Just bought a set of edifier mr4 to upgrade my "worthless Logitech junk", and don't know how I feel about them and where to go from here.

[MintSpeak]

So my good trustly ol Logitech z120 finally started to break, the left speaker is starting to malfunction.
So I searched for a new set of speakers, went down the audiosciencerevirew rabbithole and discovered most gaming speakers are apparently junk, and decided on buying a mr4, which is apparently still considering junk, but much better.

Spent a whole day researching and testing positioning for them, ended up positioning them horizontally, at ear level, with 20 degree toe in.

And I did all this work, but right from the start something about them just felt uncomfortable.
At first it was the treble from being directly at my ears, but now after the adjustments they sound much better and pleasing, and yet, they simply don't sound.. homely.
They sound like some kind of wannabe home theater than a good pair of speakers to comfortably listen to music and play games.

The old pair of speakers and even my hyperx cloud ii headset which I despised, sound worse, but they both are much more comfortable, nice and homely to my ears.

So now I'm at a bit of a loss for words, do I buy cheaper speakers? Do I room correct the speakers? Currently I started thinking about buying a headset, but I realize it's quite ridiculous considering up until know all I tried to do was avoid headsets because of their closed in sound which I despised, which also physically closes you in.

I guess Im just trying to ask "what am I missing?" And what should I do from here.

 

[TonyJZX]

these need a sub

when it comes down to it a $99 set of 4" powered speakers will always have holes

the z120s are a joke junk set of pc speakers so there's no comparison there

my question would be to OP... have you ever heard a nice set of good speakers... maybe 6" and up with a good amp???

i dont think the MR4 is going to compete with that

it kind of depends on what your expectations are

 

[MintSpeak]

these need a sub

when it comes down to it a $99 set of 4" powered speakers will always have holes

the z120s are a joke junk set of pc speakers so there's no comparison there

my question would be to OP... have you ever heard a nice set of good speakers... maybe 6" and up with a good amp???

i dont think the MR4 is going to compete with that

it kind of depends on what your expectations are

I don't know of they are considered a nice set of speakers, but I had some limited experience with two impressive looking audio systems. (With like 5 speakers or something)

And they both suffered from the home theater feel (especially the system that had more speakers included)
I assume this was the sound they were going for, but I do not like it, it does not let me relax

 

[Koeitje]

If you don't want to break the bank try the JBL 305 or ADAM T5V. Those are just good speakers and don't require tweaking (the T5V could use a shelf equalizer to bring down the treble, but it isn't a must). I wouldn't advice anyone to buy 4" speakers, you really need 5"+ if you don't want to use a sub. I'm not familiar with the MR4, but I used Edifier multimedia speakers (1850 something) and those weren't great for music and ran out of power incredibly fast.

But what do you mean with the "home theater" feel? Good speakers are good speakers regardless of what they are playing.

 

[gwing]

I don't know of they are considered a nice set of speakers, but I had some limited experience with two impressive looking audio systems. (With like 5 speakers or something)

And they both suffered from the home theater feel (especially the system that had more speakers included)
I assume this was the sound they were going for, but I do not like it, it does not let me relax

Unfortunately the number of drive units in a speaker isn't a quality measurement, neither is size or how impressive they look.

Unless you are spending $1000++ it's almost always going to get you a better speaker if you get a simple small/medium size speaker with two drivers, something like a 1" dome tweeter and a 6"ish woofer - you know, just like almost all the speakers you see around As the budget increases other solutions become viable but it's generally difficult to beat the above formula for an inexpensive product.

If you really want cheap, getting something like the above on the used market is likely to be much better than some new cheap plasticky thing. If it's made of wood, is heavy, and doesn't echo when you tap it with your knuckles it's likely to be worth listening to to see if you like it.

 

[MintSpeak]

If you don't want to break the bank try the JBL 305 or ADAM T5V. Those are just good speakers and don't require tweaking (the T5V could use a shelf equalizer to bring down the treble, but it isn't a must). I wouldn't advice anyone to buy 4" speakers, you really need 5"+ if you don't want to use a sub. I'm not familiar with the MR4, but I used Edifier multimedia speakers (1850 something) and those weren't great for music and ran out of power incredibly fast.

But what do you mean with the "home theater" feel? Good speakers are good speakers regardless of what they are playing.

I just did a A/B test with my older speakers to try and understand this.
The older speakers are less room filling, less open, and have less body moving bass.
all these.. are downgrades, but on the other hand they let me feel at ease.
who knows, maybe this is just a drastic change that I need to get used to, but then again my ears also feel kinda open and start to hurt after extended use today, so maybe it's not just me needed to get used to these.

and I don't want to go any higher in price really, especially since right now i'm not very happy with these

edit: another thing I found is that the z120 sound clearer and more defined, while the mr4 sound a more mushed together but also spread around a bigger area, which again i think just makes me feel at unease.

 

[holdingpants01]

seems like you just don't like bass, those edifiers have tone knobs on the back, try to cut some low end and see if it's better, maybe you'll find some setting you prefer. If you have them on a desk or near a wall they can excite room too much

 

[kemmler3D]

Edifier MR4 Review (Budget Monitor)

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Edifier MR4 powered "studio" monitor (speaker). It was sent to me by the company and costs US $130. This is a very small speaker. It looks larger in the marketing material. You can easily carry it with one hand. I was impressed by the use of...

www.audiosciencereview.com

The edifier isn't bad for the money, but it has a dip in the lower treble, a peak in the upper treble, and a bump in the lower mids, which probably explains the feelings of harshness, lack of definition, and muddiness you are describing.

Since you are using these with PC there is a free, easy, and effective way to tweak the sound - download Peace EQ (EQAPO) and set it up.

You can then change the tonality however you want. You can use Amir's review as a guide for which frequencies to tweak.

If you want to get a bit fancy you can use REW or a tone generator like this to discover which frequencies are exaggerated or under-emphasized in your opinion. Then you can use the EQ to tweak those frequencies to keep them in line.

New speakers (even when they are better) can often seem off-putting to people. Your ears get used to the old speakers and the new speakers sound different and weird.

It also works in the other direction - new speakers can sound REALLY AMAZING but after a while they just sound normal to you. Eventually your ear adjusts to whatever you have.

So you should also give some time to the new speakers to get used to them. I would say that within 20-30 hours of listening time you probably won't remember what you disliked in the first place.

Good luck, and welcome to ASR!

PS: there is also more bass coming out of this speaker. You are probably dealing with room modes for the first time. That means you have enough bass to cause some "boom" in the room - it can be fixed with EQ but you also need a measurement microphone to do it properly, maybe too big an upgrade for now.

 

[MintSpeak]

for the moment I completely removed toe in since after further testing I noticed its one of the things that caused my ears to hurt.
but only tomorrow when my ears feel better will I know if that is the only cause.

thank you kemmler for the words of advice, I will try playing around with the EQ

 

[kemmler3D]

for the moment I completely removed toe in since after further testing I noticed its one of the things that caused my ears to hurt.
but only tomorrow when my ears feel better will I know if that is the only cause.

thank you kemmler for the words of advice, I will try playing around with the EQ

Oh, also putting the speakers horizontally is a bad idea, these ones especially have problems if you don't stand them upright. Long story short the frequency response varies depending on the angle, and it gets much more messed up from vertical angles than horizontal ones... not sure if that makes sense but if you stare at the graphs in the review long enough you might see what I mean.

 

[Koeitje]

If they like those Logitech speakers they should just keep using those. Will save them a lot of money.

 

[Doodski]

for the moment I completely removed toe in since after further testing I noticed its one of the things that caused my ears to hurt.
but only tomorrow when my ears feel better will I know if that is the only cause.

thank you kemmler for the words of advice, I will try playing around with the EQ

I'll link you to the EQ/PEQ stuff...

EQ Software for Windows, Linux, macOS, iOS/iPadOS and Android.

Any suggestions are welcome. Post suggestions here. I will gather the details and add them. Thanks. :D This will be organized as results come in. @sweetchaos made a guide for PEQ filter data input and operation. For crossover software go here. Windows: AutoEQ four easy steps to make your...

www.audiosciencereview.com

#1 install this>

Equalizer APO

Download Equalizer APO for free. A system-wide equalizer for Windows 7 / 8 / 8.1 / 10 / 11. Equalizer APO is a parametric / graphic equalizer for Windows. It is implemented as an Audio Processing Object (APO) for the system effect infrastructure introduced with Windows Vista.

sourceforge.net

#2 Then install this and disable the auto updates when it offers the option. Open Peace EQ and adjust to your hearts content.

Peace Equalizer, interface Equalizer APO

Download Peace Equalizer, interface Equalizer APO for free. System-wide PC Audio Equalizer and Effects app for Windows 7 to 11. Before reading on, note there's scam website called 'peaceequalizer,com'. Only this site here on SourceForge is the actual website by me, Peter Verbeek.

sourceforge.net

 

[raindance]

Did you try both "modes" with the Edifiers? It's really easy to switch... I also feel the MR4 bass is over boosted - try plugging the ports.

 

[DVDdoug]

A subwoofer can "do wonders" with small speakers. At low volumes you can turn-up the bass for a "louder feel" but maybe your ears won't hurt.

I wouldn't advice anyone to buy 4" speakers, you really need 5"+ if you don't want to use a sub.

I'm an old-school big-speaker guy and I say 8-inches is barely a woofer. I don't think you can get realistic bass that you can feel in your body from an 8-inch woofer. The 5-inch JBLs have a good reputation but the 8-inch version is more of a real monitor. And even with the 8-inch you need a sub for serious bass.

Currently I started thinking about buying a headset, but I realize it's quite ridiculous considering up until know all I tried to do was avoid headsets because of their closed in sound which I despised,

I prefer speakers too but you can get top-notch headphones for a couple hundred dollars. With headphones there is very little correlation between sound quality and price, so you can also spend a lot and get less-than-great sound. With open-back headphones you aren't isolated from the sound around you... Except we often crank them up and drown everything out!

Headphones are a "different experience" than loudspeakers so good headphones don't sound the same as good speakers in a good room.

 

[kemmler3D]

I have likewise come to the conclusion that a sub (or more than one) is not optional for clean, realistic bass. But people tend to take these things in steps. Let's not pressure OP to buy a land rover when they're still coming to grips with a bicycle.

 

[5ynth3t1k]

Good morning.

I'm having great results with my MR4's and the T5 sub.

My room is treated, has loads of wall batting etc.
Speakers are about 2.5m apart, 600mm away from the wall
and maybe about 2.5 m away from my console chair.
They sit on tall speaker stands ( other speakers )
All knobs set to zero and the Monitor mode on. ( Red light? )
The sub high cut and volume is by ear. ( down till it just about fades out, then back up a smidge...)

I guess the MR4's come over as a bright, a tad harsh and lacking in bottom end oomph.
BUT it's all about what you feed them. They sound pretty grouse with Steely Dan's - Home at last,
KraftWerks - Home Computor and Inva Mula - Il dolce suono etc.
With the T5 Sub they sound fuller, of course.

Being picky with a pair of $140 NZD speakers is probably a lost cause. Finding what sounds good on them
and then moving forwards is probably best. The T5 sub adds in the bottom end no end at nearfield volumes.

Mixes I have done on the MR4's + T5 have translated quite well to the Toyota Corolla ( 2018 ? ) stereo,
Phone, Laptop. etc. So there is something truthful about them...

For the money I love them. I wish I had bought these a long time ago. So small and yet they sound very OK.

Of course larger more expensive speakers can kick their arse, but then they are a few levels up in most regards....
It's not exactly a fair comparison.

I think the onboard DSP resamples your program to 48K 24bit ... or something. However it still sounds good to me.

Have fun!

:- )

PS. I am still trying to get the Sub to sit in the "sound stage" ( these words... tsk tsk...) without bellowing out bas.
It is a bit of fiddly situation, with the knobs around the back of the sub.

 

[holdingpants01]

OP switched from 2,5" closed speakers with zero bass, to 4" with bass reflex, probably have way too much low end ("home theatre sound") and you guys recommend bigger speakers or subwoofer? Nice
I would just recommend buying Z120 again, they're like 20€

 

[MaxwellsEq]

I think @MintSpeak it appears to me that you may not enjoy an accurate-sounding setup. You describe some things as being "home theater". It may be that the sort of solution that people on ASR consider a good approach to accurately reproduce recorded music simply isn't what you need.

 

[kemmler3D]

I think @MintSpeak it appears to me that you may not enjoy an accurate-sounding setup. You describe some things as being "home theater". It may be that the sort of solution that people on ASR consider a good approach to accurately reproduce recorded music simply isn't what you need.

It's no big deal to EQ them back to logitech sound, just highpass it at 80hz, -3dB high shelf, and mess with the midrange a bit...

 

[5ynth3t1k]

I think @MintSpeak it appears to me that you may not enjoy an accurate-sounding setup. You describe some things as being "home theater". It may be that the sort of solution that people on ASR consider a good approach to accurately reproduce recorded music simply isn't what you need.

^^^ THIS.

It took me at least two days of listening to every darn thing I had in my play list to really wrap my head around the MR4's
They are NOT warm and cuddly sounding at all. My Wharfdale Diamonds and Marantz do that quite well enough.

I would say that rolling off the tops a tad and getting the "distance to speaker" just right would be a thing to do.
The "music" mode does do something but I have not tested the speaker yet to actually confirm what, it does do.

I would say the MR4's are going to be pretty FLAT compared to any LogiTech BS.... just saying...

:- )