[Review] Edifier S360DB 2.1 active speakers – as heavy as a cow, performs like a bull.

I had a rough start with the Edifier S360DB, not because of the speaker’s quality or what but because of THE WEIGHT.

My advise to you if you are planning to buy this powerful bull is, make sure the courier guy sends it to your door step. Better still, just ask him to put it near your TV or computer depending on where you want to assemble it. This is where I made a huge mistake where I collected it myself from the courier office because the guy couldn’t deliver it. Little I know at that time that the courier guy was a cunning bugger who didn’t want to deliver it because…………………..YES, IT IS GOD DAMN HEAVY!!!

The Edifier S360DB is priced at RM 1599 in Malaysia but if you check out Edifier’s official store in Lazada or Shopee, you can get it a little cheaper. So all you need is just about RM 1499 to own this bull. If you are a bit tight on budget, you can also consider the S350DB instead, which is selling for about RM 100 to RM 200 cheaper.

Highlights :

• 2.0 speakers plus wireless subwoofer
• Hi-Fi class planar diaphragm tweeters
• 4 inch (105 mm) aluminum mid-range drivers
• Wireless subwoofer with 8 inch long-throw speaker driver
• Bluetooth 4.1 with Qualcomm® aptX decoder
• Class-D high efficient amplifier with DSP technology
• MDF wooden enclosure to reduce sound resonance

I don’t know if I should even post the unboxing image or video here because firstly, it is a review unit, which means it has already been opened and tested by other reviewers. Secondly, I am pretty sure some things are missing from the box e.g. the 3.5 mm audio to RCA cable. Anyway, you don’t need to worry about all these because the one you’re planning to buy will be a brand new sealed unit where everything will be intact.

If I am not wrong, these are what you will find inside the box :

• Subwoofer
• Active satellite unit
• Passive satellite unit
• Active to passive connecting cable
• RC600A remote controller
• RCA to RCA cable
• RCA to 3.5mm audio cable (or probably a converter?)
• User guide & warranty information leaflets

Probably I should just show you the unboxing video so that you will have a rough idea on what to expect. Here you go :

VIDEO COMING SOON

The first thing that I noticed upon assembling the speakers is the wooden outlook. Good quality speakers are usually made of wooden body as it helps to reduce the sound resonance. If you watch the unboxing video above, you will also realise that even the satellite units are quite heavy and I couldn’t carry them using one hand. Probably it is time for me to get a gym membership?

Well, the weight also indicates how good the build quality is. Well, for that price, you definitely won’t be happy to receive a set of speakers which are as light as paper right? With great price, comes great weight. So have fun yo.

I like how the Subwoofer is connected to the main (active) satellite. If you notice, it is connected wirelessly and the advantage here is, I can place the subwoofer where ever I like e.g. under my computer table. It also helps to keep my table less cluttered. Of course, there is a trade-off to this where you now need two power plugs, one for the subwoofer and the other one for the main satellite unit.

It makes a huge difference to your music experience when you place the speakers at the correct spot. The wire connecting the active satellite unit and passive satellite unit is really long and that’s awesome because I can place the speakers at two far ends of my table.

There are plenty of connectivity options for the S360DB. You can connect it to your PC or TV via RCA cable, optical cable or coaxial cable. In case you don’t prefer those options, the speaker also supports Bluetooth. I always connect my phone to the S360DB via Bluetooth as it is pretty straight forward and less tedious.

Connecting the S360DB to your PC or TV is very simple. So I will skip that part. If you are unsure about this and need some guidance, don’t worry because the user manual that you will find inside the box is quite informative……and user friendly.

Getting started with the S360DB is a no-brainer. Just look at the remote and everything is pretty clear there. Powering the speaker, changing input sources, activating Bluetooth, adjusting volumes and even fiddling with your favourite music tracks is made simple, thanks to the RC600A IR remote controller.

Speaking about the remote, I am in love with it the moment I took it out of the box. Well, is this what ‘love at first sight’ is ? …..nah, I think I am just a little excited after seeing a round shaped remote controller for the very first time in my life.

Despite made of plastic, the remote feels very solid and has an amazing build quality. So if you don’t like someone, please don’t throw this remote to their face as it might cause some permanent damage, not to the remote but to the person’s face (I have to mention this because throwing remote to people’s face is pretty common here in Malaysia).

The remote uses a Lithium cell CR2025 3V battery, which will be given when you purchase the speaker. To replace the battery is quite simple where you just need to twist the cover at the back of the remote. In my case, I was given a battery which has fully depleted and since I hardly use these kind of batteries, I was reluctant to buy a new one (because you need to buy a pack which contains about 4 batteries inside). So I just used what I already have at home which is the CR2032. Yes, it is bigger and pops out a bit but you can still fit it inside and close the cover without any problem.

I have to make a separate section for this because my first few days was spent without depending on the remote at all……and I was like, “how the heck do I operate this thing without a remote?”. Well, the good thing about Edifier products in general is, you don’t need to be technically savvy to operate their product, in my case the S360DB.

So if your remote is not functioning, you just need to press the volume knob to turn on the speaker (active satellite). Before that, just make sure that the switch behind the active satellite and subwoofer is turned on.

The S360DB is not my first Edifier speaker. I’ve used the R1280T before this and one thing that I realised about their speakers is, the functions are too basic where you just have 3 knobs, one to adjust the bass, another one for the treble and the last one for the volume. Even on the remote, there is no option to change to a preset equalizer settings which I find to be ridiculous.

I also realised that there is no mute button on the remote. So in case you want to quickly shut the music, the only was is to press the power button to turn off the speaker. If you have connected your smartphone to the speaker, then you can press the pause button on your remote instead. Of course, you can always use the traditional way, which is by pressing and holding on the volume (-) button to quickly reduce the volume if that works best for you.

So, what other options do you have to tweak the sound settings? Unfortunately, that’s only possible by installing some software (on your PC) or apps (on your phone, or some phones have the equalizer built-in).

Edifier has tried their best to keep things simple and easy to use but at the same time, for a person like me who is so used to tweaking & customizing the sound via the speaker itself, I find the S360DB to be a little rigid.

My music experience was never as good as this until I got the S360DB but it is quite sad I have to return it soon. Well, some of you may not like the ‘natural bass’ level that the speaker produces but that is only because you are so used to highly tweaked bass on your previous speakers. Otherwise, the S360DB produces the bass and treble at a very natural level where it gives you the ‘oomph’ that you need without affecting the clarity of the song.

By the way, what do I mean by natural bass here? Don’t get me wrong. I am not saying that the bass is mild. It is actually very punchy and gives the “boom” feel without overpowering the clarity of the song. You can clearly listen to lyrics of the song and enjoy the ‘punch’ from the bass at the same time.  I love this very much to be frank but different people will have different taste when it comes to music. So if you need more ‘oomph’, then your option is to have a software or app to tweak the settings.

If you look at the specs sheet above, the satellites’s frequency range is between 60 – 20,000 Hz, and the subwoofer’s frequency range is from 40 – 150 Hz. That simply means that the S360DB is powerful enough to deliver clear audio even when the room is quite big e.g. your living room @ hall.

The S360DB is also hi-res certified. Just try playing any HD music that you have and you will realise how amazing it sounds on the S360DB. Even if you play a HD music via Bluetooth, the quality is still punchy and awesome, thanks to Qualcomm® aptX audio technology.

After using the S360DB for quite some time, I am starting to hate my own speaker (not disclosing the brand here). Well, that is definitely an unfair comparison because my own speaker costs 5 to 6 times less than the Edifier S360DB.

Thinking about it, I will definitely go for the Edifier only if I have that much of money. It is exactly like how I want it to be, playing music according to my taste, without too much of anything. Everything is well balanced on the speaker and one thing for sure…..I am definitely going to miss this one.

By the way, one reason I was quite upset with the S360DB is, despite having a hefty price tag, it doens’t have NFC feature.