[betula]

Having owned the 4z and now having it the original 4 and an lcd 24 on loan from a friend. I can say that the 4 and 4z are great headphones but cannot compare with the susvara or the abyss ab1266 phi tc. The abyss to me has better bass it is faster and much more resolving with a more neutral frequency response. They also destroy the audeze line up in terms of soundstage and imaging . They don't have the audeze midrange focus that some folks really like but the susvara can fill that role pretty well.

In many threads I read praise for the Abyss TC or Susvara against the Audeze line-up or the Empyrean. What people forget to mention is from the price of the Abyss or Susvara we can buy two Empyreans or 1.5 LCD4z. Plus the serious gear you need to drive Susvara or Abyss. (HiFiMan built an amp for their flagship putting out 20W.)

 

[mightyKyn]

Having owned the 4z and now having it the original 4 and an lcd 24 on loan from a friend. I can say that the 4 and 4z are great headphones but cannot compare with the susvara or the abyss ab1266 phi tc. The abyss to me has better bass it is faster and much more resolving with a more neutral frequency response. They also destroy the audeze line up in terms of soundstage and imaging . They don't have the audeze midrange focus that some folks really like but the susvara can fill that role pretty well.

F it... maby I just go ab1266

 

[CreditingKarma]

F it... maby I just go ab1266

I went with the abyss and haven't looked back. I actually just sold my lcdx and only have the abyss and focal clears. The abyss sounds great from the TT2 as well.

 

[tjwb84]

I decided to go with the LCD-4z, and just received mine!

I have auditioned LCD-X, LCD-XC, LCD-2, LCD-3, LCD-4z, LCD-MX4, Arya, D8000, Empyrean, Ether 2, Ether Flow, ADX5000, HD800 S, Focal Clear, HE-1, HD650.
It's been quite a ride, with a repeating pattern:
1) getting interested in a headphone
2) reading rave reviews, getting more excited
3) then reading one or two negative reviews, having everything thrown into doubt again
4) getting interested in a more expensive model
and repeat

I don't doubt that the 4z isn't perfect, and that other headphones outperform these in some ways. From my experience, quality really did scale with expense, and there's a lot of headroom for that in this hobby. Happily, the 4z brought me to tears when listening to some of my favorite songs, out of the box, with no break-in - I had never head this music like this before, it feels like hearing it for the first time. They blow my Adam S2X midfield monitors out of the way.

I love it when a new piece of tech has that effect on me, even after having been around the block a few times, and becoming more difficult to impress each time.

 

[betula]

I decided to go with the LCD-4z, and just received mine!

I have auditioned LCD-X, LCD-XC, LCD-2, LCD-3, LCD-4z, LCD-MX4, Arya, D8000, Empyrean, Ether 2, Ether Flow, ADX5000, HD800 S, Focal Clear, HE-1, HD650.
It's been quite a ride, with a repeating pattern:
1) getting interested in a headphone
2) reading rave reviews, getting more excited
3) then reading one or two negative reviews, having everything thrown into doubt again
4) getting interested in a more expensive model
and repeat

I don't doubt that the 4z isn't perfect, and that other headphones outperform these in some ways. From my experience, quality really did scale with expense, and there's a lot of headroom for that in this hobby. Happily, the 4z brought me to tears when listening to some of my favorite songs, out of the box, with no break-in - I had never head this music like this before, it feels like hearing it for the first time. They blow my Adam S2X midfield monitors out of the way.

I love it when a new piece of tech has that effect on me, even after having been around the block a few times, and becoming more difficult to impress each time.

Congrats, they look great! I think the 4z is the best looking Audeze. You are quite lucky to audition such a wide range.
What was your impression on the Empyrean and what DAC/amp did you use?

 

[tjwb84]

Congrats, they look great! I think the 4z is the best looking Audeze. You are quite lucky to audition such a wide range.
What was your impression on the Empyrean and what DAC/amp did you use?

I thought the Empyrean was fantastic, and competitive with the top-of-the-line Audeze models. I mostly listened using my humble but very capable RME Babyface, but I also checked out the Benchmark HPA4 and the Chord Hugo TT2. If I had the money for it, I'd probably get the TT2! That thing simply oozes class, and its sound was incredibly robust and lightning-fast. Might have to start saving up for that one. In the short term, I'll be upgrading to the RME ADI-2 Pro, which is well-suited for music production using both studio monitors and headphones.

 

[tjwb84]

After just an hour or two of breaking them in, the bass already sounds much tighter on these. Right out of the box, the bass could get a bit muddy or overpowered during some thumping dance tracks. I figured it would go away, but I didn't expect it to be gone so quickly

 

[betula]

I thought the Empyrean was fantastic, and competitive with the top-of-the-line Audeze models. I mostly listened using my humble but very capable RME Babyface, but I also checked out the Benchmark HPA4 and the Chord Hugo TT2. If I had the money for it, I'd probably get the TT2! That thing simply oozes class, and its sound was incredibly robust and lightning-fast. Might have to start saving up for that one. In the short term, I'll be upgrading to the RME ADI-2 Pro, which is well-suited for music production using both studio monitors and headphones.

I know it is all about personal preference and the type of music we listen to, but I would be interested to hear why you chose the 4z versus the Empyrean. I have never heard the 4z but I did spend a good amount of time with the LCD4. I really like Audeze sound, I think they do bass the best out there. The Empyrean however comes extremely close with its bass performance while offering an even more spacious and more natural sounding upper midrange and treble at least to my ears. For the overall package I chose the Empyrean versus the LCD4. I am still interested in the 4z though. (I auditioned all of these from a TT2/MScaler.)

 

[tjwb84]

I know it is all about personal preference and the type of music we listen to, but I would be interested to hear why you chose the 4z versus the Empyrean. I have never heard the 4z but I did spend a good amount of time with the LCD4. I really like Audeze sound, I think they do bass the best out there. The Empyrean however comes extremely close with its bass performance while offering an even more spacious and more natural sounding upper midrange and treble at least to my ears. For the overall package I chose the Empyrean versus the LCD4. I am still interested in the 4z though. (I auditioned all of these from a TT2/MScaler.)

It's a combination of the bass, what our friend mightyKyn would call the MEAT, the overall relaxed "Audeze sound signature" of the 4z, and the look and feel of it.

I set out to buy a new pair of headphones (anticipating a $600 or so budget) to be a secondary reference for music production. My main reference are the Adam S2X, but my project studio is in a small room, so the bass is all wrong. I was using cheap headphones and I wanted to upgrade. But I was under the impressions that headphones could never reproduce (sub)bass accurately. That all changed when I heard the LCD-3.

I couldn't say whether the LCD-4z is overall a superior headphone to the Meze - I didn't compare them head-to-head long enough. The Empyrean's magnetic-circuit design seems quite innovative and sensible to me, so I wouldn't be surprised if it does certain things better than the 4z. It also gave me goosebumps a few times, one of only a few headphones to do so. But when I listen to certain bass-focused tracks on the LCD-4z, I find the sound just so deliciously "solid", cohesive, visceral... One can only use fluffy adjectives here, I suppose. I just found myself wanting to grab that one to do my listening and mixing!

 

[mightyKyn]

It's a combination of the bass, what our friend mightyKyn would call the MEAT, the overall relaxed "Audeze sound signature" of the 4z, and the look and feel of it.

I set out to buy a new pair of headphones (anticipating a $600 or so budget) to be a secondary reference for music production. My main reference are the Adam S2X, but my project studio is in a small room, so the bass is all wrong. I was using cheap headphones and I wanted to upgrade. But I was under the impressions that headphones could never reproduce (sub)bass accurately. That all changed when I heard the LCD-3.

I couldn't say whether the LCD-4z is overall a superior headphone to the Meze - I didn't compare them head-to-head long enough. The Empyrean's magnetic-circuit design seems quite innovative and sensible to me, so I wouldn't be surprised if it does certain things better than the 4z. It also gave me goosebumps a few times, one of only a few headphones to do so. But when I listen to certain bass-focused tracks on the LCD-4z, I find the sound just so deliciously "solid", cohesive, visceral... One can only use fluffy adjectives here, I suppose. I just found myself wanting to grab that one to do my listening and mixing!

Meat is like Cowbell.. we need MORE!

Empy does not touch 4Z in bass dept.

Even though you may sacrifice certain things for the Audeze Bass... Bass creates a more organic meaty superstructure for music... It becomes more dimensional.

Also I am now convinced that "non efficient" HPs are actually the best... the problem is people are not driving them right and almost every HP amp on earth is underpowered... the bare minimum should be TT2 power.... which just barely get the Susvara going.

Move to greater efficiency is due to the types of devices people are powering from... ie.. laptop, iphone or some crappy portable headphone amp. I think this has flipped everything upside down and has harmed the overall prevalence of sonic market penetration.

I would never have kept the 4Z unless I heard via TT2.

Have an LCD 4 coming today... i expect to be better than 4Z.

Metal571 and Josh velour say opposite things in their 4 review... I can only take this as improper driving and EQ.... lots of amateurs out there not setting these things up for a proper test.

I really need to hear the PHI TC!

 

[mixman]

Meat is like Cowbell.. we need MORE!

Empy does not touch 4Z in bass dept.

Even though you may sacrifice certain things for the Audeze Bass... Bass creates a more organic meaty superstructure for music... It becomes more dimensional.

Also I am now convinced that "non efficient" HPs are actually the best... the problem is people are not driving them right and almost every HP amp on earth is underpowered... the bare minimum should be TT2 power.... which just barely get the Susvara going.

Move to greater efficiency is due to the types of devices people are powering from... ie.. laptop, iphone or some crappy portable headphone amp. I think this has flipped everything upside down and has harmed the overall prevalence of sonic market penetration.

I would never have kept the 4Z unless I heard via TT2.

Have an LCD 4 coming today... i expect to be better than 4Z.

Metal571 and Josh velour say opposite things in their 4 review... I can only take this as improper driving and EQ.... lots of amateurs out there not setting these things up for a proper test.

I really need to hear the PHI TC!

While the Empy cannot touch the 4z’s bass accuracy, the 4z cannot touch the Empy’s tonal balance or soundstage.

Oh Metal571 much prefers the LCD4 onto the 4z. He prefers it because he thinks the high impedance sounds better.

 

[betula]

Meat is like Cowbell.. we need MORE!

Empy does not touch 4Z in bass dept.

Even though you may sacrifice certain things for the Audeze Bass... Bass creates a more organic meaty superstructure for music... It becomes more dimensional.

Also I am now convinced that "non efficient" HPs are actually the best... the problem is people are not driving them right and almost every HP amp on earth is underpowered... the bare minimum should be TT2 power.... which just barely get the Susvara going.

Move to greater efficiency is due to the types of devices people are powering from... ie.. laptop, iphone or some crappy portable headphone amp. I think this has flipped everything upside down and has harmed the overall prevalence of sonic market penetration.

I would never have kept the 4Z unless I heard via TT2.

Have an LCD 4 coming today... i expect to be better than 4Z.

Metal571 and Josh velour say opposite things in their 4 review... I can only take this as improper driving and EQ.... lots of amateurs out there not setting these things up for a proper test.

I really need to hear the PHI TC!

Metal571 and Joshua as well decline the advantage of better DACs and amps. Joshua rejects to experiment with DACs that cost more than $500.
Even though they have a few thousand followers, at the end of the day it is just one person's opinion.

Audeze is the ultimate bass king, but there is more to the sound than perfect bass. Upper mids and treble can sound more natural on the Empyrean. Even though bass is slightly better on the LCD flagships, the Empyrean is better overall giving 90% of that perfect bass and much more in the higher frequency ranges.

My point is that the Empyrean is the best headphone under £2500 and competing with headphones that cost twice as much.

 

[mightyKyn]

Meat is like Cowbell.. we need MORE!

Empy does not touch 4Z in bass dept.

Even though you may sacrifice certain things for the Audeze Bass... Bass creates a more organic meaty superstructure for music... It becomes more dimensional.

Also I am now convinced that "non efficient" HPs are actually the best... the problem is people are not driving them right and almost every HP amp on earth is underpowered... the bare minimum should be TT2 power.... which just barely get the Susvara going.

Move to greater efficiency is due to the types of devices people are powering from... ie.. laptop, iphone or some crappy portable headphone amp. I think this has flipped everything upside down and has harmed the overall prevalence of sonic market penetration.

I would never have kept the 4Z unless I heard via TT2.

Have an LCD 4 coming today... i expect to be better than 4Z.

Metal571 and Josh velour say opposite things in their 4 review... I can only take this as improper driving and EQ.... lots of amateurs out there not setting these things up for a proper test.

Metal571 and Joshua as well decline the advantage of better DACs and amps. Joshua rejects to experiment with DACs that cost more than $500.
Even though they have a few thousand followers, at the end of the day it is just one person's opinion.

Audeze is the ultimate bass king, but there is more to the sound than perfect bass. Upper mids and treble can sound more natural on the Empyrean. Even though bass is slightly better on the LCD flagships, the Empyrean is better overall giving 90% of that perfect bass and much more in the higher frequency ranges.

My point is that the Empyrean is the best headphone under £2500 and competing with headphones that cost twice as much.

sorry... you "settle" for EMPY and justify its "pros" based on your budget... 4Z and others better cans.

EMPY is a good value HP... Im sure you shop at Walmart as well.

ohh the hoops people jump through to rationalize their decisions based on budget. Another symptom of audiophelia nervosa

 

[betula]

delete

 

[betula]

sorry... you "settle" for EMPY and justify its "pros" based on your budget... 4Z and others better cans.

EMPY is a good value HP... Im sure you shop at Walmart as well.

ohh the hoops people jump through to rationalize their decisions based on budget. Another symptom of audiophelia nervosa

We could be friends you know, sharing the same passion. I am not sure why you are choosing to be an A hole instead.