Small, cute, but good sounding desktop speakers

[RobL]

Yes I’m interested to hear about these! And also know if they hiss. Iloud micro pro are bigger than the iloud micro but still very small, with included tilted stand, speaker grilles, calibration… a very interesting package indeed. In the EU they are over 600$ though.

They’re on sale in Canada for $559CAD (375€) right now. I think I’m going to grab a pair. I have a set of Micros and really enjoy them.

 

[billou5767]

Okay, a heads up and a question or suggestion to Mad Max.
I have so far on my desk the Focal XS Book, Kanto Ora, Edifier M60 and Edifier MR3.

Look and feel wise, the Focal look the best, the Kanto Ora look premium but out of plasticky platic, the Edifier M60 look rather nice and have a better feel than the Kanto Ora, the Edifier MR3 look and feel utilitarian, could be worse. I prefer the front volume control on the Ora and the MR3 vs the top buttons of the Edifier M60 that though work well. Kanto ORA and especially M60 don't have a very long cable joining the speakers but hey they are supposed to be PC speakers. The MR3 use good old speaker cable between them so you do you. Ora and M60 have USB inputs. Ora, MR3 and M60 have bluetooth. The ORA and M60 are tiny speakers. The MR3 starts being not tiny. Only the M60 include stands, though they all need ones (except the Focal which are already tilted).

Now sound wise,

- The Kanto Ora was the ones I liked the less. Too warm sound, not controlled enough bass, and way not enough resolving (ability to hear details, different voices and articulation of instrument inside the songs). The mids balance is nice, but lacking from high mids IMO. Zero noise when not playing anything. Directivity is stellar you can move all you want they always sound the same (within reason). Soundstage is nice, both inward and outward.

- The Edifier M60 are a bit too bright, and lack a bit of bass extension. I would say they can get fatiguing. The mids are bright coloured and not very much to my taste. But they are resolving, you can hear pretty much everything that you need to hear. The M60 and the Ora are pretty much polar opposites with the Ora being too warm with good mids but lacking precision and the M60 being too bright with less flat mids but offering some precision. Bass wise the Ora have a ton more, but given how lously they are reproduced, heh, they are not of much use. Zero noise on mine like the Kanto Ora. However they are more directivity challenged. The sound will change when you move even within reason. Soundstage, they don't project well a center image, making them sound hollow. However they project very well outward. They have a bit of a Yamaha monitor speaker sound.

- The Edifier MR3 are by a huge margin the winner. They have good mid balance, and good spectrum extension in general, maybe a bit rolled off on the very highs. The highs are a bit less resolving than the Focals which were clear winner in the precision game so far, and they are generally speaking a bit less resolving and impactful on transients but still better than the Ora and M60. Bass is good, with more extension than the M60. I would say they have more bass extension than the Kanto Ora. Though they have less bass quantity but the Ora were too bass bosted IMO. More bass quantity than the Focals also. The bass control is not bad. I could wish more control but I think you'll only get it with bigger speakers. Directivity wise they are OK, their sound will change a bit when you move but acceptable. Soundstage wise, they have a center image and they project outward. I could want a tighter central image and wider soundstaging but I really can do without, they are good enough.

- I was also playing with the Kef Eggs HT3001SE that definately have merit, especially in transient and impact, and soundstage well especially outward and in depth. However bass was lacking and while you could EQ boost it, and the speakers didn't respond with distortion or port noise unlike the B&W M1 Mk1 I tried earlier, you didn't really get much more out of them than what they are capable of. What they are capable of doing is well done. But there's a bit a mid weirdness that I'm not sure about. However they are very placement sensitive. I tried them in a table in the middle of my room and they were awful. They need a wall not too far behind them. They were still in my shortlist until I plugged the MR3 in. The MR3 got them out of there I'm not even sure I'll plug them back to compare them again.

The MR3 are winners by such a margin it is not fair play. And they are the cheapest of the bunch. The Kanto ORA are 400€ in EU. The MR3 where 100€. The Focals were 500€ and they are the only ones that can trade blows with the MR3, winning in the precision, transient, impact from the mids upward, but losing in the bass extension and with an annoying amplifier noise.

My unscientific conclusion of all this would be that you need speakers a bit bigger than absolute minimum if you want good sound.

Now I'm on the fence of either just keeping the MR3 and enjoying them or finding used Focal CMS40 to benefit from improved highs from the mid highs and maybe a bit wider sweet spot. Focal being known for their tweeters and the waveguide seemingly more sophisticated.
But they will be vastly more expensive even if used (and still OK price), and while they might sound better there is no guarantee about it they might as well lose vs the MR3. Will probably just keep the MR3.

MadMaxx if you haven't yet tried the MR3, I encourage you to do so. You might be able to give us comparison to other small studio monitors of the 3 inch class.
As far as studio monitors, no they are not what I recall of my Genelec 8030, but they are not in the same class size and price wise. But from memory I would take the MR3 vs quite a few small monitors I heard. I would put the MR3 in the worthy studio monitors to listen to.
But if you don't like the MR3 I'd also like to hear from you.

the mr3 can be mod by the app edifier And rear button

why no one use them ?

 

[Robertosimus]

Are you familiar with the Q Accoustics 7000i or 7000LRi passive speakers? Usually used as surround speakers.
I was struggling to find good compact speakers. I only have a few inches next to my dual display. I tried a pair of 7000i speakers with a Chinese amplifier which works really great and the speakers look really good. They are about 3.5 inch wide. I use it in combination with a 10" sub.
The foot can be rotated in wall mount and desk stand position.

 

[RobL]

They’re on sale in Canada for $559CAD (375€) right now. I think I’m going to grab a pair. I have a set of Micros and really enjoy them.

I got a pair for the sale price. I have them connected to my RME Adi-2 fed from a wiim pro. Haven’t spent a lot of time listening yet but first impressions (uncalibrated): The tonality is spot on and they play flat to ~50hz but drop off a cliff below that. Imaging seems very good and they play to 90dB @ 1m with no sign of strain. I can post more when I have time to play with them.
I will try to answer questions if anyone has some. I have a pic beside my iPhone 15 pro to give a sense of the size of them.
For the money I think these perform quite well.

 

[EugeneSkr]

Aiyima S400 vs MR3 - Soundblaster X4 card / M0 Pro DAC

I specifically registered to write this here. Currently on my desk, I have the Aiyima S400 - cheap plastic speakers that I was able to order from AliExpress for about $80 during sales, and the MR3 - which I plan to return to the store today.

After Erin's Audio Corner review, I decided to try ordering the MR3. They're heavier, they have an app, and approximately the same settings as the Aiyima, but the S400 has digital controls via remote while the MR3 has potentiometers.

I'm not a professional at audio listener; my only Hi-Fi equipment is an M0 Pro player that I listen to through a 4.4 adapter on planar headphones.

No matter what I adjusted in the MR3 settings, the sound seems somehow wrong, kind of mixed, like a "boom boom" sound.

I connected both speakers to the Soundblaster X4 simultaneously - the S400 via optical and the MR3 via RCA, alternately muting either the S400 or the MR3.

I have nothing to compare with, but in my very subjective opinion, the S400 speakers win in terms of sound clarity and clear discrete settings.

The S400 needs to be tilted - you can feel that the tweeter directionality is insufficient if you just put them on the table.

In the S400, I set +1 bass -1 treble and listen like this on all tracks. I don't have to adjust settings for each composition. With the MR3, I couldn't achieve this; there's constantly something that feels off. I would say it's a kind of inertia or mixing of sounds.

But all this is subjective. After a pleasant experience with the S400, I plan to buy the S30. I think this will be my alternative to the MR3. I hope to get the same experience as with the S400 but slightly better and with USB connectivity.

Again, this is a very subjective perception. I don't have other speakers to compare with, but with the S400, as strange as it may sound, I understood for the first time what a soundstage and phantom center are. I'm very satisfied with the purchase, even more satisfied with the price-to-quality ratio. This didn't happen with the MR3, but maybe I just lack experience, or perhaps my room significantly degrades the MR3's performance.

I should probably try the Kali UNF to understand the reference point, but after Erin's review, I gave in to the temptation to buy something for $120 USD, but it seems the miracle didn't happen.


Update: I couldn't resist and ordered adam-audio d3v, they are probably too expensive for me to leave, but I need to understand the reference point. I'll take advantage of the benefits of civilization and free returns)

 

[NeoY2k]

I didn't even knew ayima made speakers!

Seems this category of products is really developing and fast.
I am away from home right now, but I got the CMS 40 speakers delivered there.
I am missing bass. And EQ has limits because precision quickly comes lacking in the low bass and chuffing will punish overenthusiastic boosting.
However, while I loved the treble and upper midrange of the Focal XS Book, I love them even more on the CMS 40. Focal's tweeters really are something and great at giving body (lower highs) to high sounding sounds.
They are very analytical from midrange up, highlighting the eq / tone of each instrument and their relative placement one to each other, and the ability to hear the "air/gap" left between instruments tones.
I will write more about them when going back home in a week or more.

 

[AaronJ]

Update: I couldn't resist and ordered adam-audio d3v, they are probably too expensive for me to leave, but I need to understand the reference point. I'll take advantage of the benefits of civilization and free returns)

My Adam D3V arrive tomorrow. Can’t wait to get them set up. The Audioengine A2+ paired with a sub just still doesn’t sound right so I want desktop speakers in this form factor that produce bass. We’ll see.

 

[jonfitch]

If you prefer passive I would say the Ascend Luna V2 with the titan dome is pretty hard to beat. Cheaper than the LSX II by about $300-ish, and side by side with a Genelec 8020 and LSX II my experience is it sounds quite a bit better than both, particularly in the bass region it's much cleaner as the woofer is much higher quality than both. Also since Ascend started optimizing their speakers with the Klippel NFS their speakers have really been chart topping in terms of measurements and my guess it measures objectively better than than the KEF or Genelec mini-monitors.

 

[EugeneSkr]

My Adam D3V arrive tomorrow. Can’t wait to get them set up. The Audioengine A2+ paired with a sub just still doesn’t sound right so I want desktop speakers in this form factor that produce bass. We’ll see.

I must say that of course the Aiyima S400 is not the Adam Audio D3V, especially the difference is felt in the lower frequencies and there is some slight incompleteness in the S400 somewhere in the mids minimally. The difference is also certainly in the fact that I listen to the D3V via USB with 16 bits, but so far I must say that for their price, the S400 are very good. In my subjective opinion, now having Adam D3V on my desk, I can definitely say that I would definitely prefer the S400 instead of the MR3.

 

[EJ3]

Welcome to ASR!

The extra-small size question is tricky.

I wonder if you might like the LSX II with EQ?

Otherwise in the mini-size category people mention the Kali LP-UNF pretty often, and the Adam D3V also has promising measurements in a very small package, probably good for your use case.

I'm thinking that having 2 out of those 3 parameters at once can happen easily but all three is very difficult

 

[rdenney]

For my desk, I’m using a pair of Pioneer BS22LR speakers, and they seem pretty cute. They also sound quite good in the near field, not cranked up too much. Amp is an Adcom GFA 535. Imaging is excellent, and fidelity is fine. They were so cheap ($100/pr) I didn’t have to buy them used, but used is the only way to get them now.

Rick “Andrew Jones did okay with those” Denney

 

[Wolf11Man]

After all you still like your Focal's best. Just the hiss is too much for you.
Maybe think about an experiment: The Focal are no active speaker, but passive, powered, with a stereo amp of 2x20W inside. Which is of low quality.
You can simply take the Focal speaker without amp (then one without mains plug) and connect a good amplifier to it, eliminating any hiss.
Nothing complicated in this! If you like what you hear, you can still equalize to taste with some plug in or the like. If the Focal amp got some internal sound manipulation, you should be able to do that even better with an eqalizer app. If this works out well, simply disable the internal amp, fit a connection to the passive crossover of the speaker and you are done. I think even an amateur can do such a simple modification, even more with the help of some forum member. Or ask at https://www.diyaudio.com/ there are some very serious people that like to help.
My favorite would be a combination of such an "deactivated" speaker pair with such a package:

Sonarworks SoundID Ref Spk & HP w Mic

Référence pour enceintes et casques avec microphone de mesure - Version boîte Ensemble de logiciels pour le calibrage d'enceintes et de casques et d'un microphone de mesure, Correction de la réponse en fréquence des moniteurs de studio et des...

www.thomann.fr

This is a very professional solution that will make any desktop speaker two classes better than without, doing the same as some build in or manual applied equalization, only better, getting even timing problems right.
Just to offer an alternative to buying some new speaker and compromizing too much.

 

[NeoY2k]

Thank you all.
Wolf11Man, you are absolutely right, I really thought about powering the Focals through an external amp. If any is interested in this, yes, there is EQ manipulation in the amp, I linked a review to the Focal XS Speakers somewhere in this thread where the reviewer measured said eq manipulation.

In the end, I have Focal CMS40 sitting on my desk.
They are excellent speaker, have the sound quality I liked from my Focal XS (there is a definite sound familiarity between the two), with about as much bass extension but even better highs, tighter bass, and flatter mids.
Their 60Hz -3dB bass extension won't wow anyone, but it is for me the borderline of how low I can live with. Boosting just below the FC leads to distortion and port chuffing for not much gained extension, not worth it.

They have a very small hiss, but nothing to be concerned about. I think the measured value in the hiss database is on track. Look wise they are very pro audio ish, love it or hate it. Build quality is...these are cast alloy bricks. I might rate the build just a tad under Genelec.

Sound wise they really killed all competitors I tried in this thread. Okay the Edifier MR3 really go lower. But what these speakers have is incredible tightness. The midrange and treble is just stellar. Focal really know their tweeters. The midrange is ruler flat. The bass is rather tight, though it is the register where they shine the less. I would need to hear the D3V, Micro Pro and Kali UNF to give you a comparison to these. But they are definately leagues above Edifier MR3, Edifier M60 and Kanto Ora especially as definition is concerned. Granted the were not in the same class price wise and still, used, are not. More like cheaper Genelecs.

I gave the Kef HT3001SE another try, this time with Fosi V3 amp.
The Fosi V3 amp (48V PS) really improves things vs the other amps I tried them with (cheap SMSL and probably too worn Yamaha amp).
They are good speakers and they take EQ very well. They image very well. Their low 70Hz rating is accurate and too bass shy for me but many love Audioengines A2 and similar speakers that don't go any lower. And I'd bet the KEF sound better. Beware the only frequency response you can find online that states "sealed" which IMHO indicated that they plugged the port. They do go down to 70Hz stock. Plus they look somewhat fun. So if you can get them at a reasonable used price, you can pair these with a Fosi V3 and have a very compact and pretty good sounding desktop setup. I would still boost the bass to extend and warm them a bit.

On that note the Creative Sound Blaster Play 3 USB audio dongle has, when you install Creative's driver, a built in 10 band EQ. If you want to EQ speakers without having to resort to software EQ that is cumbersome when you switch playing devices. Of course it is just a 10 band EQ.

Thank you again,
Nicolas