Edifier S880DB MKII Active Hi-Fi Speaker

Introduction

Edifier is a Chinese company I hadn’t come across before. However, they are well regarded here at HF&MS. China has a huge range of companies manufacturing most of the things we, as a consumer society, crave. As a company, they have been around for 29 years and appear to have a good reputation. Essentially, the Edifier S880 DB Mk2 active speakers are a compact bookshelf or desktop pair of speakers, ideal for computer use, AV use like a soundbar, or, in my case, background music whilst in my hobby room making models or building valve amplifier kits. They arrived at an ideal time because I had been contemplating reorganising my hobby room setup, which had comprised a good separate CD player, an amplifier, and some bookshelf passive speakers.

Edifier S880 DB MkII

The Edifier S880 DB MkII active speakers are a highly regarded choice for audiophiles and casual listeners alike. Featuring a compact, stylish design with wooden side panels, these speakers deliver impressive sound quality thanks to their 88W RMS power output and high-resolution audio certification. They support a range of connectivity options, including Bluetooth, optical, coaxial, USB, and dual RCA, making them suitable for a variety of devices and setups. The included remote control and on-speaker controls make it easy to adjust volume, bass, and treble, ensuring a tailored listening experience.

As the MkII designations denote, these are an update of the original MkI. The revamped MkII version has been enhanced with a larger, revised titanium dome, an improved voice coil assembly, and a redesigned mid-bass driver. On opening the well-packed double-boxed speakers, I was very impressed with the excellent fit and finish. I received the walnut finish with black baffles and tops. I really liked their finish and looks, and they were reassuringly solid at 6.7 Kg net weight. You can also get a white finish with maple-look side cheeks.

As you can see from the specifications, the Edifier S880 DB MkII is feature-rich with plenty of flexibility. They come with a compact hockey puck-style remote that charges via a USB-C cable, so no hunting for replacement batteries in drawers. The remote has a power indicator LED that turns green when fully charged and red when flat. The volume and input controls are easy to use, but it wasn’t the most responsive remote I have encountered, lagging at times on commands. I find a lot of remotes, though, can be sluggish, even on high-end kit.

Specification and Price

Performance

For convenience, I streamed from my Samsung Android mobile most of the time using Amazon Music, but I also tried my WiiM Pro Plus and Pioneer PDS-707 CD player with excellent results. The sound was very clear and punchy, with tight bass and clean mid- and treble. The top end wasn’t perfect, but neither did it grate or have me wanting to turn it down. I like a wide range of musical styles, and a favourite is smooth jazz from groups such as Fourplay and Bob James. I played Bob James’s album Playing Hooky, which was recorded on CD with the HDCD process, which was once popular back in the 90s (see footnote). Their albums are superbly recorded, and the musicianship is second to none. Because I spent nearly all my time sitting in a nearfield position, I felt I was right in the mix, and the detailing was fabulous.

I used the monitor sound mode set by the ConneX app I downloaded to my mobile, as it gave me the closest approximation to flat response. The controls on the back of the speaker, with all the input/output sockets, allowed manual bass, treble, and volume adjustment. What I did notice was the omission of a balance control or speaker channel designation switch, a feature that I have used on other active speakers in the past. Some would argue Why do you need a balance control? My reason was that the instructions weren’t particularly clear on this issue, and there was no mention of channel identification. I contacted Edifier UK, and they responded very quickly with a comprehensive explanation and reasoning for the design. Basically, the speaker with the amps and controls is the right channel, and the other is the left. You might think, well, that’s obvious, or question why it was important, but I like to be well-informed and understand everything—a big thumbs up to the Edifier customer service team for doing a great job and caring.

Being active speakers, connecting the two housings is facilitated by an included brown 5-pin cable. Edifier provides additional 3.5 mm to RCA, RCA to RCA and USB-C cables, the latter for charging the ice hockey-puck style remote control device. Well done to Edifier for not short-changing on the accessories in the box.

Connections and Control

As mentioned earlier, the S880DB sports a good selection of connections in addition to the optical TOSLINK input. USB-C, coax digital, 2 x RCA line-ins and Bluetooth round out the rear panel. It’s also reassuring to see that the Bluetooth version has been upgraded to v5.3 from the former model’s v4.1 spec. If you decide to sidestep or lose the remote, you get a local volume, treble and bass dial to the left of the amp plate. There’s also a sub out connector if you need more bass heft from an external enclosure. A discreet OLED display with handy auto-dimming towards the base of the right speaker indicates each input. A nice touch.

The Edifier’s full-featured rear connection panel

The Edifier employs chipsets from Texas Instruments and an XMOS XU216 processor onboard, which enacts the DSP functionality. Consequently, Hi-Res playback at 24-bit/96kHz is now the benchmark, an uptick over the S880DB’s former iteration; the Bluetooth 5.3 receiver with LDAC now supports transmission rates of up to 990kbps, we are told. A total of 88 watts of power is shared among the drivers. It was plenty for my smallish room.

Footnote:  HDCD, or High Definition Compatible Digital, is an audio encoding technology that adds more musical detail (effectively 20-bit audio) to a standard 16-bit CD, increasing dynamic range for clearer sound while remaining playable on regular CD players, though decoding requires an HDCD-compatible player or DAC for the full benefit, a feature now largely obsolete but found on some audiophile equipment. Many people said it was a complete gimmick, and not many manufacturers adopted it. Mark Levinson did on the CD39 and 390S, but they stopped production after a few years as well. A shame as I had a few CDs with the encoding which sounded fabulous.

Overall

Edifier have clearly put a lot of thought into this latest design, and I applaud them for a great job. A thoroughly enjoyable sound and ease of use make them an excellent value for the money. Currently, the retail price averages about £330 online, but I noticed Amazon was offering a deal at £230 on a limited-time offer. If you fancy a pair, shop around.