Electro-Voice Everse 8 VS Bose S1 Pro - Side By Side Shoot-Out (Attempt)

Who Wins?
A closer look at two popular battery powered speakers for DJs & Musicians

Enjoy!

[OnlineMD]

I just traded in an S1Pro for the Everse8 and got going with it today. To start I just connected my cellphone by Bluetooth and played different kinds of music from Spotify. It was disappointing with a lower HiFi sound as compared to the S1Pro!! I thought, crap, what have I done!? Why the heck did I trade in?? But I didn't get discouraged and explored, tweaked, and played. There is a hell of a lot of adjusting to do with this next-generation speaker! The EQ settings alone get me cross-eyed!!! I had to choose between GEQ and PEQ. What the hell is that, I thought, and had to research it a bit! Graphic Equalizer and Parametric Equalizer, I found out, but I have lots more to learn, like should I choose PEQ or GEQ??? :) The Everse8 is very sensitive to EQ; on my Galaxy phone, I discovered that I had to choose the right EQ on the phone (for example Pop or Classical or Jazz etc) to get the best results by Bluetooth. Or I could adjust EQ on the speaker. I didn't have to struggle like this with the Bluetooth speakers I have!
Anyhow, bottom line is this:
The Everse8 is NOT for you if you just want to play music or karaoke at a party; no Sir! You need to know quite a bit about Pro sound, know about EQs etc. etc. The mic preamps on the S1Pro are pretty piss poor; I had to use a mixer to get good volume. Whereas I am delighted that you get terrific and rich sound with the Everse8 using a dynamic microphone. Phantom power only on input 1 by the way. After a couple of hours of adjusting, tweaking and experimenting, I have decided I did the right thing trading in the S1Pro for this Everse8. I have much more to learn though, I think, with the EQs for a microphone.
Thanks for this video, but you have only scratched the surface; the speaker is meant for vocals and/or guitar and backing tracks from inputs 3/4. Just playing music, as in this video, will absolutely not help people decide! In fact, to me the S1Pro sounded better on this video! :)

[mclevit]

Listen from minute 11.12 .listen only to the snare drum sound coming out from both monitors..
I can tell a big difference in the frequencies of both monitors, the snare drum on the everse 8 sounders smashed as against the bose S1 one which sounded very flat and musical, the bose is cleaner in all the frequencies/the Everse is kind of hyped on the low frequency, for a professional listener stand point the bose is far superior in sound quality

[ksukhia]

One thing to consider: The S1 Pro uses an array of drivers (3 pointing in diff directions supported by a 4th LF driver) vs the EV which is a 2way design (ie a HF+LF 2 driver config like a typical PA speaker). This means the dispersion characteristics are going to be different and is also the reason the EV will certainly win on SPL when measured at a single point in space (as it would be by the measurement mic picking up a 1khz signal fed into the speaker). The S1's strength is that when playing program material, it will provide about 90db evenly over a wider coverage area vs the EV which is going to blast 100+ db in more of a beam of focused sound towards a part of the audience. Different tools for different jobs in some ways. The S1 is designed to provide a good overall sound to a wider audience while sacrificing some energy (bass) and overall volume. The EV will throw its sound to a narrower slice of the audience but will hit harder and louder, meaning it really needs multiple units for even coverage. But two EV's would give excellent coverage and sound beating the S1 hands down sonically, but then youre paying a lot more to get that. That is why the S1 makes a good case for itself, usually it is just 'enough' to satisfy most needs.

[crazyndn]

Best way to do a sound comparison is not having a break in between the two and bounce them back and forth to compare easier.

[imwoody]

I have owned the Bose S1 ever since they were introduced. It’s a great little speaker that I use for small gatherings at church for worship. I use it all the time to run my Spotify library through it. The only thing I don’t like is the slide switch for tone match. I think it sounds terrible with guitar and vocals. I also recently bought a EV Evolve 30 for regular church services. It sounds great too. I love both.

[jerometellidua]

Hi Brian! good job. on my own sound preference, I love the sound of EV-E8 with more wider sound and defined bass than Bose S1

[jerrybooth]

I've been using the Bose S1 Pro for over 3 years, almost exclusively as a ceremony and/or cocktail hour set-up. At the time, it was the closest thing to a total package for my needs (sound, convenience, portability). It has served me extremely well for those three years and I couldn't be more pleased with it. That said, a video like this is really (!) helpful for anyone who is looking to buy their first battery powered system or is adding to their inventory. For my needs and for how I use them, it would likely come down to price and availability. I don't think there's a wrong answer and, as Brian said, it's up to each of us to decide. Thanks Brian -- another great video

[steveball]

Hi Brian, great comparison video. To my ear the EV seems to win on this occasion. It sounds deeper and richer and a little crisper.

[djRockalot]

The EV seem to have a slightly richer sound. Wonder if it handles bass better than the S1. I've been using them awhile and that's my only gripe.
I do like the receiver tray option with power port & the usb-c charging port

[jreid]

Thanks for doing this. I have a Bose S1 that we use mostly for live vocal monitoring. I like it, but I'm also always looking at what's new and what might do better than what we currently are using. To me, the EV seems to have a little more bass extension. Both sound good.

[djsmuru]

Just showing some love. Appreciate your videos!

[garygohmusic]

The Everse 8 sounds better to me, deeper punching bass and a bit more airiness and fidelity (but also slightly harsh). The S1 Pro sounds great live already so this EV must sound even better live. Did you have a preference when you heard them side-by-side?

[borg]

Hard to imagine anything sounding better than a bose in this category. I have 2 of them and often only use one because they sound so good.
On the Bose connect, the only thing there is being able to connect 2 speakers together in either mono or stereo mode. I've never seen any other options such as power level remaining etc.

That being said, I am open to the EV being it has all the bells and whistles that are handy, which I can't believe Bose has never added yet. Pretty pitiful on their behalf being that even the cheapest of speakers have all the bells and whistles already.

[johnlane]

Thanks for this Brian, I’m a big Bose S1 pro fan. I have two! I wondered about the EV comparison on sound.

[vadimmartynyuk]

EV just sounds more pleasant, detailed and smoother

[MrDJMikieMike]

I have the JBL EON ONE and it’s ok but it hits the limit mark quick.

[normanlotz]

I just bought the everse and I'm happy. The bose is easier to operate and has a nice polished sound. The Everse is louder, brighter and has stronger deeper bass. The everse provides phantom power on one input. The everse's most important advantage is the quality of the app that drives it. It's solid. Including auto adjusts for everything from bass guitar through speaking voice, 30 dynachord dsp effects, multiple graphic eqs and a powerful parametric eq. Most importantly you can name and save your settings and recall them as needed. In this product, they've teamed up with Bosch. It's a pro piece of gear.

[robrobbins]

I am always amazed by how many people love the BOSE sound. BOSE has never been known for their sound quality. Also, a PA speaker is not meant to sound like a studio monitor or a home stereo speaker. A proper PA speaker should strive to be neutral.

[MichaelNatrin]

Great video. The Everse looks nice. I use the JBL Eon One compact since I needed to have phantom power available. Mostly happy, but it could be louder. As a bonus, the USB power output on the back of it can power our wireless mic receiver.

[alanmatthews]

Hi Brian, thanks for the demo, it's a pity you couldn't have run the EV's flat the same as the Bose without taking out the mid frequencies and using music mode as that adds more bass.