M-Audio BX4

Sources split. MusicRadar finds it pretty good but slightly sweetened; Amazona (2020), Guitar Command, Juno, Performer Mag and TechnikLoft call it fairly neutral or flat for the money, and a Reddit owner found it more even than an Edifier R1280T. Weeb Labs' measurement shows a "rollercoaster" on-axis response, ASR regular AnalogSteph calls it multimedia rather than reference, an Amazon owner says it colours the sound, and a Reddit blind test (with Edifier and PreSonus rivals) heard it as muddy.

Mostly praised for the size. MusicRadar, Amazona (2020), Digital DJ Tips, Guitar Command, Juno and TechnikLoft call the bass surprisingly full for a 4.5-inch woofer, and Amazona's 2022 sweep heard the BX4 BT reach about 40 Hz, faintly, in the room. The cautions run both ways: several owners find it bass-heavy at the centre EQ setting on a desk and turn it down, Weeb Labs measured a port hump near 80 Hz, and an owner using a subwoofer says the woofers struggle with deep bass and filters them out below 100 Hz.

“The rear-ported design successfully extends the bass delivery and further low end can be added from the bass EQ, although go too far and you’ll mask the low mids.”

Jon Musgrave, MusicRadar

“Very bass heavy. Fine if you can cut the bass with an EQ.”

Downtuner, Thomann owner review (3★)

“The BX4s struggle when pushed into deep bass”

u/SnooMacaroons13, r/BudgetAudiophile (running them with an Edifier T5 subwoofer)

Mixed. Amazona (2020) and Amazona (2022) hear good, balanced mids, and Digital DJ Tips finds them slightly muted but pleasant. Weeb Labs heard the 2–7 kHz rise push vocals forward into slight sibilance; Guitar Command noticed a little boxiness and harsh upper mids at high volume; a Reddit blind test called it muddy.

“This turned out to be the wide bump between 2KHz and 7KHz, which emphasized vocals and caused them to become slightly sibilant.”

Weeb Labs, Audio Science Review

“Die Mitten klingen gut, der Oberbass ist knackig und sogar die Höhen profitieren vom größeren Chassis.”

Jörg Hoffmann, Amazona.de (German: “The mids sound good, the upper bass is punchy, and even the highs benefit from the bigger driver”)

“We did notice a tiny degree of boxiness, and some harsh high-mids, at high volumes, but nothing serious”

Guitar Command

Sources split. Amazona (2020) finds the tweeter blends well if it is no detail wonder; Amazona (2022), Digital DJ Tips and Thomann owners call the highs clean, clear and not harsh, even with the High EQ turned up. Weeb Labs measured diffraction from the shortened waveguide around 8–10 kHz that EQ could not fix, and AnalogSteph says the tweeter "does funny things around 10 kHz".

Praised where mentioned: Amazona (2022) likes the stage that its wide dispersion creates, and TechnikLoft calls it great for the size.

“Der Grundsound und auch die Bühne durch die breite Abstrahlung gefällt mir”

Stephan Merk, Amazona.de, on the BX4 BT (German: “I like the basic sound and the stage that comes from the wide dispersion”)

“the bx4 create a great sound stage and also offer surprisingly good amount of bass despite them not having a separate subwoofer”

Sebastian, TechnikLoft (YouTube)

Good for the price: MusicRadar praises the stereo image, Amazona (2020) the spatial presentation, and an Amazon owner the imaging; Amazona (2022) notes channel separation only blurs on dense mixes.

“The stereo image is also good and the tweeter waveguide delivers a nice broad sweet spot.”

Jon Musgrave, MusicRadar

“Recht neutral, deutlich dynamischer und kraftvoller als der kleine Bruder, viel mehr Fundament und eine ebenso gute räumliche Abbildung.”

Jörg Hoffmann, Amazona.de (German: “Fairly neutral, far more dynamic and powerful than the little brother, much more foundation and an equally good spatial image”)

Modest. A Thomann owner hears every crackle on vinyl, but Guitar Command found it less transparent and detailed than a larger reference pair, Digital DJ Tips says it is not as accurate as pricier speakers, and Amazona (2020) calls the highs no miracle of resolution.

“The M-Audio speakers weren’t as transparent across the audio range, and weren’t able to deliver quite as detailed an audio picture as the larger pair.”

Guitar Command (compared with Event 20/20 monitors)

“bei Vinylaufzeichnungen hört man wirklich jedes feine Knacksen”

Prignitzer, Thomann owner review (German: “on vinyl recordings you really hear every little crackle”)

Loud for the size. Guitar Command, Weeb Labs, MusicRadar, Performer Mag, Letem světem Applem and Thomann owners all say it plays loud, and Amazona (2020) finds it far more dynamic than the BX3. The limits: MusicRadar says it lacks the scale of bigger monitors, Digital DJ Tips says it is not for parties, a Thomann owner (10 m² room, on a DJ shelf) hears it drone a little at high volume, and complex bass makes it work hard.

“In terms of volume, the BX4s produce a serious amount of sound for their size.”

Guitar Command

“they are not loud or sturdy enough to be used for parties”

Phil Morse, Digital DJ Tips

“Bei hoher Lautstärke neigen die Boxen zum leichten Dröhnen.”

Prignitzer, Thomann owner review (German: “At high volume the speakers tend to drone slightly”)

Get the tweeters to ear height. Horizontally the sweet spot is broad (MusicRadar; Weeb Labs measured about 60° of dispersion), but vertically it is narrow: Weeb Labs advises staying within about 20° of the tweeter axis, and a Thomann owner on a computer desk lost treble until the speakers were tilted up. The cabinets have no built-in tilt (Digital DJ Tips, TechnikLoft), the rear port wants some space behind (MusicRadar), and Amazona (2020) advises not setting them straight on the desk.

“Vertical directivity is predictably narrow and you will definitely want to remain within about 20 degrees of the acoustic center.”

Weeb Labs, Audio Science Review

“die BX4 haben einen recht kleinen Sweetspot, außerhalb dessen man einiges an Höhen verliert.”

Capricorn64, Thomann owner review (German: “the BX4 have a rather small sweet spot, outside of which you lose quite a lot of treble”)

“The BX3 and BX4 are rear ported so work best with some space behind them.”

Jon Musgrave, MusicRadar

Sources split almost evenly. MusicRadar, Amazona (2022), Guitar Command ("at a stretch"), Juno, Performer Mag and Thomann owners think it is good enough for production on a budget. Weeb Labs and AnalogSteph cannot recommend it as a monitor, Digital DJ Tips would not use it for full-on production, Amazona (2020) points to the KRK Rokit RP5 for real monitoring, and Amazon owners say it colours the sound or suits only a hobby studio.

Sources split, unevenly. Amazona (2022) found the background noise negligible even at full volume, and TechnikLoft heard none at idle. Some units are not quiet: an Amazon owner returned a pair for hiss, and a Reddit owner had a high-pitched hum and random pops from new, before the pair failed after three years.

Well equipped for the price: balanced TRS and RCA inputs, a front aux input and headphone jack, ±6 dB High and Low EQ and the left/right switch are praised across the board. Caveats: the front aux input overrides the rear inputs rather than mixing with them, there is no XLR, the plain BX4 has no Bluetooth, and Amazona found the BX4 BT's Bluetooth limited to the basic SBC codec.

“These are both nice additions, making the speakers more useful in less-than-ideal listening circumstances.”

Phil Morse, Digital DJ Tips, on the EQ knobs and left/right switch

“verbinden sich die M-Audio BX3 BT und BX4 BT weder mit AAC, noch mit aptX”

Stephan Merk, Amazona.de (German: “the BX3 BT and BX4 BT connect with neither AAC nor aptX”)

Sources split. Reviewers find it easy to set up — one power cable, tidy wiring, a front volume knob that clicks off, and the left/right switch. Owners' biggest complaint is a standby mode that cannot be disabled: Guitar Command calls it the one big problem, and owners on Thomann, Amazon and Reddit report it cutting in after about 30 seconds of silence, or during quiet passages, with a delay of several seconds before sound returns.

Sources split. Reviewers find the vinyl-wrapped MDF cabinets fine or better for the price (TechnikLoft: "flawless"; Amazona: appropriate to the price), though Amazona (2020) and Weeb Labs note the plastic front looks cheap, and Digital DJ Tips calls the included link cable low quality. Owners report units failing: speakers that stopped after a month, channels cutting out after six months, and pairs dropping sound after two to three years.

Sources split, unevenly. Most reviewers rate it a bargain — MusicRadar, Amazona, Digital DJ Tips, Guitar Command, Juno, TechnikLoft and Thomann owners. The dissent comes from the measurement side and from buyers who compared rivals: Weeb Labs points to the Neumi BS5P and later the Edifier MR4, AnalogSteph to the MR4 or PreSonus Eris Studio 4, a Reddit blind test preferred the PreSonus Eris 4.5, and an ASR member who bought both found the BX5 D3 worth its price and the BX4 not.