Today JBL officially announced they finally are making the 7 series monitors in a powered version. Available as the 705P or the 708P. They accept analog or digital inputs and they have tuning capabilities.

705P: 705P Products | JBL Professional

708P:708P Products | JBL Professional

They've also announced their Intonato 24, which is a 24 channel monitor controller and room tuning system designed for controlling immersive systems.

Intonato 24: Intonato 24 Products | JBL Professional

Thanks Dan! That's great news for the Nearfield. I will check them out on Saturday at NAMM.

The Intonato 24 on paper appears to be very good. The Dante integration is fantastic, although no word on AES67 compatibility.

Will definitely have to get a demo unit in and test how flexibly it integrates in to a 24 speaker system.

I always thought the Latin "Intonare" meant to thunder, not to match or to tune.

Ever since the demos at the Sony Mix event I've had the 708's and 705's on my upgrade radar. Was waiting to hear more about the powered version and their controller before making buying decisions. I can't make NAMM this weekend but would love feedback/impressions from anybody who is there.

Any idea where they put the crossover frequency? Some (certainly not all) JBL amplified speakers have put it in the middle of consonant fundamentals, where it affected dialog.

I went looking for a distortion graph -- you can usually tell from that -- but couldn't find one on their site.

Jay it's 1.7K. Here is a link to the specs:
708P Products | JBL Professional

Why didn't JBL put madi on that thing?

I assume you mean the Intonato and probably because it has Dante which is far more flexible

It's italian not latin.

Here is a link to the specs:
708P Products | JBL Professional


Ouch! Crossover frequency at 1.7k?

That's the fundamental for almost all adult consonants... unless their crossovers are incredibly good and the drivers are accurate way beyond the xover, overall distortion can peak there. If it does, you'll be tempted to mix dialog hotter than necessary (not a bad thing). A distortion/frequency curve, like JBL used to publish as a matter of course, could set my mind at ease.

I've also noticed differences in male / female / child balance on other JBL Pro speakers that xover at that frequency. This was a while ago, and their drivers/crossovers might have gotten better...

it looks like the intanato doesnt have aes output?

Marketing's copywriter requires a language lesson:
"Intonato, from the Latin verb Intonare meaning “tuned,” “matched,” “in tune,” describes a primary attribute of all speakers in the ideal control room monitoring environment"

The Latin meaning of that verb is "to thunder", which is probably not the connotation they would want.

Maybe he thought the Romans spoke Italian but it was called Latin back then. ;-)

intonato - Dizionario italiano-inglese WordReference

Well Italian is "Vulgar Latin", but then so is Provençau.

Seems an odd omission, as Blu link appears to be the only available digital output.

Not odd if you're trying to sell JBL or BSS gear

But seriously these monitors seem promising if you can swing the price. Although they mention mounting these behind a screen, I would think for that you'd want the passive versions to keep the amps cool.

Been looking at a pair of these for music mixing as I really rate their 3 series - has anyone tried them who can comment on their sound?

I spent quite awhile listening to the 5" model (passive) in the JBL suite @ AES LA recently. I liked them a lot. They sounded way bigger than their size would suggest, I liked the detail and balance of the sound very much. The new powered versions are at the top of my wish list for 2017.

Thanks. I think these are going to be an immediate purchase for me.

No one has because it was just announced.
The powered ones aren't even ready to ship. As for the 708i versions... there might be people.

I'm sure people have tried the 705i or 708i though who can comment on their sound for music mixing.

If you are used to and like to the JBL sound, I think you'll love these. We have the a set of the JBL 708i. They sound amazing. Certainly an upgrade in clarity and power to the 6328s (though the 28s are still amazing speakers). They have great imaging with a larger sweet spot. They are smooth and not fatiguing. They have a really solid punch in the low end. Most importantly, for me, is they translate extremely well. Up to larger stages, the home or elsewhere. They translate great.

I know a mixer with both the 708 and 705s and he said you can't really tell a difference until you start comparing the deep low end at high levels. Of course the 708 prevails in that situation, but the 705 holds up extremely well, which is what I've heard in demos of the 705s.

Personally, these would be my first pick for near to mid fields for edit suites or small mix stages. But I'm a bit of a JBL fan.

I get kind of tired hearing about AES67. Dante will be compatible with AES67. If you have Dante, you are covered.

MADI is just a multichannel AES connection. Dante provides audio, networking and control over a CAT5e. You can't just hook up a MADI cable to your computer without some type of hardware and record.

There are more Dante'd devices out there than any other single format, exponentially more than AVB (which was dead before it started).

That is not entirely true. AES67 compatibility within Dante requires the manufacturer (and not Audinate) to release the firmware enabling compatibility within their products.

Take the Sound Devices 970, it offers Dante but is not currently AES67 compatible. Sound Devices won't share information on future developments so there is no word if they ever will roll out the necessary firmware update.

Amphenol's AmpheDante adaptors offer Dante, but again, they are not currently AES67 compatible. No word on if the firmware upgrade will be offered.

With Dante, you need to do your research on AES67 compatibility as in most cases manufacturers do not list AES67 compatibility.

Now, Ravenna, on the other hand, offers AES67 compatibility natively. So in that case, if you had said, "If you have Ravenna, you are covered", it would have also not been true. Some devices require the use of the RAV>SAP tool.

I use both protocols daily in a mixed environment.

Dante does not currently offer control natively (it only offers device discovery and connection but limited to no control of the actual device). That's what the OCA has planned with AES70. No word if Audinate will actually adopt it.

On the video side, AMWA's NMOS (IS-04) offers discovery and control which is slowly being adopted (AIMS have just adopted it) and may in future be integrated in to SMPTE 2110. Ravenna partners may also incorporate it and adopt it across their available products.

If you are used to and like to the JBL sound

FWIW, I just built a small room using a selection of 44xx's: 4412A for the mains, 4410 for dialog, 4408 for mid-room surround, 4406 for back-room surround. Driven by a Marantz mid-line consumer amp with DSP calibration. The room itself is tight and non-parallel, and the speakers sound amazing in it.

The bigger units were salvaged from various radio-style stereo rooms I've done, and the smaller ones were from eBay. Further proof that good speakers last forever...

This will happen. Dante numbers eclipse all other protocols/formats combined.

Dante does in fact transport control data to control preamps (Yamaha, Focusrite, etc, etc)

AES70 can be used in conjunction with any transport protocol and this is what Yamaha, Focusrite and Shure (all members of the OCA) are using for control and not Dante.