For me background noise has never been an issue at any meet. Cranking up the volume cancels out the noise and is more ideal to put the headphone through its paces anyway and see what it can really do. Headphone drivers have a much greater upper limit than most people realize... the human hearing on the other hand, not quite so much, LOL.
I'm glad to see the (open) Meze Elite getting some love, especially above certain others that happened to be closedback, and IMO quite bright with and with rolled off bass, where the Elite does everything right. I honestly think it's worth the price over the Empyrean, And I freakin' can't believe I'm saying this, but as of now I actually prefer it over the HEDDphone. Wouldn't mind owning both though!