here is the comparison portion from the review.
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The original Empyrean to me sounds less balanced, less clean and it isn’t as precise, controlled, fast and refined as the new ELITE. In the original Empyrean complex passages sound more messy, less articulated and this isn’t the case at all with the ELITE. To my ears everything is more balanced, clear and in place with the ELITE. It does that in a very effortless way and it makes the ELITE easier to listen to. Add better speed, tightness and extension to that, and you have the top performing ELITE.
In the ELITE version the bass presence seems higher, but it’s more refined, faster, clean and detailed (the presence also depends on the pads and amp used). Bass also feels more balanced with the rest. The ELITE actually is more refined and precise from top to bottom, with a higher level of detail retrieval and clarity overall.
With all the different pads available for the original and new Empyrean, it’s not the easiest to compare these two headphones but they really do sound different and alike at the same time. You can hear it’s family. To me the Empyrean was already good and very musical, but the ELITE performs at a higher technical level.
I’ve been going back and forth between these headphones for many days now and while they both have their own characteristics and strengths, I do keep going back to the ELITE as it’s more precise, clean and technically strong. In the end it comes down to what kind of tuning you prefer. If you like the exact tuning of the regular Empyrean, you might not like the Elite. If you feel the Empyrean can be improved in clarity, speed and precision, then the ELITE might be the one suiting your tastes best.
