Presonus Eris 3.5 nearfield desktop studio monitors active

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Re: Presonus Eris 3.5 nearfield desktop studio monitors active

Post by tea for two »

Hugh Robjohns wrote: Mon May 08, 2023 12:30 pm They are cheap loudspeakers, no more no less. Adequate for budget home studio purposes, perhaps, but high quality, accurate reference monitoring is not within their competency.

Tru.

tea for two wrote: Sun Mar 26, 2023 10:07 am However for critical decisions on say reflections, transients, fx plugins, eq compression soforth, selecting sounds shaping sounds, shaping Bass and Kick, I would reach for my AKG K712.
After I sorted these on my K712 thereafter I would be fine to record mix on this Eris 3.5.


tea for two wrote: Fri May 05, 2023 7:05 pm Upto 16 tracks per piece is manageable for me on this ere poor Eris. I wouldn't want mix more than 16 tracks.


Main reason for getting small speakers

tea for two wrote: Sun Mar 26, 2023 10:07 am Apartment flat with neighbours left right above below.

Working solely on headphones I've had to take a 2 month break from last project : there was a constant slight pain in my left ear for 2months from working on last album.

To try to not go there again.

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Re: Presonus Eris 3.5 nearfield desktop studio monitors active

Post by Hugh Robjohns »

I'm not picking holes with your purchase decisions, just pointing out that professional monitors are, by definition, different beasts to budget speakers.

And there are physically small monitors, if that's a requirement. They aren't full bandwidth, obviously, but they do have monitor levels of detail and resolution. The Neumann KH80 could be thought of in that category, for example. Or ATC's SCM7 (passive). Both cost around £1k. There are others.
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Re: Presonus Eris 3.5 nearfield desktop studio monitors active

Post by Bob Bickerton »

tea for two wrote: Sun Mar 26, 2023 10:07 am Apartment flat with neighbours left right above below.

Working solely on headphones I've had to take a 2 month break from last project : there was a constant slight pain in my left ear for 2months from working on last album.

To try to not go there again.

Disturbing neighbours is to do with volume not how good the monitors are and having owned both the Eris 3.5s (for a very short time) and the Neumann KH80s - well let's simply say one of them is a speaker and the other is something you might tread in by accident on a dark night ;)

It's actually a rather good discipline to mix at low levels, provided you're confident that what you hear is accurate........ and it doesn't hurt your ears....... odd sort of thread this.......

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Re: Presonus Eris 3.5 nearfield desktop studio monitors active

Post by tea for two »

Bob Bickerton wrote: Tue May 09, 2023 11:49 am Disturbing neighbours is to do with volume not how good the monitors are
It's actually a rather good discipline to mix at low levels, provided you're confident that what you hear is accurate........ and it doesn't hurt your ears...

Mos def. Been mixing at low volume for years. Yet it's my tendency to hear near completed / completed mixes at high volume on headphones.
Damage done over years isn't it in various ways.
Some things just 5years earlier I could listen fine I can't listen now as they hurt my ears.

Bob Bickerton wrote: Tue May 09, 2023 11:49 am having owned both the Eris 3.5s (for a very short time) and the Neumann KH80s - well let's simply say one of them is a speaker and the other is something you might tread in by accident on a dark night ;)

:lol:
I'm just mixing my own music. Were I mixing others music I wouldn't touch these ere Eris3.5 with a barge pole lol.

It's also a buget issue.
iloud Micro on my radar used pair.
https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/ik ... loud-micro

Bob Bickerton wrote: Tue May 09, 2023 11:49 am .... odd sort of thread this.......

This thread belongs in the Twilight Zone :beamup:
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Re: Presonus Eris 3.5 nearfield desktop studio monitors active

Post by Hugh Robjohns »

{Tangent mode}

Talking of the benefits of mixing at low level.... any listen to the Coronation concert and wonder where the bass was?

It's only a guess, but I reckon its absence was due to a combination of PA bass leaking into the OB truck and mixing at a high level to try and overcome said leakage.
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Re: Presonus Eris 3.5 nearfield desktop studio monitors active

Post by Arpangel »

I’ve put Eris on low priority duty, on our PC, just as computer speakers. Even on that they sound bad, nowhere near as good as the Creatives.
They are almost, I’m not sure yet, on the way to the charity shop.
You know me, my standards aren’ high, and I may just use them as amplifiers for the contact mic’s on my cheese grater.

:D
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Re: Presonus Eris 3.5 nearfield desktop studio monitors active

Post by tea for two »

Arpangel wrote: Tue May 09, 2023 3:53 pm They are almost, I’m not sure yet, on the way to the charity shop.

:D

Why inflict this Eris upon others lol.
I wonder whether painting them pink will make them sound a million lira.
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Re: Presonus Eris 3.5 nearfield desktop studio monitors active

Post by MarkOne »

Hugh Robjohns wrote: Tue May 09, 2023 2:40 pm {Tangent mode}

Talking of the benefits of mixing at low level.... any listen to the Coronation concert and wonder where the bass was?

It's only a guess, but I reckon its absence was due to a combination of PA bass leaking into the OB truck and mixing at a high level to try and overcome said leakage.

I present to you a new innovation in monitoring Image
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Re: Presonus Eris 3.5 nearfield desktop studio monitors active

Post by Drew Stephenson »

It'll never catch on. ;)
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Re: Presonus Eris 3.5 nearfield desktop studio monitors active

Post by Arpangel »

MarkOne wrote: Tue May 09, 2023 5:09 pm
Hugh Robjohns wrote: Tue May 09, 2023 2:40 pm {Tangent mode}

Talking of the benefits of mixing at low level.... any listen to the Coronation concert and wonder where the bass was?

It's only a guess, but I reckon its absence was due to a combination of PA bass leaking into the OB truck and mixing at a high level to try and overcome said leakage.

I present to you a new innovation in monitoring Image


I’ve got K270's they aren’t anywhere near flat, but they sound "nicely weird"
I like them.
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Re: Presonus Eris 3.5 nearfield desktop studio monitors active

Post by Hugh Robjohns »

MarkOne wrote: Tue May 09, 2023 5:09 pm I present to you a new innovation in monitoring Image

:lol: Not practical for the whole show (need to hear talkback instructions/cues and producer inputs) but good, closed-back cans could certainly help in better judgement of the overall tonal balance via occasional checks.

Oddly, I've not seen reference cans used often in these situations though.
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Re: Presonus Eris 3.5 nearfield desktop studio monitors active

Post by Arpangel »

Reference cans? Certainly not K270’s.
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Re: Presonus Eris 3.5 nearfield desktop studio monitors active

Post by tea for two »

Hugh Robjohns wrote: Tue May 09, 2023 2:40 pm {Tangent mode}

Talking of the benefits of mixing at low level.... any listen to the Coronation concert and wonder where the bass was?

It's only a guess, but I reckon its absence was due to a combination of PA bass leaking into the OB truck and mixing at a high level to try and overcome said leakage.

Clearly they were monitoring on the Eris the best they ever heard lol.
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Re: Presonus Eris 3.5 nearfield desktop studio monitors active

Post by MarkOne »

Arpangel wrote: Tue May 09, 2023 7:32 pm Reference cans? Certainly not K270’s.

No Tony these are the K872 closed back references cans
https://www.akg.com/Headphones/Profess ... 00050.html
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Re: Presonus Eris 3.5 nearfield desktop studio monitors active

Post by Arpangel »

MarkOne wrote: Wed May 10, 2023 12:10 am
Arpangel wrote: Tue May 09, 2023 7:32 pm Reference cans? Certainly not K270’s.

No Tony these are the K872 closed back references cans
https://www.akg.com/Headphones/Profess ... 00050.html

Struth! they’re expensive!
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Re: Presonus Eris 3.5 nearfield desktop studio monitors active

Post by tea for two »

Way I look at it is I should be able to mix my own basic music on el cheapo chuck in trash lol as this ere poor Eris as well as on £17K SCM110A.
If I can't then I would consider myself remiss.
I should know my own basic music inside out as well how it sounds compared to some reference commercial releases.
This is just for my own music nobody else's

Also only to mix after I'd sorted out on my K712 critical decisions on say reflections, transients, fx plugins, eq compression soforth, selecting sounds shaping sounds.
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Re: Presonus Eris 3.5 nearfield desktop studio monitors active

Post by sonics »

Choosing to mix music on the Eris 3.5 seems to me to be rather like a painter wearing frosted sunglasses. Why would you want to, if "clearer" options are available?
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Re: Presonus Eris 3.5 nearfield desktop studio monitors active

Post by tea for two »

sonics wrote: Thu May 11, 2023 4:24 pm a painter wearing frosted sunglasses. Why would you want to, if "clearer" options are available?

Kellogg's Frosties lol.
At time of purchase it was a budget thing £100 max.
Also as your dear self alongside several others are professionals on SoS forum also several semi pro, several gigging musician on SoS forum,
I am mos def amateur bedroom hobbyist.
I just can't bring myself to spend too much on music gear for myself.
I do intend to upgrade to iloud micro.
https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/ik ... loud-micro

::

Hugh I would appreciate you changing title of thread to Presonus Eris 3.5 desktop speakers.
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Re: Presonus Eris 3.5 nearfield desktop studio monitors active

Post by tea for two »

I chortled :lol: . Dear Paul White chose Eris 3.5 bluetooth as one of the SoS gear of the year 2023.

https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/2023-gear-year
"The PreSonus Eris E3.5 BT (non Bluetooth version also available at a lower cost) delivers a very believable ‘big monitor’ sound in a tiny package that is well suited to smaller studio spaces. We’ve seen quite a few compact monitors over the last few years that sound impossibly wide‑ranging given their size, but the Eris E3.5 BTs also tick my cost‑effectiveness box. The low end is impressively deep and solid,"

I knew I wasn't completely daft. :beamup:
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Re: Presonus Eris 3.5 nearfield desktop studio monitors active

Post by SafeandSound Mastering »

I have a pair of Eris 3.5 and love them ! I use them to replace a Panasonic 90's black plastic stereo which was wired to my office PC. That did good service to listen online for many years.

I planned a little project where I thought I might sit out in the garden and quietly make music out there under a gazebo. That plan never came to fruition last year so I use them for internet music playing mainly.

I bung the the ports on them with old rags and that I find creates a better bottom for me. It's much tighter sounding. The side walls on those speakers make a hollow sound when you tap the side, at a guess 4mm thick mdf. I was not impressed by that but for the money I don't think there is anything better.

I also upgraded that extremely thin piece of wire connecting the satellite speaker from the amp to a nice thick piece bit of copper cable. It was so thin I did not like the look of it.

Believe it or not they alerted me to a little sonic problem that I had not heard on the E8. It may be they have an internal resonance (or where they are positioned which is not exactly ideal) on a harmonic which was purely coincidental. I was playing a the last track I made and it showed a bass note an octave up as "sticky outty" which is my non technical term for such matters :lol: and yes my BM6P were in agreement come mix time. Though this was more pronounced on the Eris 3.5 so I suspected a coincidental internal resonance from the bunging.

What I especially like about them is a metal tweeter guard, that's great and also tone controls, very few speakers have a tone controls and I dip the top end off slightly for taste. They look nice too.

Of course they are a tiny speaker and you cannot really make detailed decisions on them. They are a VERY good multimedia speaker and at a pinch... well... a snare sounds like a snare, a kick like a kick. You can use anything to mix on but do you want to is the big question ? Choose you gear commensurate for the task at hand.

I also use Eris E8 (also port bunged) and use those in an untreated room and up very close and with fairly low volumes. So I hear a ratio of more speaker than room. They still have a satisfying amount of bass this way without the low end flab which would be too much even monitoring very close. They end up being about 12-14 inches from my ears and I can go as close as 8-9 inches. I monitor quite low of course due to proximity so they have had an easy life power consumption and driver wise. I do turn them up and walk around the room / stare out the window perspective from time to time.

They are plenty loud.

This seems to work well for me. I like these Presonus speakers for their unbeatable bang for buck. I have no connection with them, just like the way they do things. I like the tweeter guards given my cat often helps me play keyboard by sitting on it and coming up to the speakers. At the time she was a kitten and the tweeter guard was handy.

I bought the E8 in 2016 with a 2 year extended warranty which was not needed, faultless since 2016 till now for £324.00 very good value.

I cannot grumble and would buy more of them for my existing and continuing needs outlined above. And I suspect they have only improved things since then.
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Re: Presonus Eris 3.5 nearfield desktop studio monitors active

Post by Arpangel »

I might give the Eris 8’s another go, I cant think of anything else that I like around this price, and I just cant bring myself to spend big money on "proper" monitors. Also, it'll be another step in de-Behringerising my studio, for what its worth.
When I first tried the 8’s, they sounded much clearer overall and more open, than my Behringer's, which sound muddy in comparison, but it’s all relative I guess.
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Re: Presonus Eris 3.5 nearfield desktop studio monitors active

Post by SafeandSound Mastering »

I did mention (but deleted it cause not relevant really) if I was going for a sole pair in a well treated room I would look at EVE 8 inchers or some HEDD equivalents. Most likely they are probably a few steps up from Dynaudio BM6P in terms of detail resolution in 2023. (not least being active though I am not entirely sure about ribbon tweeters if honest, I always liked silk dome so tended to stay with them.)

For a very brief period the Eris 8 were in my mastering room in place of the trusty BM6P (which I keep in the room as I have owned them for ages and know how every music type sounds on them so they are a valid second ref for me secondary to the PMC IB1S) and compared to the Dynaudio BM6P the difference was not night and day. I just wanted to hear what they sounded like in a good room to see what they were like for real. (before they ended up in my untreated music making / creative room)

Quite different designs (8 vs 6.5 inch vs front vs rear firing ports / cab sizes active vs passive) but I was not thinking "there is no way I could mix on those"

Pretty good for not much money at all. If you are in a well treated room sure you are likely to miss some detail and ultimate clarity compared with spending 5 x more but if on a budget I bet you can do a lot worse.

Up close, I do hear a small residual hiss from E8 which is worth mentioning but that does not seem to cause any bother, you probably would not want it editing classical music up close or some other wide dynamic range music.

They may have improved that with E8 XT ? No idea...

Sorry latest model called Presonus Eris Studio 8
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Re: Presonus Eris 3.5 nearfield desktop studio monitors active

Post by sonics »

I think the Eris 8 XT was a slight improvement over the 8. The new waveguide certainly evened out the horizontal spread. Now discontinued in favour of the Studio 8, which looks identical but PreSonus tells us it's a "substantial update that delivers richer low-end and more controlled high-frequency response"! Of course it is. :D

Probably still a decent speaker at the price. One location I deal with replaced them with the current Yorkville equivalent. A definite step down in treble smoothness IMO.

I've recommended and installed a few pairs of the 5" versions.
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Re: Presonus Eris 3.5 nearfield desktop studio monitors active

Post by Arpangel »

SafeandSound Mastering wrote: Sat Dec 09, 2023 12:24 pm
Up close, I do hear a small residual hiss from E8 which is worth mentioning but that does not seem to cause any bother, you probably would not want it editing classical music up close or some other wide dynamic range music.


I can confirm the hiss, and also, on mine, a definite mechanical hum from the PSU's in both speakers.
It was because if these things I sent them back, got the Behringer 3031’s which at least don’t have these issues.
Shame, as the sound of the 8’s was very good for the money.
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Re: Presonus Eris 3.5 nearfield desktop studio monitors active

Post by tea for two »

https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/ge ... 23-podcast
Gear Of The Year 2023 | Podcast with Hugh and Paul.
At 6min33sec Eris 3.5. Paul said there must be Elves inside Eris 3.5 :bouncy:
I'm looking ever so slightly less bonkers :crazy: with my biggin up ere Eris 3.5.
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