JBL 305P MKII or Mackie MR524? Which one should you get for your home studio? Short comparison review

Today we will compare to popular and affordable studio monitors with 5 inch woofers- Mackie MR524 and JBL 305P MKII. Which one is better? Which one should you choose for your home studio? Let's find out!

Build Quality

Materials used to build the cabinets and the overall fit and finish is comparable in Mackie and JBL, they both use plastic to mold the front panels which is a cost saving solution to say the least. I personaly prefere the looks of Mackie, matte finished front panel and the rounded edges of the box are much more pleasing to the eye than JBL's shiny and easy to sctratch finish of the front panel and the cheaply squared out edges of the box. JBL has a bit of and advantage when it comes to quality of the controls on the amplifier plate, gain knob in 305P feels more premium and has 10 distinct notches that help with balancing out the levels between the left and right monitor. Mackie counters that with much more reasonable level of hiss produced by its internals, JBL is quite annoying in that aspect while Mackie is much more subdued and gentle (but still audible on idle in quiet room).

Sound Quality

Soundwise, Mackie and JBL come close again, but either can say it is perfectly neutral. Mackie has smoother overall sound character thanks to a bit of a dip in the response between 2.6kHz and 4kHz, but also mangaes to show enough of detail in that area to not feel shortchanged in comparison to JBL. 305P feels more analytical in the presentation mostly because of the boost in the area between 1.5kHz and 2.3kHz, vocals do pop out of the mix forward and are more present, same with distorted guitars and snares. This character of JBL's sound makes tham less pleasing to listen to on longer sessions.

Both MR524 and 305P MKII have solid bass response down to around 45Hz. JBL has a bit more punch around 50-60Hz, while Muackie has a slight boost in mid bass area that adds a little of weight to bass guitar. Mackie also feels slightly tighter in the low bass area.

Upper mids and treble is where JBL and Mackie are very close to each other in quality of the sound reproduction, but 305P MKII has a bit more air in the sound. They both image very well but JBL creates a bit bigger and shows a bit more air and space between the instruments.

Here is a frequency response comparison measured in room at 1meter distance using UMIK1 microphone:

Here is sound comparison video from my YouTube channel:

Conclusion

In the end I do prefere to work on Mackie MR524 more, it shows all the details and nuances of the sound I need without sounding harsh or analytical, plus it looks better to my eye and hiss less. JBL 305P MKII is not a bad monitor by any means, but it fails to top Mackie in this comparison.