Greetings all. I just received my Elites on Tuesday night and after what was probably an all-too-brief audition, I have decided that the tuning and sound signature are just not for me. I have greatly appreciated reading all the thoughts and war stories from other head-fiers over the years so I thought I'd share my impressions here for anyone looking for yet another data point to figure into their own purchasing decision. I was actually trading emails with another head-fi'er who has simply become a good friend and I was trying to give him my impressions as they unfolded over the evening. Rather than try to compose a completely new set of impressions here, part of my thoughts below are actually pasted from my exchanges with him, adjusted for a bit of sleep and reflection this morning, which may account for the somewhat disjointed tone in some of the passages that follow.
First, know that I'm still relatively new to the hobby so I don't necessarily have all the proper Head-Fi lingo down perfectly, but I know what like to hear. I'm also not a classical or jazz fan so all of my listening has been a combination of pop, metal, classic and alternative rock, some instrumental music (movie themes), and club/dance music, with a smattering of acoustic and even some a Capella tracks--only a few were 16/44, the rest were at least 24/44 through 24/96 HD files and streams. I primarily went back and forth on my M400/SP400 stack using the Lazuli Reference XLR cable. I will say that differences between the Empy and Elite seemed far less pronounced when I switched sources to the FiiO M11 Plus LTD using a Silver Dragon cable...maybe some scaling effects of the extra power and quality of the higher-end AKM DAC in the desktop stack? Or maybe I was just getting really tired.
Reflecting back on my experiences last night--which again, amounted to all of about 2-ish hours--I personally would characterize the Elite as having a much more "audiophile" tuning, with definite improvements over the Empy in its technical prowess, especially what felt like greater resolution, definition, speed and detail. The OG Empy is warmer and possibly more forgiving, especially of lower quality recordings and over-produced studio tracks; but in the end, it simply struck me as a bit "more fun." Now, perhaps what I feel is "fully bodied" or the bass "thump" I mention below on the OG Empyrean is actually a bit too bassy, bloated, or unrealistic for others??? It's funny, I've never considered myself a bass head before, but I definitely respond to the Empy's more upfront bass and midbass presence than I was hearing in the Elite. But the Elite's bass is certainly still impactful, i.e. there was nothing anemic about its low end--there was still a palpable "thump" to the music and it definitely seemed better controlled and even tighter than the Empyrean. But it just didn't grab my ears in a way that seemed preferable to the Empyrean given my tastes and what I was listening to.
That said, I would definitely defer to the experience of much more accomplished head-o-philes with even more resolving gear and trained ears at their disposal, but this was what I came away with after my short audition. I CAN say with certainty that this wasn't a case of me trying to justify buyer's remorse on the Elite; I wanted to keep them if I liked what I heard, but these really seem like two different headphones, rather than simply a better performance of the pricier one across the board--again, at least to my ears. Speaking of my ears, the VERY outside edges of my ears did touch the driver screen on the shorter hybrid pads--I realize this is not an issue for everyone, but it was for me. Now, I find the OG Empy to be one of the most comfortable headphones I've ever worn, and while it SHOULDN'T have been the case given that they share the exact same frame design, I didn't feel the Elites were quite as comfy. The only conclusion I can draw is that the hybrid pads were responsible because they just aren't as deep and pillowy soft as the big 30mm OG leather pads. In fact, once I swapped to the OG leather pads, the comfort issues disappeared. But I don't personally care for the feeling of the Alcantara pads (same 30mm depth as the OG leather) against my skin, or what it does to the sound, so I was left driving the Elites with the stock hybrid pads for my audition.
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But my rough cut impression actually falls pretty closely along the lines of the Bloom Audio review: "OG Empyrean balances detail and technical prowess with warmth and musicality – but gives warmth and musicality the edge. Empyrean Elite pulls the warmth back a little bit, and adds more detail and stronger technical capabilities without compromising the musicality of the headphones."
I definitely feel a little less oomph in the low end--I've already listened closer to some tracks with some REALLY deep bass, kick drums and what-have-you and the Empy simply offers MORE, more of that palpable deep sternum "kick" that almost feels like legit sound wave pressure on the body from a good set of speakers--I'll have suss out whether its a hollow low end on the Elite, or just the Empy blowing up the bass. But the mids and highs on the Elite DO feel just a hair quicker, cleaner and more resolving. If I could get the OG Empy low end mixed with the Elite's mids and highs, that would be a remarkable achievement.
For example, there's a strong synth line that accompanies a very quick/deftly rendered guitar solo on an instrumental track from Dokken's (don't judge) Tooth and Nail album called "Without Warning"...I like to use the high-def stream of this track for its overlapping layers of the bass guitar, lead guitar, synth track, and largely baritone choral backing--it's just a few instruments so I'm not having to peel back a bunch of complex layers of multiple instruments and placements (that comes later), but the strings are very quick and the synth beat is one of those HIGHLY amped and artificial tracks that, when rendered properly, can rattle you like that old THX trailer as it built to crescendo. On the Elite, that synth track just felt like it was better defined than the Empy...I could feel the "edges" of the tones vibrating in my ears with a crispness and definition that the Empy didn't offer. But because the Empy appears to have more bass presence overall, the track just sounds a little "fuller" on the Empy than the Elite.
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2 hours in...I'm sending the Elites back. Yes, I can definitely hear what, to my ears, sounds like a more competent, revealing, and detailed sound from the Elites--female vocals seem to have slightly better clarity and articulation; but at least a few times it was just BARELY starting to get fatiguing on some hard t's and s sounds--possibly bad recordings as opposed to any negative aspects of the Elite's resolving power. Here, the OG Empy simply sounded a bit less sparkly...not smeary or lacking detail, but that razor-sharp vocal definition I was hearing in the Elites just didn't jump out at me as much. However, all that with the Elite came at the expense of a fuller, bassier, far more fun sound signature that I feel the Empy provides in spades. I don't think the bass on the Elites is hollowed out, it's snappy, responsive, and tight, but it just doesn't grab me with the same visceral thump that I hear on the Empy.
