Edifier MR3, I'm impressed - with MLP measurements

[DWPress]

Serious near field listening is something I haven't ever really done. Desktop speakers were more utilitarian because my computer desk is only 4' off the MLP of my big system but at a right angle so my right ear was always getting the direct sound.

For years I've had a pair of PreSonus Eris 3.5 gen1 monitors at my desk for casual Youtube or FaceTime use. I got these because of their size and it was before they were widely reviewed - they totally suck. Last week I scored a pair of the MR3's for $80 delivered, they're basically the same size and even the plug and speaker terminal connections are the same so a "drop in" replacement. But not really because I added some proper speaker wall mounts to make life easier accessing the back settings, cable routing and allowing for proper vertical orientation. The 34" WQHD monitor is still in the way a bit but we work with what we got right?

After putting them in place I did a quick REW sweep and discovered the joys of near field reflections and deduced immediately that the 2x4 stud cavities they are nested in were a major problem so whipped out some absorber panels covered in cloth and placed them in the "ceiling" which helped a lot but still not ideal. Now that I have measurably decent speakers that were now oriented for ideal M/T dispersion it was time to get to work. After tweaking the treble/bass controls on the back of the speaker this is the first ballpark sweep along with the target curve I typically use in my main system although the main system goes down below 20Hz:

Doesn't look anything like Erin's graphs does it? Fear not my friends because DSP is your friend and I discovered that a full range correction can actually be a good thing when the room is out of the equation - with my big system I generally don't correct anything above 380Hz. So after about an hour of just playing in REW I came up with individual L&R FIR filters which I plugged into SIR3 (a plugin hosted by SoundSource on my Mac) + a couple PEQ filters also within SIR3 and this is what I came up with:

Compare the before and after:

Impulse, distortion, Step, Spectrogram and Waterfall from calibrated SPL measurement:



The minimum phase FIR filters I made have no noticeable delay for video and I've been having a blast the past couple days browsing through YouTube for decent live performances, especially the NPR Tiny Desk Concerts which are pretty amazing. Inevitably I'd watched plenty of this content before on the Presonus speakers but WOW, just WOW - nearly the resolution of my big system although the F3 is at 56Hz and SPL maxes out at a comfortable 93dB with both speakers playing.

For the money I paid, $110 including the new speaker mounts, this is an incredible upgrade and I have a new appreciation for near field listening sitting about 30" off the pair. It's amazing what a little 2 way with a 3.5" driver can do with a little DSP. Currently, I'm just using the 3.5mm jack on my Mac mini to the RCA inputs on the MR3's but I've got a crappy old 8" Sony sub I'm going to throw under the desk once the TRS cables I ordered arrive and I'll run these 2.1 with sub XO going through the Scarlett 6i6 that usually only gets turned on for doing speaker or room measurements and all connections will be via balanced TRS.

So stay tuned for PART II of these tiny little gems.

Edit: added step response

 

[Marc v E]

Serious near field listening is something I haven't ever really done. Desktop speakers were more utilitarian because my computer desk is only 4' off the MLP of my big system but at a right angle so my right ear was always getting the direct sound.

For years I've had a pair of PreSonus Eris 3.5 gen1 monitors at my desk for casual Youtube or FaceTime use. I got these because of their size and it was before they were widely reviewed - they totally suck. Last week I scored a pair of the MR3's for $80 delivered, they're basically the same size and even the plug and speaker terminal connections are the same so a "drop in" replacement. But not really because I added some proper speaker wall mounts to make life easier accessing the back settings and cable routing and allowing for proper vertical orientation. The 34" WQHD monitor is still in the way a bit but we work with what we got right?

View attachment 547823 View attachment 547825

After putting them in place I did a quick REW sweep and discovered the joys of near field reflections and deduced immediately that the 2x4 stud cavities they are nested in were a major problem so whipped out some absorber panels covered in cloth and placed them in the "ceiling" which helped a lot but still not ideal. Now that I have measurably decent speakers that were now oriented for ideal M/T dispersion it was time to get to work. After tweaking the treble/bass controls on the back of the speaker this is the first ballpark sweep along with the target curve I typically use in my main system although the main system goes down below 20Hz:

View attachment 547839

Doesn't look anything like Erin's graphs does it? Fear not my friends because DSP is your friend and I discovered that a full range correction can actually be a good thing - with my big system I generally don't correct anything above 380Hz. So after about an hour of just playing in REW I came up with individual L&R FIR filters which I plugged into SIR3 (a plugin hosted by SoundSource on my Mac) + a couple PEQ filters also within SIR3 and this is what I came up with:

View attachment 547843

Compare the before and after:

View attachment 547842

Impulse, distortion, Spectrogram and Waterfall from calibrated SPL measurement:

View attachment 547840 View attachment 547847 View attachment 547841 View attachment 547844

The FIR filters have no noticeable delay for video and I've been having a blast the past couple days browsing through YouTube for decent live performances, especially the NPR Tiny Desk Concerts which are pretty amazing. Inevitably I'd watched plenty of this content before on the Presonus speakers but WOW, just WOW - nearly the resolution of my big system although the F3 is at 56Hz and SPL maxes out at a comfortable 93dB with both speakers playing.

For the money I paid, $110 including the new speaker mounts, this is an incredible upgrade and I have a new appreciation for near field listening sitting about 30" off the pair. It's amazing what a little 2 way with a 3.5" driver can do with a little DSP. Currently, I'm just using the 3.5mm jack on my Mac mini to the RCA inputs on the MR3's but I've got a crappy old 8" Sony sub I'm going to throw under the desk once the TRS cables I ordered arrive and I'll run these 2.1 with sub XO going through the Scarlett 6i6 that usually only gets turned on for doing speaker or room measurements and all connections will be via balanced TRS.

So stay tuned for PART II of these tiny little gems.

Love it.
Got a similar experience with just some old Genelec 8030A in desktop setup.
Adding a sub and eq made them incredible.

 

[DWPress]

And this is total peanuts money for what people will pay for a DAC or new amp and not hear a single (measurable/ABX) difference. Research and some DSP can turn this new generation of mini monitors into something I would actually feel comfortable mixing audio with. I was going to spring for the IK Multimedia iLouds or HiVi-Swans but looking at specs and reviews these MR3's were the perfect swap and considerably cheaper.

Critical Notes:
The unpowered left speaker has a resonance I can hear during sweeps and tones but not noticeable in general listening. I could return them for a replacement but won't.

For my use the bluetooth app and its EQ is useless or even detrimental. The FIR filters I made are designed around the "Monitor" mode speaker setting and only using B/T knobs on the back. Using most features on the app will take it out of Monitor mode and ruin the filters. Something to keep in mind if you're doing EQ in FIR or IIR in front of the signal going to these speakers.

 

[Tio]

And this is total peanuts money for what people will pay for a DAC or new amp and not hear a single (measurable/ABX) difference. Research and some DSP can turn this new generation of mini monitors into something I would actually feel comfortable mixing audio with. I was going to spring for the IK Multimedia iLouds or HiVi-Swans but looking at specs and reviews these MR3's were the perfect swap and considerably cheaper.

Critical Notes:
The unpowered left speaker has a resonance I can hear during sweeps and tones but not noticeable in general listening. I could return them for a replacement but won't.

For my use the bluetooth app and its EQ is useless or even detrimental. The FIR filters I made are designed around the "Monitor" mode speaker setting and only using B/T knobs on the back. Using most features on the app will take it out of Monitor mode and ruin the filters. Something to keep in mind if you're doing EQ in FIR or IIR in front of the signal going to these speakers.

Mine produces a weird sound during REW single sweeps at a specific frequency. I didn't check which frequency, but it happens somewhere in the middle of the sweep. It occurs on both the left and right speakers. However, it doesn't happen when using MMM or RTA, so I just ignore it because I never hear it when playing music or watching movies.

Room correction is essential in my use case. When it's applied properly, the sound becomes very clear. When I'm sitting at the MLP, it feels like the sound is coming from my laptop screen rather than the speakers. So far, these are the best desktop speakers I could afford.

 

[DWPress]

As promised, last night I dug out an ancient Sony SA WMS230 sub only to discover it had been turned into a mouse nest, chewed wires and all - the AC wiring was completely missing any shielding, lucky it didn't catch fire when I first turned it on. I tore it apart and got out my soldering iron and fixed it all up and added it into the mix. After all that work I discovered how crappy the 6.5" sub actually is, it was part of a cheap HT package so I should have known. It actually has about the same roll off as the MR3's in an enclosure big enough for 4 MR3!

It only made the frequency response worse naturally and didn't have enough power to match SPL:

After wasting 4 hours on the project that's as far as I went so now I'm looking at building a small sub with a Peerless SLS-P830946 and just reusing the Sony box with much more bracing and damping. I've got a few gen1 ICEpower125ASX2 laying around and if I set up one of them BTL it'll be more than enough power and perform way better than any of the plate amps Amir has recently reviewed.

​

 

[DWPress]

Ok, round three. I didn't expect to come back to this so quick but I found a good local deal on a 12" Klipsch R-120SW which is way overkill but certainly does the job and well hidden anyway in the corner under my desk a mere 3' away. The volume knob is hovering around "1"

After a couple hours making space, hooking it up and measuring I've come up with something I can live with until a revisit. The Klipsch has a 12dB adjustable HP filter and I just matched it up as best I could around 60Hz. I haven't run multichannel DSP with my 6i6 yet - this is all from the headphone out port on my Mac mini and a splitter going to the sub and other to the RCA jacks on the MR3. I'm only applying a stereo FIR filter to the signal via Hang Loose Convolver hosted in SoundSource app.

Before and after, F3 is now at 31Hz, that's huge extension on these tiny 3.5" monitors! It could use a bit more work but good enough for now. Sounds great at the moment even with some really bass heavy tunes and playing the MR3's at -3dB full volume I'm getting 97dB peaks on my SPL meter and it still sounds really good with no hint of distortion. The bass isn't as refined as my main system, not as "musical" but still very enjoyable. This near field stuff is fun!

Next time I'll see what Dirac does to it maybe. I tried GSonic but couldn't get good results for some reason though it's worked beautifully in the past. Stay tuned for further updates when I actually separate it into 3 channel and can do some sub EQ. Other graphs below for giggles.

 

[Marc v E]

(...)

Before and after, F3 is now at 31Hz, that's huge extension on these tiny 3.5" monitors! It could use a bit more work but good enough for now. Sounds great at the moment even with some really bass heavy tunes and playing the MR3's at -3dB full volume I'm getting 97dB peaks on my SPL meter and it still sounds really good with no hint of distortion. The bass isn't as refined as my main system, not as "musical" but still very enjoyable. This near field stuff is fun!

The huge fun I get out of it is exactly why I keep listening to my desktop setup.
It's easy to set up and so rewarding to upgrade. Straightforward and good.

 

[DWPress]

With this budget and results I will be looking at near field set up threads by hopeful future music producers with more scrutiny.

 

[Sid.618]

Serious near field listening is something I haven't ever really done. Desktop speakers were more utilitarian because my computer desk is only 4' off the MLP of my big system but at a right angle so my right ear was always getting the direct sound.

For years I've had a pair of PreSonus Eris 3.5 gen1 monitors at my desk for casual Youtube or FaceTime use. I got these because of their size and it was before they were widely reviewed - they totally suck. Last week I scored a pair of the MR3's for $80 delivered, they're basically the same size and even the plug and speaker terminal connections are the same so a "drop in" replacement. But not really because I added some proper speaker wall mounts to make life easier accessing the back settings, cable routing and allowing for proper vertical orientation. The 34" WQHD monitor is still in the way a bit but we work with what we got right?

View attachment 547823 View attachment 547825

After putting them in place I did a quick REW sweep and discovered the joys of near field reflections and deduced immediately that the 2x4 stud cavities they are nested in were a major problem so whipped out some absorber panels covered in cloth and placed them in the "ceiling" which helped a lot but still not ideal. Now that I have measurably decent speakers that were now oriented for ideal M/T dispersion it was time to get to work. After tweaking the treble/bass controls on the back of the speaker this is the first ballpark sweep along with the target curve I typically use in my main system although the main system goes down below 20Hz:

View attachment 547839

Doesn't look anything like Erin's graphs does it? Fear not my friends because DSP is your friend and I discovered that a full range correction can actually be a good thing when the room is out of the equation - with my big system I generally don't correct anything above 380Hz. So after about an hour of just playing in REW I came up with individual L&R FIR filters which I plugged into SIR3 (a plugin hosted by SoundSource on my Mac) + a couple PEQ filters also within SIR3 and this is what I came up with:

View attachment 547843

Compare the before and after:

View attachment 547842

Impulse, distortion, Step, Spectrogram and Waterfall from calibrated SPL measurement:

View attachment 547840 View attachment 547847 View attachment 547857 View attachment 547841 View attachment 547844

The minimum phase FIR filters I made have no noticeable delay for video and I've been having a blast the past couple days browsing through YouTube for decent live performances, especially the NPR Tiny Desk Concerts which are pretty amazing. Inevitably I'd watched plenty of this content before on the Presonus speakers but WOW, just WOW - nearly the resolution of my big system although the F3 is at 56Hz and SPL maxes out at a comfortable 93dB with both speakers playing.

For the money I paid, $110 including the new speaker mounts, this is an incredible upgrade and I have a new appreciation for near field listening sitting about 30" off the pair. It's amazing what a little 2 way with a 3.5" driver can do with a little DSP. Currently, I'm just using the 3.5mm jack on my Mac mini to the RCA inputs on the MR3's but I've got a crappy old 8" Sony sub I'm going to throw under the desk once the TRS cables I ordered arrive and I'll run these 2.1 with sub XO going through the Scarlett 6i6 that usually only gets turned on for doing speaker or room measurements and all connections will be via balanced TRS.

So stay tuned for PART II of these tiny little gems.

Edit: added step response

thanks for the tips, im learning already, just learned room eq wizard, digital signal processors and main listening position abbreviations, im gona get REW now, cheers.