Presonus Audio electronic E8, E5 owner manual Input Gain Setting, Equalizer Setting Suggestions

3	Tutorials	Eris™ Series E5 and E8
3.2	Input Gain Setting	Owner’s Manual

3.2Input Gain Setting

The best place to start is to set the Input Level control at its 12 o’clock position, which is labeled “U” for “unity gain.”That means the level of the signal reaching the amplifier is the same as the level of the signal entering the monitor’s input. This ensures a good, strong signal level without amplifying any extraneous noise. Make sure that the gain controls on your audio source have been optimized for maximum signal level and minimum noise. This process is called “gain staging,” and you can learn about it from many online sources. You should always set the Input Gain on your Eris monitor so that all other level controls in the system needn’t be turned way up or way down to achieve a comfortable listening volume.

If setting the input gain to Unity is unsatisfactory, you can try different settings, but remember that it’s better to avoid settings above U if possible. If the volume is too loud at unity gain, feel free to turn the Input Gain control down

a bit—but not so far that you have to crank your audio source’s output level to its maximum setting. If you set it too low, you’ll have to crank your audio source’s output level way up, which will increase the audible noise from your source signal. If you set it too high, any noise in the signal will be amplified, which you don’t want, either! Again, if you properly gain-stage your audio source, setting Input Gain to U or slightly lower should work fine.

Once the monitor’s Input Gain control is set, leave it alone; don’t use it as a system-volume control. Leave that job to your audio device’s output-level control.

3.3Equalizer Setting Suggestions

The Eris E5/E8 provides three EQ controls in its

Acoustic Tuning section: High, Mid, and Low

Cutoff. (There’s also an Acoustic Space control,

which is covered in the next section.) In general,

setting the High control to 0 (no boost or cut) will

produce the best results. However, if the sound is generally too bright or shrill, try turning this control down below 0; if the sound is too dull and lifeless, try turning it up above 0. It’s always better to cut than to boost and to use the smallest cut or boost needed to get the job done.

The Mid control is a mid-frequency peak filter that boosts or cuts frequencies centered on 1 kHz and extending about one octave above and below that frequency. Again, setting this control to 0 will generally produce the best results. If you want to emulate a car stereo, try turning it down below 0 to approximate the common “smiley face”