PreSonus Eris E3.5-3.5" Near Field Studio Monitors (Pair) – Powered Desktop Speakers for Music Production, Studio-Quality Recording, and Active Media Reference

(this is a review of the PreSonus Eris E3.5 model) Good: - Sound is neutral - Very accurate sound stage - The 'acoustic tuning' it's called allows you to adjust for environment - aux in on front - professional look that isn't flashy and full of leds trying to call attention to itself. Cons: - Cables you get are pretty mediocre - Cabinet build quality feels cheap A quick background. While I'm no audio engineer and I wouldn't classify myself as an audiophile I do have several headphones in the $100-$300 range and a headphone amp and dac. I was looking to upgrade my 15 year old set of pc speakers that work but I knew I could get better. Sound wise these are called "Multimedia Studio Monitors" and by that definition these are really accurate. I also primarily have headphones with a flat response curve so these very much sound like headphones in that regard. They do have bass but it's not going to rock the place. I'm going to skip getting in to details on audio since other reviewers have done a great job already and I agree with all of them. But if you are looking for accurate speakers for a computer just get these and you’ll be happy. I would not recommend them for a television or something where you are trying to fill an entire room with sound. The rest of this review is for people that do buy them and it’s their first pair of “studio monitors”. First off while they seemed to use excellent components for the monitors the cables they give you are pretty mediocre. I included a picture of what's included (power cable is already plugged in and not pictured). The speaker wire that goes between the two speakers is about 6 feet and almost look like 18 AWG wire. I ended up buying 14 AWG wire but knowing what I know now I'd have just got 16 AWG and it would be a little easier to work with. I then connected them to pc using an 1/8" to RCA jacks. The cable they give you is around 5 feet and my computer was further away so had to buy a new cable for that. Any of the 1/8" to RCA should work fine. The power cable is a standard IEC7 non polarized connector and was maybe around 6 feet. Some setup tips. First off the full manual is not included but can be obtained from presonus.com and searching for eris e3.5 and going to downloads. This explains far more about placement and adjustment than the quick start that's included or even what I say here. The manual explains the details but the volume on the monitor should be around the 11 o'clock to 12 o'clock position in most situations. Once you set that don't touch the volume control on monitor, adjust the audio from the source. With the monitors set to 11 o’clock the signal coming from the computer was too hot (too loud). I would have only been able to turn the volume up to 10% and it was really loud. RCA attentuators will reduce the volume by a certain amount just before entering monitors. Oddly amazon doesn't have them, or they were really overpriced. Search online for "Harrison Labs 12 dB RCA Line Level Attenuator" and it should be in the $30-$40 range as of March 2018. This allowed me to have a greater working range on volume. I now typically listen at around 40% level on computer but occasionally turn it up or lower it. One last thing I bought were Wellcn 26 Pcs Ferrite Cores - EMI RFI Noise Filter Clip for 3mm/ 5mm/ 7mm/ 9mm/ 13mm Diameter-Black . Place those on the power and RCA cables a couple inches before they connect to monitor. I got some occasional crackling sounds and those removed it. I also put one on the aux cable I use to connect my work laptop to these when working from home. It's not needed on the speaker cable going between the monitors but also won't really hurt anything. **See update below on how I've changed this** From where you are normally positioned there should be an equilateral triangle between you, the two monitors, and the space between the monitors. Meaning if you're head is 3 feet from front of monitor they should also be 3 feet apart and then be turned to face you. If done right you won't see the sides of monitors. You want your ear to be lined up with the small tweeters. Because mine are mounted on a wall a little high I have them tilted down and also on their side, which these monitors support. If you do this make sure to mirror the monitors. Meaning have the tweeters on the outside to get a larger sound stage. Once this is all setup don't touch the equalizer or "acoustic tuning" as they call it. Just listen to music for a few days to get used to them. There also may be a little bit of break in needed. Only after a few days should you make small adjustments to the acoustic tuning options. It's preferable to turn down a setting than boost it. If you’ve edited photos you may have noticed trying to boost the brightness on a dark image looks worse than darkening a bright image. Same idea here. So if it sounds to tinny or harsh you want to turn down the highs slightly. This reduces the highs and thus the lows will be more prominent. Initially it sounded tinny but after a couple days it either went away or I got used to it I haven't had to touch mine. One last thing I'd recommend. Since these are fairly portable, but all my wires are routed around desk I don't want to undo them if I decide to take monitors with me somewhere. I bought me an extra power cable and then use the 1/8" to rca cable and speaker cable they give you and put in a small ziplock bag. Now all I have to do is disconnect everything from monitors, grab my ziplock bag of stuff and I'm ready to go. I know that was a lot of information but I hope you found this information helpful and enjoy these. (update: December 2018) So far these have been holding up well and have had no issues. In fact considering buying a second pair to have over by my workbench. Since writing above I changed my setup so now I have a Maker Hart Loop Mixer < https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M68UK38 > that I connect my computers and to and then audio goes from there to PreSonus. It lets me adjust levels and I still have some inputs open so I've done things like be on a conference call but also have music playing while I'm waiting for them to start. I also got rid of the RCA Line Level Attentuators. May buy more but only -3 or -6db as the loop mixer doesn't get as loud.

I decided to pull the trigger on purchasing these Presonus Eris E3.5-3.5" Near Field Studio Monitors based not only on reviews here on Amazon, but other music sites that sell them, because I wanted to span the universe of opinions as to what to expect with the sound quality vs. value. First, let me preface my review by stating two facts. #1: I've worked in radio and audio engineering for a long time, and my ears have been subject to a wide variety of pro & semi pro and even amature gear. I can discern decent audio quality when I hear it. #2: If you don't know the difference between a studio monitor and a pair of speakers, stop reading now & move on to another review, because you just won't get it. These monitors arrived well packed, in new condition, with all accessories inside the box, very simple. There's the power cord, a set of RCA cables, as well as a 1/8th" aux input cable, along with an instruction manual & some rubberized pads to place on the bottom of the speakers if you desire to use them (as for me, I bought a pair of isolation foam pads as I found a great value on a decent pair, and I know good iso pads will make a difference *Trust me, they DO!* Finally, there's a a interconnecting cable (it's six feet in length) that connects the master speaker (which is the left speaker) to the sattellite speaker (the right) Setup was EZ-PZ! Plugged in the aux connection cable to the speaker, and plugged the other end into my cell phone I loaded up with some test audio files I recorded on my DAW at 326Kbps. First impression when I began listening to the first track (Boston's More Than A Feeling) was the fade up intro sounded nice & clean, and I was hearing very nice sounding instrumentation coming from the source audio. I then proceeded to connect the RCA inputs to my new Audio-Technica AT-LP120XUSB Direct-Drive Turntable, which features a AT-VM95E stylus. I selected Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab's Electric Light Orchestra - Time. I selected this test disc due to my respect for Jeff Lynn as a recording engineer & musician. He uses a wide range of analog & synth instruments which i feel will help me judge the quality of these monitors, and they were sounds which I felt would fairly help me assess the frequency response these monitors are capable of delivering. After listening to that album, & then tossing another few disc's on the platter to compare what I was hearing (favorites always include Walter Eagen's - Magnet & Steel & Pink Floyd's - The Wall, I was convinced I was enjoying a true "Stereo Monitor" experience. No need for me to color the neutral sound emanating from the speakers by adjusting the tonal controls on the back of the main speaker. I was receiving a very nice signal from both the mp3 files I played through my phone using the aux-input jack (which is something I would be planning to do on occasion) and the sound quality output by the a AT-LP120XUSB Direct-Drive Turntable was very pleasing. The room I am using these monitors in is a about 18' x 12', and there is no need for me to crank the volume up much past just below the halfway point to enjoy a pleasurable listening experience while I sit back on my couch and enjoy listening to music from a distance of about six feet away from where the monitors are place. For the average audio fan looking for a decent, reliable, entry level pair of studio monitors to faithfully replicate audio (be it from a turntable, tape deck, or mp3 player) without any audio artifacts & coloration, I would definitely recommend these Eris E3.5-3.5" Near Field Studio Monitors by Presonus. Assuming these speakers wear well, and don't suddenly klunk out on me, I'm feeling very happy with my purchase & look forward to utilizing them along with my new turntable I treated myself to, because (frankly) my ears were getting fatigued listening to some really crappy mp3 recordings, and they say all things come full circle, while I prided myself converting my old analog production studio into a digital audio environment, even recording critical audio as a stereo .Wav file, and mp3's at the highest possible bitrate a given player would play back, nothing really matched the sonic excellence I can hear when playing back music on vinyl. I wasn't going to go broke however returning to my musical playback roots, so I carefully researched and chose the components I budgeted for, & am glad I chose these speakers to provide that last interface in the sonic delivery to my ears, in my opinion - these were a wise choice to make.

The Eris E3.5 powered speakers are better than I thought possible! The excellent sound over the whole advertised 80-20K Hz range is beyond what I thought possible with speakers this small. They are perfect for an FM tuner, or most other audio sources. I'm also using two of the Eris E5 for a TV, and I recommend using the Fosi Audio Q4 DAC with the E5s in order to add conveniently-located tone and volume controls, because all the controls on the E5s are on the back of each speaker, making it impossible to adjust them while standing in front of the speakers, and the E5s don't have a "bass" knob, so the bass knob on the Q4 DAC allows yet another adjustment range. I keep all the E5 controls set to flat, with the Q4 DAC bass set to 2 o-clock and the treble set to 10 o-clock, and that's enough to correct for the weak-bass and strong treble coming fro the TV source. It's an excellent combination of DAC & speakers. I love it. The rest of the review below was done when I just had the pair of E3.5 speakers, using them for both TV and FM, but now I use the E3.5 pair dedicated to FM, which always has strong bass, and the two E5 and Q4 DAC dedicated to TV, which needs a bass boost. Again all the following is only about the E3.5 pair... Please note the E3.5 pair cannot fully compensate for all the weak bass output from TV/Cable/Satellite, because some of those sources only contain low-bass content. That is not the fault of these speakers, but the source content. However, if using for TV-only, and you turn the bass knob all the way up and turn the treble knob down some, most TV content is acceptable if it includes the L/R channels and the Center channel, which is how most TVs and set-top boxes output to the stereo/aux/analog/optical outputs. When the 5.1 source is only supplying the Center-channel content, as some TV shows do, the bass is often almost nonexistent. My only major complaint about these speakers is that it requires two hands to turn them on and off, because it takes so much force to flip the switch, that the weight of the speaker will not hold it in place, so you have to hold the speaker with one hand while pressing the switch. For that reason I leave them on all the time; I have measured them as using 5-7 Watts when quiet, and for me that will cost me 5W x 24 hours x 365 days = 43.8 KW-hours per year, or about $7 per year in electricity, because I have cheap electricity where I live, about $0.16 cents/KWh, but some people in other California areas could be paying 2-3 times that much, so just be aware if you leave stuff on how to calculate the cost. For me, the cost is acceptable, but ideally they would power off and on based on the input signal, like some subwoofers do. Another very minor complaint is the volume knob is not very tactile; would be better if a little bigger or stuck out a little more. But the super-excellent audio quality is the most important, so I highly recommend these speakers.

These are great desktop speakers. They're the right size for my desk, and are easy to operate. They don't reproduce the lower octaves well (given the 3" main speaker), so I bought a new 10" sub-woofer (at a really great price) to go with them, although the sub is actually overkill for my needs. Trying to get this pair of speakers to reproduce chest-pounding bass is a losing proposition, as they just aren't large or powerful enough. In any case, this pair of speakers is easy to work with. I never needed to adjust the EQ setting for the speakers more than once. A friend of mine also bought a pair of these for his home studio, and had a blast mixing on them. However, the identical pair of these that I'd bought years earlier were also equally great speakers, until they suddenly started putting out a quite noticeable whine/hiss that wouldn't go away no matter what I tried (other than turning the system off). I tried to get help from the folks at PreSonus, and I'll sum up the days of communicating via email by stating that I never got them repaired, as apparently the parts weren't/aren't available. Considering that these speakers are still being sold though, I think what that response really meant was "These are uneconomical for us to repair, and we'd rather you just buy a replacement pair", which is what I did after considering how great they sound and the bargain price they were being offered at. Laying aside a dollar per week would currently get you a new pair roughly every two years. Some folks might say that it's probably worth it to buy these really good speakers for the bargain price every so often, and I can see the reasoning in that, but it's not a strategy I'll adopt. If my second pair also fails, I've already picked out a few candidates from other manufacturers to replace them. YMMV. Since the (second pair of) speakers are working and sound great, I've only good things to say about them. The underwhelming bass is expected from speakers this size, and the cure for it is relatively simple. I hope my current pair lasts a long time, but I'm prepared if that's not the case.

Just got it today, and I love it so far. As an indie producer with little cash, these are fantastic. Great sound quality. I expected the bass to be flat, since the lowest frequency these can hit is 80 Hz (wish it was closer to 30), but I was pleasantly surprised to hear full, rather accurate and unblemished sound and wonderfully responsive bass. They are sleek, attractive, don't take up too much space, and have a variety of input options that make them useful for more than just music production. I had them hooked to my TV temporarily as a small surround system. The cons: I have the same issue others have reported with a low bass hum, but that is to be expected for speakers of this quality. I do not find it to be so loud as to be intrusive, personally. It goes away if you turn the volume down, so it is simply the speakers picking up the electrical power running through them. Not the best shielding in the interior wires in the world, but good shielding is expensive, and I've had significantly better speakers with the same issue. Do not expect perfection of a $100 product. This is a budget item for people who need good speakers that won't break the bank, and it does a fantastic job at that level. I'm delighted by them, and this is really the only issue with them that I've experienced, product-wise. This next one is also something I experienced others have reported that is more user error than product issue: I had an issue when I first used it where the speakers intermittently had a severe high frequency buzz that sounded like a broken speaker when I plugged in the aux sides of the wires to my phone's headphone jack. It went away as I removed and gently reinserted the jack several times, which tells me I had a ton of dust in the headphone jack of my device (the jack couldn't make a solid connection). When you have a good speaker set using standard headphone connections, they are often more sensitive to dust and other impairments than simple headphones would be. The only nitpick I have is a feature I'd LIKE to have, but does not affect the sound or quality of the product: these things can be used for so many purposes (computer speakers, studio mixing monitors, TV speakers, speakers for musical instruments, etc.), yet they lack a feature I would love: I would love a Bluetooth feature so I can play music over the air and adjust the volume remotely. Again, pure nitpicking on my part. I still freaking love these things.

Before going into the details of the review it's important to point out that these speakers are actually designed as "near-field" monitors, not home-audio loudspeakers. I've seen a handful of complaints about lack of bass reponse, hollow sound etc. Near-field monitors are designed to reproduce sound with a *flat* response to give an accurate, faithful reproduction of the original audio without enhancements. And the name implies their intended usage, to be listened "near" to the speaker itself at low-to-medium volume levels, not from 10-20 feet away with room-filling sound. By contrast, "loudspeakers" are used for home audio and they typically have boosted bass and or treble response (low and high frequencies) to make the sound more punchy and colorful, especially since nearly all consumer audio sources come from highly compressed MP3 sources where much of the dynamic range of the original music track has been lost. The PreSonus Eris series are all designed to be professional near-field monitors used for making critical mixes for audio or film/video production, and in that intended usage the Eris 3.5's shine. The response is definitely flat with a little more low-end punch than I would have expected for a monitor this size. In fact I'm outright surprised how much low-end (bass) comes out of this small-ish pair. The rear-porting coupled with being close to a wall provides ample if not a tad too much bass reinforcement. I think for future design evolution having a front-ported enclosure would most likely make the bass response a bit more accurate, however I'm totally pleased with the output they provide. One thing that sets this pair apart from the competition other than it's accurate sound reproduction, is that they have both a high and low-end tuning knobs on the back of the primary unit (left side). All others simply have a volume or output level adjustment, but no way to actually TUNE the speakers to the environment. That's a big plus and normally only found on larger and pricier units. Although these are monitors and not loudspeakers they do provide a ton of physical sound output, far louder than I would have expected for such a small near-field monitor. (Remember, near-fields are designed for up-close low-to-medium volume levels.) I considered several different models at this size and for the money you can't get or expect a better pair of monitors, they rock! Mine haven't even broken-in yet (new drivers need a break-in period to maximize their potential) and I'm already in love - it will only get better with time. As long as you clearly understand the difference between what a loudspeaker and a near-field monitor is supposed to do then you'll be amazed at how good the Eris 3.5's sound. Get a pair and enjoy!!! I definitely am.

Keep in mind that I am not a professional; I am just a guy who likes music to sound good and likes making personal audio projects. The monitors look very nice, and they are very straightforward when it comes to hooking up the included cords. Dont be disappointed when hearing them for the first time; they're not made to sound good necessarily. Monitors are supposed to provide a flat response in order for the mixer (you) to get a clear, unbiased reproduction of the sound you are engineering. If you want them to sound better, play around with your equalizer. I have two profiles set up on my Realtek software. One is lively, with a Party preset for the equalizer and the environment set to Room, and the other one is just the default flat sound. You can also play around with the knobs on the back of the main monitor to adjust the highs and lows. The logos on my monitors don't light up when on; I thought they were supposed to. It's not too much of a bummer, but it would've been nice to see. I remember hearing something about breaking in new monitors when you get them. If the sound sounds weird no matter what you do, try playing bass-heavy music constantly for at least 24 hours. I'm pretty sure it is recommended that you do it for a longer time, but it's been a while since I heard how exactly the process works. Now I would like to mention my main issue with my order: the power cord that came with it was not made for the monitor. The monitor takes a figure-8 style plug, but I received one that is round on one side and square on the other. I registered my product on the Presonus website and filed a support ticket last Thursday. After an hour, they apologized for the inconvenience and asked for a shipping address, ostensibly to send me a replacement cord. I provided that information to them, but received no other updates. On Tuesday night, I decided that it was time my Paperweight 3.5s became Presonus 3.5s, and I ordered a power cable myself with one-day shipping. The one I got was the CIMPLE CO polarized double-round figure 8 something or other. It shouldn't be too hard to find on here. It's very cheap if you can hold off on the one-day shipping (which I didn't). For me it was about an extra 12 bucks that I shouldn't have had to spend, but I'm not mad. I'm just glad I can listen to my music without using headphones all the time. I am aware of at least one other reviewer who bought these this month (May 2018) and received the wrong power cord like me, so be prepared for that if you order these monitors, but don't let that put you off. There's nothing wrong with the equipment itself; it's just a packaging issue that may happen. So again, I am not a professional, but I like the way they look on my desk and the way they sound. I definitely recommend them, especially for the price.

First off, these are not bass cannons. And I think there is a misconception on what these should do. They have 3.5" drivers. They go down to 80hz. The driver is doing its best in the midrange frequencies. So what you get is a well rounded speaker that has a "full" sound. They sound low, and in lower decibels, they will sound a little bass-ey. Some will say these have great bass, some will say the bass is weak. They do what they are supposed to, The tweeters are smooth, not bright. Some may like this, some may not. These have the ability to boost higher frequencies and boost lower ones. This is not a crossover, rather, it allows to boost the decibels in the treble and lower frequencies. I prefer both at 0db. The speakers are very light. The box is is not mdf, but they are a little larger than many small mdf bookshelfs. Having ports out the back do help in bass response and that added volume make them sound larger than they are. I have a smaller (home)office and I can hear these well outside of that room at even modest levels. These are not science defying speakers. They are well rounded, fairly compact computer/bookshelf speakers that do everything well. If you want bass, connect a subwoofer. Unless you start getting into elaborately ported 5-6" drivers, you're not hitting lower bass frequencies. If you like a full sound in a small room or office, you'll likely be pleased with these. For $99 there are a few compromises. The packaging is minimal, but everything is secure. The included cables are fairly low quality, although they are adequate for the performance needed. A few feet of thin speaker wire to connect the two boxes together. Also included is a 3.5mm male to male connector and a 3.5mm male to RCA stereo cable. It would have been nice to have had full RCAs included, but those are easy enough to get.

I quite like these speakers. They are not your usual drowned mids/artificial bass boost bookshelf speakers., instead they are trying to be faithful to the source. I think they perform fairly well both for music listening and movies/videogames, while they still give you a lot of information if you want to do some music production. Not bad at all, considering they are as tiny as 3.5" speakers can get, saving you a lot of space on your desk. Apart from sounding great, they pack some nice features that are not that easy to find at this category. Things like optional TRS outputs, kevlar woofer, aux-in and headphones ports really make the Eris 3.5 stand out from most budget speakers. The two EQ knobs on the back for fixing some audio space related issues are also a welcome addition. I know it might be much to ask at this price, but the included pads could be a bit thicker. I am also missing an auto power-saving mode like the KRK's, or at least an option to turn off the power LED. I went for the 3.5'' because I really wanted the smaller possible, but they obviously come with some limitations when it comes to sound, especially on the lower frequencies. I would strongly suggest looking at the 4.5" ones (or bigger) if space is not an issue or if they are to be used exclusively for music production. In a nutshell, if you want small speakers on a budget that still stay relatively accurate and sound great, this is probably your best bet.

Passionné de MAO, j'ai longuement cherché le meilleur rapport qualité-prix pour mon home studio et les PreSonus Eris E3.5 m'ont conquis. Avec un son clair et fidèle, même sans caisson de basse, ils ont dépassé mes attentes ! Après une recherche acharnée sur Amazon, je confirme : les avis élogieux ne mentent pas. Ces moniteurs sont un investissement sûr. L'ajout de deux câbles jack 6.35mm pour la connexion à ma carte son Roland a été un choix judicieux, malgré une panoplie de connectiques déjà fournies. Un silence absolu sans musique, et une restitution sonore cristalline avec : les PreSonus Eris E3.5 gèrent les nuances entre graves, médiums et aigus à la perfection. Le design sobre mais chic s'intègre parfaitement à tout espace de travail. Astuce : baissez le volume des enceintes, préférez celui de votre carte son pour une qualité optimale. Ma conclusion : Pour moins de 100€, c'est un coup de maître pour les musiciens en quête d'excellence sans se ruiner. PreSonus Eris E3.5, le choix de l'expertise sonore à petit prix.

I've been using these studio monitor speakers for a few months now, and I'm really impressed with their performance. I've used these speakers for a variety of tasks, including mixing, mastering, and just listening to music. They've performed flawlessly in every situation. If you're looking for a pair of studio monitor speakers that are accurate, well-built, and affordable, I highly recommend this one. However, they're not for those looking for punchy bass. Pros: Accurate sound reproduction Wide frequency response Bass and Treble level control Affordable price

To bardzo fajne i dobrze brzmiące małe monitory na biurko. Niestety bas mocno dudni, i wymaga konkretnej korekty: -12dB@125Hz (na Macu np. przy pomocy programu eqMac)

Malgré une dimension compacte, cette paire d'enceinte active reproduit fidèlement tous les styles de musique. Avec elles on redécouvre les tubes connus car elles sont précises et on a l'impression qu'aucune fréquence n'est atténuée. Seule la profondeur des basses pourrait être regrettable mais on ne peux pas demander plus pour un si faible volume. Je regrette juste de ne pas avoir choisis le modèle avec BT.