Bose 840919-2100 L1 Pro8 - Portable PA System, Portable Line Array Speaker

Product Information

Bose equipment across the board is renowned for its sound quality and in the L1 Pro8 they’ve managed to successfully combine true portability with easy set up and excellent sonic performance. You could also use this output to send to a recording interface, mixing console or another L1 Pro system. Extended functionality

On channel 3 in the same row, we have a Bluetooth pairing button. This is really neat because here you’ll pair your device with the Bose system which you can use for remote control via the L1 Mix app. Or, you can pipe music from your phone through the P1 Pro 8. Or you may have beats on your phone which you can play along to through the PA. A multitude of uses! But this is only the tip of the iceberg. There are two ways of accessing Bose’s full ToneMatch library. We’ll get onto the specification of the L1 Pro8 a little later, but Bose negates this issue via the incorporation of a C-shaped line array with eight articulated 2” neodymium drivers, delivering 180 degree horizontal coverage with wide 40 degree vertical dispersion. A connected woofer provides all the bottom end. The L1 Pro8 gives singer-songwriters and DJs both setup simplicity and supreme clarity—the power to sound your best and simply perform.

Alongside the phantom power switch on channel 3 is the System EQ section. As the name suggests, these settings are global and affect the entire output of the PA system, providing three optimized EQ presets for live music, recorded music (from your device or DJ work) and speech (yes the Bose L1 Pro 8 is perfect for podium style public speaking). Alternatively, turn it off. More bass anyone? This may be useful if you’re playing on a raised stage and want to reduce overall height to ensure optimum sound dispersal via the array or if you’re using it indoors as a Bluetooth sound system for example. Simply make your choice – and those settings are remotely sent, via the app, to the L1 Pro 8 in real-time. Now not every product from every brand is available here but you should be able to get pretty close. We were impressed by the simplicity of the app and how useful it is. This is what you’ll see. In the ToneMatch section. It affects channels 1 and 2 but let’s tap on Channel 1. This neat little app has two basic uses and it connects to your L1 Pro 8 via Bluetooth. Simply press and hold the Bluetooth button on the L1 Pro 8 until it starts flashing, then connect it to your device.

Now you can select ‘Microphone’ or ‘Instrument’ depending on what you’ve got plugged into Channel 1. Let’s tap on ‘Microphone’. The final ‘row’ on the mixer is an output section. Although the Bose L1 Pro8 ships with a pretty nice subwoofer already, you may hanker for even more low end grunt. If this is you, an XLR line output enables you to connect to an additional Bose Sub1/Sub2/bass module to extend those low frequencies even further. As we’ve mentioned elsewhere in this Bose L1 Pro 8 review, it also makes a great home hi-fi system.

We’ll emphasise that these mixers are optional but they are designed to work with Bose PA systems. If you need extra functionality for your L1 Pro system, these are the way to go. OK, working from top to bottom on the mixer section – first we have illuminated rotary encoders on channels 1, 2 and 3. On 1&2, the encoders control volume, treble, bass and reverb. On channel 3, it’s volume, treble and bass.

Mic’ provides a generic preset for a handheld dynamic microphone. ‘Inst’ offers a preset for a piezo acoustic electric guitar. There’s more But unless you buy one of the optional (T4S/T8S) Bose mixers or hook up an external one however, you’re going to fall woefully short on enough channels for a full blown band. The app is a no brainer and pretty much indispensable. Remote control AND access to the ToneMatch libraryStraight off the bat, we should point out that channels 1&2 are for instruments and microphones while channel 3 features controls for Bluetooth pairing and line level audio inputs for stuff like external audio sources or even synths. Top to bottom

Just make sure when you plug a mic in, that you select ‘mic’ for the ToneMatch option and ‘inst’ for a guitar or similar. You can turn this functionality off. BluetoothInputs 1&2 feature combo XLR/1/4” connections to accept instruments and microphones. Just plug in, select ‘mic’ or ‘inst’ and you’re away. Bear in mind that essentially these are EQ presets only. In terms of what you’re plugging into the inputs, the L1 Pro 8 knows the difference between instruments and microphones and adjusts levels automatically. In many situations, unless you absolutely have to have a mic’d up guitar amp sound, or use an amp modeller (yes you can connect a modeller to the L1 Pro 8) these sound quite acceptable even the high gain variants. It works on a multitude of microphones, acoustic and electric guitars, basses and keyboards. You simply choose the closest approximation to your own instrument/mic and that dials up the appropriate EQ profile.