Presonus Eris 3.5 nearfield desktop studio monitors active

[Arpangel]

Reference cans? Certainly not K270’s.

[tea for two]

{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.

[MarkOne]

Reference cans? Certainly not K270’s.

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

[Arpangel]

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!

[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.

[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?

[tea for two]

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.

[tea for two]

I chortled . 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.

[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 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.

[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.

[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

[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.

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.

[Arpangel]

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.

[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
I'm looking ever so slightly less bonkers with my biggin up ere Eris 3.5.

[SafeandSound Mastering]

Very difficult to knock them for their price. I would buy again if they break as a very good multimedia speaker. Tone controls and tweeter grill has the competition beat out in my view and no hum or hiss from the 3.5's here.

For perspective on what I usually listen on, my main system is PMC IB1S / Crane Song Solaris Quantum DAC / 500 WPC Hypex amp.

[Arpangel]

Very difficult to knock them for their price. I would buy again if they break as a very good multimedia speaker. Tone controls and tweeter grill has the competition beat out in my view and no hum or hiss from the 3.5's here.

For perspective on what I usually listen on, my main system is PMC IB1S / Crane Song Solaris Quantum DAC / 500 WPC Hypex amp.

I've not liked mine for awhile, but we set them up directly on the desktop alongside our office computer, for casual listening, and they don’t sound bad, like you, no hum or noise.
I suppose they aren’t bad for what they are, I did have them on our telly for awhile, under the top shelf, they sounded awful, very boxy, depends where you put them.

[Hugh Robjohns]

...they sounded awful, very boxy, depends where you put them.

True for every speaker!

The Eris 3.5 are impressive for their size and price, but — to me — they sound too artificial at the low end to be classed as a monitor speaker. Good for pleasure listening though.

[Arpangel]

...they sounded awful, very boxy, depends where you put them.

True for every speaker!

The Eris 3.5 are impressive for their size and price, but — to me — they sound too artificial at the low end to be classed as a monitor speaker. Good for pleasure listening though.

Yes, they have this "cardboard" sounding bottom end, I know you have have to look at them for what they are, I was mentioning this to Tea For Two, and said that even my lowly Creative computer speakers sounded more natural in this department, the Eris sound like an overblown Roberts radio type sound, in comparison.
But all this is crazy, considering what they are, and the Eris sound pleasant enough for my partner to listen to Nat King Cole on while sending mails to her friends.

[SafeandSound Mastering]

I port bung mine, sacrifce the 'deeper' lows and enjoy their tighter sound. As I bunged them very quickly after hearing the lows, 2 mins after testing. I don't miss anything.

In fact I don't even think about it (until I see this thread). If they provided 2 foam bungs that would be another selling point and cost them almost nothing.

Like many very small, cheap speakers as soon as you start turning them up the very thin side panels will resonate and add their colouration to the resultant sound. I only listen to music online etc. at background/enjoyment level and for that there is nothing that can beat them for the money.

Though I see they have gone up in price now by about £20.00

I think people should think less about their shortcomings and more about what else you going to get that would be better ?

[MarkOne]

Well a mate of mine went for a pair of these for his living room listening, with Cyrus preamp, Cyrus CD and ProJect turntable. I was genuinely shocked at how good they are for £100.

While they aren’t ruler flat, they don’t seem to have over-hyped the bass with port tuning, like so many other cheap small reflex speakers do. Placement seems important because the bass seemed much better on decent stands well away from walls. I could definitely mix on them, and yeah, the stereo image is much better than it has any right to be at that price.

[James Perrett]

I bought my lad a pair of these for his birthday because he wanted something small for his room at his other house. He has now let me set them up on top of the LS3/5a's to do a comparison...

The first impression is that they aren't as small as I was expecting - you could easily fit a 4" driver in those cabinets. There is a plethora of connection options so you should be able to find some way to get audio into them, no matter what you are using. There is also a slightly more expensive Bluetooth version although Bluetooth is really only usable for casual listening.

Yes, they are initially very impressive with an amazing amount of bass from such a small speaker. The imaging is also good - vocals in particular hang in the space between the speakers. I felt that other sounds were maybe not quite as precisely imaged compared to the LS3/5as but the performance was very credible.

Given that I know how the LS3/5as sound in relation to other systems, I would say that the Eris 3.5's bass is a bit exaggerated and I'll maybe try bunging up the ports to see if that even things out. There is also a lower midrange suck-out which means that instruments like guitars may end up too loud when mixing on them.

The high end also isn't as refined as on the LS3/5a and there are probably peaks in the response but some people may like this.

However, given that the price is now down to £75 from most places, they offer amazing value for money.

[g18llo]

Presonus Eris 3.5 performed fairly colourless neutrally for a variety of styles for my own music.
Well worth auditioning for low budget £100 bearing in mind the points raised in this mini review.
I am keeping this Eris 3.5.

I thought the Eris' were great.... when the question was "Am I getting any audio signal?".

[SafeandSound Mastering]

I just wish to add something that is a surprise. I am producing a drum and bass track (Atmospheric / so called "intelligent") using a sub bass boomer from wait for it... SubBoomBass by Rob Papen. After doing some work on my Eris 8 I often check things first casually on the Eris 3.5 just without great focus a chilled listen for overall feel. There are some very low notes in the track and my ports are bunged on these 3.5 inch little wonders.

I am hearing these subs as well as I would expect, in fact better than I would expect for these tiny speakers.(ok not the very lowest notes yet but I may give the lowest ones a MIDI velocity tweak yet when final mixing happens.)

There is little at fault for their price as far as I am concerned. I use the first release model of them.

It's getting fairly close, maybe a couple more sessions. At least an arrangement is almost there, that is a milestone.

[ef37a]

He is not going to tell you so I will! Arpy sent his pair of 3.5s to me free gratis because the amps in my son's pair eventually packed up (a known issue it seems )
I have recently posted the powered LH speaker to my son in France and he is now delighted to be up and running again.

Thanks again Tony...Top bloke!

Dave.

[James Perrett]

I am hearing these subs as well as I would expect, in fact better than I would expect for these tiny speakers.(ok not the very lowest notes yet but I may give the lowest ones a MIDI velocity tweak yet when final mixing happens.)

I found that they were a bit variable - some bass came through really well while other sounds were a bit light.

Still great value though.