Presonus Eris 3.5 nearfield desktop studio monitors active

[tea for two]

https://www.presonus.com/products/Eris-E35
3.5 inch woofer therefore the name.

Specs
https://www.presonus.com/products/Eris-E35/tech-specs

Approx 9ft*13ft rectangular room untreated.
Literally bedroom with typical bedroom furniture with 1/3 "studio."
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.

In £100 range smallish monitors as accurate colourless neutral as available : although this is possibly a pipe dream.
As well as High and Low frequency adjustable dials.

Testing
M-Audio M-Track 2*2 usbC audio interface on imac2017.
Placing the Eris 3.5 on isolation pads approx 2.5ft 30 inches from rear wall.
Connected through Balanced ¼” TRS.
Auditioning Choral, Dub, Drum N Bass, EDM, Electronica Ambient, Folk, HipHop, Orchestral, Rock : my own music as well as some reference commercial releases.

Sound
Adjusting High and Low frequency dials on rear of Eris 3.5 to represent similar to my AKG K712 openbacked headphones.

Eris 3.5 Low :
Surprisingly well represented within the mix in this untreated average sized room.
Although Bass on Eris 3.5 has body it is lacking accuracy clarity definition compared to my K712 headphones.
Kicks also lack accuracy clarity definition compared to my K712.
Low frequency Bass, Sub Bass obviously for these Eris 3.5 is unsuitable.

Eris 3.5 Mid :
Somewhat V shaped which I prefer. I can pick out clearly enough different layers of instruments sounds in the mid range.

Eris 3.5 High :
Easy going top end.
No brittleness no harshness no over sparkliness to my ears.

Neutrality :
Similar to my AKG K712.

Stereo Imaging :
I was a trifle taken aback by the decency of the imaging.
I wasn't expecting this from Eris 3.5.

Loudness :
Volume dial approx 34% on M-Audio M-Track 2*2 audio interface
and approx 75% of max volume on Eris 3.5 is plenty loud for me in this average sized room.

Overall Impression
In an average sized untreated room, for recording mixing an instrumental a song that doesn't have low freq Bass sub Bass, that has upto 16 tracks, as well as considering translation to mobile phone, hifi : I would be fine on this Eris 3.5.
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.

Drawbacks
No XLR inputs.
V shaped mid for those that prefer a more forward mid.
Low end unsurprisingly.

Alternatives
£100 range
Alexis M1 Active 330 & Alesis Elevate
Edifier MR4
Mackie CR4-X
M-Audio BX4.
I haven't tested these can't comment on them.
There are other alternatives.

£200 range
IK Multimedia iloud Micro.
https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/ik ... loud-micro
JBL 104
Tannoy Reveal 402.
I haven't tested these can't comment on them.
There are other alternatives.

Conclusion
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.

::

Price :
£79-£88 pair new.
£96-£104 Bluetooth version pair new.

[Arpangel]

TFT, uncoloured? very difficult at £100/200 impossible.
I’ve got the 3.5's, all I use them for is to "hear what I’m doing" out and about. They are very boxy with a "cardboard" low end.
I was going to get the mini Genelecs, and wish I did now, at least they’re a credible stab at something better.

[tea for two]

My hearing's gone to pot. Preehaps this coloured my opinion of Eris 3.5. And or mebe it's the M-Audio M-Track interface.
I auditioned my own music in a variety of styles so I knew what I was listening for. As well as auditioning reference commercial releases in a variety of styles.
£100 is my budget. Not even £200 in which instance I would gone for IK Multimedia iloud Micro.
Those mini Genelec 8010A at approx £500 pretty shure sould be a fair improvement over £90 Eris 3.5.

[Arpangel]

My hearing's gone to pot. Preehaps this coloured my opinion of Eris 3.5. And or mebe it's the M-Audio MTrack interface
I auditioned my own music in variety of styles so I knew what I was listening for. As well as auditioning reference commercial releases in a variety of styles.
£100 is my budget. Not even £200 in which instance I would gone for IK Multimedia iloud Micro.
Those mini Genelec 8010A at approx £500 pretty shure sould be a fair improvement over £90 Eris 3.5.

Be careful, continual headphone listening can lead to problems, keep the volume down.
I’d hope the Genelecs would be better, but nothing surprises me these days.
At £500 they are just too much, for me, for what they are.

[tea for two]

Just to return to £100 price point we can't expect the earth.
What we can be is familiar with our own music familiar with reference commercial releases thereafter we are aware of what we look for.
With these ingrained we can then work with £100 monitors.
For this reason I can work with this Eris 3.5 and am keeping it.

Were we used to more expensive monitors this Eris 3.5 can serve as checking the overall mix master on cheaper monitors. If the mix master translates well to this Eris 3.5 bearing mind it's limitations then it's pretty much alright.

Regarding the Bass I have placed this Eris 3.5 on concrete floor + thin carpet of flat apartment on isolation pads approx 2.5ft 30inches from rear wall.
For me this Eris 3.5 gives plenty body for Bass as long as it's not low frequency Bass, sub Bass.
I can mix most of my Drum N Bass and EDM on this Eris 3.5.
My ideal listening mixing position is laying down lol on the floor.

[Arpangel]

Just to return to £100 price point we can't expect the earth.
What we can be is familiar with our own music familiar with reference commercial releases thereafter we are aware of what we look for.
With these ingrained we can then work with £100 monitors.
For this reason I can work with this Eris 3.5 and am keeping it.

Were we used to more expensive monitors this Eris 3.5 can serve as checking the overall mix master on cheaper monitors. If the mix master translates well to this Eris 3.5 bearing mind it's limitations then it's pretty much alright.

Regarding the Bass I have placed this Eris 3.5 on concrete floor + thin carpet of flat apartment on isolation pads approx 2.5ft 30inches from rear wall.
For me this Eris 3.5 gives plenty body for Bass as long as it's not low frequency Bass, sub Bass.
I can mix most of my Drum N Bass and EDM on this Eris 3.5.
My ideal listening mixing position is laying down lol on the floor.

"Tech tip"
Put the Eris in a corner, and stack loads of books on and around them, heavy ones, I’ve done this before, you’ll get more bass, it might not be good bass, but you’ll get more of it!
The books help to tighten things up.

[muzines]

Put the Eris in a corner, and stack loads of books on and around them, heavy ones, I’ve done this before, you’ll get more bass, it might not be good bass, but you’ll get more of it! The books help to tighten things up.

Does it matter what genre?

I mean, is the bass better with science-fiction, or you need to go for biographies and non-fiction? Does a bit of light fictional romance soften up the high end? Maybe a touch of fantasy to make everything sound "bigger"..?

This is an area of audio research I feel has been sorely lacking...

Maybe someone needs to emulate all this into a simple plugin, with genre selectors - perhaps even by author...

[Essex Boi]

This is an area of audio research I feel has been sorely lacking...

Maybe someone needs to emulate all this into a simple plugin, with genre selectors - perhaps even by author...

Isn’t that what these new fangled audiobooks do?

[tea for two]

Does it matter what genre?

I mean, is the bass better with science-fiction, or you need to go for biographies and non-fiction? Does a bit of light fictional romance soften up the high end? Maybe a touch of fantasy to make everything sound "bigger"..?

This is an area of audio research I feel has been sorely lacking...

Zuke mos def can help with the style of books
I believe they are the styles I couldn't quite reach in my early teens.

[Arpangel]

Put the Eris in a corner, and stack loads of books on and around them, heavy ones, I’ve done this before, you’ll get more bass, it might not be good bass, but you’ll get more of it! The books help to tighten things up.

Does it matter what genre?

I mean, is the bass better with science-fiction, or you need to go for biographies and non-fiction? Does a bit of light fictional romance soften up the high end? Maybe a touch of fantasy to make everything sound "bigger"..?

This is an area of audio research I feel has been sorely lacking...

Maybe someone needs to emulate all this into a simple plugin, with genre selectors - perhaps even by author...

Of course it matters, I find comedy works well, Spike Milligan books in particular, but they have to be old, the older the paper the deeper the bass, and the warmer the top end.

[Drew Stephenson]

You'll get the best damping with Joyce, Steinbeck, Proust and other 'heavyweights'.

[tea for two]

I feel these Eris are particularly suited to EBM
that's Erotic Body Music lol not Electronic.

[tea for two]

I thawd I would finish up and mix one of my pseudo Choral pseudo Orchestral pieces on this ere poor Eris lol.

Upto 16 tracks per piece is manageable for me on this ere poor Eris. I wouldn't want mix more than 16 tracks.
AKG K712 for choosing sounds, editing sounds, hearing what plugins are doing : I wouldn't use ere poor Eris for these.

As before

Placing the Eris 3.5 on isolation pads approx 2.5ft 30 inches from rear wall.
Adjusting High and Low frequency dials on rear of Eris 3.5.
M-Audio M-Track 2*2 usbC audio interface on imac2017

I am sad to say no Asimov, Joyce, Milligan, Pratchett, Proust books, no top shelf magazines were involved lol. They would made this piece a darn sight better.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/10jHlII ... p=drivesdk

[Arpangel]

I have a pair of these kicking around for various uses,

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Creative-Insp ... 7832&psc=1

All I can say is they make the Eris sound like two cardboard boxes, I mistakenly bought the Eris in the hope that they would be a nice cheap solution to small portable monitoring, what a mistake that was.
The Creatives are amazing, they are very neutral "for the size, and money" in a completely different league to the Eris, the Eris sell because they are made by a "monitor manufacturer" It means nothing.
£35.99 versus £79 ? I didn’t believe there could be such a difference in sound, and that we are even talking critically about speakers in this price range, but the Creatives win hands down.

[tea for two]

Alrighty dawg. Just purchased these Creative T10 from cex online £15 pair +£1.95 delivery. Wednesday should arrive.
If they are as you say then these ere poor Eris are going to another home.

Although both our hearing probably gone to pot in different ways. Because I can't hear cardboard about these ere poor Eris.
In addition to the psuedo Choral psuedo Orchestral piece linked to above I've also mixed handful of my EDM pieces on this ere poor Eris.

Let's see / hear.

[Arpangel]

Alrighty dawg. Just purchased these Creative T10 from cex £15 pair +£1.95 delivery.
If they are as you say then these ere poor Eris are going to another home.

Although both our hearing probably gone to pot in different ways. Because I can't hear cardboard about these ere poor Eris.
In addition to the psuedo Choral psuedo Orchestral piece linked to above I've also mixed handful of my EDM pieces on this ere poor Eris.

Let's see / hear.

My god, I didn’t actually mean for you to take my advice, you’re one of the few that did and I take no responsibility for the outcome!
The Creatives won’t draw your attention to them, unlike the Eris, which sound cheap, and boxy in comparison.
I think it may be the cabinet design of the Creatives, they aren’t square boxes, like the Eris, and I think this shaping curves etc, works well, it’s a bit like Genelec styling, maybe there is something in it.

[Drew Stephenson]

and I think this shaping curves etc, works well, it’s a bit like Genelec styling, maybe there is something in it.

It's called edge diffraction or boundary diffraction and there very much is something in it. They don't just make this shizzle up you know!

[Arpangel]

and I think this shaping curves etc, works well, it’s a bit like Genelec styling, maybe there is something in it.

It's called edge diffraction or boundary diffraction and there very much is something in it. They don't just make this shizzle up you know!

Shizzle? I love these technical terms.

[Hugh Robjohns]

The Eris 3.5 has rounded baffle edges to reduce edge diffraction, same as most modern speakers (and with more rounding than the T10s, as far as I can see.

Perhaps Arpangle was alluding to the more curvaceous cabinet of the T10 vs the more cuboid Eris. It might be argued this better controls internal reflections... but I suspect its actually more to do with strengthening the T10s plastic panels and reducing vibrations.

[Arpangel]

The Eris 3.5 has rounded baffle edges to reduce edge diffraction, same as most modern speakers (and with more rounding than the T10s, as far as I can see.

Perhaps Arpangle was alluding to the more curvaceous cabinet of the T10 vs the more cuboid Eris. It might be argued this better controls internal reflections... but I suspect its actually more to do with strengthening the T10s plastic panels and reducing vibrations.

Yes, it’s quite obvious, the difference between these speakers, and if I were to need a new set of monitors, I think I’d be looking at those with these rounded cabinets.
It’s absurd how cheap these Creatives are, but on a small scale, they sound fine, and they don’t pretend to be anything special, the main difference I can best describe, is that with the Eris voices sound like they are coming out of the end of a cardboard tube, but with the Creatives, they just sound more natural, and they have a more solid impression of bass.

[tea for two]

I'm all for cheap as chips to get done what I want to get done. I use a Korg Nanokey2 for a lot of my pieces including this pseudo Choral pseudo Orchestral piece posted above :
which after a current thread on compressors I put through software emulated 1176 makes it sound clearer more separation than what I already posted.

Arpy harping on lol abooot this ere Creative T10 I just purchased at £15+£1.95 delivery, probably arriving this Wednesday. I hope it's Orange colour or Pink then I'm keeping it lol.

Obviously this ere poor Eris lol is fine and dandy for me on my diverse pieces hence made this mini review.
(Couldn't give rat's a*se lol Arpy saying it's pants).

iloud Micro I mos def want to check ooot after SoS glowing review from Paul
https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/ik ... loud-micro

[Hugh Robjohns]

...if I were to need a new set of monitors, I think I’d be looking at those with these rounded cabinets.

Get a grip. Neither of the models being discussed can sensibly be described as Monitors.

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.

[Arpangel]

...if I were to need a new set of monitors, I think I’d be looking at those with these rounded cabinets.

Get a grip. Neither of the models being discussed can sensibly be described as Monitors.

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.

Hang on Hugh, I never said these were my main monitors, those are "Behringer’s" just so you’re aware I don’t cut corners when it comes to what matters.

[Hugh Robjohns]

[Arpangel]

[tea for two]

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.

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.

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

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.

[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.

[Bob Bickerton]

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.......

Bob

[tea for two]

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.

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

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

.... odd sort of thread this.......

This thread belongs in the Twilight Zone

[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.