yamaha HS8 for about the same price, would you go for those?
Depends on your goals. For travel? I'd go with the JBLs. For regular use at your regular desk? I'd definitely go for the Yamahas. Or some of the larger JBL Professionals. I used the JBLs with 8" woofers for work every day.
Hi Curtis, great vid. I have the JBL 104-BT and one question is bothering me. Do you have any difference in sound between the left and right monitors? I have different sound output in each channel, the left side sounds much more muffled or quieter and less crispy than the right side. Also, it would be nice if you can tell JBL to turn off or bind the sound of turning on and connecting to the volume knob. The sync you mention between sound and video is noticeable sometimes and, weirdly, the JBLs cannot keep up, I have a pair of Sennheiser PXC550, and those are always in sync.
Thanks! That was helpful indeed. Was looking for inexpensive monitors to pair with some Elektron gear I have, and these look like the exactly ones that fit well.
If you’re happy with the sound via Bluetooth for TV then go for it! Make sure to follow the included instructions for connecting via cable. I’m guessing you’re not getting the full output volume so be sure to follow the manual.
@@curtisjudd they sound massive for the size and they do very well even with bass. Obviously they lack the punch of bigger boxes, but they're really flat and detailed. My main use is to edit talking head videos, so they're perfect for the task. I would recommend them any time for near field in small edition rooms, but they're a bit heavy and lack the connection diversity of others, like the JBLs if you're goal is to be on the move.
Of course they are what they are, but it would be nice to have a subwoofer option. Even feeding it from an additional output (prefiltered on your DAW). That would make them a great cheap/portable option, or even cheap/portable 5.1 check set. I use Genelec but would like them as a sub set for some duties /// Any idea about which sub could match well with them?
@@halhallaq These can do the job pretty well. They're not going to shake the house with bass, but they produce more than I would have expected for their size.
I wish you could get your hands on the Vanatoo Transparent Zero. they are very interesting monitors. i would love you opinion on those. thank you Curtis, awesome as usual.
how does this compared to iLoud Micro? coz that monitor got tons of great reviews from audio & sound engineers & community. and both of them are pretty 'affordable'
can you suggest a cheap audio mixer compatable with this speakers ? It says +4db is required for the trs output I am low on budget and just connecting with audio interface I find very inadequate sound
We didn’t have issues feeding audio from an audio interface. Most interfaces have a +4dBu output. Which interface are you using? I’d avoid adding another mixer.
I've been looking for some affordable ones, especially for travel. I have my current monitors on Gator Frameworks Clamp-on Studio Monitor Stands and love being able to dial in the height and angle
about to buy it for a small sound art setup I realise there's no way to mount them.. that should be a cons really. Specially if the base as it is does not seems very steady :p
Do you think it would be appropriate in terms of frequency response for mixing a'capella choir music? Not the eastern orthodox church music, but with reasonable bass foundation reaching C2 sometimes which is 65Hz, although fundamental tone is not particularily strong at those notes. I guess for orchestral pieces it would not be enough.
Hey Curtis. Love your channel. Been watching your videos and appreciate the quality that you bring to the public. =] Would like to hear your views on the iLoud Micros if and when it's possible. JBL has been delivering really great performance and innovation to the table especially in the pro-consumer space. Really thankful of the company too. They really do get the 'job done' =]
If you are fine with paying for patents, Qualcomm AptX has 32 ms (~ 1 frame). So a complete chain with AptX or other low-latency Bluetooth is close to, but not perfectly, frame accurate. Presuming most people don’t have AptX they’re setup never gonna go into this less bad mode… I don’t know what “normal” Bluetooth has, but I get a feeling it is many many frames (4-10?) with my phone. I dunno, maybe this is a topic you want to cover in a video? E.g. measure frame vs audio delay in a couple of different setups?
I don't know I mean it used to be that if you bought a speaker they would give you the frequency response and that was pretty much the only thing you would need to know to buy the speaker because it will tell you what it would sound like. And now everybody has to waste everyone's time simply talking about what the speaker will sound like because they don't have the information anymore. How is this possible?
It would be nice, if not downright wonderfull, if you could power the system via USB-C also. It simplifies things, and the JBL's would have been ideal for my use, if they could work off some kind of USB-C Power Delivery (i.e. also from a Power Bank), that allows portable use everywhere.
It's a pet peeve of mine that manufacturers like JBL avoid paying licensing fees for proper Bluetooth protocol technologies that would reduce latency to acceptable levels (e.g., AptX Low Latency). What saves them a couple bucks (and preserves their proprietary egos), ruins the customer experience after it's too late (because they're hoping nobody notices), resulting in out-of-sync audio whenever viewed with computer/video content -- like, almost always these days.
Perhaps, but my guess is that they were looking to keep the price low to make these accessible to as many as possible. They have lots of other options for those with a larger budget.
@@curtisjudd Costing about a buck less per piece is transparent to consumers (a rounding error); JBL's decision to cause lag by avoiding a proper protocol, is just evidence of what they think of their customers' intelligence (no respect)...
I bought these because of your review. Thank you. But I have a serious problem with these: There is a startup sound that appears when you turn on the speakers and it is always at the same high volume - and it seems that it cannot be turned off. If this is really so - if it is really not possible to turn that off... they must be joking! I have a baby sleeping at night, and when I want to listen to sth quietly this turn on sound wakes up the kid. Is there a way to turn it off. I WOULD NOT HAVE BOUGHT THIS if I knew about this idiotic feature.
@@curtisjudd I have a headphone plug that I plug in when I turn the shite thing on. JBL says there is no option turning that noise off. I know it is a first world problem. But how dumb can corporate identity struggle be? I have put the speakers on ebay, will get rid of them I buy something that sounds only when I want it to.
Good enough for spoken word. Actually sounds very similar to my Focal Solo 6 Be's when working on spoken word audio (which we covered in the video, assuming you watched it?)
@@curtisjudd i'm gonna take the JBL 305P MKII with the JBL LSR 310 S instead but my new desk will be white, so kinda disappointed i can't take enjoyment of theses white desktop speakers.
General idea is to make an equilateral triangle between your head and the speakers. Exact distance is not as critical as keeping things at the same distances.
@@curtisjudd thanks, does the height have importance and should the speakers be at ears level to have better perception ? Sound travels in "3d space" I believe that's why I'm asking.
They sound way better then Focals....all monitors are just Fugazzi lol . Buy the cheapest monitors folks,always , just pick the size of the speaker (its all in the room adoption). People dont hear like cats so nobody here cant notice the diference. Everybody just wana sell same and same things wraped in diferent story. Jbl is ql.
Perfect review Curtis. These Monitors are actually insane been using them for the last 2 years, and I decided to even come up with a product animation do check it out on my channel.
