Confused with Edifier M60 vs MR3 comparisons.

[phazoner]

Hi, I'm looking for a basic pair of speakers with no additional subwoofer, to enhance the sound of my desktop. My screen is a 42" LG C2 TV which doesn't give such a basic sound experience as a monitor or garbage speakers, but I'm not very happy about how it sounds and the back of the monitor is set against a interior window with a weid form that isn't helping to make the sound bounce and resonate properly. I mostly play videogames on it and I have to crank the volume up to 12+ to get voices to sound OK, which is kind of annoying because the overall sound volume gets too high.

I've been melting my brain with low budget comparisons and seems like in Europe Eadifier takes the cake. But I'm going crazy with models. R1700BT/s are better than R1855, MR3 and M60 seem to be better than any R1xxx Series... But I'm also finding contradictory opinions on M60 vs MR3. E.g. in this thread from this very same forum a user says MR3 are just way better. On the other hand, reviews like this one or this one put the M60 as a clear winner :/

Maybe saying I do not want them for a studio flat sound but for entertainment can ease the comparison if you know which one should give a richer experience overall. Thing is, the praise on MR3 I saw in that thread of this forum truly confused me. The M60 is supposed to have better tech, "real active sound" (whatever that means), integrated DAC, etc.

What am I missing here? Thank you all in advance

 

[somebodyelse]

I've not seen any measurements of the M60 so far, so it's hard to judge. Erin's MR3 review shows good performance for the price, both in on axis response and in directivity. There are some resonance issues that show both on axis and as discontinuities in directivity, but they are narrow so might not bee too obvious - Erin didn't have a major problem with them. Both use the same app, and apparently have graphic EQ available, allowing you to change the response if you don't like it flat. The decent directivity means they will respond well to EQ too. I would prefer to see parametric EQ - maybe we'll get that in a later update? Both have built in ADC and DAC with the EQ done in DSP. They have quite different inputs though, targeting different use cases. The MR3 has a relatively simple passive crossover with one amp driving both woofer and tweeter. The M60 has separate amps for woofer and tweeter, so presumably an active crossover, probably done in DSP. In theory that should allow them to implement a better crossover, but there is a potential down side too - the passive crossover may reduce hiss levels relative to the active arrangement, although it is possible to engineer active without hiss. I've not seen anything definitive on it for these models.

For me the subjective reviews are only good for telling you how well the day to day aspects work, like ease of use. I would ignore them for anything about how they sound.

 

[AnalogSteph]

How are you planning to connect the speakers? Either 3.5mm or Bluetooth, I guess? (Don't forget to set AV Sync for the latter.)

As a rule of thumb, the biggest determining factor in a speaker's bass output capability is its volume, even ahead of driver size. So in a usage scenario that's not purely desktop / nearfield, I would rather steer clear of a small 3" model like the M60, and potentially add the trusty MR4 to the list instead (even if that lacks several features present in the newer MR3 and has seemingly gone through some iterations). Not sure I would particularly trust any of the older R1xxx models, their tuning can be quite bathtub-y.

I would agree that the MR3 is quite a well-rounded package, certainly so for the price, and I am quite happy with them as my kitchen speakers (there is a pretty gnarly room mode in the bass, but that's not their fault). Should be a nice step up from TV speakers, just not sure whether that'll be enough even so.

 

[NotInYourHead]

Edifier N300 (M60) 리뷰 Audio-re

2way ported, 74.4 Hz (-6dB)

audiore.kr

So far the only Klippel measurement for the M60 by @Nuyes
It's hella bright, with rising treble response from 3KHz, and lacks low-end extension versus MR3.
I'd recommend the MR5 if you want to use standalone speakers without a sub, as it can reach 50Hz with the internal 5-inch woofer. Visually it's not a lot larger compared to MR3.

 

[AnalogSteph]

So far the only Klippel measurement for the M60 by @Nuyes
It's hella bright, with rising treble response from 3KHz, and lacks low-end extension versus MR3.

The latter is not a real surprise, it's a tiny speaker after all. The former, well, I guess the low end is expected to be boosted by boundary gain from the desk, resulting in kind of a bathtub response.

I'd recommend the MR5 if you want to use standalone speakers without a sub, as it can reach 50Hz with the internal 5-inch woofer. Visually it's not a lot larger compared to MR3.

However, it's also substantially more expensive (around 250€ from what I can tell). I'm under the impression that the OP wasn't looking to spend quite that much, plus this is starting to approach price regions with a lot more options in general.

 

[BWTH]

Had to replace an older pair in the office last week. The M60 were not an option connectivity wise. Only usb in the back doesn't do it for me.

I have Mr3 (home office)and version one Mr4 (alternative for sound bar in smaller room) at home. Both sound ok when eq'ed a bit. I like the overall tonality of the Mr3 better than the Mr4. The Mr4 though has significant more volume when it comes to bass and are going a bit louder overall (92 vs 86 db)

As I have to run them flat in the office (on corporate equipment) I got the Mr3 as replacement. They are lovely and more bass or volume would be a problem (with team members) anyways.

At home, without sub and mainly for listening music or movies I'm in-between them ... It's nice to have a little bit of bass present and this is totally missing when moving a bit away from the Mr3. But in a direct comparison setup the Mr3 was clearly more precise than the Mr4, I could hear details of acoustic Instruments that were missing from the Mr4. Vocals also had more to them coming from the Mr3.

From 8k upwards the Mr3 sounds more controlled (less prominent) which I like, they are luckily not "Hi-Fi".

 

[ninetylol]

MR4 vs M60 MMM RTA no EQ
View attachment 463164

View attachment 463165

 

[malone-m]

M60 measured by Erin (most likely in default "music" mode)

Measurements for speaker Edifier M60

www.spinorama.org

 

[Get a hearing test]

Was torn between the MR4 and MR3. The MR4 goes for about €85, and the MR3 is €73 on a huge discount right now, down from €120 to €150. Even if the hype is a lie, I don’t think I can get better sound this cheap. Everyone says you can get “much” better sound from x thing, but then they start listing $300 to $400 speakers or a $500 to $600 passive speaker plus amp combo. Well no shit, you’re spending 5 to 6 times the price. If they were €120 to €150, sure, I could make an argument to double that and get a €300 pair. But at €72, you can’t make that comparison or budget leap.
I know over here we chase 2 to 5 to 10 percent audio quality gains for 4 to 10 times price differences, but come on. The last time I used speakers on a PC was 10 to 15 years ago, and I’m sure they’ve come a long way since. So regardless of how they sound relative to anything else, it’s going to be an absurd upgrade over my last speaker setup, which is my reference. Not knowing better is easier on your wallet. Learned that after going from an LCD to an OLED monitor, 4K at that. Had to upgrade the whole system because I couldn’t go back to ****** IPS screen.
Lastly, why I went with the MR3. The EQ app, and most people say it’s more controlled and neutral. Someone noted it has less separation than the MR4, but others pointed out it might be a placement or EQ issue. I’m not a bass head and won’t be playing them loud during normal use, unless I’m working out. But since they’re near field, whatever the hell that is, I assume that means meant for under 1 meter use, so I doubt they’ll sound good from across the room, but I don’t care. Headphones can be fatiguing, and the head dent is wearing thin on me.

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