PreSonus Eris E5

The PreSonus Eris E5

With over 23 years in the professional audio equipment and software industry, the American manufacturer, Presonus, has managed to build some of the top audio products in the industry. With plenty of experience in designing and manufacturing audio products, including their renowned line of audio interfaces, digital mixers, and their software staple, Studio One, you might expect the same level of dependability and standard of excellence from their studio monitors. Launching their line of studio monitors in 2013, the Eris E5 has not disappointed.

At $150 (see current price), the E5’s enter into a highly competitive market. While at this price point there may be a variety of options, there aren’t too many monitors that can actually get the job done without some major drawbacks. Fortunately, as technology advances, we’re getting a much greater product at a lower cost.

The PreSonus Eris E5’s are a perfect example of the improving price to value ratio we’ve seen over the years with budget monitors. Although the E5’s do not experience the same level of hype and popularity as the similarly-priced KRK Rokit 5’s or Yamaha HS5’s, what we ultimately found was an underrated monitor in the Eris E5, offering a level of control and balance that the best-selling monitors in this price-range fall short of compared to the E5.

The Sound of the E5

It’s tough to stand out from the competition of monitors at the under $250 price-point. You need to have a feature that’ll make you easily identifiable. KRK Rokits have a reputation for their prominent bass and popular usage in EDM and Hip-hop. And the Yamaha HS5’s may be great monitors, but they do garner much of their reputation by association, through the power of their brand and popular use. This left PreSonus searching for a feature that would make them stand out from the competition.

In our opinion, the first quality that stands out is how these speakers perform at higher frequencies – they’re clean, crisp, and do not share the harshness of many monitors at their price. The mids are also highly detailed and revealing, which cannot be stressed enough when deciding on which monitors to purchase.

The mid-range and high-end clarity of the E5 makes it a perfect choice if you’re mixing vocals or producing with vocals in general. Our only criticism of the E5 is its inability to produce a deep bass (which should come as no surprise with 5-inch monitors). And although the E5’s may not be able to produce a significant amount of deep bass, what you do have is a tight and solid bass that offers a good deal of practicality when it comes to mixing low end. Sound-wise, it is a beautifully executed pair of speakers with a slightly underrepresented bass.

There is also one special feature of the Eris E5 that really switches up the sound (literally) and makes this monitor shine through the competition. But, we’ll have more on this further down…

Design and Casing

As for the look and build of the E5’s, there are a couple of things we found impressive. The first thing that stands out is how nice these babies look. Their appearance is relatively simple, but they look modern and sleek, looking great in just about any studio setup. This is accentuated by the luminous blue woven kevlar on the main cone. The front of the E5 also has the PreSonus logo which illuminates with a blue glow when powered on.

Combined with the matte black finish, in our opinion, the Eris E5 might be the best-looking monitor in its price-range. Compare their look to the popular KRK Rokit 5 G3’s or JBL 305P MKII’s and you’ll probably agree!

We’re also a big fan of their knobs and design in general. The controls are pretty sturdy but in the “right way”. The accuracy of the knobs allow you to adjust volume and its other parameters smoothly with maximum precision. The E5’s controls along with its overall build doesn’t have the plasticky feel that can be so common in budget monitors, which is suggestive of the high-quality build. Nothing is loose or rattling. Everything is the right place.

Portability

It’s also a relatively light speaker. It weighs around 10lbs, which is at least a couple pounds less compared to most 5-inch monitors, especially active ones. The case is made of vinyl in combination with MDF (medium density fiberboard), which makes it prepared for collision (that’s not a call to action!).

Their durable and light design also makes them perfect for travel. The size of the cabinet is relatively standard for 5-inch monitors. They are around seven inches wide, 10.2 inches high, and about 7.7 inches thick, which again emphasizes how suitable they are for transportation.

The technical design is pretty conventional; nothing really deviates from the industry standard. The PreSonus E5 is a two-way monitor, with a ported cabinet and two drivers. But! The PreSonus team has worked very well on the design of the back panel, including the unique control that ultimately makes this monitor stand out.

Connectivity

These speakers can connect to basically any line-level source. You’ll find three types of inputs on the rear-panel. The E5’s have a balanced XLR input, a quarter-inch TRS input, and an unbalanced RCA input. So generally, you’ll be able to connect them to anything you like and won’t have to worry about having the correct connection.

Shaping to Your Environment

Now let’s talk about the one feature as mentioned earlier that really makes these monitors shine. The E5 offers great control over frequency response and acoustic tuning. Besides the typical gain control, you’ll see knobs for mid-range and high-end adjustments. These knobs allow you to boost or cut the gain of each range up to 6db. The E5’s also have a low cut-off adjustment allowing you to high-pass frequencies at 80hz, 100hz, or keep them flat. This makes the addition of a subwoofer easy and can be a useful remedy depending on the positioning and room of your monitors.

However, there is one more control that tops off the previous frequency adjustments perfectly. This is the Acoustic Space control which allows the Eris E5 to perfectly integrate into any room or environment. Based on the monitor’s position, it will compensate for particular frequencies. For example, it is often the case that if your speaker is close to a wall, that the bass will be more prominent and throw off your mix. With these adjustments at your hand, you’ll be able to quickly make adjustments based on your environment.

These acoustic tuning controls allow for a tremendous amount of versatility when it comes to the Eris E5, a level of control rarely seen with monitors in its price range. And if there is any feature of the E5 which you should most strongly consider for purchasing the E5, this should be it.

Who are the E5’s suitable for?

Considering its slightly underrepresented bass, we believe it could be a bit underwhelming for some EDM or Hip-hop producers that rely heavily on bass. But otherwise, the speakers are suitable for an extensive range of musicians, especially considering the versatility offered by the rear-panel controls.

If you’re a beginner in the field, this will undoubtedly be a great investment. Considering that many producers don’t have expensive room treatment, and more importantly, write and produce music in their bedrooms, the E5 will compensate for that quite effectively.

And it is also great for professionals who have to operate in many different environments. If you do quite a bit of travel and want a pair of monitors that are affordable, easy to transport, and will offer lots of flexibility depending on your environment, the Eris E5 has our strongest recommendation.

Drawing the Line

There’s no surprise behind the fact that PreSonus is now among the fastest growing brands in the studio monitor niche. They target a very specific part of the market – young producers that can’t afford expensive speakers, yet are still interested in high-quality sound without the gimmicks.

When it comes to the PreSonus Eris E5, it’s not about the hype or wowing inexperienced producers with over-emphasized bass or in-your-face sound, it’s about practicality. If you want practicality and versatility, we recommend you go down the path of the Eris E5.