Mike Westwood / Maryland Solo Musician / Washington DC Guitar Player / Piano Player

JBL EON 515 Review

2010-03-10T18:05:00.007-05:00

For all my musician friends out there, I wanted to take a few minutes to give you my impressions on the JBL EON 515 series powered speakers. I had been using the Yamaha EMX512sc with matching s115v speakers, and was extremely happy with that system - but the speakers were almost 70 pounds each and getting them up on the stands was always a risk!

When the EON came out at 450 Watts and only weighing 32.5 pounds, I had to check it out. It I could really cut the weight of my speakers in half AND not have to carry a separate amp, that would make my life a whole lot easier right? Read on...

Sound

Of course, you want is to sound great, and many musicians will tell you that you'll never get sound as good from a plastic cab as you will from plywood enclosures - and I agree. But, the EON's sound really darn good. Perhaps not quite as good as the s115v, but surely good enough that the 32 pounds I am saving on each speaker is well worth it. The main issue here is that I LOVE the EMX512sc mixer - it is so easy to use, has built in compression and effects which were hard to get used to being without. With the JBLs, you'll need to lay out some extra cash for EQ, compression, and whatever else you need to adjust the sound. I bought a Behringer two channel EQ and use my Vocalist live 4 pedal for compression on the vocals, which helps. But, I know with a better EQ and compression over the entire mix I'll get pretty close to what I had with the Yamaha set up eventually.

The EONs' 15 inch woofers handle the Bass of my Yamaha P250 piano without a hitch and are very full sounding, and have a very even frequency response. Highs are clear as a bell. There are three EQ settings on the boxes: Boost, Flat, and Low cut. I keep in on the flat setting for live performance and sometimes go to boost for program material, like my ipod. This adds a bit of bass and treble. I have had no feedback issues unless I am doing something really silly with my rack EQ :-)

Loudness

I have read many complaints that the EON 515 does not put out the amount of sound you'd expect for a pair of 450 watt amps, but this has not been a problem for me. Most of my gigs are less than 300 people and the EON's have been proven more than adequate. I do think, however, that when I add compression to my rack I will be able to crank the EONs to even higher limits. Right now, my piano without compression is so dynamic that I think a compressor will really help flatten out the mix and allow me to crank it even more. I'll update this post at that time.

Features

There are not a whole lot of features to items like this, but compared to the Mackie SRM450's and other active speakers, there are some very compelling features on the EON. The most important is the fact that each EON 515 has 3 inputs - two line level 1/4 inch and one combo XLR/Line - so you can use it as a dumbed down mixer. In fact, for smaller gigs I will simply bring a single EON, plug my Piano into the two line level jacks, and run my Guitar and mic through my Digitech Vocalist Live 4 and then into the XLR input on the EON. The XLR input allows you to select line level or mic level, which is good because the VL4 runs line level out on it's XLR jacks. This makes for a ridiculously portable system that is a piece of cake to set up and can easily handle a house party. And, you can use the mix/loop feature and an extra mic cable to connect a second (or 3rd and 4th) Eon to the first one; So the first Eon acts as the mixer, and the others are just powered slaves putting out whatever comes into the first.

Bling Factor and sturdiness

Do the look good? Absolutely - I think they are one of the coolest looking active speakers out there, and have very nice lines. Unfortunately, all that light plastic does not like to be scratched. I have only been using them for about 8 months and already they are getting scuffs and scratches, no matter how careful I am. My yamaha speakers look brand new after 4 years of abuse. But, to be honest that doesn't matter much to me - as long as they keep sounding good. They also have a little glowing JBL logo that you can turn off if you like - a nice touch if you want them to remain incognito in a dark room.

Portability

Unrivaled. At 32.5 pounds each, I can carry one in each hand no problem. I can also get them up on a very high stand without breaking a sweat.

Dislikes

Buttons

One nitpicky item I have is that some of the settings, like the Line vs. Mic setting and the JBL logo are accessed by recessed buttons. You have to have a pen or some other small object to change them. These buttons do not seem as sturdy as the rest of the enclosure, so I am very careful with them. After 3 or 4 gigs running around asking for a pen to set the switch, I finally realized I can do it with a twist tie - so now I keep on on the speaker at all times - problem solved.

External Effects / Mixer required

This is an issue with any active system - all of your effects are now external, so I had to build a rack - which is heavy and a big pain. the Yamaha EMX512sc was really light, and had everything I needed - even compression. You also need a mixer for anything more than you and your guitar, which I solved with an Alesis iMultimix 8 I got for 2229 at best buy. It works fine, but does not have the compression like the Yamaha mixers - I miss that.

Power Cords

Again, another problem with all active is that they must be powered. Not a big deal for me,because I am a self contained solo act and my speakers don't need a huge spread, but I can see this being a problem in some venues.

Price

These things are expensive (About $700 each), so if you don't need the mixer features and price is an issue. a pair Mackie SRM450v2 would probably be a better call - it would save you about $400, and sound is probably comparable.

Overall Rating

I give these babies two huge thumbs up, and would easily recommend one of these over the hideously expensive, over-marketed, and from what I've experienced terrible sounding Bose sound on a stick system. The EONs sound as good as any tupperware cabs I've ever heard and are so light, I'd hate to give them up. When I play gigs with just one EON and my guitar - set up takes me 10 minutes and it sounds great.

Until next time - remember to check me out at http://mikewestwood.com

Pollster average of all polls

2008-10-31T09:28:00.001-05:00

I find the polls interesting - and quite amazing. Pollster.com takes all the other polls and allows you to filter them as you like. Check it out...

New Cage for Spike the Bearded Dragon

2008-07-22T09:20:00.003-05:00

Spike is growing very fast - so Quinn and I built him this cool cage with everything he needs. I purchased a PDF from Mark Chapple at http://www.reptile-cage-plans.com/. Although I am a pretty good carpenter, and could have gotten by without it, Mark's book gave me some good ideas and I am glad I got it. I used Exterior grade 1/2 inch plywood, 1/4 inch plexiglass, the cheapest hinges and latches that home depot had to offer, and the Zoo-med Labs 18" Naturalistic Terrarium Light Bar to hang the ceramic heater and lights. I also added some aluminum pipe insulation because the wood on the roof was getting very hot from the ceramic heat element. It still gets warm, but does not seem alarming. I am performing temperature tests now to ensure that the enclosure meets Spike's needs, and is safe. I cannot recommend the pipe insulation, as this is not what it is designed for. I also added six 3 inch soffit vents for ventilation.

First Sleep Away camp

2008-07-22T07:41:00.003-05:00

Regan is attending sleep away camp this week. Here are some photos of her progress...

JAC Flash 1

JAC Flash 2

Boss RC20-XL Looper Pedal

2008-05-11T21:29:00.002-05:00

OK,

I could not wait for the Line6 JM4 to come out, so I got the Boss RC20XL instead. It is hard, but has some really great features like autoquantizing, which work really well and make it a heck of a lot easier to create loops effectively. Once the JM4 comes out, I will evaluate it against the Big Brother of my rc20-xl, the Boss RC-50XL and see who the winner is! If you have no idea what a looper pedal is - check out this YouTube Video of KT Tunstall, and you will get it!

Digitech Vocalist Live Pro

2008-04-21T23:56:00.002-05:00

Several folks have asked on the blog if my Vocalist Live 4 harmonizer works with keyboards as well as guitar. Well, some say it does - but I never tried, as I did not want to blow it up. Well, now there is something that does both, and it uses the same MusIQ technology as the VL2 and VL4. I'll have one someday - but not until I get my Line6 JM4 Looper!

Here's the link - Digitech Vocalist Live Pro

My First Youtube Video!!! Yaz - Only You

2008-04-20T21:29:00.002-05:00

I know, I know - you would think a computer geek would have gotten to this a long time ago - but it's just not been a priority. I took the opportunity to record my performance at the 2008 Hyattsville Arts festival. This is probably one of my favoriate guitar songs to play. Please give me some comments on you tube and rate me!

Elin Hilderbrand's Latest novel

2008-02-29T10:13:00.002-05:00

Hi everyone, I wanted to let you know about the latest novel by Author Elin Hilderbrand. She has written several excellent novels, and this one proves to be the best. It should be the best, because one of the main characters in the book is loosely based on yours truly :-) His name is Max West, and he's a rock star - that's about all I know, so I will have to read the book just like you to find out. Here's the link...
A Summer Affair

Youtube Guitar Lesson of the Month

2008-02-07T19:06:00.000-05:00

Here is a decent Blues Lesson for you aspiring musician's out there.

Enjoy, Mike

Digital Converter box Coupons

2008-02-07T19:04:00.001-05:00

Hi Everyone,

Just wanted you to know that as of February 17th 2009, all over the air TV transmissions will be digital. This means you either need a digital TV, or a converter box. For those of you who have some older TV's, but don't want to invest in a new one, the US government is offereing every household two 40$ coupons toward the purchase of converter boxes. My main TV's are digital, but we have a bedroom TV that is not - so we will get two converter boxes. I am not sure what the prices will be, but probably not much more than 40$ - if any more. The coupons are only being offered for a limited time, so get your coupons now. You may later choose not to use them, but better to have it and not need it than getting stuck with white fuzz on your TV next year!

Here's the link https://www.dtv2009.gov/

YouTube Guitar Lesson of the week

2007-12-08T17:53:00.000-05:00

Back when I started playing, there was a LOT of listening to songs over and over again and trying to figure out the guitar parts. But with the advent of the internet, learning songs is a breeze. You can find tablature (music notation) for guitar for just about any song. But, it is YouTube that is my savior - people post free guitar lessons for tons of music. Here is my first pick of the week...

Hey There Delilah

New Song - Black Belt Singer

2007-11-15T01:10:00.000-05:00

Hi All,

Just wanted to give you a preview of the lyrics of my latest song. It's based on something that happend a few weeks ago while playing a show at Bailey's in Germantown, Maryland. A bunch of youngin's came in, and one of the girls plays guitar apparently - so I let her come up and play a few songs. She was unbelievable!!! She played some covers and a really good original - good enough to for me to write this retort of a song.

Black Belt Singer
Words and Music by Michael Westwood

I was down, in a German town, had myself a gig
In walks a girl, and her song unfurled, and man she's gonna be big
She kicked my ass, that little lass, with my own god damned guitar
And if she tries, to reach for the skies, I tell you she'll go very far

But now I'm back and...
I will take your breath away
I'm a black belt singer and I can write a song in a little less than a day
I will take your breath away
I am young I am strong, so come on along and let me take your breath away

Don't know why I've been so shy, and held my music down
Haven't written a song in oh so long, since I came to this working town
But I got a kick when she took my pick, and my pen began to move
You may think I'm old – my heart getting cold, but now I'm back in the groove

You'll feel it too 'cause...
I will take your breath away
I'm a black belt singer and I can write a song in a little less than a day
I will take your breath away
I am young I am strong, so come on along and let me take your breath away

{Bridge}Black Belt Singer - 4x

I'm glad she came by, on her way to the sky to remind me who I am
I won't go far, not beyond this bar, even though I know I can
I like it this way, playing just one day, we're all not made for fame
I'll write my songs, hope they sing along – but I'll sing them just the same

Now you just listen to me...
I will take your breath away
I'm a black belt singer and I can write a song in a little less than a day
I will take your breath away
I am young I am strong, so come on along and let me take your breath away

This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License.

Digitech Vocalist Live 4

2007-11-14T18:29:00.001-05:00

I recently had a problem with my Digitech Vocalist Live 2, so I returned it to Guitar Center in Rockville and exchanged it for the Vocalist Live 4. If you are a solo musician or in a band, you really must check out the Vocalist Live products. The VL4 adds a lot of needed functionality, included saved presets, delay and reverb on both the guitar and vocals, preamp, de-esser, compression, simulation of female vocalists and large voice male vocalists, and tons of other great features. This thing is truly unbelievable, and has gotten me back into song writing just playing with it. It listens to the chords you play, and listens to your voice and creates insane harmonies in real time based on what you play and sing. A word of caution, if you are not a good singer, you will not be happy with the units - because adding harmonies base on off pitch singing just amplifies the problem! the guy at Guitar center told me they had quite a few people return them - probably saying they didn;t work well. I think the real problem is they finally found out the hard way they they don't have good pitch :-) If you tend to be just a little off key that is OK, and the Vocalist Live 4 can help, because it has configurable pitch correction. You can correct to chromatic scales, or you can correct to an number of keys and scales. Anything from myxolydian, to a major or minor, to aeolian! Unreal.

I can have Art Garfunkle singing along with me, or perform Crosby Stills and Nash (CSN) tunes with amazing harmonies now. I have had several people at gigs come up to me and ask if I pre-recorded the harmonies - or just plain confused at where the voices were coming from. I can't imagine being a professional solo artist, or any kind of professional singer/ gigging artist without one of these in my lineup. If any musicians in the Washington DC / Maryland Area would like to come try it out, just let me know - I would be happy to jam with you.

Here's a link for more info...

http://www.digitech.com/products/Vocalist_Live4/

And Here's the Demo...

http://www.digitech.com/products/Vocalist_Live4/Vocalist_LIVE4_Video.php

Methacton Class of 1987 Reunion

2007-10-30T17:50:00.000-05:00

The Methacton High School Class of 1987 reunion is approaching quickly!!! If you went to Methacton with Mike and can help us find some of our long lost classmates - please go to the Methacton Class of 87 reunion web site at http://methacton87.googlepages.com. This is a little site I designed using the DabbleDB which allows you to submit contact information for any of our missing 87 classmates.

Hope you can make it.

Incidentally, DabbleDB is the same tool I use for people in the Metropolitan area to submit song requests on mikewestwood.com and to view my complete list of songs.

Every Saturday!

2007-09-04T13:54:00.001-05:00

Great news folks, the Gigs at Bailey's have gone so well this summer that they have decided to keep me on indefinitely. I'll be playing every Saturday from 9-midnight until further notice. Please check http://mikewestwood.com, as there as some dates which I may have people filling in.

Thanks for all your support!

Great Night at the Greene Turtle!!!

2007-07-22T18:57:00.000-05:00

Saturday the 21st of July marked my first gig at the famous Greene Turtle Sports bar in Germantown. there was a diving meet in town and several diving folks were in town, and a good time was had by all. I wanted to take a moment to thank everyone who made it out to the Turtle. There were a lot of newcomers to my show, and it really seemed like people had a genuinely good time and enjoyed the song selection. I especially want to thank "Rad Dad" and his friends who had an awesome time dancin' to the likes of John Denver, Alabama, and PPL - you guys really made it a great night for me and I appreicate you hanging until the very end, and keeping the place fun! I hope to see you and your crew out again soon.

Anyone out there find my tambourine??? I got one for the show yesterday, and unfortunately it only lasted a day! Oh well - maybe next time we'll tie it down :-)

Thanks again everyone for making the Turtle such a huge success - and if you were there, be sure to leave me a comment or two!

The Greene Turtle, July 21st

2007-06-13T23:51:00.000-05:00

Please come out and see me at The Greene Turtle in Germantown on July 21st at 10pm. there is another Diving meet in town, so it should be a great turnout once again. I've been working on new material, and things are coming along very well. Hope to see you there.

Directions

MANY THANKS!

2007-04-24T09:31:00.000-05:00

I just wanted to drop a quick thank you to everyone who showed up at Bailey's on Friday - it was a great event with a packed house. I would especially like to thank my family for making the trip, my wife Meg for supporting me, and FlanMan and Hill for getting down here! Be sure to check out http://mikewestwood.com often for upcoming gigs!

Fun Games for adults and kids

2007-04-15T14:51:00.000-05:00

OK - I hate to admit it, but Quinn showed me these games, and they are really fun!!!

Egg Run

Collect the twig and get to the base of the ladder.

Play this free game now!!

Bailey's Pub and Grille

2007-04-01T00:33:00.000-05:00

Great News - Friday April 20th marks Mike's Return to the stage at Bailey's Pub and Grille in Germantown on Friday April 20th.

Click Here for the Evite

or check http://www.mikewestwood.com for details!

Hope to see you there :-)

Submit your Song requests here

2007-03-16T22:57:00.000-05:00

Please give me some ideas of songs you would like me to learn. This form will populate my online Database of songs I am learning.
You can click here to see the current database of customer requested songs.

Oh Man, this is cool

2007-03-16T09:51:00.000-05:00

Wow, I discovered one of the most fascinating music tools to be created in quite some time. It is called the Digitech Vocalist Live, and creates harmonies with you while you sing. The difference between this thing and all the other harmonizers out there is that you plug your guitar into this one, and it listens to the chords you are playing, and generates the appropriate harmony to your singing in real time. Click on the link to watch the video, and make sure you watch the whole thing; the Lying Eyes part toward the end is insane!!!
http://www.digitech.com/products/Vocalist_Live2/index.php

New Pa System!!!

2007-03-09T22:58:00.000-05:00

The new PA System was delivered Monday and sounds absolutely fantastic. It is amazing how far the technology has come in the last twenty years. The Speakers are definitely monsters, which require some doing to get up on the stands without a hernia, so I need to get my volunteer soundmen ready to help me get these 61 lb. behemoths on the speaker stands!!!

Ready to ROCK!

Demo Recording

2007-02-28T17:15:00.001-05:00

Mike's first foray into computer based Music Recording is complete with his first Demo mp3. It is a 12 song demo of Mike Performing Piano, Guitar, and Vocals, and is a good representation of his repertoire. Not a pro recording by any means - he's even better live. But, you get the idea.... Be warned - it is a big file (12 MB) and might take a minute to download. Hope you like it!!!

Click Here

Skiing was a success!!!

2007-02-27T09:27:00.001-05:00

Skiing was great Sunday. It snowed 4 inches, and there was NO ONE there. Everyone got scared away from the supposed Ice storm, which never materialized. The Kids were both really good, and can both go down by themselves now! Awesome.

Going Skiing Sunday

2007-02-24T22:57:00.001-05:00

We are going to White Tail Sunday to try to get the kids one day of skiing in this year. I am going to leave the snowboard this time so I can be of some use to the kids. Haven't been on skis since 11th grade, so it should be a fun experience. (Don't worry, I got a helmet when I was in Park city a few weeks ago!)

Come to the Brewer's Ball on March 10th!!!

2007-02-23T01:13:00.000-05:00

Please join us at the Brewer's Ball on March 10th - a benefit for Cystic Fibrosis. There will be plenty of beer from all of the local breweries, food, music, and a live and silent auction. This is our 3rd year - it's a ton of fun. This also marks Mike's comeback as a "professional musician". Of course, I am not getting paid for it so I am not a professional yet, but a night of entertainment with Mike is being auctioned at the ball this year. I also have a potential regular gig lined up at the Old Dominion Yacht Club in Alexandria - pending an audition. Click here for details Brewer's Ball Flyer.

Click here to get tickets and let them know in the additional info that you heard about it from us!

Hope to see you there.

The New Ovation

2007-02-22T23:25:00.001-05:00

Meg and Tish got me this unbelievable Guitar for my BDay - THANKS LADIES, I love you.

Here are the specs...
Ovation ELITE T
Model 1778T
6 String Acoustic/Electric
Body Type: Mid-Depth Super Shallow Cutaway
Top: Solid Spruce
Bracing: Quintad
Scale Length: 25 1/4"
Scale:
Fretboard: Ebony
Fret Inlay: None
Bridge: Ebony
Rosette: Multi Soundhole 11 hole configuration - bass side
Pickup: Ovation Thinline
Nutwidth: 1 11/16"
Machines: Black
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Jenny the HedgeHog!!!

2007-02-22T22:29:00.000-05:00

Hi all,

This is our new HedgeHog, Jenny... Tish got her for our daughter today. Click on her picture to enlarge.

She is about 9 weeks old and 60% grown. She'll get to be the size of a small guinea pig. Having a hedgehog is definitely a unique experience, and I think the kids will really get a lot of joy out of her once we all get over the prickliness :-)

For those who want to know more HedgeHog Wiki