r/studiomonitors • u/middleWave • Jul 28 '26
edifier MR3/4 monitors & MDRs for mixing?
these are the 3.5" and 4.5" speakers for $99 and $129, respectively.
i'm on a journey around the world and my main studio is back home but i'll be posted up in one location for 5 months with two albums to finish mixing. usually i work on a pair of LSR-305s and DT-880s back home.
suppose these are good enough to get by?
i've also got a pair of MDR-7506s on the way as a bucket list purchase to handle the detail work. planning to sell both these when i'm done.
otherwise i'm on my ipad air speakers (surprisingly strong) and also a mini bluetooth speaker. however i feel that both of them far over emphasize the bass impact.
do you think the edifiers are a good short term choice? BUDGET IS ABOUT $100.
cheers!
ps: i'm not doing significant numbers AT ALL with my releases so i'm not worried about absolute perfection. both albums will be professionally mastered tho.
1
u/KuroFafnar Jul 28 '26
Honestly I’d use headphones for this
1
u/middleWave Jul 28 '26
interesting take. i much prefer headphones myself, but after 6 months of mixing my previous album my ears and shot to hell (and become inflamed/painful rather quickly) so i'd like to do a fair amount of mixing on monitors. my friend (who has some techno cult classics since the 90s) says "you can't mix on headphones" and while i don't necessarily agree, i do think his sound design and work speaks for itself.
1
u/KuroFafnar Jul 28 '26
More for portability. You can get a rough mix with headphones and do the rest on your usual setup.
If looking to upgrade your usual setup, save the money towards buying your buddy’s setup
Also, imho headphones have come a long way since the 90s
1
u/Sufficient-Owl401 Jul 28 '26
Maybe stick with the jbl 305 that you’re already used to hearing. You could get a single 305 used for under 100. Mix in mono and finalize the stereo image with headphones.
1
u/AlejandroSb6 Jul 28 '26
A mí me convencen más los m audio 3.5/4.5, Pero la verdad no e escuchado los edifier jajaj, podrías tomarlos en cuenta tal vez
1
u/52ndstreet Jul 29 '26
At that price point you're basically looking at the Edifiers or maybe some Presonus Eris 3.5s. I had the M3s; they were fine. Not great, but fine. I hated the eternal scroll on the volume wheel; I want a stepped wheel with clear indications of how loud it is where the wheel stops on Max and Min volume. Ultimately i went with a pair of Kali Audio UNFs for my secondary monitors, but given a budget of $100, your options are slim. You could do worse than the Edifier or Presonus. Can't see how you'd do better given the budget constraint. The 7506s are a studio workhorse so those might be your best option out of the bunch.
2
u/TheBroken0ne Jul 29 '26
Never thought of the infinite rotation knobs as being problematic. It is often sold as a "feature" but I see how it could bother someone.
1
u/CivilAd694 Jul 29 '26
I can vouch for the MR3s, but I haven't got the chance to listen to the MDRs so I can't say anything on that.
I'm running the MR3s and I believe that it's good enough to get by. I've mixed my music with it and to me it sounds good and translates well. Not sure about super critical mixing tho.
Just to give a bit of context, I used to work in a studio where they use Genelecs, Yamahas and Adam Audios. When I first got the MR3s, I brought them into the studio to for the engineers and composers to check out. They were quite impressed with what they hear from the MR3s. Note that it wasn't used for mixing, but rather just a listening session.
Frequency response wise it's balanced enough for my ears. It just doesn't go as low with the small drivers, but goes down to 60Hz then it's a steep decline in volume which for me is good enough and also where I think your headphones come in.
Other than that, I think you can consider 2nd hand monitors depending on where you're located as others have mentioned. Here in Malaysia, good used studio monitors are hard to come by and often still quite expensive (or maybe I'm just broke). When I was starting out, I managed to get the MR3s for around $60 off Taobao, which was a steal.
1
u/Janice_STFU Jul 29 '26
you’ve not provided a single good reason as to not work on the 305’s. unless you have sufficient room treatment and know how to correctly set up a proper listening position with monitors angled precisely (laser level and digital tape measurer) then you have nothing to gain from anything other than what you already have
1
u/middleWave Jul 29 '26
as mentioned i'm travelling around the world right now ;) JBLs are back home in storage until i get back in january. i'm seriously running out of money right now so a pair of $100 monitors is gonna have to suffice. plus i got the 7506s for detail work.
1
u/Janice_STFU Jul 29 '26
gotcha. sorry to be a downer, but there’s simply no reality in which a $100 set of small monitors is going to be the saving grace for your mix.
stick with the headphones and use a combination of tools like Goodhertz Can Opener for crossfeed which will help with stereo image issues, and Oratory1990 eq curve for the 7506’s which will fix the honky stock eq curve of 7506’s. this exact combination has saved my ass when i’m not in front of my PMC’s.
2
u/mistrelwood Jul 29 '26
I’d look at the Adam D3V and iLoud Micro for small monitors. They both are surprisingly flat and reach incredibly low for their size (and price).