Now that the announcement's been made. I thought I'd leave this here. I apologize for the camera quality. My camera is very basic!
Empire Ears Full Lineup Impressions
Introduction:
I’m sure most people reading this know the story of Empire Ears. Empire Ears is a relatively newcomer in many senses. Of course, the Empire Ears brand itself launched in late October of 2015, but Empire Ears grew out of the now defunct Earwerkz – which is a relatively young company itself. Jack Vang of Empire Ears decided not only to re-brand his company, but to make an entirely new lineup due to many reasons that I won’t dive too deep into. The only product that was brought over from Earwerkz is the 2 driver Supra-II, which is a fantastic introductory product to the world of custom monitors.
Jack has made quite a name for himself and his company for their relatively speedy turnaround time and excellence in customer service and communication. Jack was not only gracious enough to send me the entire Empire Ears lineup for me to demo, but spent quite a lot of time discussing the lineup with me. We’ve gone through over 60 exchanges of long paragraphs through email now! Jack explained things that vary from what’s to become of the old products from Earwerkz all the way to the design concepts of the new products as well as his collaboration with his father and mother’s company and his current role with Empire Ears. Jack’s a great guy to talk to and I’m definitely excited about his presence here on Head-Fi!
General Impressions of the Products:
The unboxing experience of the Empire Ears products was the best I’ve ever experienced. Okay… well that’s because I didn’t get your typical package. The entire lineup came in this absolutely stunning case. It’s so beautiful, in fact, that I wanted one for myself and looked up the company that made it. Turns out it’s actually a large box and display case for watches. Jack certainly made good use of it!
True to their reputation, the demo units have fantastic build quality. They feel very sturdy and look great. The only two units that have a transparent shell are the Cerberus and Spartan, so they’re the only two that you can see any imperfection inside the shells. The only bubble I can find is a single bubble on the nozzle of the Spartan. Everything else is perfect. Jack did mention that transparent shells are currently unavailable for universals as they’re not yet confident in the quality of their transparent shells. He did say that they will be available when they’re confident with its quality. That’s what I call solid quality control.
In terms of comfort, all of the universal products from Empire Ears are fantastically comfortable. I have very small ears, and every single demo unit fits me with no problems at all. Unless you’re actually the last 1% in terms of ear size, even the largest universal units from Empire Ears will fit you with no problems. While the comfort is good with these products, I do see room for improvement. First off, I would love to see something that locks the ear tips in place. As of now, the Spinfit tips simply slide on and off the nozzle. Sometimes, the tips will slide off when I remove the earpieces. The second thing involves a bit more labor and thought. While models with fewer drivers sit flush, the models with more drivers do stick out of your ears a bit more. But that’s not to say they can’t sit flush. What I’ve found is that the nozzle seem like they’re just a tad long. Because of that, there’s actually a good bit room between my ear and the housing of the IEM. If the nozzle length was reduced, the housing would be brought a bit closer to my ear without causing any discomfort, and would allow for the IEM to sit more flush in my ears. However, it’s very possible that the nozzle length was designed to optimize the sound of the IEMs or to keep the sound consistent between custom and their universal counterparts – in which case the nozzle length would be best left the way it is. Either way, even the largest universal from Empire Ears brings the likes of the Angie and Layla to shame, and are really comfortable and well-designed.
The Lineup:
All of my listening was done with music running off of Foobar on my laptop to a Schiit Wyrd and Asus Essence III Amplifier/DAC. I also use a UE Buffer Jack which lowers the output impedance of the Essence III and allows for an extremely clean and IEM friendly sound.
Supra-II
The Supra is the only product that was brought over from Earwerkz, and it’s also the only product that wasn’t included. Luckily for me, I own the Supra and I’ve reviewed it in the past. Feel free to give it a read if you’re interested in it!
Supra Review
Cerberus-III
The Cerberus is and impressively small IEM for its triple driver and triple bore design. They fit extremely well and will fit even the smallest of ears. They also fit relatively flush in the ear.
The sound of the Cerberus can be described as being neutral while having just a bit more of a midrange focus. The bass is a bit polite and can lack a bit of oomph in impact and also begins to roll off a bit past 70 Hz or so. However, the lower extension is still able to down to 30 Hz or so without too much trouble. The midrange is smooth and slightly warm while retaining a good sense of clarity and never sounds too thick. Treble is free of any type of peaks and very smooth. Those looking for treble sparkle will likely not find it here. Treble detail and texture is good, but can definitely be described as being more subtle. Treble also has a bit of a roll off, but I would say its tastefully done to complement the overall sound Empire Ears was going for with the sound as the Cerberus doesn’t overly dark as a result.
Unlike what the name might suggest, the Cerberus isn’t exactly an aggressive or fearsome creation in terms of how it sounds. In fact, it sounds more like a puppy as it’s a very easy sound to get into. Maybe to the rest of the Greek Gods, a three-headed dog isn’t really a frightening sight to behold. Nothing in particular jumps at you, and you’re guaranteed a fatigue free listening experience for hours on end. The downside to the Cerberus to me is that the trade-off for a smooth and enjoyable sound is that it’s not the most dynamic sound. Those looking for that extra treble sparkle or bass thump will want to consider something else.
As far as I can tell, the quad-driver 4-way Spartan is the same size as the Cerberus.
The two are quite a bit different sounding though. The Spartan has a very well-balanced and neutral signature. Bass is tight, fast, with relatively good extension. There is still a little bit of a roll off to me, but not quite as early as the Cerberus and is also less noticeable. The midrange is even and a bit more natural to me in comparison to the Cerberus and the sound is well separated and has great focus. Treble has good sparkle to it but remains free of harshness. There’s a bit of a peak at around 6 kHz, giving instruments, percussive instruments in particular, a nice sense of crispness and speed on attack. Treble extension is good and gives the Spartan a really nice sense of openness that I really enjoyed.
The Spartan is a very well-rounded, neutral, yet really enjoyable IEM. Despite having a flatter sound, I found myself really liking the overall presentation of the sound and certainly didn’t find it boring by any means. The overall sound is a bit more attention grabbing than the Cerberus and I think will be a sound that a lot of people are going to like.
Getting to the Hermes, you can see an obvious difference in the shell compared to the first two models. The Hermes is a good bit thicker in order to house the additional 2 drivers for a total of 6 drivers.
To me, the Hermes is perhaps the most forward and intimate sounding of the Empire lineup. Vocals, in particular, are a bit more intimate in comparison to the rest of the lineup. The bass is well-extended and has a really nice punch to it. Impact is deep, very tight, and is overall just really satisfying. However, I do find that the mid bass and lower midrange is a little more present and thick than I would like, which can make some male vocals a little more resonant than they should be. On the other hand, female vocals are an absolute joy to listen to, as they’re clean, intimate, and very engaging. The midrange as a whole is more forward. The treble on the other hand is a bit more relaxed. There’s still a peak at 6 kHz that gives instruments a good sense of attack, but overall, there’s less sparkle in the treble.
The Hermes is a lot of fun to listen to and one of the most engaging IEM from Empire’s lineup. The bass is more elevated to give the nice thump that even the purest of the purists secretly desire. Michael Jackson’s “Smooth Criminal” sound badass as hell. ‘Nuff said. While one would say that the Hermes is perhaps further from neutral than the products that Empire offers, it still remains well-balanced and is far from a basshead sound.
While the Hermes’ signature is somewhat downward sloping and have been compared to the signature of the Legend R, I didn’t find it to be as dark sounding as I had expected it to be after hearing people’s description of the Legend R. The Hermes still has a good sense of air and, while being one of the darker sounds that Empire Ears offers, does not sound wooly or cavernous as a result of its tuning.
As far as I can tell, the Athena is the same size as the Hermes, and also shares quite a few similarities in terms of sound.
The bass from Athena hits hard, with just a bit more presence than Hermes, but is still not basshead level. The bass is elevated with more presence but is still relatively fast, incredibly textured, and extends incredibly deep. The midrange is still forward, but not to the degree of Hermes. The Athena separates itself from Hermes here by presenting a slightly wider soundstage, better detail and separation, as well as an overall more natural sound. Like Hermes, the treble is a bit more relaxed, but I do find that the Athena has just a hair more treble energy and more air in comparison to that of Hermes.
Being somewhat similar in sound to Hermes, the Athena is naturally a step up from Hermes. For those that can afford the Athena, I would definitely recommend Athena over Hermes. However, for those that can’t quite fork over the extra 200 dollars, there’s really no problem going with Hermes instead and sticking with it. I wouldn’t really recommend upgrading from Hermes to Athena as once you factor in the poor resale value of custom monitors, I think you’re better off sticking with the Hermes.
Increasing the number of drivers from 6 and 8 of Hermes and Athena respectively to 10 drivers again increases the thickness of the IEM. The Apollo is another level up in terms of housing thickness. Comfort is still fantastic though! Something else nice about the Apollo is that it comes with the BTG Audio Starlight Cable as a free upgrade cable.
Admittedly, when I first put on Apollo after playing around with Hermes and Athena quite a bit, the Apollo sounded a bit thin to me and it took a few minutes to get adjusted. With a more reference tuning in comparison to the more forward and slightly rich sounding Hermes and Athena, the Apollo offers a more neutral and a gently V-shaped approach to the sound. The bass is still slightly north of neutral with a clean, tight impact and an absolutely effortless sub bass extension and texture. The midrange is well-balanced with a great sense of space between instruments and a very clean background. Overall detail is very good and while vocals aren’t quite as intimate as Hermes and Athena, those that enjoy vocals will nonetheless be very happy with the Apollo. Treble has a good sparkle to them while remaining fatigue-free like all other Empire Ears products. Decay is quick and texture is on point.
Empire Ears markets Apollo as their “first ever studio reference monitor” that was created by collaborating with many gammy award winning producers and musicians. Now when someone advertises a product as a reference monitor, I can’t help but compare it to the UE Reference Monitor – possibly one of the most popular and well-known reference monitor in history. Note that this is a comparison of a custom monitor to a universal monitor. While a custom and universal are similar in sound, there are still slightly differences – most particularly in top and low end extension.
To me, my UERM with Norne Audio Therium cable is still the flatter and the more “reference” sounding signature of the two. The bass of the Apollo is a bit more elevated than the UERM with slightly better extension and slightly more punch. Bass texture is also just a bit better with the Apollo to me over the UERM. Being slightly V-shaped to me, I found the Apollo to actually be a little thinner sounding in the midrange, and for the UERM midrange to sound a bit fuller and more natural. Despite that, I do find the midrange of Apollo to be more resolving overall with more micro detail and slightly better texture. I also find the overall presentation of Apollo to be more forward. For me though, the coherence of the UERM midrange is really just something spectacular and hard to beat. The treble of the UERM is more elevated than the Apollo, giving the sound of the UERM a good bit more treble sparkle air that can be fatiguing to some. I personally like the more sparkly treble of the UERM, but I do find the treble of the Apollo to be more well-controlled and slightly cleaner. So across the board, I actually do think that there is a little more detail coming from the Apollo than the UERM. The Apollo also has just a tad larger soundstage. However, the UERM still reigns supreme to me as the most truly reference sound. Those looking for fantastic detail and a reference sound that has a bit more excitement to it should undoubtedly keep an eye on the Apollo, but for me, and others I’m sure, the UERM will remain the stable and reference in my collection.
During my time with the Empire Ears lineup, I was lucky to also have the Unique Melody lineup with me. I thought I’d do a quick comparison between the Unique Melody flagship, the Maestro, with Apollo. Overall, the Maestro could be described as having a smoother and more musical sound with a larger soundstage in comparison to the more reference Apollo. The Apollo has a punchier sound with more air up top and overall better detail. However, the Apollo also sounds a good bit more aggressive than the Maestro. Keep in mind that Unique Melody does have another IEM with the same design as the Maestro with just a slight difference in tuning. The Unique Melody Mason is essentially a Maestro with more treble presence. I would still say that Apollo would still be more forward sounding and more detailed than the Mason (I’ve heard it but don’t have it with me), but those looking for sort of an in between might consider the Mason as an alternative if they can find one, as they seem to be quite rare at the moment. All three retail at 1599.
The God of thunder, the king of all Gods, and the new face and flagship of Empire Ears. Yes, it’s also an industry first with 14 drivers – 2 bass, 6 mids, and 6 highs. However, if you’re interested in these because they have 14 drivers, you should do some homework before you go any further. More doesn’t mean better and the Zeus doesn’t sound good because Empire Ears stuffed as many drivers in as possible, but because they themselves have done their homework. I will be getting a custom Zeus in the near future for a full review, but I thought I’d put some of my thoughts out first!
The bass of Zeus has a little more authority than Apollo and a bit more sub bass presence. Bass punch is textured and very satisfying. For me personally as a UERM fanboy, it was a bit more bass than I generally prefer, but I think the bass quality and quantity from Zeus is something lots of people will really like – I certainly enjoyed it. The midrange is transparent and perhaps just a tad dry for me, and I find the midrange of the Apollo to be just a little smoother. However, there’s really a lot of amazing things going on here. While I wouldn’t describe the soundstage as being mind-blowingly large for an IEM nor the largest I’ve heard, there is a good sense of spaciousness that is natural. More importantly though, this IEM has amazingly precise imaging with a great sense of 3 dimensionality and perhaps one of the best layering I’ve ever heard from an IEM. Apollo already bested some of the best IEMs I’ve heard in terms of detail and texture, and Zeus certainly continues that trend. Both Zeus and Apollo convey a great sense of detail without sounding particularly bright or analytical. That’s something I really want to praise Empire Ears for. None of their IEMs are tuned to be particularly treble focused, but many of them do have good treble sparkle and detail. The treble from Zeus certainly follows those trends with good energy, sparkle, and quick decay without ever sounding harsh. I could actually see people preferring the Apollo over the Zeus simply due to preference of one sound signature over the other – though they do share similarities. Be sure to do your homework before making an investment! The Apollo is certainly a world class IEM that stands its ground!
I look forward to spending more time with Zeus once I get a pair for myself!
Size Comparison:
From the Smallest Cerberus (Left) to Zeus (Right)
