Meyer MM-4XP Micro Speaker Review

[bachatero]

If any detractors were to pick one of these up and hold it in their hand, and then listen to 6 them in stereo 2x3 with a sub..

This is like saying a DAC sounds better because you hear more detail, but it was really just psychological trickery.

 

[G|force]

This is like saying a DAC sounds better because you hear more detail, but it was really just psychological trickery.

Yes I agree with you, that is the whole story and since you have held one in your hand, unpacking them and installing them, terminating the blocks for 3 22 and 2 16 - you stripped and finally listened to them, yes you are one to share. Thank you for the comment.

 

[GXAlan]

Did he listen to them?

I’m the owner. I have a pair as Atmos speakers as middle height, and I got a second pair to add some front heights.

This is what I mentioned to Amir

There are times it sounds muddy and times it sounds crystal clear. Seeing the dispersion helps clarify that. You do have to be nicely on axis. In Atmos mode, it really works well.

For music, it depends. While James Earl Jones has a deep voice that goes below 80 Hz, the range of 120 Hz to 4 kHz is pretty much the vocal range and it can really deliver high SPLs without much strain.

But for actual music, if you want Meyer Sound, you’ll want the Meyer Sound Amie or the Meyer Sound Ultra X40 or Meyer Sound Ultra X20.

I’ll send Amir some Meyer Sound X23’s to measure next

I use X40’s with custom painted grilles with the Node Icon.

You do pay a lot for Made in Berkeley, California. But you can also find great deals if you look carefully, knowing that the quality control is so high, that you don’t need to worry about finding matching pairs. Doing nearfield measurements, you can get completely random individual speakers from completely random production lots and they will match. (Which makes sense since a lot of their work is with line arrays).

 

[G|force]

It's a class act front to back, John and Helen are nice people, their management people are awesome, and as it has been said they pay employees a fair wage in one of the most expensive places in the US to live. They own the land that grows the trees from which they make the pulp for their speaker cones. Not only for renewables points but also for consistency in manufacture. It's whole.
Unpack a Meyer product and you immediately notice the care of craftsmanship, then you snap in a Powercon and an XLR and it's just..
I'm a Genelec fanboy and a Meyer fanboy and I'm not shy

 

[GXAlan]

This is like saying a DAC sounds better because you hear more detail, but it was really just psychological trickery.

It’s the high SPLs that are impressive. Louder is psychological trickery, but if you have been to any play, musical, or concert, there’s a good chance you heard these MM-4XP’s. Disneyland and Disney World uses Meyer Sound in a lot of their venues too.

It’s not just actual SPL, but compression even at normal volumes.

They are used as front fill speakers or balcony speakers in all sorts of venues where the main arrays have areas which are masked. So even when you see the massive line arrays, these smaller speakers are used to fill gaps WITHOUT disrupting the visuals of the stage.

They are small to avoid visual mass not because they are nearfield.

This is a good article about Moulin Rouge in Australia.

Moulin Rouge - More Is More — CX Network

Being a tale of debauchery and excess, the scenic, lighting, and sound design have all taken their cues from the subject matter. Every department has been given the brief to go OTT

www.cxnetwork.com.au

The Sound Rig
Main FOH line array: 28 x Meyer Sound Leopard
FOH sub arrays: 15 x Meyer Sound
900-LFC and 2 x Meyer Sound 1100-LFC
Fill speakers: Meyer Sound UPQ-D and Ultra-X40
Front fill (stage and passerelle): 48 x Meyer Sound MM-4XP
Delays: Meyer Sound UPM-1XP and MM-10ACX
Stalls delays: 20 x Meyer Sound UPJuniors
Circle Delays: 4 x Meyer Sound UPQ 1P, 4 x Meyer Sound 750-LFC
Rear delays: 3 x Meyer Sound MSL-4
On stage foldback: 36 x Meyer Sound MM4-XP
Scenery trucks: 4 x Meyer Sound UPM-1XP, 4 x Meyer Sound MM4-XP

 

[Maiky76]

This is a review, listening tests, EQ and detailed measurements of the Meyer Sound MM-4XP, active "micro" monitor (4 inches). It is on kind loan from a member and costs US $1,180 plus the cost of external power supply.
View attachment 430949
While quite dense and solidly built, this is one tiny speaker that you can easily pick up with one hand. Part of the reason is that the power supply is external (48 volt/1.5 amp in this case):

View attachment 430950
Company sells rack mounted power supply to power multiple speakers. Internal capacitor storage allows short-term voltage drops so you can use long lines to drive it. It also has compressors for both average and peak playback levels. Here is a quick video showing it around:

Speaker is meant to be used with the grill so I left it in place for testing. If you are not familiar with my speaker measurements, please watch this tutorial:

Meyer Sound MM-4XP Speaker Measurements
Let's start with our family of anechoic frequency responses of the speaker:
View attachment 430951
High level picture is quite good in how flat the on-axis response is, if you ignore the half a dozen narrow resonances. Also obvious is the intended narrowing of the directivity to get more power out of this small speaker. Nice to see some of those resonances disappearing off axis:
View attachment 430952
Predicted response shows a sharp drop off in high frequencies if one is to rely on our model in residential usage of typical speakers:

View attachment 430953

Directivity plots show what we already know:
View attachment 430954
View attachment 430955

View attachment 430956

Distortion is kept in check for a speaker this small:
View attachment 430957View attachment 430958
I could tell a tonality shift in bass sweep but nothing outside of that -- quite remarkable for a speaker this size.

Waterfall graph as usual highlights resonances:
View attachment 430959
Finally, here is the step response, showing some latency:
View attachment 430960

Meyer Sound MM-4XP Listening Tests and EQ:
I put the MM-4XP in my near-field testing spot and turned on the music. I was shocked at the sound being incredibly under water. Then I remembered the directivity issue and propped up the speaker and pushed it back some (about 5 feet). This had a massive impact with high frequencies now coming forward (major benefit of measuring and then listening). I wanted to see the effect of the narrowband resonances so developed a handful of filters for them:
View attachment 430961
The difference in each one was subtle but combined, there was more clarity and less high frequency distortion. You could definitely do without but if you have EQ, you need to apply it.

Playing music with sub-bass showed that, as measurements indicate, none of that spectrum is played. Cranking up the volume made the speaker act like a lot larger one in how it kept getting louder without getting distorted. I kept going but then it became clear that the limiter was kicking in the way the increase in volume was countered by a decrease internally. Still, at that player the single 4 inch speaker was quite loud.

I closed my eyes and paid attention to spatial qualities. Imaging is about a 4 foot halo that is forward of the speaker. So much better than a little point source.

Alas, as I went through my reference tracks, other than a few vocals where performance was quite good, nothing rose up to minimum level of fidelity. Not having bass really takes out the soul of music.

Conclusions
This design dates back to 2007. Company aim seemed to be tiny speaker that would be used in commercial spaces (restaurants, bars, shopping centers). By narrowing directivity, they are able to get high SPL, much like a focused flashlight. Owner wondered if they make for good Atmos speakers. I guess they could and being able to power them with one cable is nice. Other than that, I don't see a use for them in home listening given the cost.
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As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.

Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/

Here is my take on the EQ.
Please report your findings, positive or negative!

For the score rational your journey starts here
Explanation for the sub score
The following EQs are “anechoic” EQs to get the speaker right before room integration.
If you able to implement these EQs you must add EQ at LF for room integration, that is usually not optional… see hints there.

The raw data with corrected ER and PIR:

Score no EQ: -1.2
With Sub: 3.1

Spinorama with no EQ:

• Lots of resonances that could have been smoothed out as is it an active speaker.
• No LF

Directivity:

Better stay at tweeter height
Horizontally, better toe-in the speakers by 10/15deg and have the axis crossing in front of the listening location, might help dosing the upper range.

EQ design:

I have generated one EQ. The APO config files is attached.

• The first EQ is Amirm's
• The second, labelled Score, starts with the first one and adds the score as an optimization variable.

Score EQ LW: 0.4
with sub: 4.5

Score EQ Score: 0.5
with sub: 4.8

Spinorama EQ Amirm

Spinorama EQ Score

Zoom PIR-LW-ON

Regression - Tonal
No Regression graph because of no LF to speak of.

Radar no EQ vs EQ score
No Radar graph because of the negative score


The rest of the plots is attached.

 

[G|force]

"Lots of resonances that could have been smoothed out as is it an active speaker"

They are powered speakers but WYFIWYG
What you feed is what you get

No filters, no DSP no nuttin here.

 

[lewdish]

Really interesting product that I'd like to see more companies have a go at w/ the design. I think Meyer sound products are all great, but at the same time they're extremely expensive. I would have loved to go to that one ArcLight Cinema that had an all Meyer setup before they went out of business.

 

[voodooless]

They seem to be pretty decent speakers for what they are. There seems to be a passive version as well:

Disassembling Meyer Sound MM-4 Ultra Compact Wide-Range Loudspeaker Case

With this guide you can take your MM-4 from one solid brick of a speaker to four parts and a bunch of screws. This is useful if you are replacing a...

www.ifixit.com

It's quite a simple setup. The woofer looks a bit like Peerless TC8FD05-04:

But not quite. For one, it doesn't have a vented pole piece like the Peerless does (or they put the sticker over it). Even the response looks similar:

Here overlayed:

But this thing is below € 6 when you buy in bulk! So, even if you don't pay the list price, you probably still pay very a steep premium. But that's just what you get when buying from a reputable brand, I guess.

Faital Pro has some nice pro audio woofers in this size range as well, most of which are quite excellent. They would make for very nice candidates for a DIY version of such a speaker

 

[Doodski]

They seem to be pretty decent speakers for what they are. There seems to be a passive version as well:

Disassembling Meyer Sound MM-4 Ultra Compact Wide-Range Loudspeaker Case

With this guide you can take your MM-4 from one solid brick of a speaker to four parts and a bunch of screws. This is useful if you are replacing a...

www.ifixit.com

It's quite a simple setup. The woofer looks a bit like Peerless TC8FD05-04:
View attachment 431189
But not quite. For one, it doesn't have a vented pole piece like the Peerless does (or they put the sticker over it). Even the response looks similar:
View attachment 431190
But this thing is below € 6 when you buy in bulk! Even if you don't pay the list price, you probably still pay very a steep premium. But that's just what you get when buying from a reputable brand, I guess.

Faital Pro has some nice pro audio woofers in this size range as well, most of which are quite excellent. They would make for very nice candidates for a DIY version of such a speaker

Not much there for $1180 each.

 

[voodooless]

Not much there for $1180 each.

The amps must be very special then...

 

[Marshole]

I wondered if these might ever show up here

I've been using these for years as a professional in AV installation, mainly art exhibitions and specific cinema uses. I also often see them as frontfill in theater, as they can be hidden away easily.

Funny seeing professional equipment, with very specific use cases being voted in here. I would say kind of unfair, as they to many professionals can be a tool that often times are hard to find substitutes to. In the MM4's case, being the size of an orange, active, narrow and packing punch is not something i've seen in any other similar product. The genelec 8010 (or similar POE version) will work in smaller setups with closer listening position, but the output will never ever match the MM4.

I will also add that the prices i've been paying for these in the past have been closer to around 1000usd for a pair. Payng for the matching MM10 sub is another story

 

[anphex]

LIES!


But in all honesty, it's refreshing to see something unusual. The bass drop off past 120 Hz is ruler flat. How does this work?!

 

[voodooless]

The bass drop off past 120 Hz is ruler flat. How does this work?!

High-pass filter from the amp plus the clean anechoic measurement.

 

[Mnyb]

It’s the high SPLs that are impressive. Louder is psychological trickery, but if you have been to any play, musical, or concert, there’s a good chance you heard these MM-4XP’s. Disneyland and Disney World uses Meyer Sound in a lot of their venues too.

It’s not just actual SPL, but compression even at normal volumes.

They are used as front fill speakers or balcony speakers in all sorts of venues where the main arrays have areas which are masked. So even when you see the massive line arrays, these smaller speakers are used to fill gaps WITHOUT disrupting the visuals of the stage.

They are small to avoid visual mass not because they are nearfield.

View attachment 431145

View attachment 431146

View attachment 431147

This is a good article about Moulin Rouge in Australia.

Moulin Rouge - More Is More — CX Network

Being a tale of debauchery and excess, the scenic, lighting, and sound design have all taken their cues from the subject matter. Every department has been given the brief to go OTT

www.cxnetwork.com.au

The Sound Rig
Main FOH line array: 28 x Meyer Sound Leopard
FOH sub arrays: 15 x Meyer Sound
900-LFC and 2 x Meyer Sound 1100-LFC
Fill speakers: Meyer Sound UPQ-D and Ultra-X40
Front fill (stage and passerelle): 48 x Meyer Sound MM-4XP
Delays: Meyer Sound UPM-1XP and MM-10ACX
Stalls delays: 20 x Meyer Sound UPJuniors
Circle Delays: 4 x Meyer Sound UPQ 1P, 4 x Meyer Sound 750-LFC
Rear delays: 3 x Meyer Sound MSL-4
On stage foldback: 36 x Meyer Sound MM4-XP
Scenery trucks: 4 x Meyer Sound UPM-1XP, 4 x Meyer Sound MM4-XP

This seems to explain this very odd products purpose , front fill applications in venues suppose bass and mid bass arrive from the mains an these fill gaps in the shadows.
You could probably wish for wider directivity , but maybe they should work as a spotlight in a certain distance and you should have my of them

 

[GXAlan]

They seem to be pretty decent speakers for what they are. There seems to be a passive version as well

The passive version is the original version but required a dedicated outboard equalized amp. Meyer Sound is 100% active in their current product lineup.

It's quite a simple setup. The woofer looks a bit like Peerless TC8FD05-04:

It does, but the Peerless is 3” and 25W power handling. This is 4” and 220w power handling.

In the very first generation of Meyer Sound products, they would take Yamaha or JBL drivers and modify them. It’s always possible that they take an existing driver and rebuild around it, however for the most part, they do make their own drivers.

This seems to explain this very odd products purpose , front fill applications in venues suppose bass and mid bass arrive from the mains an these fill gaps in the shadows.

You will also see them used in museum exhibits where speech and vocals are more important than actual music.

View attachment 431221


LIES!

This is why I wanted these measured. The laws of physics prevents it from being 80-80 degrees full rated bandwidth, but if you look at the dispersion compared to the Genelec’s, at the speech frequencies, it actually does have wide dispersion there.

I also wanted to see the 96 dB sweep under Amir’s standardized test protocol.

 

[voodooless]

It does, but the Peerless is 3” and 25W power handling. This is 4” and 220w power handling.

It's 100W actually:

... and under what test conditions? It's specified as:

Power handling is measured under AES standards: transducer driven continuously for two hours with band-limited noise signal having a 6dB peak-average ratio.

The Peerless is specified under IEC, which is generally a harder test. In reality, they are closer than you think. Obviously, the Peerless is only 3", so the size difference does matter. But it's got a similarly sized voice coil at about 19mm... Tiny beasts that actually can handle a bit of power have much larger coils, like these B&C drivers with 34mm. Obviously, those are not valid replacements, but it does show what is needed to handle some power.

100W on a 4" driver is a bit silly anyway. I'm sure you can destroy this driver easily with less than 100W. They employ peak and RMS limiters to keep the little things in check. I guess that's the luxury that you get for the price: a tiny bulletproof speaker box

Incidentally, 220W is the amp power.

 

[Ktacos]

It's 100W actually:
View attachment 431261
... and under what test conditions? It's specified as:

The Peerless is specified under IEC, which is generally a harder test. In reality, they are closer than you think. Obviously, the Peerless is only 3", so the size difference does matter.

100W on a 4" driver is a bit silly anyway. I'm sure you can destroy this driver easily with less than 100W. They employ peak and RMS limiters to keep the little things in check. I guess that's the luxury that you get for the price: a tiny bulletproof speaker box

Incidentally, 220W is the amp power.

They just kind of make up dispersion numbers? Interesting.

 

[GXAlan]

They just kind of make up dispersion numbers? Interesting.

80 degrees advertised means +/- 40 degrees which is consistent with measurements.

 

[tomtoo]

"Lots of resonances that could have been smoothed out as is it an active speaker"

They are powered speakers but WYFIWYG
What you feed is what you get

No filters, no DSP no nuttin here.

But limiter, compressor ?