ToroFiestaSol
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Hey there, wonderful, honest and handsome people, any impressions/pics of the Meze Empyrean?
CanJam SoCal 2018 (April 7-8, 2018) Impressions thread
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heliosphann
Headphoneus Supremus
I only want to hear impressions of the Meze Empyrean from ugly, dishonest people!
ToroFiestaSol
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Perfectly valid too!
PS: there's an all black Empyrean at Meze's booth, driven by a GSX-MK2 (saw the pic on Meze's Instagram) <3
https://www.instagram.com/p/BhUX25Dl_bA/?taken-by=mezeaudio
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Sorry, I couldn't attend!
Raphael DeLaGhetto
100+ Head-Fier
Waiting for mine to ship is already bad but reading stuff like this makes it excruciating. May hurry up & get here!
TSAVJason
Sponsor: The Source AV
Well I see someone paying attention.
Hifiearspeakers
Headphoneus Supremus
Perfectly valid too!
PS: there's an all black Empyrean at Meze's booth, driven by a GSX-MK2 (saw the pic on Meze's Instagram) <3
https://www.instagram.com/p/BhUX25Dl_bA/?taken-by=mezeaudio
Not a fan of the all black. The silver framed Empyrean is unbelievably gorgeous!
ToroFiestaSol
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I would like to see better pictures of the all black version to form my opinion vs the gorgeous silver version, but one thing is sure for me: all black >>>>>>>>>> bronze/black...not even close
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I know UE also like to use tuned plastic chamber assemblies for their balanced armatures, but a bandpass filter in a passive crossover gets to be called a 'sound engine', now, does it?
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vigotone
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I honestly don’t know. I’ve known the rep for several years, and she mentioned that the ones I’ll be getting will have an update to the midrange drivers they’ve just released separate from the upgrades they made going from the 18 to the 18+. I didn’t have a chance to get more of an explanation from her. My guess is they made a slight tweak in the year or so since the 18+ was first released. It’s also not clear to me whether the ones I auditioned yesterday had this new refinement in place. I’ll ask and report back...
Would greatly appreciate any info as I believe this is the first we’ve heard of any revisions. Not a big deal; I am very happy with my 18+ TG. Hopefully the wait for your new set goes by quickly.
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It does sound like a great deal.
Yeah - I attended CanJam NYC as well, since I knew I won't be able to attend SoCal... Checked out all vendors with CIEMs, and ended up ordering the CTM 5-driver for approx. $600 (20% off during the show plus free ear impressions). I wanted to compare to UE, but they were not there... Hope to attend RMAF in 6 months, and maybe check out UE then!
Here are some more impressions from today. Before continuing, you should know that I’m very treble-sensitive and prefer warmer, more laid-back sounding gear so bear that in mind when reading my impressions:
· Audeze Mobius. This is a new and really exciting product. First, I tried it with music and the instruments seem fixed in place as you turn your head. The sound over Bluetooth was good too. The Mobius is self-contained with Bluetooth, sensors, DSP, DAC and amp for the planar magnetic drivers. Next, the famous drum scene with Zhang Ziyi from ‘House of Flying Daggers’. Of course, I couldn’t resist the temptation to turn around and the action now seemed to happen behind me. Very cool.
· Focal Clear with SPL Phonitor amp. I love the VU meters on this amp! The Clear sounds to me quite a bit like the Elear, but with (ahem) more clarity. Very comfortable too.
· Beyerdynamic Amiron. This was driven by a tiny Beyer amp that seemed to be powered by USB. When I heard the Amiron last year I thought that it sounded a bit bright, but this year I really liked it. It has a very vivid midrange with the trademark Beyer clarity.
· MrSpeakers Aeon Flow Open with Questyle DAC/amp. I really like the musical, relaxed sound from the Aeon Flow. I’ve been lusting after a pair for some time, and the MrSpeakers show special sealed the deal for me – sold! It's burning in as we speak.
· Audeze LCD-2C with Nagra HD DAC/amp. The Nagra is super expensive and build like a Swiss watch, and the LCD-2C sounded very good with it. I’m not sure how different the 2C is from my own 2.2F (with Fazors) and I think that I would need to A/B test to be sure. The Audeze folks told me that you can buy the 2C headband separately, so I’ll probably try that with my existing 2s since the new headband seems to make the headphone noticeably more comfortable.
· Sennheiser HD660S and HD820 with HDV 820 DAC/amp. So, Sennheiser has been messing with my beloved 650. I was prepared to really dislike the 660S, but in fact it’s a very nice sounding headphone. It has a bit more clarity than the 650 but loses some of the relaxed musicality. A very good headphone, but I don’t think it replaces the 650. The closed-back 820 is one of the coolest-looking headphones around with its curved glass back and it sounds very good and not really like a closed-back at all.
· Monoprice Cavalli Liquid Platinum. This was one of the surprise announcements of the show. Alex showed the Liquid Platinum as a prototype last year and here it comes as a Monoprice product in their Monolith series. I listened to it using a Monolith portable DAC and a closed-back Monolith HD 1060C headphone. In other words, with a (to me) unknown DAC and headphone. Having said all that the combo sounded very nice to my ears and it had the trademark Cavalli liquid midrange that’s really hard to explain but very addictive. Someone described it as a ‘glow’ in the midrange, and that’s not a bad description. $699 and coming out later this year, so this will likely be a great product at the price.
· ZMF Auteur with Schiit Lyr 3 amp. Sometimes you come across products that just have great synergy. This is one such pairing. I really liked Lyr 3 amp yesterday, and I liked it even more with the Auteurs. Very enjoyable to listen to and I had to go back several times to get my fix throughout the day, to the great amusement of the friendly folks at the Schiit table.
· Focal Utopia with Woo Audio WA22 amp. I often feel like listening to the Utopia is like putting fireworks on your head – it’s a spectacularly good headphone and it matched very well with the WA22. ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ was a delight to listen to.
· MrSpeakers Voce Electrostat with Blue Hawaii amp and Yggdrasil DAC. I’ve loved the Voce since I heard the first prototype and the pairing with the Blue Hawaii is wonderful. So today I wanted to try something different. My sister recently published a CD with folk music from Norway and since the CD is available on Tidal and I know how my sisters voice sounds I thought that it would be fun to see which headphones made her voice sound, well, like her. Of course, I didn’t try this on all headphones, but two that stood out were the ZMF Eikon and the Voce. With the Voce it sounded like she was standing right next to me – amazing.
· Massdrop AKG K7XX and Focal Elex with Cavalli Tube Hybrid amp. I hadn’t listened to the K7XX before, but I understand that it’s very popular on Massdrop and I can understand why. It sounds like it has a different tuning that my K701. The 701 has a bit of a sharp treble, but the 7XX has a mellower, but still airy and extended presentation. The Elex sounds like the Elear (I believe it’s basically the same except for the color) but has much more convenient cables. Both headphones matched well with the CTH amp.
· Diana with Woo Audio WA8 DAC/amp. The new Diana headphone has a more traditional look and less oddball fit than the Abyss, and it sounds very good. Interestingly, the driver membrane is transparent so if you look into the earcups you can see through the holes on the back of the headphone.
· ZMF Atticus with vegan vs leather pads. Comfort food for the ear comes in different flavors, which can be sampled by switching between the vegan and leather earpads. Contrary to rumors elsewhere on head-fi the vegan pads are not made from vegans but rather from an Alcantara-like material. The two earpads sound clearly different, and which one I prefer would depend on my mood that day and which music I listen to. Today I preferred the vegan pads – I think.
· Shanling M0 player with Woo Audio WA7 and ZMF Atticus. The M0 is a tiny music player – about the size of an Apple Watch that takes an SD card with nearly all music formats, has a touchscreen, DAC/amp, USB out and Bluetooth. It’s coming in May for $99. I’m getting one – maybe two. It should be excellent for travel and sounded good through the WA7 and Atticus.
Driving back from today’s event, I feel fortunate to live in SoCal. We have great weather, several amazing audio manufacturers (e.g. Audeze, MrSpeakers, and Schiit), and great dealers like The Source AV where we can listen to most available equipment. Not too shabby!
All in all, a great show! Thanks to Jude, Ethan and the head-fi team for organizing this event, all the vendors for exhibiting and all the friendly attendees. We’ll see all of you again next year!
P.S. @CEE TEE at Massdrop asked for ideas for future products. Here are mine:
· A class A power amp. Talk to Nelson Pass and license one of his designs, e.g. the Amp Camp Amp or one of his First Watt designs.
· A non-oversampling multibit DAC. I know BorderPatrol makes one, but there are probably others.
· More Cavalli amp designs. Although Cavalli Audio itself is no more, Alex’ designs deserve to live on. Last year there was a prototype called Liquid Ambience that sounded wonderful and I’m always hoping for a Liquid Glass in some shape or form.
· Audeze Mobius. This is a new and really exciting product. First, I tried it with music and the instruments seem fixed in place as you turn your head. The sound over Bluetooth was good too. The Mobius is self-contained with Bluetooth, sensors, DSP, DAC and amp for the planar magnetic drivers. Next, the famous drum scene with Zhang Ziyi from ‘House of Flying Daggers’. Of course, I couldn’t resist the temptation to turn around and the action now seemed to happen behind me. Very cool.
· Focal Clear with SPL Phonitor amp. I love the VU meters on this amp! The Clear sounds to me quite a bit like the Elear, but with (ahem) more clarity. Very comfortable too.
· Beyerdynamic Amiron. This was driven by a tiny Beyer amp that seemed to be powered by USB. When I heard the Amiron last year I thought that it sounded a bit bright, but this year I really liked it. It has a very vivid midrange with the trademark Beyer clarity.
· MrSpeakers Aeon Flow Open with Questyle DAC/amp. I really like the musical, relaxed sound from the Aeon Flow. I’ve been lusting after a pair for some time, and the MrSpeakers show special sealed the deal for me – sold! It's burning in as we speak.
· Audeze LCD-2C with Nagra HD DAC/amp. The Nagra is super expensive and build like a Swiss watch, and the LCD-2C sounded very good with it. I’m not sure how different the 2C is from my own 2.2F (with Fazors) and I think that I would need to A/B test to be sure. The Audeze folks told me that you can buy the 2C headband separately, so I’ll probably try that with my existing 2s since the new headband seems to make the headphone noticeably more comfortable.
· Sennheiser HD660S and HD820 with HDV 820 DAC/amp. So, Sennheiser has been messing with my beloved 650. I was prepared to really dislike the 660S, but in fact it’s a very nice sounding headphone. It has a bit more clarity than the 650 but loses some of the relaxed musicality. A very good headphone, but I don’t think it replaces the 650. The closed-back 820 is one of the coolest-looking headphones around with its curved glass back and it sounds very good and not really like a closed-back at all.
· Monoprice Cavalli Liquid Platinum. This was one of the surprise announcements of the show. Alex showed the Liquid Platinum as a prototype last year and here it comes as a Monoprice product in their Monolith series. I listened to it using a Monolith portable DAC and a closed-back Monolith HD 1060C headphone. In other words, with a (to me) unknown DAC and headphone. Having said all that the combo sounded very nice to my ears and it had the trademark Cavalli liquid midrange that’s really hard to explain but very addictive. Someone described it as a ‘glow’ in the midrange, and that’s not a bad description. $699 and coming out later this year, so this will likely be a great product at the price.
· ZMF Auteur with Schiit Lyr 3 amp. Sometimes you come across products that just have great synergy. This is one such pairing. I really liked Lyr 3 amp yesterday, and I liked it even more with the Auteurs. Very enjoyable to listen to and I had to go back several times to get my fix throughout the day, to the great amusement of the friendly folks at the Schiit table.
· Focal Utopia with Woo Audio WA22 amp. I often feel like listening to the Utopia is like putting fireworks on your head – it’s a spectacularly good headphone and it matched very well with the WA22. ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ was a delight to listen to.
· MrSpeakers Voce Electrostat with Blue Hawaii amp and Yggdrasil DAC. I’ve loved the Voce since I heard the first prototype and the pairing with the Blue Hawaii is wonderful. So today I wanted to try something different. My sister recently published a CD with folk music from Norway and since the CD is available on Tidal and I know how my sisters voice sounds I thought that it would be fun to see which headphones made her voice sound, well, like her. Of course, I didn’t try this on all headphones, but two that stood out were the ZMF Eikon and the Voce. With the Voce it sounded like she was standing right next to me – amazing.
· Massdrop AKG K7XX and Focal Elex with Cavalli Tube Hybrid amp. I hadn’t listened to the K7XX before, but I understand that it’s very popular on Massdrop and I can understand why. It sounds like it has a different tuning that my K701. The 701 has a bit of a sharp treble, but the 7XX has a mellower, but still airy and extended presentation. The Elex sounds like the Elear (I believe it’s basically the same except for the color) but has much more convenient cables. Both headphones matched well with the CTH amp.
· Diana with Woo Audio WA8 DAC/amp. The new Diana headphone has a more traditional look and less oddball fit than the Abyss, and it sounds very good. Interestingly, the driver membrane is transparent so if you look into the earcups you can see through the holes on the back of the headphone.
· ZMF Atticus with vegan vs leather pads. Comfort food for the ear comes in different flavors, which can be sampled by switching between the vegan and leather earpads. Contrary to rumors elsewhere on head-fi the vegan pads are not made from vegans but rather from an Alcantara-like material. The two earpads sound clearly different, and which one I prefer would depend on my mood that day and which music I listen to. Today I preferred the vegan pads – I think.
· Shanling M0 player with Woo Audio WA7 and ZMF Atticus. The M0 is a tiny music player – about the size of an Apple Watch that takes an SD card with nearly all music formats, has a touchscreen, DAC/amp, USB out and Bluetooth. It’s coming in May for $99. I’m getting one – maybe two. It should be excellent for travel and sounded good through the WA7 and Atticus.
Driving back from today’s event, I feel fortunate to live in SoCal. We have great weather, several amazing audio manufacturers (e.g. Audeze, MrSpeakers, and Schiit), and great dealers like The Source AV where we can listen to most available equipment. Not too shabby!
All in all, a great show! Thanks to Jude, Ethan and the head-fi team for organizing this event, all the vendors for exhibiting and all the friendly attendees. We’ll see all of you again next year!
P.S. @CEE TEE at Massdrop asked for ideas for future products. Here are mine:
· A class A power amp. Talk to Nelson Pass and license one of his designs, e.g. the Amp Camp Amp or one of his First Watt designs.
· A non-oversampling multibit DAC. I know BorderPatrol makes one, but there are probably others.
· More Cavalli amp designs. Although Cavalli Audio itself is no more, Alex’ designs deserve to live on. Last year there was a prototype called Liquid Ambience that sounded wonderful and I’m always hoping for a Liquid Glass in some shape or form.
Nautrachkfriend
100+ Head-Fier
Still nothing about the LCD-4Z out there?
Did Audeze forget to bring them?
Did Audeze forget to bring them?
donunus
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Odin412, Is the Mobius competitive with something like the Aeon Open in overall quality/refinement etc even though it is much cheaper? Assuming one likes the tonality of the cans.
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