Topping MA4 - new active studio monitors by Topping Professional

[neifle]

Very interesting speakers. Has anyone been able to listen to them yet? Looks like a good competitor to kali lp-unf, adam d3v. Especially in vertical directivity.

 

[thewas]

Although I am not one of the biggest fans of the brand I must admit its spinorama looks quite nice, interesting it took almost a year since the first information was leaked:

New Topping products announced as of may 2024

I am interested in the speaker with toppings. It may be difficult for some listeners as long as the depth is close to the desk, but I think all questions will be solved when the purpose of the topping's development and the spinorama about it are revealed. In addition, I hope that the new E8X8...

www.audiosciencereview.com

New Topping products announced as of may 2024

MA4

www.audiosciencereview.com

According to https://hifi-port.ru/threads/topping-ma4-studijnye-monitory.3848/ The Topping MA4 is scheduled to be released on March 25th. In China, it will cost 1,199 yuan (approximately $165). The price may change when it is released internationally.

Let see how much the international price will be and hopefully also some distortion measurements.

 

[unpluggged]

What will be happening when the electronics fail? Will we get the same level of customer support as with the likes of Genelec, Neumann, or HEDD? If not, why these are called "professional"?

 

[thewas]

What will be happening when the electronics fail? Will we get the same level of customer support as with the likes of Genelec, Neumann, or HEDD? If not, why these are called "professional"?

Someone could professionally build a garden shed with all those bricks.

 

[Danks]

someone please send them to amir after release, quite curious about these.

 

[Danks]

more info about the topping nearfields here: https://topping.pro/MA4/

 

[TurtlePaul]

1.5 khz crossover and a 4" flat to mid-50s hz tells me that this can't go too loud.

 

[thulle]

A bit odd they didn't actually publish a distortion graph? "<1%" is a pretty weak result, but if the rest holds up it can be quite OK for the price I guess.

 

[Danks]

1.5 khz crossover and a 4" flat to mid-50s hz tells me that this can't go too loud.

you are right, but for ultranearfield scenario until 80-85 dB that should be enough SPL (for mixing/mastering) maybe as a 2nd monitor.
pretty sure they will release a bigger one in the near future as well.

 

[thulle]

1.5 khz crossover and a 4" flat to mid-50s hz tells me that this can't go too loud.

105 dB peak, 102dB RMS(?), good for 75dB @ 1m with movie-like crest factor

 

[TurtlePaul]

105 dB peak, 102dB RMS(?), good for 75dB @ 1m with movie-like crest factor

That stat is a little like how brands used to say Frequency response: 20 hz - 50 khz

To what distortion limit are they measuring? 1%, 3%? 20%? Are they measuring the limit of a 1 khz tone? White noise? Pink noise? Music material? Bandwidth limited 100 hz+?

Neumann provides the best chart for this, showing max SPL by frequency at both 1% and 3% distortion.

 

[thulle]

That stat is a little like how brands used to say Frequency response: 20 hz - 50 khz

To what distortion limit are they measuring? 1%, 3%? 20%? Are they measuring the limit of a 1 khz tone? White noise? Pink noise? Music material? Bandwidth limited 100 hz+?

Neumann provides the best chart for this, showing max SPL by frequency at both 1% and 3% distortion.

True, distortion figures only valid at 86dB.
So, should at least be OK at a roaring 60dB with movie like crest factor

 

[masterhw]

What will be happening when the electronics fail? Will we get the same level of customer support as with the likes of Genelec, Neumann, or HEDD? If not, why these are called "professional"?

understand your point but the labour is almost certainly not worth servicing a $165 monitor, you could buy six for the price of a comparable Genelec. "Professional" puts distance between them and the passive dominated hi-fi space they're not aiming for.

 

[kharan]

I'd be interested in a 6" version for TV/HC use if they can keep in at or under JBL/Kali prices.

These do look good for a small desktop speaker though.

 

[unpluggged]

understand your point but the labour is almost certainly not worth servicing a $165 monitor

You seem not to. It's not about the costs or the product price, it's about service level.

My HEDDs had failed twice in four years. I bought them for €671 each back when they had not yet raised the price by 25%. Both times the manufacturer offered excellent service, last time being a month ago (the DSP board had died again in one of my speakers, and given it was already of new revision with ESS ADC and DAC that supposedly should not have failed, I was frustrated and prepared myself to spend money on another brand), and now they even offered to send me out full backplate assemblies for both my speakers (also for the speaker that had not failed), which include the ICEpower 100AS2 amp modules (€150 each), just to be on the safer side. That despite the warranty has expired two years ago and despite the geopolitical tensions between Germany and the current government of my country. The backplates arrived a couple of weeks ago, and all is fine again.

That's what I would call a good customer service.

"Professional" puts distance between them and the passive dominated hi-fi space they're not aiming for.

Professional customers are not a target market for them, either. Why call it "professional" then when they are not up to that market's demands? Or is it a matter of their mentality that commands putting a "pro" label on anything, from disposable smartphones to disposable cars?

 

[Danks]

understand your point but the labour is almost certainly not worth servicing a $165 monitor, you could buy six for the price of a comparable Genelec. "Professional" puts distance between them and the passive dominated hi-fi space they're not aiming for.

That's an interesting point and I kind of agree. For me, personally, a fail in electronics while possibly working on a production/mixdown or master is just downtime (2nd monitor and headphones aside) that I can't afford. that's how I see it. but then again also a genelec could fail for whatever reason and even though their customer support is top notch it would still take a couple of weeks for the replacement. not sure about the topping customer support in EU but I read mixed opinions on asr.

 

[kharan]

Professional customers are not a target market for them, either. Why call it "professional" then when they are not up to that market's demands? Or is it a matter of their mentality that commands putting a "pro" label on anything, from disposable smartphones to disposable cars?

Professional is a very large range of use, it can cover everything from a mastering engineer working in a Dolby certified studio to a streamer who just needs decent enough sound. As long as you're making money out of an activity or if you're not doing something for leisure, it's professional.

 

[unpluggged]

As long as you're making money out of an activity or if you're not doing something for leisure, it's professional.

As long as you are making money out of an activity, you'd want a certain level of service. This is what the word "professional" means in my realm. That's why commercial customers will pay premium for equipment with good record for reliability and serviceability and for service contracts. If I need to maintain a stock of spares on my premise for my own expense or to send the product out to China, it cannot be considered a professional-grade product despite the label that some marketing person decided to put on the box. If I was making money relying on gear from a certain vendor, I would ensure to get a service agreement with that vendor that would provide for a replacement on the next business day in the least. At least that's what I'm used to in my field of IT systems integration.

BTW, I wonder why Genelec and Neumann do not write the word "PROFESSIONAL" in big bold glowing letters on their products? They must not be serious manufacturers then, right?

 

[kharan]

As long as you are making money out of an activity, you'd want a certain level of service. This is what the word "professional" means in my realm. That's why commercial customers will pay premium for equipment with good record for reliability and serviceability and for service contracts. If I need to maintain a stock of spares on my premise for my own expense or to send the product out to China, it cannot be considered a professional-grade product despite the label that some marketing person decided to put on the box. If I was making money relying on gear from a certain vendor, I would ensure to get a service agreement with that vendor that would provide for a replacement on the next business day in the least. At least that's what I'm used to in my field of IT systems integration.

BTW, I wonder why Genelec and Neumann do not write the word "PROFESSIONAL" in big bold glowing letters on their products? They must not be serious manufacturers then, right?

How do you even get the idea that it needs to be shipped from China? It's not released in any western market yet. If/when it is released, it'll be stocked locally. As for level of service, I've known people preferring next day shipping from a retailer to multi-week repair from a manufacturer.

Genelec and Neumann are probably more reliable brands than Topping, but when Behringer and M-Audio exist and are also selling to the "professional" market, it's hard to begrudge Topping's marketing using the word. You're comparing Topping to the cream of pro audio manufacturers, others do also exist.

 

[AnalogSteph]

"Topping Professional" is just the branch of the business selling to musicians - nothing more, nothing less. Their audio interfaces aren't trying to rival RME either, but are focusing on the popular prosumer-grade lower midrange (e.g. Focusrite Scarlett) instead.

A 4" is a good one to start with, as the market isn't particularly crowded around this price point.
(low to high, ca. 100-500€/piece)
Presonus Eris Studio 4
Tannoy Reveal 402
Kali LP-UNF
Yamaha MSP3 A
<-- presumed pricing of MA4
Presonus Eris Pro 4
KRK V4S4
EVE SC204
ADAM A4V
Genelec 8020D
Neumann KH80DSP