Empire Ears RAVEN is Finally Here!

[Andrew DiMarcangelo]

After 8 months of prototype previews and a massive amount of anticipation, Raven is finally official. Empire Ears took everything audiophiles loved about Odin, spent years in R&D to improve it, and ended up with a successor truly worth the wait. A quadbrid IEM with 12 drivers, Raven follows close to Odin’s formula, but focuses on improving resolution and imaging, and moves towards a stronger balance between natural and technical. Its bone conduction drivers offer hard-hitting bass with deep extension, but only when the song calls for it. Treble is vivid, fast, and expressive. And Raven delivers a natural midrange with good body and weight, perfectly positioned in the mix.

So is Raven worth the hype? Unequivocally, YES. Check out our first impressions on our blog and preview videos on YouTube.

Raven releases September 1st. Launch Edition with gold faceplates will sell out quickly and Empire Ears has mandated a zero discounting policy. A Standard Edition with black faceplates will be available for preorder on August 18th, and ships late September.

Our full reviews will be available August 18th as well, but we've spent the last two weeks listening to it, so feel free to comment here with any questions. @stephenkostas has already spent like 50 hours listening to it!

 

[Simpeler]

Looking forward to it!

How is the fit? They look larger than the Odin. Are they in size and fit similar to Odyssey?

 

[stephenkostas]

Looking forward to it!

How is the fit? They look larger than the Odin. Are they in size and fit similar to Odyssey?

They're bigger overall than the Odin, but I don't think the insertion is quite as deep. I felt like they stuck out of my ear a bit more than Odin or EVO, but I the fit is overall pretty similar to Odin, Odyssey, EVO, or any other number of tri/quad-brid 10+ driver IEMs.

 

[OhmsClaw]

How's the bass relative the range?
Odin<Evo<Legend X

 

[stephenkostas]

How's the bass relative the range?
Odin<Evo<Legend X

Bass would be in between Odin and Evo. There's clearly more deep subbass and slightly more midbass than Odin, but still closer to Odin than EVO or Legend X.

 

[EdgarBear]

Hi I adore the empire ears, I owned Zeus, legend x , odin, evo

And when I saw this iem I knew it is probably my next new iem

One issue I had with EVO is the size, it was somehow hurting my ear after moderate amount of time , and before I buy I need to understand if this is same style of fit as the evo?

For ex I own kublai khan which is also on the large side, but that one has a long nozzle and somehow doesn’t cause this , so in design is the raven same size and fit as the evo?

 

[Simpeler]

On the watercooler thread a FR graph is shared that shows very similar responses to the Odyssey:

Post in thread 'The Watercooler -- Impressions, philosophical discussion and general banter. Index on first page. All welcome.'
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/the...n-first-page-all-welcome.957426/post-17685528


Maybe I have to wait for your full review but is the Raven similar to the Odyssey in your experience, and does the graph make sense?

Kind regards

 

[NymPHONOmaniac]

daaaaaaaaaaaaamn.
intriguing.
gotta love BC driver to push acoustic reality further.
as well as: more bass.

 

[psikey]

Nice styling, but way too large for my small ears.

 

[kb5757]

This Raven compared to FiR Audio Radon 6.. Tell us everything you can. Thx

 

[Yggy]

Hi I adore the empire ears, I owned Zeus, legend x , odin, evo

And when I saw this iem I knew it One issue I had with EVO is the size, it was somehow hurting my ear after moderate amount of time, and before I buy I need to understand if this is same style of fit as the evo?

I have two IEMs, Zeus and Evo. I have the same issue with the Evo, it makes my ears sore after an hour or two. The Zeus is smaller, I can listen to it for longer. If the Raven is even bigger than the Evo, longer listening sessions could be painful.

I use a Liquid Links Venom cable with the Zeus and Evo. It makes the Zeus less bright and the Evo less metallic. Would be good to hear what cables are improving on stock the most with the Raven.

Somebody said the Evo’s Genesis cable is a good pairing. I didn’t enjoy the Genesis with the Evo, it was too microphonic. The Liquid Links Venom has unusual ergonomics with the PVC sheathing but zero microphonics.

My ideal IEM would have the clarity and mids of the Zeus and the bass and energy of the Evo. The problem with the Evo is it can sound a bit fake with spoken voices. If I’m watching YouTube videos, I switch to Zeus.

I listen to a lot of EDM on the Evo in enhanced over-ear DC mode on a FiiO M17 with an Ifi iPower Elite power supply. With the Zeus, I listen to quieter music on the lowest gain setting on the M17. Would be good to know how the Raven scales with DAP power. I assume it would be somewhere between the Evo and Zeus.

I’ve never heard the Odin. I like beautiful vocals and high quality bass with lots of it, I was never convinced Odin would deliver either based on the reviews I read. I’m wondering if it makes more sense to wait for an improved Evo with a more natural timbre and better vocals or try the Raven.

I have the same issue with headphones. I’d like a Susvara with more bass, clarity and energy or a 1266 with better mids and vocals.

 

[haci]

it makes my ears sore after an hour or two.

Have you tried switching tips? I had the same issue with stock tips, but it became really comfortable after switching to azla tips

 

[Yggy]

I use Azla too, they’re more comfortable than the stock Final E. Zeus XIV with Azla is fine but Legend Evo with Azla is just a bit more prone to soreness. I wear foam ear plugs at night to sleep and sometimes get mild eczema in my ears so I’m probably more prone to ear irritation. It’s mainly one ear, I think due to a raised edge in the ear canal that I don’t have in my other ear. I don’t have any issues with my Sony XF-1000XM4, probably because they don’t go so deep in the ear.

 

[zajcev]

Raven is biiig! Way bigger than even Viking Ragnar. Also cable and tip dependent. plays beautifully with silver and hybrid cables. With copper cables can become too bassy which is a no for me.

 

[javahut]

Raven is biiig! Way bigger than even Viking Ragnar. Also cable and tip dependent. plays beautifully with silver and hybrid cables. With copper cables can become too bassy which is a no for me.

So you recieved your pre-order?