Edifier MR4 vs PreSonus Eris 3.5
INTRODUCTION—————————A little run down. My short quest for new speakers came about when the Mackie CR3’s I had for 7 years decided to stop working. In that time, I was quite happy with them. I don’t produce music, but do video editing on occasion. My primary use case is casual listening to music/movies/games. In that regard, I don’t need to have the flattest sound available or desire it – I just like clean, distinctive audio. I’ve been using Sennheiser HD555 headphones with a Sound Blaster Z soundcard for about a decade now. I know there’s better sound options out there these days, but really, these do the job well enough for me and it’s not a necessity to upgrade at the moment. Particularly, I’m impressed with the Sound Blaster software and functionality. I can switch between headphones and speakers on my computer easily and with separate settings for each that changes automatically. Which seems it’d be a convenience barrier switching to a DAC. In any case, I was previously using RCA and have switched to TRS when trying these speakers. The sound is noticeably clearer and unearths sounds more hidden with RCA. I have to crank the windows output a bit higher, but it’s unquestionably better. I also don’t turn the speaker volume up more than half or 3/4th to mitigate noise. With that, I’ll move onto my experience with these two speakers I decided to try to replace my deceased CR3’s.Upon receiving the Edifier MR4 first, I threw on some lossless tracks with some variety, albeit dated.Some artists included:Boris Brejcha, The Chemical Brothers, Erik Jackson, Emancipator, Gorillaz, Hot Chip, Linkin Park, Macklemore, MGMT, Nero, Paul Oakenfold, Papadosio, Pretty Lights, Rinôçérôse, Robert Miles, Sleater-Kinney, System Of A DownEDIFIER MR4—————————Off the bat I wasn’t stricken with the high end. I like a crispness in my highs and found there was room to be desired with snares etc. But it’s definitely good enough and doesn’t invoke fatigue. Using an equalizer in addition to increasing the treble knob helps and with dialogue in entertainment; which can be a bit muted. The speakers have decent separation and pleasing bass; while having a sound that’s brought together coherently. I have an external bass, which I won’t be inclined to turn on often, as I can also amplify it through software. Playback is warm and easy to listen to. Pressing the power button once enables or disables Music Mode. From what I could tell, it raises the decibel level slightly, as well as the bass and mids for added presence, at the expense of some clarity. I’ll probably use Monitor Mode most of the time. What I particularly liked about these speakers over the E3.5’s is a perceived wider soundstage; instruments have depth and can lightly reverberate (while still having a flatness to them), which sounded more lively comparatively. Overall, these grew on me and I’ve been pleased. If they could be a bit brighter, there wouldn’t be much else I’d desire out of them.ERIS E3.5—————————The ERIS has an adequate amount of treble and clarity in the high range that I liked at first listen. At the tradeoff of it being sharper and more fatiguing with prolonged use or higher volumes. Highs can sometimes be borderline harsh without equalizing; vocals can be sibilant. I turn the bass knob to the max at +6db and lowering or not touching the treble; which only does so much for lows anyhow. Bass is present, but it’s limited and not as full sounding – the frequency it can hit is punchy though. If you EQ more bass you can get a slight rumble, but nothing compared to the MR4. Even with a subwoofer, it’s not as full sounding. The lower mids don’t feel like they quite bridge to the bass. These speakers don’t sound bad and if I had no other options in this price range or hadn’t compared it directly to a pair with more lows, they might be acceptable. They can just be a bit flat and lifeless (which is part of the idea with monitors I guess), despite having crispness on it’s side. Honestly, I didn’t give this set as much time of day, as I kept gravitating towards the MR4’s; which didn’t make me weary with listening either. If the MR4’s weren’t around as an option, I might have compared with the Mackie CR3’s again. But doubtful: as I think their updated design is ugly, still have that green accent, and apparently they’ve declined in build quality.BUILD—————————Both speakers are quite similar with an understated clean design and near identical dimensions. The MR4 seems to have a slightly better build and I prefer the the carbon fiber looking cone.The volume knob for the E3.5 is smooth – the MR4 turns with an interval of 12 clicks.The E3.5 indicator light is blue and brighter for my taste: I’d cover it up if I were to keep these speakers. The MR4 has a subdued red and green LED for monitor/music mode. Unfortunately, the green light has already started acting up and stopped working in less than a weeks use.The bass/treble knobs have more length to them on the MR4 and are easier to reach back and turn than the E3.5’s.The MR4 weighs a bit more and comes with slightly nicer speaker wire than the E3.5The E3.5 has a detachable power cord – MR4 does not.The MR4 tweeter actually measures about three quarters of an inch, not the full 1” they claim.With both these speakers I could occasionally detect light distortion/crackling in mids and highs. Not enough to be detrimental for me in keeping the MR4’s. But also due to some solid portrayal, I could hear more of the noise added to the production of certain tracks. For example, listening to some Phantogram, where vinyl grain is frequently added. I believe the E3.5’s also displayed this characteristic, but I returned them already upon noticing more of this.CONCLUSION—————————I tried both these speakers in various configurations of equalizing, but made most my judgments based on how they sound out of the box or their capabilities. The Presonus ERIS E3.5 can hit a higher frequency range; while clear, I found the Edifier MR4 sounded more pleasing and I could almost picture vocalists singing into a mic, rather than just sound coming from a speaker. This carries into the overall experience between the two. The MR4 can give me the impression of being at a concert or watching a movie at a theater, to a degree. I feel the E3.5’s are lacking a bit of soul, but maybe that’s because they’re not as warm. When switching between the two to compare, I found myself wanting to just keep listening to the Edifier’s and not switch back to the Presonus. It’s more lush with it’s prevalent bass for the size and highs can be more pronounced after equalizing (though, they still have an audible frequency ceiling, whereas the E3.5 reaches higher). Given, both these speakers haven’t had a chance for a decent break-in period; but that’ll mostly round out the sound that’s already there anyhow.I’ve also seen more feedback in regards to the Presonus not working after only a year. Most products these days can be a crap shoot, but I’d rather keep the MR4’s for the sound alone and physicality of it (with the aforementioned differences) and hope I get lucky they last awhile. But the LED being faulty already isn’t ideal and I’ll probably replace the pair. I might look further into spending a bit more for different speakers. Though, it seems moving up generally doesn’t include an aux input/headphone output, which is occasionally useful. So, once again, it comes down to weighing out price/sound/conveniences. The MR4 really does sound decent for the price ($129) and I will probably just stick to this model in the end, since I’m not ready to invest in a DAC setup either, that’ll make it worthwhile for spendier speakers. Again, I’m not a music producer, so I can’t speak to the decency of these speakers for actual production – you can find reviews with graphs. I’d spend the $30 extra for the Edifiers; unless pronounced highs are super important to you (especially for rock & jazz). But if you create music with any substantial caliber of bass and need to portray it, I’d probably look elsewhere than the Presonus 3.5’s. You’d likely be wanting larger speakers anyhow; though, you may be able to get away with it by adding a sub. If you do consider the Edifier MR4’s, just know there’s a small margin of highs that aren’t as present. But they can be a more fun listening experience overall and less fatiguing.

Decent, volume control is a bit frustrating
First off, I love the aesthetic of these speakers. The white and black with subtle carbon fiber-esque checkering is great.These are super convenient to set up – still more work and cables than a USB soundbar, but well worth the upgrade, and notably easier to set up than passive speakers with a separate amplifier or systems with a subwoofer.That said, of course these won’t cover the same frequency spectrum as a subwoofer or headphones. They do a respectable job with the bass frequencies for the price and convenience.They come with soft pads underneath that help a bit with preventing scratches and isolating sound from your desk, which is a nice touch. I’d still recommend adding foam isolation pads underneath to improve this more.For making music, these are usable in a bedroom on a tight budget, but don’t quite do it. I end up using headphones much more for any sort of mixing. This may be in part due to my room sound but there’s an annoying bump in the low-mid frequency range, and not quite enough low bass (which is fine for speakers this size) or high treble.While using this for gaming and such, my biggest pet peeve is the volume control. It’s very conveniently placed, but works in stepped increments rather than smooth adjustment. Instead of dialing in the volume quite right, you might end up with one notch being slightly too quiet, and the next slightly too loud. You can then dial it in in Windows, but that undoes the convenience in the first place.Overall these are still quite nice for regular use at such a low price, just be aware that of the small issues they do have.

Era lo que esperaba. Calidad y precio.Muy recomendable en cuanto a sonido y materiales.