Today we compare two budget studio monitors from JBL, new and affordable JBL 104 and well established but slightly more expensive JBL 305P MKII. Is smaller 104 model a good alternative to bigger 305P? Who should get it and why? Let's find out!
Build Quality & Features
JBL 104 is much more compact speaker than JBL 305P and that will be very convinient for those with limited desk space, 305P is more intrusive to the space around it especially because of depth and width of its cabinet. Build quality is on similar level, both 305P (front panel) and 104 (whole enclosure) use plastic moulds, but smaller 104 is much more pleasing to the eye and stylish, while 305P will stick out like a sore thumb in most desk spaces.
Feature wise JBL 104 lacks any room acoustic settings, so you have to stick with the frequency response JBL have given you or use external EQ to shape its frequency response to your needs. JBL 305P have tone controls for bass and treble.
Bigger 305P model, unlike 104 which is passive design, is fully active system with two amplifiers for each cabinet with total power of 82 watts per cabinet. Smaller 104 use just one stereo 2x30watt amp hidden in "master" cabinet and the "slave" cabinet is powered via normal speaker cable. Having just one stereo amp in 104 hav one advantage, one central volume control knob on the front of master speaker that controls the volume for the whole system, while in 305P there are separate volume knob on each cabinet which is a bit incovinient and usually means that you will need to use external volume control (from your interface or laptop) to comfortably control the volume of both channels at once. 104 has another advantage over 305P and that is the "heaphone out" and "aux in" port on the front panel of master speaker.
305P has more hiss emitting from its tweeters compared to smaller 104, but in 104 the level of hiss depends on the level set by the volume control knob, the more volume the more hiss. At maximim volume setting in 104 audible hiss is on similar level to 305P. Both 104 and 305P have auto standby function.
Sound Quality
As the difference in appearence suggest, 305P and 104 have completly different sound character. Starting from the bass response, 104 has a solid reponse down to 60Hz with nothing below that point, so JBL's claimthat it will work without a subwoofer for any application is an exagerration, 104 has a solid bass response for its pysical size, tight and toneful, but lacks physical punch and extension of bigger 305P not to mention even bigger models. 305P on the other hand reaches to low 40's and has richness and groove to its bass that smaller 104 just can't match.
Midrange is one of the stronger points on 104, thanks to the coaxially mounted tweeter in the center of woofer, the mids (if a bit honky) are very coherent and detailed with vocals present and a bit forward. 305P is smoother in mid rangea bit better balanced but also slightly disjonted around the crossover point. 305P has a lift in response after the crossover point (from 1.5kHz to 2kHz) that give distorted guitars a bit of extra presence in the mix. On the other hand upper mids between 4.5kHz and 6kHz and low treble around 8kHz are boosted in 104 and that exaggerates the forward and slightly harsh character of its sound, giving the cymbals and trumpets too much presence and shine, making it a bit artifical and forced. Treble is more natural and extended in 305P. Soundstageing is very good in both tested models, but 305P has more laid back, detailed and slightly bigger stage with more sense of air, while soundstage in 104 is puched in front of the speakers and less 3D. Obviously 305P can play much louder without distorting the sound, but 104 is no slouch and can also play suprisingly loud for its size.
Check out the frequency response comparison wetween 104 and 305P measured in room at 1m using UMIK-1 microphone:
Check out my sound comparison video of 104 and 305P from my YouTube channel here:
Conclusion
One Series 104 is very good new entry by JBL into budget studio monitor market. 104 delivered most of JBL's promises, as it is stylish, well made, compact and quite powerfull. Most importantly 104 sounds detailed and coherent across the range (with the exception of slightly harsh upper mids), and will work great when working with speech (vlog editing & podcast monitoring etc.). JBL 104 can not match the overall qualities of bigger and more expensive 305P MKII, but that was not JBL's goal here, so for full time musicc production 305P MKII will be much better choice here.
How does JBL 104 compare with other, more comparable pricewise, studio monitors? We will find out soon so stay tuned!
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