We were lucky enough to go hands-on with the new PreSonus Eris Pro studio monitors over the last few weeks and we are ready to dish up our impressions. Much like the Studio and standard issue Eris lineup we featured at launch, the Eris Pro studio monitors are the flagship offering landing as part of the latest lineup of speakers from the brand. The short form version here is they are very good, should be a whole lot more expensive, and anyone looking to bring a new set of pro-grade speakers home will want to give them a closer look. All of the details are down below.
PreSonus Eris Pro studio monitor review
The Eris Pro lineup, as the name suggests, are the new flagship speakers from PreSonus that were launched alongside the Studio and entry-level desktop Eris speakers – you’ll find a 6-inch and the 8-inch variant on display for this review alongside a 10-inch subwoofer. Both the 6- and 8-inch monitors feature a coaxial single-point source with a frequency response range between 35Hz and 20kHz by way of the combination 1.25-inch silk-dome and woven composite low-frequency drivers.
Designed for use with spatial, Dolby Atmos, and multi-channel mixing and audio creation setups, they also work as your typical set of stereo studio monitors, the latter of which is the use case I have been testing them out with for this hands-on impressions feature.
PreSonus Eris Pro audio specs at a glance:
- Peak Spl 108 dB (@ 1 Meter)
- Crossover Frequency 3.1 kHz
- Monitor Inputs 1- Balanced XLR, 1- Balanced ¼” TRS, 1- Unbalanced RCA
- Hf Transducers 1.25” Silk Dome Tweeter (Coaxial)
- Lf Transducers 8″ Woven Glass Fiber Composite (Coaxial)
- Frequency Response 35 Hz – 20 kHz
- Input Impedance 10 kΩ
- Monitor Amplifier Power LF Amplifier – 75W, HF Amplifier – 65W
- Input Impedance 10 kΩ
Build
While arguably trivial when it comes to studio monitors, I do quite like the form-factor here. The coaxial single-point source design lends itself to a more compact 8-inch studio monitor, they are about half the height of my KRK VXT8 monitors and significantly less heavy. It is a deep almost square box, and, while perhaps a less commanding visual presence than some monitors in this size category, feel a little more neat and tidy from the front view. Just keep in mind that while the front face of the monitor is more compact than most in the 8-inch category, it is quite deep (10.6″D x 12.2″W x 12.8”H), and you will need the wall clearance to accommodate them.
I/O and onboard tuning controls
Around back you’ll find the Input and Acoustic Tuning controls to tweak the response of the monitors to better suit your setup and listening space.
The Input is very much what it sounds like – a small gain pot to adjust the input gain or volume of the incoming signal to one of the three input connectors (unbalanced 1/4-inch, balanced 1/4-inch, or the balanced XLR jack) and a Standby toggle – the speakers will automatically go into standby mode and then turn back on when input signal is detected (the front-side blue LED will automatically flip to a sort of dim white when the speakers enter Standby mode).
The Acoustic Tuning section features volume knobs for the mid range and high-end frequency response of the speaker output joined by a low frequency cutoff (Flat, 80Hz, or 100Hz) and an “Acoustic Space” trim (-4dB, -2dB, or 0dB).
- High-end: ±6 dB, center 10 kHz, continuously variable
- Mid-range: ±6 dB, center 1 kHz, continuously variable
- Acoustic Space: Flat, -2 dB, -4 dB
- Low Cut: Flat, 80 Hz, 100 Hz @ -12 dB / octave
There’s nothing overly groundbreaking here, but it is and will certainly be nice for folks to have some options when it comes to tweaking the speaker response to their liking and to better suit the space they are used in. Some rooms just don’t play nice with overly robust low end, for example, and there’s, at least, some quick fix options waiting on the back of these monitors.
On paper I thought I might hate the auto standby option and would immediately turn it off, but I have appreciated the automatic power reserve and shut down here – as soon as you start playing audio through them, you’ll immediately here a subtle tick sound of sorts before the sound comes blasting through at your desired volume.
Audio reproduction impressions
The new PreSonus Eris Pro studios monitors deliver a what I would describe as delicate and detailed audio reproduction. They seem to really sing best with organic music; the plucky twang of an acoustic guitar or mandolin; the sound of a bow careening across the strings of violins and cellos; or a gentle brushstroke across the top of snare drum. All of this applies to where it counts most as well, the vocals. You can really hear the throaty and pleasing noisy side of a vocal performance and you can really hear the gentle phonetic kiss of the lyrics while still maintaining detail in more powerful and rambunctious performances. Bon Iver, pristine country or folk recordings, haunting melodramatic Billie Eilish pop, and things of this nature are really where the speakers shine for me.
But don’t get me wrong; aggressive and wonderfully overproduced Skrillex-tier programming and production isn’t lost on these monitors either, the PreSonus Pros just seem to really standout compared to some of the other speakers I have in the home studio here on more organic recordings.
The bass sounds tight and controlled to me, not tame or anything, just super precise. There’s nothing worse to my ears than flabby out of control bass that eats up the rest of the frequency spectrum, and the Pros manage a wonderful balancing act in this regard on everything from million-dollar country and pop to banging EDM and hip-hop. If you’re looking for something that approaches the experience of having a subwoofer under your desk, these speakers aren’t what you’re after and, frankly, most proper and well-made studio monitors won’t (and shouldn’t) do this anyway in my experience. PreSonus does make a subwoofer for this you’ll find right here (I did not get a chance to test this out at home, but it sounded great at a press event back in September).
As I touched on in my initial hands-on impression of the 5-inch PreSonus Eris Studio monitors, talking about speaker and audio reproduction can be difficult – everyone has their own personal preferences here making it hard to definitively say which speaker is truly the better one. But my overall sentiment rings true once again after testing out the Pro lineup for a few weeks here; there is some serious value here.
The 8-inch Pros aren’t cheap at $500 a side (or $400 a side of the 6-inch), but that truly is a more than competitive list price for a pair of higher-end pro-grade studio monitors – a single KRK 8-inch pro speaker sells for over $800. Both in terms of price and the listening experience, they easily hold their own up against my much more expensive KRK 8-inch monitors – it is very hard for me to choose which is the better buy. If I had to choose, I’d say the PreSonus Pro lineup is the better speaker for organic and quieter music – there’s just something about the fidelity and nuanced detail of the sound – while the KRK’s seem to deliver a little more power and overall presence with louder, bass-heavy experiences. That said, and through the lens of your check book, it’s hard to imagine anyone being disappointed by the PreSonus Pro monitors no matter what kind of music happens to come out of your speakers on a regular basis.
Buy the PreSonus Eris Pro studio monitors
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