Today the last day, still a lot on my list to see and listen!!!
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Empire Ears - Discussion & Impressions (Formerly EarWerkz)
- Thread starter Jack Vang
- Start date
Today the last day, still a lot on my list to see and listen!!!
ctsooner22
1000+ Head-Fier
I did finally talk to Jack in person with my Son. We had a good talk about the Legend X and the Phantom... They sounded so great, going to the CanJam was a great idea!! Today the last day, still a lot on my list to see and listen!!!
Did you get the Phantom or the Legend X?
Yes, you are correct. The Bocote burl is also incredible. Snake wood is very cool and so different too. I would probably send them a couple of pieces of Purple Heart I have on hand and mill it down to their specs, lmao... That Bocote is my favorite of theirs though. It matches my ZMF Ori's, lmao...
This is a blank of Black Palm. Picture straws all bundled together. That's what this is. It's fairly hard, but beautiful. I've done some cool stuff with this as an accent. Would look great on IEM's, lol...
ctsooner22
1000+ Head-Fier
Wait until you hear them all burned it. Also, Ethan called me tonight as I turned him onto one of my favorite hi end audio stores in the US which is 20 minutes from your doors Jack. Hifi Buys in Hotlanta. If anyone goes, tell them Pete from CT sent you adn ask for Alan. I think Ethan is in total shock as he heard ((not sure which CIEM he was using) on the Ayre Codex and then my Ayre QX5. I'll let him share his days experience with you all if he wants to, lol....The words "can't believe they upscale that much' or something close to that is what I heard, LOL.....
Didn't know you are a reseller. What country are you in?
I am located in the Amsterdam - Netherlands . @flinkenick pointed to Empire Ears! He showed the legend X and the Phantom to me, I tried these with the Effect Audio Leonidas and it was just stunning man!!!
ctsooner22
1000+ Head-Fier
Listening to Peter Frampton 'Do you feel like I do'. Great guitar work. I LOVE the cymbals on this song. He rides the 20" on the bell. My band use to play this song. I'm getting that ping and the overhang. Plenty of bite and sparkle. Listening to the hi hats. The percussive strike is wonderful and it sounds like it SHOULD to my ears at least. The mids are special on this recording. It's the remaster and it's in 24/96. Much better detail than on the original. He used the voice box on this one and the audience clapping sounds very real to me. What's standing out is coherency. I keep going back to that as it's what I'm used to in my home system. Just ask @Ethan Groover when he collects his thoughts on what he heard today in the 2 channel world, about what I'm used to, lol...
I love how the kick bass and bass player are laying the foundation on this cut. Tight and as deep as it was recorded I'm betting. It doesn't stick out though. It's not supposed to. Heck, I've heard this song LIVE a couple of times (was in HS in 76 and he was the hottest touring star that year). THIS was our HS song!!!! Dynamics are there in spades. I can't wait to hear this on my Ayre QX5. This is all on the AK 380cu sans the amp. Warm and smooth with bite when it's called for. For a live album they did a nice job with it on the remaster.
I love how the kick bass and bass player are laying the foundation on this cut. Tight and as deep as it was recorded I'm betting. It doesn't stick out though. It's not supposed to. Heck, I've heard this song LIVE a couple of times (was in HS in 76 and he was the hottest touring star that year). THIS was our HS song!!!! Dynamics are there in spades. I can't wait to hear this on my Ayre QX5. This is all on the AK 380cu sans the amp. Warm and smooth with bite when it's called for. For a live album they did a nice job with it on the remaster.
ctsooner22
1000+ Head-Fier
Very cool. Stunning is a perfect word for these as you can see in my post above. I need to come visit Nic. An extra reason, lol...Did you have a chance to listen to them with the Janus D also?
@ctsooner22 ....
I love you’re very musical enthusiastic approach!! Thats it!!! No More no less just use these gorgeous Phamtoms to listen to Music !!
I love you’re very musical enthusiastic approach!! Thats it!!! No More no less just use these gorgeous Phamtoms to listen to Music !!
I loved the Janus D pairing with the Phantom; lush, musical and warm in timbre, yet beautifully present and clear in the vocal region. I’ll have impressions of those once I finish the behemoth of a CanJam write-up I have on my hands.
By the way, I told Jack that Pete from CT said hello and he said, “Ahh Pete... bless his heart, man,” in the most Jack Vang way possible.
ShyamS
Head-Fier
- Joined
- Dec 10, 2013
- Posts
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- 97
My take on Empire Ears Empire Studio Reference (E.S.R):
Build:
The build quality is superb on the shell you have Empire ears logo engraved in silver and the shell itself is black a bit transparent like you can barely see the drivers. It has detachable cable and it comes with Effect Audio Ares II 3.5 mm cable. The isolated is great too. It comes with foam tip and spin fit tips in S,M & L.
Now the sound:
It’s not yet burned in (I been on wearing this for hours now can’t put it down) This is my first review and I never been strong with words when it comes to music but I’ll try to explain the best I can. I’m sorry if it’s not accurate or if you see mistakes. I have Dunu DN2000 before this one. My sources is iBasso DX50, MacBook Air, HTC U11 but primarily its DX50.
So started with listening to one of my favourites What A Wonder World by Louis Armstrong, I was blow away by the details. Soundstage is huge! His voice is so clear and I can tell every instruments apart, that too very clearly and It’s not all in my face but far apart. I just loved it. I can’t believe how much details I can hear
Then I moved on to Hotel California (Hell Freezes Over version) The first guitar part I can hear the string all so clearly then the thud thud of drum!! the impact was just amazing. It feels like I’m sitting in the audience. I can clearly tell instruments apart. Don’s vocals are so crisp. The soundstage of this thing is amazing. (Sorry I have no words to express what I am here here, but I’m getting goosebumps as I’m listening to this song so that should tell you something and big big smile on my face)
Next one I heard is Evanescence - Immortal, I never felt so emotional, her voice is crisp and clear with so much emotions. I have listened to this so many times but this is the first time I can hear everything like the violin and piano I can tell them apart, I can hear the background vocals at times and it’s not all cluttered like I used to on my other IEM. E.S.R is impressing me with every songs I heard so far.
I decided to try classical this time, Wolfgang Rihm - Musik fur Oboe und Orchester. If I close my eye I can feel like someone is playing Oboe in front of me, it felt so life like. I can hear the artist lips touch the reed while he goes to the next musical note (This composition is Oboe driven) then the thunder of tuba is so life like and as mentioned in above I can hear the instrument apart. It’s a joy to listen to this piece of music especially on E.S.R I never enjoyed this much. It feels like you are sitting right there when all this happens. Then I listened to “Styx und Lethe” and feeling is the same!!
Now I decided to try with some pop songs. I started off with She Will be Loved by Maroon 5, I felt the too much treble like song is too bright can’t listen to long (Maybe it will be better after proper burn in) It’s not as much “fun” to listen to on E.S.R like it’s not forgiving (duh! It’s a monitoring IEM, I guess that’s expected lol) Also tried Alessia Cara’s Scars To your beautiful, I couldn’t get through the song like all cluttered and vocals music all pushed together, maybe badly recorded track (?)
Then tried Royals by Lorde (If you haven’t listened to this one, it’s a bass heavy track) Wow! Bass is controlled like it doesn’t over power the vocal and sub bass is really good too. Even this track I felt too bright (?)
I’m not a fan of Hip Hop expect for very few songs so wanted to try that while I’m at it. So tried Numb / Encore (Feat. Linking Park - Jay Z) This was surprisingly good! Like the music didn’t overpower the vocals and bass was good and not that bright like other tracks I tried.
Ok I’ll stop now lol If you read until this point, thank you! As you might noticed I don’t know much of audiophile terms so just wrote what I felt.
Now to the conclusion:
E.S.R is exceptional IEM maybe I’m new to high end IEM. It is neutral IEM but slight bump in mids I think. Vocal are really really good in IEM along with classical and jazz. I felt like it’s not great for POP or Hip-Hop music out there except for some. Like I mentioned before E.S.R is not forgiving when it comes to bad recording. I’m sure with better source this will shine even better. Thank you Ethan for helping me decide and Empire Ears for this amazing IEM.
Build:
The build quality is superb on the shell you have Empire ears logo engraved in silver and the shell itself is black a bit transparent like you can barely see the drivers. It has detachable cable and it comes with Effect Audio Ares II 3.5 mm cable. The isolated is great too. It comes with foam tip and spin fit tips in S,M & L.
Now the sound:
It’s not yet burned in (I been on wearing this for hours now can’t put it down) This is my first review and I never been strong with words when it comes to music but I’ll try to explain the best I can. I’m sorry if it’s not accurate or if you see mistakes. I have Dunu DN2000 before this one. My sources is iBasso DX50, MacBook Air, HTC U11 but primarily its DX50.
So started with listening to one of my favourites What A Wonder World by Louis Armstrong, I was blow away by the details. Soundstage is huge! His voice is so clear and I can tell every instruments apart, that too very clearly and It’s not all in my face but far apart. I just loved it. I can’t believe how much details I can hear
Then I moved on to Hotel California (Hell Freezes Over version) The first guitar part I can hear the string all so clearly then the thud thud of drum!! the impact was just amazing. It feels like I’m sitting in the audience. I can clearly tell instruments apart. Don’s vocals are so crisp. The soundstage of this thing is amazing. (Sorry I have no words to express what I am here here, but I’m getting goosebumps as I’m listening to this song so that should tell you something and big big smile on my face)
Next one I heard is Evanescence - Immortal, I never felt so emotional, her voice is crisp and clear with so much emotions. I have listened to this so many times but this is the first time I can hear everything like the violin and piano I can tell them apart, I can hear the background vocals at times and it’s not all cluttered like I used to on my other IEM. E.S.R is impressing me with every songs I heard so far.
I decided to try classical this time, Wolfgang Rihm - Musik fur Oboe und Orchester. If I close my eye I can feel like someone is playing Oboe in front of me, it felt so life like. I can hear the artist lips touch the reed while he goes to the next musical note (This composition is Oboe driven) then the thunder of tuba is so life like and as mentioned in above I can hear the instrument apart. It’s a joy to listen to this piece of music especially on E.S.R I never enjoyed this much. It feels like you are sitting right there when all this happens. Then I listened to “Styx und Lethe” and feeling is the same!!
Now I decided to try with some pop songs. I started off with She Will be Loved by Maroon 5, I felt the too much treble like song is too bright can’t listen to long (Maybe it will be better after proper burn in) It’s not as much “fun” to listen to on E.S.R like it’s not forgiving (duh! It’s a monitoring IEM, I guess that’s expected lol) Also tried Alessia Cara’s Scars To your beautiful, I couldn’t get through the song like all cluttered and vocals music all pushed together, maybe badly recorded track (?)
Then tried Royals by Lorde (If you haven’t listened to this one, it’s a bass heavy track) Wow! Bass is controlled like it doesn’t over power the vocal and sub bass is really good too. Even this track I felt too bright (?)
I’m not a fan of Hip Hop expect for very few songs so wanted to try that while I’m at it. So tried Numb / Encore (Feat. Linking Park - Jay Z) This was surprisingly good! Like the music didn’t overpower the vocals and bass was good and not that bright like other tracks I tried.
Ok I’ll stop now lol If you read until this point, thank you! As you might noticed I don’t know much of audiophile terms so just wrote what I felt.
Now to the conclusion:
E.S.R is exceptional IEM maybe I’m new to high end IEM. It is neutral IEM but slight bump in mids I think. Vocal are really really good in IEM along with classical and jazz. I felt like it’s not great for POP or Hip-Hop music out there except for some. Like I mentioned before E.S.R is not forgiving when it comes to bad recording. I’m sure with better source this will shine even better. Thank you Ethan for helping me decide and Empire Ears for this amazing IEM.
proedros
Headphoneus Supremus
what cable would be a decent/significant upgrade to pw audio no5 , for use with Zeus XR ?
i am itching to maximize the performance out of my XR and cable seems like the most affordable option (i am fine dap-wise with my WM1A - for now)
i am itching to maximize the performance out of my XR and cable seems like the most affordable option (i am fine dap-wise with my WM1A - for now)
NaiveSound
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- Nov 8, 2015
- Posts
- 3,178
- Likes
- 619
That's one sexy Zeus!Yep! You can drop the 'semi'...still glad I chose it for my ZXR
ctsooner22
1000+ Head-Fier
I loved the Janus D pairing with the Phantom; lush, musical and warm in timbre, yet beautifully present and clear in the vocal region. I’ll have impressions of those once I finish the behemoth of a CanJam write-up I have on my hands.
By the way, I told Jack that Pete from CT said hello and he said, “Ahh Pete... bless his heart, man,” in the most Jack Vang way possible.
Yup, with parents like his, it's no surprise that he's such a great guy. I LOVED the Janus D with the Phantom's. Was a perfect match. I think a ton of folks will be wanting one of those for their collection. Less money than the Horus and it mates so well with all of the EE lines from the sound of it. I just know about the Phantom.
ctsooner22
1000+ Head-Fier
Fun bass line on Sly and the Family Stone's "Hot Fun in the Summertime". Recessed mids just like they always sound on the best 2 channel systems....but a fun song with some GREAT memories (can't share on this board 
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