JBL has one of the best reasons to use AI (and it's karaoke, actually)
Pure party tech
JBL is prepped for a party. It has just announced a whole new range of absolutely massive wireless speakers and an absolutely tiny microphone that uses AI to revolutionise your karaoke game.
No, the JBL EasyClip Mic Mini is not going to auto-tune your vocals on the fly, which is basically the equivalent of shamelessly using your phone to cheat at a pub quiz. But it can remove the central vocal channel of songs you feed it — yep, using good old artificial intelligence.
Any track can become a backing track, and this all happens on-the-fly like magic. We got to hear it working in action and the results were frankly mind-blowingly good. It was pretty much as if the JBL EasyClip Mic Mini had access to the producer’s multi-track version of the song and just deleted the central vocal.
It's tech we've encountered before in JBL's cracking BandBox Solo guitar speaker.
Will it work for death metal as well as cleanly produced pop? We have our doubts, and even the JBL bod we talked to noted it’s not going to work the same for backing vocals too — it’s just not how this tech works. But, damn, it can’t half do a good job when the track suits the tech.
You control the voice zapping using the button on the JBL EasyClip Mic Mini’s front, and can also simply turn down the lead vocal line instead of getting rid of it entirely. This can be useful for those somewhat overconfident folks who choose to karaoke a song they only really know the chorus of.
Here’s how it works. The JBL EasyClip Mic Mini’s main microphone part is just a little rounded capsule of a thing, but it also slots into a grip handle.
This is because, if you haven't noticed, content creators these days hold up mics like they're a brooch they just found on the floor, not like a rock singer holding a trusty Shure SM58. And this mic is for content creators as well as karaoke fans, letting them adopt the correct viral mannerisms or... y'know, clip the thing to their clothing.
The other half of the JBL EasyClip Mic Mini is a USB dongle, and this is actually the brains of the operation. You plug it into a compatible JBL speaker, and not only does it turn that unit into a karaoke machine, it’s this USB dongle that apparently does the AI vocal removal. We’re told there’s just a slight delay of a couple of seconds, to let the software smarts do their thing.
JBL’s EasyClip Mic Mini costs £129.99 and is available to order now.
But what can you plug it into? We’ve had a go with some of these too.
Among the contenders are JBL’s new PartyBox models. These are not for everyone, but are apparently the market leaders in the massive-LED-laden-party-speaker category. You basically get the accessibility of a Bluetooth speaker, combined with the size and power of a PA or busker speaker. Oh, and a whole loads of LED light show pizzazz on top.
This range is long-standing, but the new models are called the JBL PartyBox 130 and 330.
JBL’s more affordable PartyBox 130 only costs as much as a higher-end wireless speaker at £349.99, but is seriously powerful. It has a 5.25-inch woofer and two 25mm tweeters, and a chunky fold-out handle to help you shift around its sold 11-plus kilo frame.
Not serious enough? The PartyBox 330 upgrades the driver to a 6.5-inch whopper, while JBL says the two tweeters are the same units it puts into some of its pro-grade speakers. It’s not just rubbish drivers for the beer-chugging idiot crowd here.
This larger, 16-plus-kilo contender is also designed a bit like a piece of holiday luggage, with a telescopic handle and built-in wheels. No doing your back in just to move it around a bit.
I got to hear the PartyBox 330, and then a quartet from this family playing together, using one of the family’s more up-to-date features, Bluetooth Auracast. This lets a bunch of headphones or speakers stream from the one source — a party mode that doesn’t require a bespoke, proprietary system.
First impressions suggest the JBL PartyBox duo are fantastic for projection and punch, which is going to be a massive benefit if you want to play music outdoors as well as inside. Loud looks matched with loud audio, these speakers also have highly customisable LED light rings that snake around the main drivers.
But if you mostly want to listen in a more casual way, I’d strongly suggesting considering something like the JBL Xtreme 5 instead, which also works with the JBL’s EasyClip Mic Mini. This speaker also looks pretty loud, but it’s also a surprisingly sweet-sounding and insightful wireless option that is fantastic for casual listening and social gatherings, or picnics. It’s going to be far more suitable for bedroom listening than a PartyBox.
I should know, because there’s one in my bedroom right now.
These aren’t the only new JBL bits of kit out either. JBL has also announced these goodies:
JBL Live 780NC and 680NC: Two pairs of premium wireless headphones with active noise cancellation. They come in a range of colours, including iPhone-matching orange. What’s the difference? The Live 780NC are over-ear headphones, the 680NC are on-ear.
JBL Live 4 TWS: True wireless earphones with a charging case that has its own little screen. This shows you the battery level of both the earbuds and the case itself. They, of course, have active noise cancellation too.
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