PreSonus® Eris® E3.5 are two-way active media reference monitor speakers that use some of the same technology as the larger Eris-series studio reference monitors. But these are very small and found an immediate home on either side of my 29-inch ultra-wide LG computer monitor screen.
The Eris E3.5 has a 3.5-inch, custom-woven Kevlar® low-frequency driver that surprised me with its solid bass and clean overall sound. Coupled with the one-inch silk dome tweeter, the system has a wide dispersion pattern of sound that PreSonus says: "creates a large optimal listening area."
In front of my computer screen, I can easily sit within the magic triangle apex and get a great stereo image with the soundstage centered on the LG. These are rear-ported cabinets and go as loud as I could want given their small footprint.
The left Eris E3.5 monitor speaker has the entire 25-watt per channel Class AB amplifier and separate high and low-frequency tone controls but I didn't have to adjust anything when my using them in my studio's control room. I liked the front panel on/off switch and also the single volume control (for both left and right) and the right monitor speaker simply connects using a single included speaker wire--no need of additional AC power cable for that speaker.
I connected them using the 1/4-inch TRS jacks but there are also a pair of RCA phono jacks plus a single front-panel 1/8-inch stereo line input for use with mobile audio devices. You also have a headphone output jack for connecting your earbuds.
The Eris E3.5 worked great as I have them in my control room as a secondary pair of stereo monitors but they would be good as stereo monitor speakers for playing video games or for a small keyboard synth setup. You could set them up tilted up with the left and right monitors aimed back at you.
The PreSonus Eris E3.5 Reference Monitors are $99.95 MAP.
presonus.com/products/Eris-E35
Barry Rudolph is a recording engineer/mixer who has worked on over 30 gold and platinum records. He has recorded and/or mixed Lynyrd Skynyrd, Hall & Oates, Pat Benatar, Rod Stewart, the Corrs and more. Barry has his own futuristic music mixing facility and loves teaching audio engineering at Musician’s Institute, Hollywood, CA. He is a lifetime Grammy-voting member of NARAS and a contributing editor for Mix Magazine. barryrudolph.com
