Introduction Empire Ears has established itself as one of the biggest players on the in-ear headphone market. Based in Bufford, USA, Empire Ears offers a wide range of first-class monitors. The last product line was mostly themed after Greek Gods, with Zeus naming the mighty flagship incorporating 14 drivers per side. There has been an impressive amount of publicity, as only very few contestants managed to tune such a large amount of drivers as accurately as Empire Ears. Besides, the Zeus had been developed over three generations, starting from the...

Introduction The cable market has been expanding rapidly with a large amount of companies joining the competition. One important hub for this market is Hong Kong, where some of the world’s most renowned brands like Labkable, Brimar, YY Pro and Rhapsodio are stationed. In this review I would like to introduce one more player from this city, who is on the raise to compete with the best: Mad Cable. The company was established in late 2016 and has a refreshing mentality that stands out on the oversaturated jungle of wires. You could say, sticking to...

Introduction Empire Ears started off as a Kickstarter project under the name EarWerkz. Within only three years the brand got not only established, but climbed the ladder all up to the Olympus of in-ear monitors and is nowadays competing with the best IEM makers in the world. Based in Bufford, USA, Empire Ears offers a wide range of first-class IEMs. Amongst them their flagship, Zeus, named to rule over the other contestants on the Olympus of in-ears. There has been impressively much publicity about Empire Ears, and specifically the Zeus. Introduced...

Disclaimer: the IEM-R2 was a demo unit sent on loan. I was able to listen to the cable for a couple of weeks, and sent it back after.     Introduction   After I started to develop a special liking for audiophile equipment, I shifted my focus continuously from coarse- to fine-graining. At the beginning, I was obsessed with testing and comparing TOTL IEMs until I found a set of complementary in-ears that have not yet let any wish open. Later, I studied pairings with sources, during the time of which I developed a liking for subtle changes in...