[Chill iLL]

No comparison. For my tastes, the Utopia is on another level.

The Utopia and Empy are my 2 most used. Both special in their own way. The fact that the Elite is rivaling the price makes it a tough buy.

 

[lumdicks]

Well, the OG empyrean is still my most favorite HP. You know the soft corner lol. Specially in Metal Genre, it sounds too good imo without ANY FATIGUE with the Alcantara pad and the Meze upgraded silver plated copper cable. As I have spent quite a lot in both of the upgraded cables of Meze, I won't sell it but I also want to try out something new. It doesn't have to be necessarily better. And if it's not superior, it should offer something different than the OG Empyrean and susvara by keeping the extreme comfort of these cans.

I am just curious if I will be able to distinguish the difference in my underpowered susvara vs a susvara with 1500-1600$ Amp-Dac stack "instantly"? I was able to do so when I upgraded from Arya & Focal Clear to Empyrean last year. Also, how does R2R dacs perform with the Susvara? I have 4 purchase options for Dacs(Sorry extremely limited in my country due to availability only 1 Good Audio Store): Cayin iDac 6 MK2, Topping D70S, D90SE and Dena Frips Ares II


By foot tapping sound, do you mean the sound of kick-drum and similar stuff? IMO the sound of kickdrums is so much better on the Empyrean (Alcantara pad and the upgraded meze silver plated copper cable). When I upgraded from Hifiman Arya and Focal Clear to the Meze, I was shocked to hear the improvement in the dynamics and extended bass + treble both but the susvara is even better. If I could include the smoothness and bass quantity of the OG Empyrean into the Susvara, it could have been perfect. But we all know that's not possible.

Also, that's a really nice setup. Unfortunately I can't spend more than 800$ behind the amp for susvara. Any suggestions besides the Topping, SingXer stuff?


Actually I have listened to the Susvara on the said cayin Amp and Topping D70S (AKM 4497 based) in the audio store from where I purchased it. It was definitely better than my current setup. Dx7 pro (Dac) + A90. I can't find any amp under 800$ that offers more power than the Cayin without being overly analytical/transparent/clean like the Topping A90. For some reason, I hated how meh the A90 makes even my old Empyrean sound at anything over Low gain. Even the IFI idsd Signature makes the Empyrean OG sound soo much better. On Susvara, the case is quite different with the A90 but still the Cayin sounded better.


Well, I have demoed the Cayin as I mentioned in my previous comment but the DAC was D70s from topping. It was certainly warmer sounding than my current topping A90 chain. The topping sounds decent with Susvara but meh with Empyrean OG. So I want to get rid of it with a equally powerful and slightly warm amp. I will also look into the Flux Labs FA-10 later. Thanks

Burson Funk may worth a try, you can drive Susvara via the speaker tap and your Empy with the headphone out.

https://www.headfonia.com/burson-audio-funk-review/

 

[PeteSTRADAMUS]

There was a 2020 update, I believe.

Still the same headphone. Just updated packaging. I'm pretty certain they are working on a true successor, but don't know the release date.

 

[incredulousity]

It is a difference in packaging/accessories, not in the headphone itself, I think.

 

[SoundJedi]

For people who own Elite and Empyrean: is it easier to EQ the Empyrean bass down to Elite level or to EQ Elite bass up to Empyrean level?

Just curious if anyone tried to match the lower end and compared what happens.

My Empyrean EQ included a reduction in mid bass and it made it tighter, which I liked.

 

[incredulousity]

For people who own Elite and Empyrean: is it easier to EQ the Empyrean bass down to Elite level or to EQ Elite bass up to Empyrean level?

Just curious if anyone tried to match the lower end and compared what happens.

My Empyrean EQ included a reduction in mid bass and it made it tighter, which I liked.

I do the same with my Empys, and agree with your impressions of the effect, but even with EQ, they come nowhere near the Elite in terms of bass quality and control. I suspect if EQ’d up, they would be better than Empys EQ’d down.

 

[SoundJedi]

I do the same with my Empys, and agree with your impressions of the effect, but even with EQ, they come nowhere near the Elite in terms of bass quality and control. I suspect if EQ’d up, they would be better than Empys EQ’d down.

Thanks. That's big praise indeed.

 

[OctavianH]

There is already one in the classifieds.
https://www.head-fi.org/classifieds...s-head-time-choice-of-xlr-or-1-4-cable.10850/

 

[SoundJedi]

There is already one in the classifieds.
https://www.head-fi.org/classifieds...s-head-time-choice-of-xlr-or-1-4-cable.10850/

Well there's a world where Empy is still and that's great too.

 

[tunes]

Unfortunately only you can really answer this question. It depends on what you're looking for. Are you planning to get something better in the future? Are you hoping to be finished with audio gear soon? Are you the type that is curious about what can be better?

If you want to build a long term chain, Susvara will be a good headphone to use if you will invest in your front end gear. If you'd rather be done, maybe Elite would be a good option with less expensive front end gear. However, it won't match the level of Susvara with a better source/amplifier. There's definitely a lot of amplifiers better than the A90 for the Susvara so there's still a good amount of potential left there. I'm also assuming there should be some potential left on the table with your DAC as well.

Personally, I would opt to sell OG Empyrean and invest that money in a better amplifier and/or DAC than go for Elite since you already have Susvara. I don't think the Elite brings anything better or different enough from the Susvara.

Have Susvara and waiting for the new Enleum 23R HP amp. It’s supposed be be a match made in heaven. Will let you know.

 

[ThanatosVI]

Have Susvara and waiting for the new Enleum 23R HP amp. It’s supposed be be a match made in heaven. Will let you know.

Excellent choice, right to the top
Please keep us updated also with tons of pictures (personally I prefer the Enleum Design over Bakoon)

 

[tunes]

Curious how the Elite’s sound stage compares to Susvara and with the ZMF VC. I don’t need slam as much as an open live sounding stage and detailed micro dynamics. My former favorite was the HE1000 SE and waiting on proper amp for Susvara for comparisons.

 

[JM45]

Burson Funk may worth a try, you can drive Susvara via the speaker tap and your Empy with the headphone out.

https://www.headfonia.com/burson-audio-funk-review/

Will look into it. I haven't even heard of the Amp tbh. I did hear about burson conductor and something 3x (forgot the model name) in OG Empyrean thread a lot.

 

[Benny-x]

You're probably right. But, the question of what's enough or too much bass is pure personal preference. For me, the Elites have enough bass.

If you ranked the headphones you have by (1) bass quantity and then by (2) bass quality, what would the lists look like?

 

[BTD1]

Benny-x To answer your question as accurately as I can, I will pull out all my headphones and listen to them using the same tracks of some of my favorite music. All but 3 or 4 of my phones are tucked away. But I will get them all out for a listen. This will be a fun project.