[ddlo]

That’s really interesting. My audio journey started out in a strange way. I went with a friend to an audio store that was setting up his media room. I was wandering around the store and saw a rack of headphones. I had a pair of Bose Quietcomfort 15s at home (no DAC/Amp) and had never listened to anything high end. Well I put the Audeze’s on and my mind was blown.

I actually listened to a few pair of much more expensive headphones but for some reason I just liked the sound of the LCD-2s the best. Walked out of the store $1,000 poorer and never looked back

I see you have Euclid. How do you like them? Mine are coming Tuesday

I just grabbed the Euclid as the local distributor had a clearance sale offer at just about us$700 with free 4.4mm and Bluetooth cables and also I wished to try planar iems.

It sounds ok but frankly nothing to excite about. With the stock tips (quite hard), isolation is not good. I love my ie900 much more.

Btw, I also used my Sony xm5 (and xm3 before) often at home for the convenience of wireless connection. It's entirely statisfying and I can see the use case of your qc15 too

 

[randerson3024]

We've had many customers directly compare those exact two -- Empyrean and Utopia. Some decided on Empyrean and some went with Utopia. I hope this is helpful

That's why I have both, among many others.

 

[Levendula]

In 2021 I bought the Empyrean. After the first listening was decided: For sale. Reasons:too much bass, treble is not enough and not good enough, Soundstage is small. This is only my opinion. The Utopia is a RoysRoys to compare to Meze for me. I apologize to everyone who likes the Meze.

 

[silversurfer616]

Same here…a friend bought them directly from Meze/Romania which was an expensive exercise with shipping, import tax etc.
He was deeply disappointed about the lack of resolution and sold it on to me. Same thing for me…too dark, no real clarity but the most comfortable headphones and easiest to swap pads.
Utopia is my preference.

 

[Levendula]

Soha nem találtam olyan kritikát a Meze Empyreanről, amely megírta volna a valódi hangját.

 

[tradyblix]

In 2021 I bought the Empyrean. After the first listening was decided: For sale. Reasons:too much bass, treble is not enough and not good enough, Soundstage is small. This is only my opinion. The Utopia is a RoysRoys to compare to Meze for me. I apologize to everyone who likes the Meze.

The Utopia (OG) doesn't exactly have an expansive soundstage, lol. Btw that rolls royce had a driver failure within 5 years for me. YMMV.

 

[jamesjames]

The Utopia (OG) doesn't exactly have an expansive soundstage, lol. Btw that rolls royce had a driver failure within 5 years for me. YMMV.

The Utopia's always been such a disappointment I think - it seemed to offer so much on paper, but that flat, small imaging was too much for me. The new one is even less attractive I think. I can understand the hope that the Empyrean/Elite might have delivered what the Utopia promised - but can also understand why many feel they haven't - hardly scintillating. I've always thought the AKG K812 much underrated - it seems to me to have the weight, imaging and the presence that the Focals and Mezes promise but don't deliver for me - and much cheaper!

 

[Revolution1]

The Utopia's always been such a disappointment I think - it seemed to offer so much on paper, but that flat, small imaging was too much for me. The new one is even less attractive I think. I can understand the hope that the Empyrean/Elite might have delivered what the Utopia promised - but can also understand why many feel they haven't - hardly scintillating. I've always thought the AKG K812 much underrated - it seems to me to have the weight, imaging and the presence that the Focals and Mezes promise but don't deliver for me - and much cheaper!

This hope was brought by Kennerton Heartland, a dense sound with good bass and detailed non-bright high frequencies on a wide and deep stage.
Empyrean in comparison with them sound dirty at high frequencies with a lower resolution, HD800 drier and brighter with a lack of low frequencies.
Utopia OG has a virtual stage much narrower and slightly smaller in depth and height with slightly better detail.

 

[TDinCali]

The original comparison request was from 2021 and we’re still debating.

Personally I like the new Utopia’s. The Emperian are just too warm and lack resolution for me. The Elite are better for me, but they are still very warm. I prefer a neutral headphone and dac with a tube amp.

When I had the Emperian, with a R2R dac and a warm tube amp it was WAY too much. Even with the Elite, but with the right chain and rock/pop/rap sounds great.

For me the Utopia is a jack of all trades. While the sound stage is small, an intimate presentation for a headphone is natural and I’d rather have a natural timbre, great resolution, great imaging and speed (for certain music) versus soundstage being the priority. I think the Utopia delivers on that.

 

[tradyblix]

The Utopia's always been such a disappointment I think - it seemed to offer so much on paper, but that flat, small imaging was too much for me. The new one is even less attractive I think. I can understand the hope that the Empyrean/Elite might have delivered what the Utopia promised - but can also understand why many feel they haven't - hardly scintillating. I've always thought the AKG K812 much underrated - it seems to me to have the weight, imaging and the presence that the Focals and Mezes promise but don't deliver for me - and much cheaper!

Their price performance ratio isn't as attractive anymore, I'll say that. It's a much more competitive market now vs 2016. Utopia will always have the detail edge and the punchiness but I just can't hack dynamics anymore, planars are my preferred sound.

Of course, I hope nobodies paying retail for them. Nobody should, everyone should find a way to cut a deal. I only paid 2700 for my Utopias. I paid retail for the Empyreans and somewhat regret it considering they only lasted a year and a half as flagships. After the Arya Stealth I can't justify 4k price range for top end cans anymore. Might be because Hifiman is willing to cannibalize their HE1000 segment since they have such an expensive market segment holder in the Susvara, and have essentially 3 different versions of pretty much the same can, but the p/p of the Arya Stealth is some of the best I've ever had and makes me think twice about 4k, 5k cans.

 

[Tanalasta]

For me the Utopia is a jack of all trades. While the sound stage is small, an intimate presentation for a headphone is natural and I’d rather have a natural timbre, great resolution, great imaging and speed (for certain music) versus soundstage being the priority. I think the Utopia delivers on that.

The Empyreans just could not compare to the Utopia or the LCD-5. It was not even in the same league. Whilst relaxing and a nice tuning, there was always something missing.

Soundstage isn't everything. I sold the HD800S as I thought it was too artificially wide and spacious. Sometimes you just want to sit on a recliner and listen to music in a small room. My Focal dealership has exactly that but with a luscious two channel set-up. The Utopia (I use the Lanacable Lazuli Reference Plus to flesh out the sound) and Naim Uniti Atom do a good enough job that I am not left wanting.

All this chat made me take out the Utopia tonight. It is still a top of the line headphone. And for a dynamic driver, there is not many (if any) really that best it.

 

[jamesjames]

A couple of other phones I find significantly better performers than the Focals/Mezes in the weight, precision, imaging stakes seem often overlooked. The first is still available - the Neumann NDH 30 - which delivers good imaging together with great weight and monitor accuracy - at a very reasonable price. The other isn't current but can still be found - the Sony MDR MA900. I think this is one of the best ever made at any price. It's wonderfully open, with imaging to rival the HD800 series. It's physically light, and runs on just about anything (about 15 ohm impedance) - and can be had for a few hundred dollars. Having discovered it recently, I'll not let mine go. There are threads for both on this site - worth a look if you're interested.

 

[tradyblix]

The Empyreans just could not compare to the Utopia or the LCD-5.

I never heard an LCD-5, but Audeze is over-rated in general (IMO).

I had both the Utopia and Empyrean at the same time. For over 5 years I had the Utopia (since 2016) and I had the Empy since 2019, so ~ 4 years. While the Utopia is more detailed, the Empyrean has:

a.) Far better bass. Planars crush all dynamics on bass response, dynamics just don't go low enough. You miss most of the real deep sub bass feeling with dynamics. It's all punch. This might not matter tho, depending on the type of music you like. It matters to me as I like some electronic music in my listening. I need that low low rumble and flat, "all-the-way-down" vibe you get.

b.) Far Wider soundstage. Nothing has the HD800 effect on me, but I do think this type of soundstage is kind of the minimum bar these days. There's a lot of good headphones out there, most of the top ones have around this level of wideness minimum.

c.) The imaging wasn't quite as good as the utopia, but it's still quite good. And combined with the soundstage it was great.

Chord stuff pairs amazingly with the Empyrean. Perhaps your chain was just exposed. I know with warm amps it's too much with an Empy as well. They pair with cold/solid state stuff better IMO. The Tazzy is a warmish, relaxed amp and it def pairs better with Utopia than Empy. It's kind of the opposite with Hifimans, they're better with warmer stuff.

Utopias were also bright and fatiguing (at times). Empyreans are never fatiguing.

I still have my Empyrean working. The Utopias died (also something pretty crappy IMO for such an expensive headphone, but I guess it happens...the ONLY headphone it's EVER happened to me with, even my LCD-2 never died...) and I decided not to replace them as I wanted to check out Hifiman at a fraction of the cost and boy was that a good decision. While you can objectively say that Arya V3 isn't quite as good in some ways as some of these others, it is a really appealing headphone that does a number of things right. And also, it doesn't cost 5,000 dollars retail. you can get really close for just 1,300 dollars retail and save the rest of the money or spend it on better upstream gear.

Empyreans are always maligned online for "lacking detail". but the truth is... the details are all still there. Details really come from your DAC, anyway.

I have an Arya, and people say that's more "detailed" that the Empy. but I don't really think it is. It just has somehting analytical that to many people they consider "detail". It's the same with the HD800 that I also had. It's almost always coming with a tradeoff in terms of how long you can listen to it and if it gets harsh or not tho.
People would always talk about the HD800s detail but none of them would talk about the fact it no real bass to speak of. Not compared to the LCDs or Elite/Empys anyway.

I can understand why this goes on, because when you switch from Arya or Utopia to Empyrean it's noticable. You notice more the stuff the headphone you are switching from can do that the other can't. But it's not like how you read about it online. on here. It's not that it's veiled or muffled or a step down, at least, not to the extent of going back to ~ 500 dollar can capabilities. Or going from an HD800 to an LCD2, to use 2 cans most are familiar with. It's just ... different.

It's just more of a relaxed delivery in the highs that makes them less obvious.

I understand it's really a matter of taste, but people overrate, constantly, analytical headphones (aka bright) like the HD800, Most Hifimans and Utopias there, online. There's just a real bias for details and sometimes you don't want it to be like that, you want something that's more chill. You'd see this when people would slam the LCD-4 for "not having detail" alot too. But they never talk about the bass performance while doing it, do they ? because LCD-4 has incredible bass. esp compared to something like Utopia (pre-2020, haven't heard the new one, but its still a dynamic, so...)

I have enough experince to know that the money spend on trying to reach so called "Summit-Fi" is a fools errand as there are no perfect headphones. All of them have trade offs. Even your Susvaras, Abyss (are we even putting Abyss in this category anymore ?) are still never going to be HE-1s at 65k, are they ?

I mean crap, we live in a world where the myth of the Sony R10s is still strong. People are making knock off versions of that and selling it for several thousands.

At the end of the day, everyone has to realize people have different preferences when it comes to top end cans. That's why there's so many. When people say this headphone is definately not as good as this other headphone, that's their opinion.

I would listen to Empyrean more often than my Utopias when I had them. They are both great headphones, and both did things the other couldn't. But I know now - I prefer planars. I don't think I'll ever buy another dynamic.

 

[Tanalasta]

I never heard an LCD-5, but Audeze is over-rated in general (IMO).

I had both the Utopia and Empyrean at the same time. For over 5 years I had the Utopia (since 2016) and I had the Empy since 2019, so ~ 4 years. While the Utopia is more detailed, the Empyrean has:

a.) Far better bass. Planars crush all dynamics on bass response, dynamics just don't go low enough. You miss most of the real deep sub bass feeling with dynamics. It's all punch. This might not matter tho, depending on the type of music you like. It matters to me as I like some electronic music in my listening. I need that low low rumble and flat, "all-the-way-down" vibe you get.

b.) Far Wider soundstage. Nothing has the HD800 effect on me, but I do think this type of soundstage is kind of the minimum bar these days. There's a lot of good headphones out there, most of the top ones have around this level of wideness minimum.

c.) The imaging wasn't quite as good as the utopia, but it's still quite good. And combined with the soundstage it was great.

Chord stuff pairs amazingly with the Empyrean. Perhaps your chain was just exposed. I know with warm amps it's too much with an Empy as well. They pair with cold/solid state stuff better IMO. The Tazzy is a warmish, relaxed amp and it def pairs better with Utopia than Empy. It's kind of the opposite with Hifimans, they're better with warmer stuff.

I don't think there would have been a problem with my chain. i still had the Chord TT2 when I had Empy's ... and a Naim Uniti Atom.

Empy's imaging and detail was improved with the alacantra pads. But the tonality was more lush and enjoyable with the leather. I couldn't quite find the best of both worlds.

Bass preference is highly personal. I enjoy the tight, controlled timing of quality dynamic drivers. The LCD-5 however - are worth auditioning with Chord equipment.

 

[tradyblix]

I'd love to get a chance to audition them someday. but I've heard some mixed things about them. I am certainly not prepared to pay whatever their retail price is or anything close to that. I'm actually interested in the LCD-R but I know those are kind of super rare. there's only like 50 units or something. Currawong had borrowed a pair for a while but he never really mentioned them in his list of favorite headphones. and I think he prefers the final audio d8000 Pro or something like that. that was the last set he said he thought was the best which was kind of mind-boggling as I know that he has heard everything else we've talked about.

There are actually Four pad options for the Emperian/Elite now. the angled Alcantara, the Elite hybrid and then the other two stock pads for the Empy. Oh that's the other thing I like about the Empyrean. it's got a better Pad swap system than any other can.

Also I just realized that this is kind of a dated thread. this should really be about the 2022 focal Utopia versus the elite because that's probably what people that are coming into either choice would be picking from.. same prices.