Edifier R1280T Powered Speaker Review

[infinitesymphony]

Woah thank you, been sampling both of them and the audio feels quite diffetent, didn't expect to "squish" more performance of my speakers, thanks to all of you for the support.

That's fantastic. After you have some more hours on the new curves, can you give us some subjective impressions with/without EQ?

 

[Kyourai]

That's fantastic. After you have some more hours on the new curves, can you give us some subjective impressions with/without EQ?

Yes of course, it'll be a nice excuse to listen to some music and watch some movies.

 

[Kyourai]

So as the days passed I've been testing the new settings for my Edifier speakers and I can say clearly what I think now:

Before I had some "trouble" with some songs I randomly played as they were "too bass heavy" now I feel like it has gone down like between 10-20% and feels a little more clearer to listen to, even the ones I listen to daily it feels different, much better.

In movies, for example The Dark Knight, there were some parts when the sound was a little "muffled", dunno if that's the right word but sounded weird, now it doesn't at any % volume lvl I choose.

In games as I don't use them as often for since I have headphones, sound is a little bit better, even the music in World of Warcraft sounds better with them!

Overall the speakers are now WAY better than "stock" and I can happily say that I'm gonna keep them till I have budget for something better as I have to do more research for them and when I do change them they are going to be my "new" HTPC speakers for content consumption. Many thanks to all of you who helped me out with this, honestly didn't expect the difference to be this noticeable as I'm a little sensitive to hearing some things and now I can enjoy my speakers more.

Again, thank you.

 

[vegetiger]

Hi just got a pair of Edifier R1280DB (i think its quite similiar to R1280T?) Anyway, was planning to get Topping E30 DAC for PC setup.

Is it recommended or will improve the music quality?

Found that using Optical from PC the sound is abit muffled, and switched to RCA/3.5mm jack, the sound become much clearer.

Many thanks

 

[infinitesymphony]

Hi just got a pair of Edifier R1280DB (i think its quite similiar to R1280T?) Anyway, was planning to get Topping E30 DAC for PC setup.

Is it recommended or will improve the music quality?

Found that using Optical from PC the sound is abit muffled, and switched to RCA/3.5mm jack, the sound become much clearer.

Many thanks

It's possible. The built-in DAC in the R1280DB is probably not great. Will the change be a night and day difference? It just depends on how bad the speaker DAC is. It's also possible that the output volume from your PC is louder, driving the speaker input a little harder, and that this volume increase is perceived as better sound quality. Can't hurt to try something different in any case. What kind of PC do you have? If it doesn't have a fantastic DAC, you might start with the Apple USB-C to headphone jack adapter for $9 as a test.

 

[infinitesymphony]

This is a pet idea that's been rolling around in my head ever since I saw the post-EQ results for the Edifier R1280Ts.

How would these sound integrated with a cheap large subwoofer like the Dayton SUB-1200? I'm thinking that post-EQ, these two components could be a budget killer setup with true full range for $250. The SUB-1200 needs its own feed because it has no outputs, so use an output splitter at the source and add Y-adapters to send stereo RCAs to both the R1280Ts and the SUB-1200.

 

[escape2]

How would these sound integrated with a cheap large subwoofer like the Dayton SUB-1200?

Pretty much any bookshelf speaker will benefit from addition of a sub, and this Edifier should be no different in that respect, although the Dayton SUB-1200 is likely far from being musical, but if you're on a tight budget, why not.

I'm thinking that post-EQ, these two components could be a budget killer setup with true full range for $250. The SUB-1200 needs its own feed because it has no outputs, so use an output splitter at the source and add Y-adapters to send stereo RCAs to both the R1280Ts and the SUB-1200.

The updated R1280Ts already has a dedicated subwoofer out port, but I don't know how clean it is, so you may still be better off with your original plan.

 

[infinitesymphony]

Pretty much any bookshelf speaker will benefit from addition of a sub, and this Edifier should be no different in that respect, although the Dayton SUB-1200 is likely far from being musical, but if you're on a tight budget, why not.

Isn't musicality the result of controlling resonances with room placement, treatment, and EQ? If the subwoofer is doing strange stuff on its own I suppose that is a different problem. I just picked the SUB-1200 as an example because it's cheap, often-mentioned, and the specs say it goes down to 25 Hz, though who knows what it's like down there. The R1280Ts look like they need help below 70 Hz.

The updated R1280Ts already has a dedicated subwoofer out port, but I don't know how clean it is, so you may still be better off with your original plan.

That would make things even easier but I'm having trouble finding one with that feature. Have a link?

 

[sweetchaos]

That would make things even easier but I'm having trouble finding one with that feature. Have a link?

R1280Ts (with subwoofer out) is currently $5 more than R1280T (with no subwoofer out).

 

[infinitesymphony]

R1280Ts (with subwoofer out) is currently $5 more than R1280T (with no subwoofer out).
View attachment 89865

Wow, that should have been easier for me to find. Hiding in plain sight!

It seems Edifier are a step ahead of me with what looks like a matching subwoofer, the Edifier T5 for $130. Probably a more appropriate match from a design perspective, but its 8" woofer only goes down to 38 Hz, so you gain around 1 octave below the R1208Ts alone. 25 Hz should add something like 1/2 octave below that.

 

[sweetchaos]

It seems Edifier are a step ahead of me with what looks like a matching subwoofer, the Edifier T5 for $130. Probably a more appropriate match from a design perspective, but its 8" woofer only goes down to 38 Hz, so you gain around 1 octave below the R1208Ts alone. 25 Hz should add 1/3rd octave below that.

I would avoid, since we don't have CEA2010 measurements for this unit, so we can't judge it's actual performance.
But for around $100, you have several options. See Erin's latest sub CEA2010 measurements. I'm personally waiting until Erin reviews (*hopefully by end of the year*) the Dayton Sub-1200, before committing to more purchases, haha.

 

[escape2]

Isn't musicality the result of controlling resonances with room placement, treatment, and EQ? If the subwoofer is doing strange stuff on its own I suppose that is a different problem.

A lot of the cheap subs are "one note wonders." Pretty much most sounds coming out of them are a similarly sounding "thump." They struggle to clearly articulate different bass tones. Maybe it has to do with poor control of the driver due to weak amp? Not sure. Still, it'll be better than no sub at all.

I just picked the SUB-1200 as an example because it's cheap, often-mentioned, and the specs say it goes down to 25 Hz, though who knows what it's like down there.

If it's primarily for music duty, then I wouldn't be too concerned about very low frequency extension. Most music material doesn't go much below 30 Hz.

A relatively weak amp will probably not offer great control over a large driver. For music duty, I think I'd rather go for a slightly smaller driver and a better amp instead, sealed enclosure preferably.

 

[vegetiger]

It's possible. The built-in DAC in the R1280DB is probably not great. Will the change be a night and day difference? It just depends on how bad the speaker DAC is. It's also possible that the output volume from your PC is louder, driving the speaker input a little harder, and that this volume increase is perceived as better sound quality. Can't hurt to try something different in any case. What kind of PC do you have? If it doesn't have a fantastic DAC, you might start with the Apple USB-C to headphone jack adapter for $9 as a test.

Im using Desktop Asus Z170 pro gaming. Regarding volume, actually im just open around mid, im using in room so wont using loud volume anyway. By changing to RCA/3.5mm jack, the pc is able to select 24bit 192khz, while if using optical it only support 44khz-48khz only. Thats why i think the built in speaker DAC is bad. I was just wondering will change to E30 will be a big difference?

 

[Yuno]

Im using Desktop Asus Z170 pro gaming. Regarding volume, actually im just open around mid, im using in room so wont using loud volume anyway. By changing to RCA/3.5mm jack, the pc is able to select 24bit 192khz, while if using optical it only support 44khz-48khz only. Thats why i think the built in speaker DAC is bad. I was just wondering will change to E30 will be a big difference?

There is no audible difference between 24bit 44.1kHz and anything above it. For that matter, 99% of the music you listen to is mastered at 44.1kHz so if you have your audio setup any higher than that you are just oversampling.
Spending money on a dac for speakers this cheap is pretty much pointless, unless you can hear any audible noise from your soundcard. I wouldn't bother. Remember that this thing has a built in amp that is far from perfect.

 

[infinitesymphony]

Im using Desktop Asus Z170 pro gaming. Regarding volume, actually im just open around mid, im using in room so wont using loud volume anyway. By changing to RCA/3.5mm jack, the pc is able to select 24bit 192khz, while if using optical it only support 44khz-48khz only. Thats why i think the built in speaker DAC is bad. I was just wondering will change to E30 will be a big difference?

The ASUS Z170 has SupremeFX for audio, which appears to use the Realtek ALC1150 codec. From its datasheet:

While the E30 would be an improvement spec-wise, you may or may not hear a difference. The difference you're hearing now is not likely to be due to bit-depth or sampling rate, it's more likely due to the DAC chip and implementation inside the speaker.

 

[infinitesymphony]

The TAS5713 could limit the speaker's performance to 48 kHz -- the datasheet for it lists 8 kHz - 48 kHz sampling rate support.

It seems like the speaker's built-in ADC and DSP may convert everything to digital no matter what as part of the amplification process. A bit unclear about that.

Here's a shot of the R1280DB board:

 

[vegetiger]

The ASUS Z170 has SupremeFX for audio, which appears to use the Realtek ALC1150 codec. From its datasheet:

View attachment 90021

While the E30 would be an improvement spec-wise, you may or may not hear a difference. The difference you're hearing now is not likely to be due to bit-depth or sampling rate, it's more likely due to the DAC chip and implementation inside the speaker.

Ya i think the Asus chip is actually not that bad? But if not able to hear difference if i buy E30...then i might jusst buy the Sennheiser TWB instead hahaha.

I actually tried to find other speaker but due to space limitation and A2+ is more expensive thats why ended up Edifier T_T

 

[vegetiger]

There is no audible difference between 24bit 44.1kHz and anything above it. For that matter, 99% of the music you listen to is mastered at 44.1kHz so if you have your audio setup any higher than that you are just oversampling.
Spending money on a dac for speakers this cheap is pretty much pointless, unless you can hear any audible noise from your soundcard. I wouldn't bother. Remember that this thing has a built in amp that is far from perfect.

Thats quite true. Currently 99% of songs i hear is FLAC 16bit 44khz. I cant find 24 bit 96khz anywhere....is quite difficult to find especially older songs.

 

[somebodyelse]

Hi just got a pair of Edifier R1280DB (i think its quite similiar to R1280T?) Anyway, was planning to get Topping E30 DAC for PC setup.

Is it recommended or will improve the music quality?

Found that using Optical from PC the sound is abit muffled, and switched to RCA/3.5mm jack, the sound become much clearer.

Many thanks

Based on the board photo from @infinitesymphony everything's going digital at no more than 48kHz when it hits the amp chip, so the digital inputs ought to be better as they avoid an extra digital->analog->digital round trip. That's assuming they're not applying different EQ to different inputs - you'd think that would be a given, but bluetooth headsets have been found applying different eq to different codecs, so who knows.

The amp chip has quite a lot of DSP available which makes me wonder how much better the speaker could perform with a firmware update. Perhaps the sample to sample variation is just too big though.

 

[infinitesymphony]

Yeah, who knows what the signal path differences look like when using analog or digital inputs. You'd think both would hit the Burr-Brown PCM9211 because it does both S/PDIF transceiving and ADC, and then go to the TAS5713. The latter amp chip does have some cool DSP and I'd be curious to know how much of it they're using:

Programmable Two-Band Dynamic-Range Control
22 Programmable Biquads for Speaker EQ and Other Audio-Processing Features

The crossover is a single capacitor at least on the R1280T. You'd think they'd be relying pretty heavily on DSP to make up the difference: