Empire Ears - Discussion & Impressions (Formerly EarWerkz)
Jun 26, 2019 at 9:49 AM Post #18,166 of 40,712
This is head-fi, most people are rich and will buy one set for each day of the week.

Well, I wouldn’t be against forking over 3.5k for a truly endgame product... but only if it’s good enough to put the likes of Flamenco, VX, U18t, VE8, KSE1500, Legend X, Z1R, and Trinity SS in the dumpster. It’s a tall order.
 
Jun 26, 2019 at 9:56 AM Post #18,167 of 40,712
Hey Guys! I was working the EE booth alongside Jack for SoCal! If I got to meet you it was absolute pleasure, if I didn't, make sure I get to meet you next show!
This show was an absolute blast and I hope you all enjoyed yourselves as much as we did.

We were able to show the Valkyrie and Wraith to a multitude of people. Our booth was packed the entire show and I'm really sorry if you were not able to hear the new products.
They were both received extremely well. People loved the Valkyries for thick sub bass, detailed highs, and just overall fun experience! Everyone loved the Wraith because of its attention to detail and the way it commands the largest of stages. I am loving reading all of your thought and responses on the new products.

Just to drop in and clarify a few things, I see a lot of questions regarding shell design, pricing, and specifications!

The Valkyrie
This cool piece utilizes 3 drivers. A dynamic driver, a balanced armature driver, and an electrostatic driver. The utilization of the Dynamic and Electrostatic drivers gives the Valkyrie a huge frequency response range, all the way from 4 HZ to 100 kHz. The monitor is a lot of fun and is one you can truly feel when you are listening. The shell design that you may have seen at CanJam is the final design. As some of you have mentioned, the shell size is a little smaller that our other universal shells. Additionally, the Valkyrie has a face plate design that we call Dragon Hide as opposed to the onyx face plates our shells currently come with. The shell color has not been decided yet. This model does ship with an Eros II cable in you preferred termination. This model does fall within the X-Series, because of it's utilization of our Weapon IX driver. It is available in both Universal and Custom, both start at $1,599.

The Wraith
This is the world's first IEM that utilizes Quad Electrostats, and is quite a special IEM. It is incredible how well these Estats play in to the overall soundscape, especially considering you do not need an Amp to power the Estats. I have spent a few hours listening to the Wraith and is constantly revealing things to me that I had not heard. Such a cool model. The overall cosmetics of this model have not yet been decided, but we are working on that. The new shell size, that houses the Wraith, is slightly larger than the old universal shells, but avoids being over sized. The Wraith falls within the EP-Series, runs $3,499, and is currently only available in Universal. We found that this model, was hard to replicate in a custom version, so we are working towards that and do plan to eventually offer this in the custom option.

Both of these were received so well, and we really appreciate all of the feedback. The coolest thing was, neither of these models completely out shined the LX and Phantom, it just seems like they each are appreciated in what they do well, respectively.

What are your impressions?

If I met you at CanJam, give me a shout! Chances are I had no idea it was you!
Reach out if you need anything!
:imp: Oh, that all sounds so nice. :imp:
:innocent: No, no, can't afford it. :innocent:
:imp: But Valkyrie is fun. :imp:
:innocent: No, still can't afford it. :innocent:
:imp: But amazing Wraith. :imp:
:innocent: I am just going to hide now... :innocent:

tenor.gif
 
Jun 26, 2019 at 9:58 AM Post #18,168 of 40,712
$3500? Ouch.

It better be worth the price :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

The common consensus is that it is.
But I won't be the first to say it, everyone has their own preference of sound and how their gear performs. The Wraith is being widely regarded as a successor to the Zeus, so if that is your cup of tea, you are in for a treat!
 
Jun 26, 2019 at 10:09 AM Post #18,169 of 40,712
Well, I wouldn’t be against forking over 3.5k for a truly endgame product... but only if it’s good enough to put the likes of Flamenco, VX, U18t, VE8, KSE1500, Legend X, Z1R, and Trinity SS in the dumpster. It’s a tall order.
There is NO such thing as ENDGAME in this hobby:ksc75smile:
 
Jun 26, 2019 at 10:20 AM Post #18,170 of 40,712
If I get an IEM with a 2.5 mm balance ended cable, can that also be used in a 3.5 mm single ended jack with an adapter? I have one DAP that is single ended only and the other has both.
 
Jun 26, 2019 at 10:21 AM Post #18,171 of 40,712
If I get an IEM with a 2.5 mm balance ended cable, can that also be used in a 3.5 mm single ended jack with an adapter? I have one DAP that is single ended only and the other has both.

Yep, you can go from 2.5mm to 3.5mm
 
Jun 26, 2019 at 10:52 AM Post #18,173 of 40,712
Question: (It's not Empire Ears specific, but the Legend X happens to be a particularly egregious example of it, and I'm not looking forward to seeing a similar situation with the Valkyrie/Wraith.)

If an audio company has distributor(s) overseas, who sets the prices for the product in that country? Is it the manufacturer? The distributor? Does the manufacturer set the minimum price and the distributor the maximum/actual price?

I understand that the local distributor is on the hook for any warranty issues, import processes, etc. and that they also need to make money off of their services, so it's normal for some/most products to be pricier here. However, I do have some trouble wrapping my head around the fact that the $2300 Legend X, which is $2200 in Japan, $2300 in Canada, and $2600 in Singapore (still within reason, in my opinion), was somehow $3400 at the time of release in Korea. ($3100 now, since KRW fell a bit this past month.)

It wouldn't prevent me from buying an Empire Ears product if I wanted one, but I'd just take a weekend trip to Tokyo to do it (or two, if it was a CIEM). Not only do they have their fancy limited edition versions (White EVR, Red Burl LX, Gold LX), but I'd be coming out on top even if I were to spend the night at the Conrad and grab dinner at Jiro. Never really made sense to me how there could be such a price discrepancy, and I hope the Valkyrie/Wraith don't come in at $2300/$5000 respectively.

Thanks. That is what I thought. I think the opposite direction will not work (SE cable to balanced jack).

Nope, you shouldn't do 3.5mm to 2.5mm/4.4mm.
 
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Jun 26, 2019 at 10:59 AM Post #18,174 of 40,712
Hey Guys! I was working the EE booth alongside Jack for SoCal! If I got to meet you it was absolute pleasure, if I didn't, make sure I get to meet you next show!
This show was an absolute blast and I hope you all enjoyed yourselves as much as we did.

We were able to show the Valkyrie and Wraith to a multitude of people. Our booth was packed the entire show and I'm really sorry if you were not able to hear the new products.
They were both received extremely well. People loved the Valkyries for thick sub bass, detailed highs, and just overall fun experience! Everyone loved the Wraith because of its attention to detail and the way it commands the largest of stages. I am loving reading all of your thought and responses on the new products.

Just to drop in and clarify a few things, I see a lot of questions regarding shell design, pricing, and specifications!

The Valkyrie
This cool piece utilizes 3 drivers. A dynamic driver, a balanced armature driver, and an electrostatic driver. The utilization of the Dynamic and Electrostatic drivers gives the Valkyrie a huge frequency response range, all the way from 4 HZ to 100 kHz. The monitor is a lot of fun and is one you can truly feel when you are listening. The shell design that you may have seen at CanJam is the final design. As some of you have mentioned, the shell size is a little smaller that our other universal shells. Additionally, the Valkyrie has a face plate design that we call Dragon Hide as opposed to the onyx face plates our shells currently come with. The shell color has not been decided yet. This model does ship with an Eros II cable in you preferred termination. This model does fall within the X-Series, because of it's utilization of our Weapon IX driver. It is available in both Universal and Custom, both start at $1,599.

The Wraith
This is the world's first IEM that utilizes Quad Electrostats, and is quite a special IEM. It is incredible how well these Estats play in to the overall soundscape, especially considering you do not need an Amp to power the Estats. I have spent a few hours listening to the Wraith and is constantly revealing things to me that I had not heard. Such a cool model. The overall cosmetics of this model have not yet been decided, but we are working on that. The new shell size, that houses the Wraith, is slightly larger than the old universal shells, but avoids being over sized. The Wraith falls within the EP-Series, runs $3,499, and is currently only available in Universal. We found that this model, was hard to replicate in a custom version, so we are working towards that and do plan to eventually offer this in the custom option.

Both of these were received so well, and we really appreciate all of the feedback. The coolest thing was, neither of these models completely out shined the LX and Phantom, it just seems like they each are appreciated in what they do well, respectively.

What are your impressions?

If I met you at CanJam, give me a shout! Chances are I had no idea it was you!
Reach out if you need anything!


Thanks for the insight. Hey pictures would be appreciated ) ) )



Dang valkyrie goes from 4 to 100k in frequency range wiow!
I wonder if my 1z dap can even cover that range?
 
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Jun 26, 2019 at 11:26 AM Post #18,176 of 40,712
Hey Guys! I was working the EE booth alongside Jack for SoCal! If I got to meet you it was absolute pleasure, if I didn't, make sure I get to meet you next show!
This show was an absolute blast and I hope you all enjoyed yourselves as much as we did.

We were able to show the Valkyrie and Wraith to a multitude of people. Our booth was packed the entire show and I'm really sorry if you were not able to hear the new products.
They were both received extremely well. People loved the Valkyries for thick sub bass, detailed highs, and just overall fun experience! Everyone loved the Wraith because of its attention to detail and the way it commands the largest of stages. I am loving reading all of your thought and responses on the new products.

Just to drop in and clarify a few things, I see a lot of questions regarding shell design, pricing, and specifications!

The Valkyrie
This cool piece utilizes 3 drivers. A dynamic driver, a balanced armature driver, and an electrostatic driver. The utilization of the Dynamic and Electrostatic drivers gives the Valkyrie a huge frequency response range, all the way from 4 HZ to 100 kHz. The monitor is a lot of fun and is one you can truly feel when you are listening. The shell design that you may have seen at CanJam is the final design. As some of you have mentioned, the shell size is a little smaller that our other universal shells. Additionally, the Valkyrie has a face plate design that we call Dragon Hide as opposed to the onyx face plates our shells currently come with. The shell color has not been decided yet. This model does ship with an Eros II cable in you preferred termination. This model does fall within the X-Series, because of it's utilization of our Weapon IX driver. It is available in both Universal and Custom, both start at $1,599.

The Wraith
This is the world's first IEM that utilizes Quad Electrostats, and is quite a special IEM. It is incredible how well these Estats play in to the overall soundscape, especially considering you do not need an Amp to power the Estats. I have spent a few hours listening to the Wraith and is constantly revealing things to me that I had not heard. Such a cool model. The overall cosmetics of this model have not yet been decided, but we are working on that. The new shell size, that houses the Wraith, is slightly larger than the old universal shells, but avoids being over sized. The Wraith falls within the EP-Series, runs $3,499, and is currently only available in Universal. We found that this model, was hard to replicate in a custom version, so we are working towards that and do plan to eventually offer this in the custom option.

Both of these were received so well, and we really appreciate all of the feedback. The coolest thing was, neither of these models completely out shined the LX and Phantom, it just seems like they each are appreciated in what they do well, respectively.

What are your impressions?

If I met you at CanJam, give me a shout! Chances are I had no idea it was you!
Reach out if you need anything!

3.5 k ? Threepointfive K ?

...

giphy.gif



There is NO such thing as ENDGAME in this hobby:ksc75smile:

....unfortunately this is the truth.
But there is at least 1 empty wallet....

giphy.gif
 
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Jun 26, 2019 at 11:32 AM Post #18,177 of 40,712
Now I am wondering how Valkyrie sounds compared to Legend X, which I have heard. @ajyagle @Devon Higgins

In my opinion valkyrie is a better pick to go with. I will soon be able to hear it to confirm.
But from memory when did a/b phantom and Lx I preferred phantom.

Now good news for me phantom is in ep categorie and valk in x so that make sense to own both :ksc75smile:
 
Jun 26, 2019 at 12:04 PM Post #18,180 of 40,712
3.5 k USD? I'll just get the Drop XIV in that case. Even Trinity costs less.
 

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