Monitor speakers, versatility and bass response

[chagzuki]

I have just bought the eris 4.5 and I have a sub8 on preorder. I have to say, the sound from the eris monitors is blowing me away. for such a tiny monitor the sound produced is truly exceptional at this price range. I wanted to scale down from working with 6.5 inch woofer monitors and use something that dominates the room less. less boomy and could control the low end if and when I need to hear it. I was gonna go with the 8 inch monitor options as well but I decided for the price this was the most cost effective and offered me the most amount of flexibility and control, I could get another pair of headphones or another reference pair of headphones or speakers with any money left over. I also think with 8 inch woofers on a two way system it's taxing that system to put out both mids and lows and something will be compromised. it's impressive to have 8 inch adams or jbl's but it's ultimately not cost effective. I will be putting the sub8 down on the floor in a more corner location but the great thing is that I can move it around and find a place it works best.

I'm not getting forum notifications, hence the long delay. I didn't realize anyone had replied to this thread.
I'd be very curious to see what you make of the subwoofer, how it works in practice and whether you have any issues positioning it etc.

[chagzuki]

Yeah, I don't think you need to be able to hear what's going on down to 40Hz to mix it. It's not going to be radically different to what's going on at 60Hz and 80 Hz, which you can easily confirm with a spectrograph of your audio.

Ultimately, though, it comes down to getting to know whatever monitors you decide to use. You do that by playing your mixes on a variety of set-ups - in the car, through your phone's ear-buds, Bluetooth speakers, etc. - so that you learn how their sound transfers to everyday listening environments. I have half-a-dozen different speakers I test my mixes and masters through before I'm happy with them and it's rare now that I have to go back and fix things, because I've been using my current set-up for long enough that I know how it translates. I am really happy with my Eris 3.5s and I probably wouldn't go back to my 8" Wharfedales now, even if I had the space for them.

I'm maybe 50/50 with you there... I've gone through the ear training process and I know I could work in the manner you're suggesting. I'm just not sure I can be bothered with anything which creates extra workload even if it's slight... I'm pretty much a grumpy old man at this juncture, and It's not clear how often I'll be moving house/how long I'll be in one place in order to perfect a studio environment. I think that's why the iLouds are tempting me, I like the idea of not having to bother worrying about the room, and I know their response is flat enough that I ought not to have to learn their quirks.

[Passing Bye]

iLoud Micro’s for sure!

[BONES]

... I'm pretty much a grumpy old man at this juncture, and It's not clear how often I'll be moving house/how long I'll be in one place in order to perfect a studio environment. I think that's why the iLouds are tempting me, I like the idea of not having to bother worrying about the room, and I know their response is flat enough that I ought not to have to learn their quirks.

But that's the whole idea of near-field monitors, they take the environment out of the equation.

[chagzuki]

But that's the whole idea of near-field monitors, they take the environment out of the equation.

My previous stint taking mixing seriously was all done in the same room so I don't have much experience of the degrees to which acoustic problems arise, different ways of coping with that etc., but the MTMs obviously have some additional benefits with regards to that. How much of a difference that's likely to make, I don't know.

I'm wondering about the practicalities of an Eris combo including subwoofer. It seems the signal from sub to satellites requires the sub to be switched on whether or not one wants the sub to be active. This seems to me inefficient in terms of energy usage... so I'm wondering what an optimal routing arrangement would be. The Eris 5XTs have a 80Hz high pass switch, and so one could connect it directly to audio interface with the sub on separate outs, and more easily be able to turn the sub on and off. The 4.5 doesn't have this.

The low end on the Eris 4.5 starts to fade at around 80Hz, which seems a little high to me for practical purposes if one doesn't have a sub. I'm not sure how I'd get on with just the 4.5s and headphones. I like the smaller form-factor though.

[BONES]

As I said previously, I have both and I think the 3.5s sound better than the 4.5s. I've never had any problems with the bottom end, mixing and mastering with them. (That's the bottom end, not my bottom end which, at my age, is a whole 'nuther story.)

[wojf62902]

^

Well, it might interest you to know that I have a pair of Eris 4.5s and a pair of 3.5s and I think the 3.5s sound even better. I used them side-by-side for a week or two and then boxed up the 4.5s and haven't touched them since. The 3.5s offered a little more detail than the 4.5s and the bass response was surprisingly similar, IIRC (it was three years or so ago). I mixed and mastered our last album with them and it's easily the best sounding album we've produced.

3.5's do sound good and for the price they are an absolute steal. the only thing that put me off was when I auditioned them in the shop they just didn't seem to have enough loudness overall to them which I figured at the time was down to the size. but in retrospect this could have been a number of factors, the noise in the shop, the way they were positioned, the fact that I was playing an aphex twin mix through them which was recorded badly! the sub8 is designed to compliment both the 3.5's and 4.5's so in theory both should put out a pretty clear full image when combined if someone needs or wants the sub.
I had to make a choice on something to use to try and get the current work I am doing finished so I went with the 4.5's definitely don't regret the purchase. they now have a permanent home.

I'm not getting forum notifications, hence the long delay. I didn't realize anyone had replied to this thread.
I'd be very curious to see what you make of the subwoofer, how it works in practice and whether you have any issues positioning it etc.

so will I, it's still on order! I can mix without it, I think a sub is a useful tool in the referencing stage, not essential, but just another tool in the box. and, well they are just fun when you wanna play music!

on the kali audio monitors, they just announced the in-5's, would be interested in hearing those, I think they said they made some improvements over their already great speakers. unfortunately none of the music stores near me stock them.

[chagzuki]

According to youtube demos it's interesting how different brands seem to win out at different speaker sizes. Adam Audio T8V seems to edge out the competition in the 8", whereas the Kali LP6 seems better compared to HS7s and T7Vs. PreSonus Eris seem very good at every size but the prices aren't necessarily competitive.

The Kali LP6s look excellent if certain frequency charts are accurate, the only downside being hiss, which according to reviews seems to vary from unit to unit.

[chagzuki]

The Mackie MR series don't seem to get much publicity and I'm having trouble getting info on the frequency response for the 6 and 8" version. I've found one review which indicates the 5" is good in that department. They use class A/B amps so hiss is supposed to be better than other products in the same price bracket... from what I can see there's nothing not to like about them. So I wonder why they don't get more exposure.

[andymcbain]

The Mackie MR series don't seem to get much publicity and I'm having trouble getting info on the frequency response for the 6 and 8" version. I've found one review which indicates the 5" is good in that department. They use class A/B amps so hiss is supposed to be better than other products in the same price bracket... from what I can see there's nothing not to like about them. So I wonder why they don't get more exposure.

This Sound on Sound review covers the 5" and 8" models - I would generally trust Paul White's opinion. https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/ma ... s-monitors

38Hz to 20kHz response (-3dB) on the 8", but both models seem to have a bit of a flabby low end. Generally that's a common trait with a lot of budget models, and it's probably why they're not spoken of much - they'll be decent for the money but nothing remarkable.

[chagzuki]

This Sound on Sound review covers the 5" and 8" models - I would generally trust Paul White's opinion. https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/ma ... s-monitors

38Hz to 20kHz response (-3dB) on the 8", but both models seem to have a bit of a flabby low end. Generally that's a common trait with a lot of budget models, and it's probably why they're not spoken of much - they'll be decent for the money but nothing remarkable.

andymcbain, you appear to be knowledgeable in this area: do you have any views on which monitors might be standout products in the next price tier up? It's taken me quite a long time to sift through the budget range and so far I know very little about more expensive monitors. It just so happens that a lot of gear is out of stock at the moment, so I have more time to research. Some of the monitors I've read reviews on have turned out to have flaws, e.g. one might assume that with the Kali LP6s being so good the IN range out to be great, but that appears not to be the case.

[andymcbain]

andymcbain, you appear to be knowledgeable in this area: do you have any views on which monitors might be standout products in the next price tier up? It's taken me quite a long time to sift through the budget range and so far I know very little about more expensive monitors. It just so happens that a lot of gear is out of stock at the moment, so I have more time to research. Some of the monitors I've read reviews on have turned out to have flaws, e.g. one might assume that with the Kali LP6s being so good the IN range out to be great, but that appears not to be the case.

I've used the Focal Alpha range recently which start at around £400 a pair for the 5" model. Heard all three models and I thought they were brilliant - natural sounding and very revealing. Definitely punching above their weight.

Other's I've heard recently - the Yamaha HS series - specifically the HS7... around the same price as the Focal, very different sound. More midrange focused and probably not for everyone - though I like them a lot and "clicked" with them straight away.

Can also cast my mind back to the Adam A7x, which are a tier above those two at around £800-£900 a pair. Very popular with electronic music producers. Personally not a fan - not so keen on the sound of the tweeters. Once again a different sort of presentation to the Yamaha and the Focal.

I think monitor speakers are a very personal thing and it's quite easy to go down the rabbit hole of online reviews which may lead to conflicting opinions. Ideally you want to be listening to a pair before you buy them or even trying them out in your room... though I appreciate that's not easy right now!

[FJ5]

I've recently got a pair of Adam T5V's - was a toss up between the T7V's or T5V's + sub. Sadly I couldn't try them out before I bought them so took a bit of a gamble based on the numerous reviews & dealer advice.

& they're awesome! In fact, bass response is a lot better than I thought it would be & I'm contemplating not getting the sub now. I do have a smaller studio space though (which is what swayed me towards the T5V's as apparently the T7V's can be boomy for smaller spaces).