An Honest Edifier M60 Review - Muddy Mids & Rough Below 50% Volume

An Honest Edifier M60 Review – Terribly Muddy Midtones & rough listening for anything less than 50% volume.

Even on sale for only $99, I'm still returning the Edifier M60 Speakers. The lack of mid detail clarity, muffled sound signature and bass boost creates a small mess.

All the YouTube reviews and "Audio Influencers" are rating these little speakers highly in comparison to their low price. Factoring in build quality, connectivity and all the other stuff that doesn't matter at all.

This is a speaker... it lives or dies on the sound quality!

We all know sound is subjective, and no speaker will suit every genre or persons ugly ears perfectly. But... the M60 is aimed at the desktop market. So I think it's fair to say that these little speakers should excel at low-listening volume, mid clarity/sparkle and be good for both light music, gaming and youtube + podcasts. Bass is a bonus, and shouldn't sacrifice instrumental details, voice sparkle and the immersive feel.

Spoiler Alert (less than 50% volume):

• Voices sound awful
• Mids are completely lost
• No sparkle/quality
• Terrible at normal listening volume

Now you might be thinking 50% volume is no problem, but I live in an apartment and I would have the neighbours knocking, so I have to be a little more respectful. And that's what headphones are for, when you want full ear blasting immersion.

Everyone online is raving about the Edifier M60's being great, but honestly… they are crap at normal volume! I'm writing this little quick review as I'm annoyed that I also fell for the hype-train.

Edifier must have a big marketing budget, as even the AI fights against you even mentioning that these speakers just sound plain awful! They tell you to update the firmware, place the speakers away from the wall… trust me… you can't polish a… 💩 I tried… for about 3 hours tweaking the EQ's.

Bass 32, 64, 125Kz down, mid frequencies arc'd forward and even a bright top-end did nothing to pull out the low-volume mids.

I bought these speakers for myself to give my desk a little sound upgrade, not sponsored in anyway. (can you imagine if this was sponsored :P)

(If you listen to heavy bass music or rock, that's not my thing so this mini-review isn't for you.)

Pros

• Excellent, secure packaging
• Every cable you need included
• Sounds decent when cranked up

Cons

• Muddy, boomy bass kills the mids at normal volume
• Ugly stands and thick black cable
• Tacky gold Edifier transfer looks cheap
• Build quality issues on my unit

Build Quality & Packing – 3/5

The packaging is really good. Super secure, no chance of damage in transit. All the cables you need, already included.

Build quality is always going to be hit & miss between units. My set of white M60's came with a few problems.

Build Quality Issues

• Left Speaker – Black Mark on Front Plate
• Right Speaker – Front plate mis-alignment.

I've added photos of both.

Design – 3/5

Only 3 out of 5? oh why?

Yeah they look good from the front, well kinda. The cheapo gold 'Edifier' tranfer is tacky and gives knockoff market vibes.

The stands are just plain ugly. They look cheap and if you're buying these speakers for aesthetics, you'll be disapointed. But they're free and included, so that's a bonus point. Personally, i would have preffered a couple of magnetic covers over these colour-mismatched stands. I think they're included as Edifier is trying it's best make these speakers sound better than the 5/10 they are!

I mentioned earlier they look good from the front, but from the side is another matter. The thick stiff black cable is a bit of an eyesore and looks kinda ugly on a desk.

Again, ditch the ugly stands and add in some colour-matched or braided ones. Or even better scrap the 4-pin DIN-style connection for usb 4. Not like these speakers are benfitting from the analogue in terms of sound quality.

The Sound Quality – 2/5

At low to mid-volume it's an unrefined mess that prioritizes overpowered muddy bass while sacrificing any mid details, sparkle or life that makes music and movies worth watching.

If you wanted a pair of speakers that will make the hairs on neck stand up, these swampy over-bassed mid muddy speakers are not it. All instrument details blend together into a sloppy mess.

Maybe I got a bad unit? or maybe some of those other reviews drank too much of the Cool-Aid. What do you think?

• Voices sound awful (low voices over-boom, mid-voices are flat)
• Mids are completely lost on movies, gaming & music.
• No sparkle no matter how much EQ tuning.
• Terrible at normal volume

Who are these speakers for: Anyone who wants heavy bass at high volumes in a small form factor. Everyone else: avoid.

The Sound Quality (Very Loud) – 3.5/5

I think it would be unfair if I didn't mention that these little speakers actually sound pretty good when you crank them right up. That's what I see most of the YouTuber reviewers doing anyway. The mids finally get released from the mud, the stereo kicks in properly and they brighten up massively.

What a shame that Edifier tuned the M60's like this even though they are meant to sit on your desk about 50-100cm from your face.

Overall Edifier M60 Speaker Review – 5/10

If you were thinking about buying the Edifier M60's for your desktop for media listening, and casual volume levels then you will be disappointed like me.

These nicely designed little desktop box speakers are marketed at… you guessed it… the desktop… but they are tuned for university students to keep their course mates awake till 4am.

Drop a comment below if you're also super disappointed in the Edifier M60's low volume muddy EQ.

Edifier M60 - Tech Specs