Do I need studio monitors? (Presonus Eris E3.5, E4.5, and/or E5 any good?)

[xjestrex]

Hello,

It's time to master some of this music that's been just lying around for a while in the DAW. I've always used headphones (Sennheiser HD 280 pro) when making/mixing my music because it's quiet to others and sounds good to my ears. Wanted to listed to what some stuff would sound like on speakers before giving it to a friend, so hooked up a consumer-grade (15-year old) receiver and speakers (pair of 5" & 2" generic in wood) that were just lying around, and stuff (including reference tracks) sounds decent through the speakers but not great. Very small rectangular-ish room likely doesn't help the situation. Feels like a few % of "the good stuff" is missing between the headphones and the speakers, and I know the headphones are probably lying to me anyway ("sweetening" or such), so was thinking it might finally be time for some actual monitors for a "source of truth." Was looking at the Presonus Eris line because they are so highly rated on Amazon and the price is so low, specifically the Presonus Eris E5, E4.5, and E3.5 . I have this tendency to buy more and bigger gear than I need if the cost difference isn't that much so looking for advice on the speaker size of my first monitors as well.

I am definitely a music hobbyist and do this for fun, so don't need the best monitors out there, just enough of a reference so I can finally start getting this music ready for others to hear. I make electronic/techno with soft synths and vocal samples if that matters. Budget for these are ~$250 or so for the pair.

Should I go with a pair of E3.5/E4.5? Different brand/model? Does speaker size matter? Should I just refurbish the speakers I have? Do I even need monitors? (Am I asking the wrong questions? )

Thanks in advance for helping a music newbie,

_theJestre

[Passing Bye]

You definitely should be considering monitors, Eris are good choice for the buck, don’t go lower than 5” for bass heavy music, so Eris E5.

If space is the problem, do check out iLoud Micro’s, little over budget tho.

My most honest and personal recommendation would be to raise the budget a little and get newest Fluid Audio FX50 monitors, worth every penny.

[fairlyclose]

best small cheaper nearfield monitors I have used are the JBL lsr305(very good) and the Adam T5V(even better) If they are in your price range then either are excellent value adn better than the presonus. On the other hand if people are happy with your mixes then dont get anything, although some monitors will definitely help with stereo imaging

[toine6]

Officially and technically you really should, and an acoustically balanced room, as in measuring the frequencies and fixing the problems through treatment (maybe more important than the monitors, assuming they are not tin cans and string).

Personally, I quit giving shit. I even have multiple sets of decent monitors. I just haven't bothered to use them. I listen through a variety of studio grade headphones, but usually get the best results with my $20 consumer headphones. I don't get better results with monitors, so I quit fretting about it, for now at least. I will probably never make a cent or get many listeners. I felt held back by years of being too careful and by the book. I suppose I am in a punk rock mindset at the moment. I just go for it and figure out later if it translated right or not.

Ignore my rant. As they say, learn the rules and then you can break them as you see fit. My music would not get radio play, but I also like lo-fi stuff like Daniel Johnston, and they wouldn't play him either. So much mainstream stuff today sounds technically precise, but lacks character and charm. I don't really like it, but it makes money.

[Saffran]

Headphones and small pc-speakers give a pretty good representation of high and mid frequencies. It's the low freq that is the problem. We tend to crank up the base to hear it, on those, which can lead to too much base compared to the other freq when listened to on hifi equipment.
But your consumer-grade hifi is good enough to tell if the base is at right level.

[anomandaris1]

Dude, you are delusional, if you think anything cheap is any accurate. Maybe for like 1k you can DIY something good. But these Eris and similar are just not "pro" in any way (this doesn't mean that you can't make music on them, just don't get fooled that they are super good for mixing and monitoring).
Good (not really "cheap") monitors you can get - Neumann KH 310 or something from Focal Shape line.
If you can't afford something like that, idk, buy whatever, but with 250 usd, you won't get anything decent.

[maschinelf]

I've owned a bunch of monitors in different price ranges, and while the costlier ones are generally more accurate I also wouldn't say that anything cheaper is useless. It also depends on other factors like the dimensions and treatment of the room, how crucial accuracy and neutrality are or if you're a professional or rich enough, but for a large section of people budget speakers not only suffice but make sense.

I was searching for tiny speakers and found the Tascam VL-S3 more linear than the Presonus speakers in that range. IK Micro monitors are popular but seem to have a serious design problem with port noise (check the GS thread). Also Eve Audio SC203 sound great, and as mentioned the Fluid Audio speakers. I also agree with the post above that unless you specifically need a portable set of speakers, you should look at sizes 5" or above.

[PieBerger]

I'd say save up and get something better if you can. The great thing about good monitors is that if/when you give producing, you still have a great pair of speakers for listening to your favourite, well produced music on. At least, that's what I told myself when I bought my Focal Solo6's

[Passing Bye]

Dude, you are delusional, if you think anything cheap is any accurate. Maybe for like 1k you can DIY something good. But these Eris and similar are just not "pro" in any way (this doesn't mean that you can't make music on them, just don't get fooled that they are super good for mixing and monitoring).
Good (not really "cheap") monitors you can get - Neumann KH 310 or something from Focal Shape line.
If you can't afford something like that, idk, buy whatever, but with 250 usd, you won't get anything decent.

There’s gems in every price range, Fluid Audio for example is clear example of that, if you think they are no good or accurate, than it’s obvious who is delusional here.

[recursive one]

I think you do need monitors. Some people manage to get decent mixes in headphones but it's either years of mixing experience in good acoustic conditions with good monitors and good room treatment, or music which is supposed to be listened mostly in headphones, like ambient.

Eris 5 are reported to sound good for their size and they must fit a small room, but at some point you'll probably have to think about some acoustic treatment (without which you probably won't even realize how badly your mixes suck untill you pass them to someone else)

[kvotchin]

I would say, get some monitors. Used, preferably, because budget. Also, in particular if you buy a well-known brand, resale would generally be both easy and close to value-neutral in the end - in the case that you decide they’re not for you after all, or you want to upgrade, etc.

Do you absolutely need them, no matter what? No. But yes, they are a very good thing to have in your studio.

If you want to sell your music (or just make it a bit more “professional sounding”), consider playing it through phone/tablet speakers, and through one of those plus cheap/default in-ear headphones. As well as monitors and good headphones, I mean. Before committing to anything final.

[Ploki]

you need a room first, before you have monitors

then you don't call slapping a limiter on the stereo bus "mastering"

[Passing Bye]

If you have good mix, slapping limiter on master bus should be enough to call it done, but let’s over complicate and mystify everything, I call this Gearslutz syndrome, there’s always something more than you to get good results.

[DJ Warmonger]

you need a room first, before you have monitors

This. I rent a flat with quite a large room for my studio, yet it's far from perfect and the monitors don't work there ideally as they should.

In the end I still mix with headphones, only switching to monitors for some reality check. Monitors (or any kind of speakers for that matter) work in real and less-than-perfect space, while headphones can immitate stereo image that can't occur in reality.

[anomandaris1]

There’s gems in every price range, Fluid Audio for example is clear example of that, if you think they are no good or accurate, than it’s obvious who is delusional here.

I recommend you ordering a book on loudspeaker design/electronics from Amazon, your choice for "good" is very questionable (unless you like comb filtering and potential phase problems, typical for all cheap offerings). Speakers that don't have compromises in design and build cost like 20k and weight like 50 kgs... compare them to them these budget solutions, please. Of course, the public doesn't own such speakers (the true test is translation to both PA and cheap consumer grade systems ), but don't get fooled that Fluid or whatever are any good.