Presonus Eris E5 & E8 Studio Monitor Review
The Presonus Eris E5 and E8 are studio monitors in the affordable range, suited for home studios and intermediate project studios. But how do they fair against other studio monitors and what should you know about the Eris studio monitors?
In this post I’ll talk about the Presonus Eris studio monitors, explain the good and bad of this sweet studio monitor and if you should get it for your studio.
The Presonus Eris Series
Presonus started off building its company brand by making control surfaces, effects and mixing panels. It was not until the recent years that began venturing into building their own full-fledged DAW software, Studio One and also the few studio monitor lineups.
Other than the Eris studio monitor series, Presonus also make other higher end studio monitors, the Spectre CoActual studio monitors that are designed with coaxial design, claimed to give a more natural listening experience. They also have a series of lower end speakers like the Ceres Bluetooth monitors, which are more suited for media users than music producers.
The Eris series sits in the middle and is suited for music producers. The Eris series includes the 5.25 inch E5, the 8-inch E8, and the Eris MTM studio monitors.
In this review, we test the E5 and E8 studio monitors, which are under the affordable range.
Exploring The Eris E5 and E8 Studio Monitors
The Eris are self-powered active near field studio monitors with a dual amplifier design. The woofers on the Eris E5 and E8 both are
LED lighting up when you turn on the monitor
made with Kevlar with an exposed woofer design. The Presonus logo lights up when you power on the monitors.
The monitors came in a box supplied with manuals, a power cable, and foam paddings to stick on the speaker’s bottom. It does not ship with any audio cables, so make sure you have some spare audio cables in your studio.
Solid monitor speakers that go loud
The E8 packs a lot of punch, with a solid 140 watt of power. On my test, the E8 monitors go really loud, reportedly at 105 dB SPL on its peak. The E5, on the other hand, drives at 80 watts of power, pretty fair for a 5-inch studio monitor.
Front-firing bass ports
Front bass ports on the Eris
One notable feature of both the Eris is that they both have front-firing bass ports. Unlike many other competing studio monitors that have back firing bass ports, having a front firing bass port means you can afford to put the speakers closer to a wall without getting a standing wave problem.
This design though causes air to escape from the front, and when tested with bassier music, you can feel the air hitting your face if you sit close enough. I’m fine with this, but some producers might find this slightly annoying.
Sound details on point
For studio monitors at this price range, the sound detail of the Eris studio monitors is quite good. I could hear the details of the music that are played on the monitor and without a doubt would be a great studio monitor to have when editing voice overs or such. I preferred the sound of the Eris E8 compared to the Eris E5. The Eris E5 might sound good to you, but when you do an A/B test, you’ll hear the difference of a bigger speaker in terms of the sound depth and body.
I didn’t experience sound fatigue when producing with the Eris E8, even after a 2-hour session.
On the flip side, I felt the Eris studio monitors lack a bit of ‘punch’ that I’d get in studio monitors like the late Tapco S-8s. Although the Eris sounded good and drives at a high volume, I felt that it still sounded slightly thinner than some of my favorite studio monitors.
That said, with some hours producing with the Eris and understanding its sound, an experienced producer would be able to learn its sound and produce great music on it.
Essential features for studio monitors
Just like many other studio monitors, the Eris is built in with a RF interference filter, over current limiting, overheating safety and transient protection. The speakers also features magnetic shielding so you can place your computer monitors next to it without damaging it.
Rear Panel of The Eris Studio Monitors
Take a look at the back panel of the Eris monitors and you’ll find a myriad of buttons and knobs you can adjust.
First off, the both the Eris E5 and E8 accepts three types of audio input from the balanced XLR, balanced 1/4 inch TRS jack or an unbalanced RCA phono jack. This gives more connection options when connecting your audio interfaces, mixers and devices to the speaker.
Besides the inputs & a usual input gain, the monitor comes feature packed with acoustic and frequency tuning options. This would appeal to music producers who produce from home or work from a non-treated room.
There is an acoustic space switch that is used to adjust the bass response depending on your monitor placements, whether you are placing it near to a wall or in corners. A low cut switch with a flat, 80Hz or 100Hz setting on the rear panel is also very much welcomed if you are setting up the Eris monitors with a sub-woofer. This allows you to take some load off the monitors and allow the sub-woofer to play the lower frequencies instead.
Then we have rotary knobs for the mid-frequency and high- frequency, where you can adjust 6dB up or down, depending on the sound mode of your room.
Should You Get The Eris E8 or E5?
I’ve mentioned in a previous post that it’s ideal that you should get a 6-inch studio monitor at a bare minimum. If you’re thinking of using the Presonus Eris as your main monitors, I’d recommend you get the Eris E8s.
If you have a sub-woofer sitting in your studio or thinking of getting a reference monitor on top of your main monitors, then go for the Eris E5s.
Who is the Presonus Eris studio monitors for?
The Presonus Eris would be a great addition to any home or project studios. However, given its price and quality, it’ll be great for a beginner in music production.
The acoustic tuning would appeal to music producers who don’t have a properly treated room.
The speakers may feel a little thin if you’re into hip hop music or film scoring. However, it’s all about understanding your studio monitors to be able to mix and master great music.
Conclusion
You’ll go far with the Presonus Eris. Though you can get better speakers, at this price, not many speakers can beat the Eris.
Despite being Presonus’s very first speaker lineup, it seems that they have done a great job in producing studio monitors that are worth to be in any type of studio.
Some studio monitor alternatives to the Presonus Eris.
What do you think of the Eris? Let me know in the comment section below as I’d love to hear your thoughts too.