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songboy
Published on 03/26/09 at 07:48
Wow these are great monitors!!!
What technical features motivated my choice? First off, the RMC feature. It is a built in room correction program that generates a tone from the speakers which is then picked up by the included microphone. The information gathered by the mic is then applied to the speakers to figure out what frequencies are enhanced or lost in your room. The speakers adjust their frequency response in order to simulate having a acoustically treated room. The end product is pretty darn sweet. I imagine if I actually had my home studio acoustically treated, it would probably sound better. But until I do that, these monitors will do just fine. Oh yeah, you get a nice (large, not mini) remote to control the speakers individually too (it reacts to the speaker you are pointing at, pretty neat). I am currently using these to mix down a very large (25 to 60 tracks per song) album that I recorded professionally at Collapseable Studios in West Asheville, NC. These are powered speakers so no amp necessary. My setup includes a Macbook (2.2ghz, 4gb Ram, 120 gb HD) with Logic 8 (and a ton of plugins) with a Presonus Firepod/Firebox and various rack gear. For awhile I was using Wharfedale Diamonds but realized I needed something much stronger. These fit that bill perfectly.
SOUNDS
Before using the RMC feature, I felt they were a little bass heavy (you won't need a sub to mix with these, although it couldn't hurt). After I used the RMC they were very flat. I was really surprised how wonderfully neutral they are. The stereo image is great. They are a huge improvement over the Diamonds. The sound is very crisp and clean from the super highs to the deep booming lows. The dynamics are stunning. I have used very little compression on my tracks thus far. Some of my songs have breakdowns that get fairly quit. I could barely get sound out of the Diamonds during these parts but the JBL's are present and strong all around. Great Monitors!
OVERALL OPINION
I have been using these monitors for about 3 weeks. What I love most is the high quality sound and super flat frequency response. What do I not like? So far, nothing, they have pleased me in every facet. We did a lot of mixing in the Pro Studio on some nice Adams I believe. They sounded great but I found that the sound we got on those speakers didn't translate to any other sound sources. The songs always sounded muddy and low on my home stereo, car stereo and my friends' stereos. I also used those wharfedales but they are no match for the adams or the JBL's. They pretty much had no bass response which, by themselves made it hard to mix anything. The JBL's go for around $1450 to $1600. I actually got mine off ebay used for $800 which was a super deal as they are in excellent condition. For either price though, you will get your money's worth. I would definitely buy these again, even if I had to pay full price.
What technical features motivated my choice? First off, the RMC feature. It is a built in room correction program that generates a tone from the speakers which is then picked up by the included microphone. The information gathered by the mic is then applied to the speakers to figure out what frequencies are enhanced or lost in your room. The speakers adjust their frequency response in order to simulate having a acoustically treated room. The end product is pretty darn sweet. I imagine if I actually had my home studio acoustically treated, it would probably sound better. But until I do that, these monitors will do just fine. Oh yeah, you get a nice (large, not mini) remote to control the speakers individually too (it reacts to the speaker you are pointing at, pretty neat). I am currently using these to mix down a very large (25 to 60 tracks per song) album that I recorded professionally at Collapseable Studios in West Asheville, NC. These are powered speakers so no amp necessary. My setup includes a Macbook (2.2ghz, 4gb Ram, 120 gb HD) with Logic 8 (and a ton of plugins) with a Presonus Firepod/Firebox and various rack gear. For awhile I was using Wharfedale Diamonds but realized I needed something much stronger. These fit that bill perfectly.
SOUNDS
Before using the RMC feature, I felt they were a little bass heavy (you won't need a sub to mix with these, although it couldn't hurt). After I used the RMC they were very flat. I was really surprised how wonderfully neutral they are. The stereo image is great. They are a huge improvement over the Diamonds. The sound is very crisp and clean from the super highs to the deep booming lows. The dynamics are stunning. I have used very little compression on my tracks thus far. Some of my songs have breakdowns that get fairly quit. I could barely get sound out of the Diamonds during these parts but the JBL's are present and strong all around. Great Monitors!
OVERALL OPINION
I have been using these monitors for about 3 weeks. What I love most is the high quality sound and super flat frequency response. What do I not like? So far, nothing, they have pleased me in every facet. We did a lot of mixing in the Pro Studio on some nice Adams I believe. They sounded great but I found that the sound we got on those speakers didn't translate to any other sound sources. The songs always sounded muddy and low on my home stereo, car stereo and my friends' stereos. I also used those wharfedales but they are no match for the adams or the JBL's. They pretty much had no bass response which, by themselves made it hard to mix anything. The JBL's go for around $1450 to $1600. I actually got mine off ebay used for $800 which was a super deal as they are in excellent condition. For either price though, you will get your money's worth. I would definitely buy these again, even if I had to pay full price.