JBL BandBox Trio Evaluation – This Factor Rocks

The JBL BandBox Trio takes the most effective of a battery powered sensible speaker and a modelling follow amp, and combines them with some sensible options to create one of the compelling units for musicians I’ve seen in fairly a while.

As a part of the JBL BandBox vary, this system is a little more follow amp than sensible speaker, nevertheless it’s nice at doing each.

With a fully-featured modelling amp stage, two instrument inputs and a bunch of different connectivity choices, the JBL BandBox Trio is nicely suited to guitarists, vocalists, and bed room bands.

The key characteristic right here is the BandBox’s AI instrument isolation characteristic that may separate and modify a tune’s guitar, drums, and vocals in actual time from any streamed audio.

I’d wholeheartedly suggest this to musicians, however for those who’re simply after a speaker for listening to music on, it is a bit overkill.

Rating

Overall: 5 / 5

Pros

• Portable and battery powered
• Great amp modelling
• Genuinely helpful options for follow

Cons

• More costly than the competitors – however with extra options
• Guitar tuner is hit or miss
• No options for bass guitarists

$799 | For bed room musicians and small bands

Setup & First Impressions

The JBL BandBox Trio is pretty small and moveable, however very absolutely featured and simple to make use of. It doesn’t really want a lot setup in any respect – however to get probably the most out of it, it’s greatest to pair with the JBL One companion app that offers you simpler management over the speaker and amp capabilities.

On the rear of the BandBox Trio, there’s two combo XLR / 1/4-inch inputs for microphones and devices, a 3rd 1/4-inch enter devoted to guitar, and three.5mm and USB-C inputs for cabled sources.

One combo enter can toggle between microphone and guitar enter, whereas the opposite toggles between microphone and line-level enter.

Of course, the amp accepts Bluetooth streaming as an enter as nicely.

On the output facet, there’s a 1/4-inch output for passthrough to a different speaker and a 3.5mm headphone jack.

That means you’ve acquired loads of flexibility in terms of connecting band devices and mics to the speaker. Plus, training late at night time isn’t a problem with headphone output.

Design & Aesthetics

The JBL BandBox Trio is a rugged little amp with protecting rubber pads on the corners, stable plastic housing, corrugated metallic grille and a sturdy rubber carry deal with on the highest.

All of the capabilities are managed with bodily knobs. There’s a bigger knob for scrolling by way of the interface whereas the opposite 5 knobs management settings on the interface itself like acquire, quantity, and EQ settings.

Portability is a excessive level of the JBL BandBox Trio. The carry deal with is simple to make use of and offers a stable grip on the system. It’s about the identical dimension as typical 15W follow amps, and about the identical weight at simply over 8 kilograms.

Life With The JBL BandBox Trio

I’ve been training with the JBL BandBox Trio as my primary amp for a couple of weeks. It’s been a fantastic expertise, and it has loads of options to like.

Positives

The primary distinctive characteristic is the AI stem separation onboard. While enjoying music by way of the BandBox Trio, you may choose two devices out of guitar, drums, and vocals, and individually modify their quantity within the app or straight on the speaker.

That means you may pick the guitar observe and take heed to it by itself, or take away the guitar completely to play together with the band.

Occasionally in use there will probably be a few hiccups, like an remoted instrument bleeding by way of the combo or vocals coming by way of. Tracks with quite a lot of devices or uncommon voicings are notably susceptible to this.

I additionally managed to trick it with a couple of tracks, the place it misidentified a saxophone as a guitar, or non-lyric vocalisations bleeding by way of into the combo.

That stated, for probably the most half it labored extremely nicely, and it is a genuinely helpful characteristic for those who’re attempting to take heed to a selected observe with out distraction.

The BandBox Trio has a variety of amp modelling choices out there, with the whole lot from cleans, to crunch, to high-gain distortion choices. The US Metal possibility has been my go-to possibility for my most popular high-gain metallic, however there’s loads to select from for every kind of genres from jazz, to rock, and even acoustic sims.

You can use the presets as they arrive, or dive into customisation of the sign chain with completely different results and amp fashions. The solely factor lacking is impulse simulation for cab modelling however this might simply be icing on the cake – the speaker has greater than sufficient toys to play with.

With a number of inputs, you may plug your entire band in without delay. With three inputs you may plug in a guitar, bass, microphone, and have your drummer enjoying acoustically or at line degree. You can then individually combine channels proper on the speaker.

That makes load-in for a follow session considerably simpler – and for those who’re organising an impromptu jam it’s laborious to beat the pace of setup right here.

Negatives

While the speaker is nice for guitarists, singers, and drummers, it’s fairly a bit extra restricted for bassists. Sure, you may nonetheless play alongside however there’s no devoted choice to isolate and modify bass guitar like there’s with the opposite devices. It truthfully looks as if a significant oversight and it’s unlucky to see that bassists are forgotten another time.

Out of the field, the modelling amp presets are a bit bass-heavy. They’re nice for training alone, however for those who’re trying to play with different devices, you may wish to modify the settings to make room for them.

As a part of the follow and instrument instruments, the JBL BandBox Trio features a guitar tuner part each on the system and within the app, however when it comes to utilization I’ve discovered it a bit much less helpful than I’d hope.

The tuner is gradual to react to string tuning adjustments and appears to have fairly a little bit of problem with downtuning and prolonged vary 7-string and 8-string guitars. I’d pluck the string and the tuner would take a number of seconds to react, if it detected the tone in any respect.

The tuner problem isn’t a dealbreaker, nevertheless it’s a shocking lack of polish on an in any other case wonderful guitar follow instrument.

Performance & Reliability

The JBL BandBox Trio has an enormous playback time of as much as 10 hours – greater than sufficient for even the longest follow classes. It takes simply 3 hours to recharge to full.

Longevity of the system is encouraging. There’s a user-replaceable battery within the backside of the system and it may run off a regular three-prong energy cable in any other case.

When it involves the app controls, efficiency is pretty respectable and the controls are fast to reply. The solely problem is with the tuner part as talked about earlier.

Practical Considerations

It’s value noting that the JBL BandBox Trio sounds greatest on the ground. While on a tabletop it appears to lose quite a lot of bass response and the sound signature adjustments significantly.

The BandBox Trio isn’t considerably bigger than a typical follow amp, so there’s nothing to fret about when it comes to storage.

One factor value noting is that there’s no results return, so for those who depend on this for bodily reverb or delay pedals you may wish to try it out first.

Another factor to find out about is the amount – this little amp goes greater than loud sufficient to harass the neighbours, busk on the road, or compete with an acoustic drum set, nevertheless it may not be sufficient for taking part in a live performance at a bar.

Value & Alternatives

Compared to its hottest rivals just like the Boss Katana, Positive Grid Spark, and Yamaha THR sequence follow amps, the JBL BandBox Trio is kind of a bit dearer.

That stated, you might be getting fairly much more options in your cash – primarily the Stem AI characteristic and the extra inputs. At the push of a button, you may isolate an instrument from a tune you’re studying, and that’s an unimaginable characteristic to have.

Another possibility to take a look at is the JBL BandBox Solo – a smaller mannequin that’s value trying out for those who’re enjoying alone. It provides you entry to all of the Stem AI options however is available in at a cheaper price level.

Would I purchase it with my very own cash?

Definitely. The JBL BandBox Trio is a good possibility for those who’re on the lookout for a single speaker to plug your entire bed room band into. If you’re a solo musician, this or the BandBox Solo are nicely value contemplating.