Presonus Eris E5

When Size Matters

If space is at a premium, or if you want the ultimate in portability, consider the compact Eris E5, which takes up just 7 x 10.24 x 7.68 inches (178 x 260 x 195 mm) and weighs in at just 10.2 lbs (4.63 kg). You can shoehorn this little beauty into almost any studio space.

The E5 sports a 5.25-inch, Kevlar low-frequency driver, mated with a 45W, Class AB amplifier; and a 1-inch (25 mm), silk-dome tweeter powered by a 35W, Class AB amplifier. It can crank out a clean 102 dB SPL, peak. Frequency response is rated at 53 Hz to 22 kHz. For a studio monitor in its size and price class, that's impressive.

For an extended low-frequency response and a bit more muscle, step up to the Eris E8. With its 8-inch, Kevlar low-frequency transducer, driven by a 75 watt, Class AB power amplifier, it can range down to 35 Hz. Like the E5, the E8 can reach all the way to 22 kHz, thanks to a 1.25-inch (32 mm), silk-dome, high-frequency tweeter. However, the E8's tweeter is driven by a heftier 65W, Class AB amplifier. With its extra juice, the E8 can deliver up to 105 dB SPL, peak.

All Eris speakers have front-ported enclosures made of vinyl-laminated, medium-density fiberboard (MDF).

Gazintas

Both Eris models provide balanced XLR, balanced ¼" TRS, and unbalanced RCA line-level inputs. When both balanced connections are in use, the TRS input will supersede the XLR input. The RCA input is summed into the signal path.

With this selection, you'll have no problem hooking your Eris speakers up with virtually any line-level source. (If your signal source has unbalanced, ¼" TS outputs, simply use a ¼"-to-RCA adapter or adapter cable.)

You're in control!

Today's music producers deal with a wide variety of musical genres and often work in more than one location. It's easy to take your Eris speakers with you when you want to work in a different space. It's almost as easy to customize their sound for your room and type of music.

The most basic control is the Input Gain, which determines the signal level before it reaches the power amp. This is part of gain-staging your overall system-that is, setting the levels for every part of the recording chain in order to get the optimal level of clean audio all the way through. Once you've gain-staged your system, you can leave this control alone.

The Eris E5/E8 provides three EQ controls in its Acoustic Tuning section: High, Mid, and Low Cutoff. These controls enable you to fine-tune the monitors and even to broadly approximate the sounds of different types of speakers so you can hear what your mix might sound like, for instance, on a car stereo or portable radio. The Low control also is useful when using the E5 or E8 with a subwoofer.