[Hoegaardener70]

My first day with the Elite and I am in love. The sound is more holographic/transparent, wider and better extends into the treble than the OG. I really liked the Empy but it was not my favorite headphone for classical. The Elite's signature is much more suitable for classical music and at the same time still very Empy. It is rather dark but at the same detailed, making it perfect for longer listening sessions . But I do make use of ifi's XBass function since I am a bit of a basshead and it works very well. Comfort is unrivalled, but I am lucky that my ears hardly touch the new hybrid pads.

Now let's see if the Elite can de-throne the ab-1266tc ... but at this point I see it more as complimentary. But it for sure beats the Abyss in the looks department .

 

[SeSamer]

Great write up! Thank you for sharing. It's great you could test all of these in person. It's almost impossible unless you go to a noisy show floor!

I am looking forward to 1/Enjoy the Elite and 2/Compare them to the D8k Pro.

The D8k Pro are quite sensitive to the sources used and they reflect how warm, neutral or bright a source is really well. They are quite transparent in that regard. I found they match my tastes better when paired with a warm-ish DAC or amp. They are spectacular with tube amps. I am surprised you find them less resolving, they are (musical) detail monsters to me.

I have owned Empyrean before and I loved the warm and emotional experience they give without being muddy or bloated. I expect (relatively) similar things from the Elites. I would also speculate that the Elites are less source sensitive than the 8k Pros but I could be very wrong.

Of course Meze comfort is legendary and adds to the pleasurable experience. House signature and comfort are a big reason why I went for the Elite before trying. You've made a great choice!

Edit: I am currently using a Hugo2 as DAC into a Cayin C9 or an Xduoo TA20 hybrid amp. Will let you know how that goes.

Happy to hear you liked my impressions. The D8k Pros are great headphones, they easily outclassed my Focal Clears OG in every way. And the bass probably was the nicest of all the ones tested (at the very least close to the best the Elite are also a strong contender), but at least to me the Susvara, Solitaire P, Stealth and Elite were just a tad more detailed.
Most of the direct A/B-ing was done with the T+A HA200 since its discrete volume values made volume matching easier. It might very well be that it was not a good match for the D8k Pro.
I could not test with a tube amp (it would also have introduced too much variables to make sense considering the timescale).
I am looking forward to your impressions of the Elite and your comparison to the D8k Pro. How does the Hugo2 fare as a desktop solution?

The Cayin HA-6A paired amazing with the Empyrean, surely it fits the Elite as well.

My ultimate DAC recommendation is the Rockna Wavelight.
I had the chain Wavelight->HA-6A->Empyrean last year until I uograded to my Octave.

Thank you for the suggestion. The Rockna Wavelight looks like an awesome DAC, it is also a R2R design which is my (slight) favorite at the moment, but it is a bit outside my pricerange.

I was looking more into the (sub) 2000€ range.
DACs I have looked at so far include:
1. Musician Pegasus
2. Holo Audio Spring 3
3. Denafrips Ares/Pontus II
4. RME ADI-2 DAC FS
5. Chord Qutest
6. SMSL SU9 or Topping D90/D70

 

[SoundJedi]

Happy to hear you liked my impressions. The D8k Pros are great headphones, they easily outclassed my Focal Clears OG in every way. And the bass probably was the nicest of all the ones tested (at the very least close to the best the Elite are also a strong contender), but at least to me the Susvara, Solitaire P, Stealth and Elite were just a tad more detailed.
Most of the direct A/B-ing was done with the T+A HA200 since its discrete volume values made volume matching easier. It might very well be that it was not a good match for the D8k Pro.
I could not test with a tube amp (it would also have introduced too much variables to make sense considering the timescale).
I am looking forward to your impressions of the Elite and your comparison to the D8k Pro. How does the Hugo2 fare as a desktop solution?


Thank you for the suggestion. The Rockna Wavelight looks like an awesome DAC, it is also a R2R design which is my (slight) favorite at the moment, but it is a bit outside my pricerange.

I was looking more into the (sub) 2000€ range.
DACs I have looked at so far include:
1. Musician Pegasus
2. Holo Audio Spring 3
3. Denafrips Ares/Pontus II
4. RME ADI-2 DAC FS
5. Chord Qutest
6. SMSL SU9 or Topping D90/D70

I am using the Hugo2 mostly as a desktop DAC and it's wonderful. Bass texture and control is really good. It's punchy, separation is absolutely stellar and details are there in spades. I also like the portable option that it offers as a DAC/Amp and it is capable to drive all my headphones with no issues.

The one potential knock on the Hugo2 would be that it is "brutally honest". It is so detailed that treble can get a bit much at times. This is mostly addressed by using the warm filter with high frequency roll off. It should match well with the smooth Elites. It works really well with the D8k Pro.

I was actually originally looking at the Qutest as a standalone DAC and this video steered me more towards the Hugo2. I found a good deal on a new unit and didn't think twice. I don't think you can really go "wrong" here. It's more about preferences.

 

[karlheinz147]

Right now I'm still undecided. Still doing some research. Maybe lcd5. Idk, honestly.

Have you tried the LCD-5 and compared them to the Elite? I'm also trying to decide between these two.

 

[PeteSTRADAMUS]

Have you tried the LCD-5 and compared them to the Elite? I'm also trying to decide between these two.

No, I haven't.

 

[Unseen Aura]

Happy to hear you liked my impressions. The D8k Pros are great headphones, they easily outclassed my Focal Clears OG in every way. And the bass probably was the nicest of all the ones tested (at the very least close to the best the Elite are also a strong contender), but at least to me the Susvara, Solitaire P, Stealth and Elite were just a tad more detailed.
Most of the direct A/B-ing was done with the T+A HA200 since its discrete volume values made volume matching easier. It might very well be that it was not a good match for the D8k Pro.
I could not test with a tube amp (it would also have introduced too much variables to make sense considering the timescale).
I am looking forward to your impressions of the Elite and your comparison to the D8k Pro. How does the Hugo2 fare as a desktop solution?


Thank you for the suggestion. The Rockna Wavelight looks like an awesome DAC, it is also a R2R design which is my (slight) favorite at the moment, but it is a bit outside my pricerange.

I was looking more into the (sub) 2000€ range.
DACs I have looked at so far include:
1. Musician Pegasus
2. Holo Audio Spring 3
3. Denafrips Ares/Pontus II
4. RME ADI-2 DAC FS
5. Chord Qutest
6. SMSL SU9 or Topping D90/D70

I can only vouch for the RME as it is what I have. But cannot contribute outside of that as I use it as it is out of the box without any customizations or tweaks. Only thing to compare it to is a Red Dragonfly & they're world's apart. But I partly also got it for it's endless setting options, the display, & good resale value if I ever change my mind.

 

[DJJEZ]

 

[BassicScience]

Excellent and balanced review, as per usual. Based on my limited exposure to the OG Empyrean vs. listening to the Elite for 2-3 hours in a quiet hotel room, I actually found the gap in performance greater than @Resolve did. At $4k vs. $3k, the Elite would be a total no-brainer (between the two) from my perspective, although someone pointed out that the Empyrean can now actually be found closer to $2k.

 

[SoundJedi]

Excellent and balanced review, as per usual. Based on my limited exposure to the OG Empyrean vs. listening to the Elite for 2-3 hours in a quiet hotel room, I actually found the gap in performance greater than @Resolve did. At $4k vs. $3k, the Elite would be a total no-brainer (between the two) from my perspective, although someone pointed out that the Empyrean can now actually be found closer to $2k.

I actually think Empyrean second market held up quite well since Elite was announced. There has been a 5-10% maybe.

It's also not uncommon to see like new Utopias and LCD4s at around 2500.

 

[betula]

He says the Empyrean is on LCD-X/Arya level of technical performance (and the Elite is just a little better). I do like the LCD-X personally and I can see why the Arya is also popular (although not my cup of tea).
In certain technical aspects he might be right, but to me the Empyrean sounds so much more lifelike and natural than the LCD-X (or Arya).

 

[JM45]

He says the Empyrean is on LCD-X/Arya level of technical performance (and the Elite is just a little better). I do like the LCD-X personally and I can see why the Arya is also popular (although not my cup of tea).
In certain technical aspects he might be right, but to me the Empyrean sounds so much more lifelike and natural than the LCD-X (or Arya).

Same. After upgrading from Arya and Focal Clear to Empyrean, things sounded so much better. It feels weird when some reviewers say Arya is a better buy in terms performance even at 1600$ which IMO is total nuts. Bass and vocals are downright inferior on Arya compared to Empyrean. Even though many people say Empyrean isn't sensitive to dac/amps like many other hps (like D8K), it doesn't seem to be the case. Otherwise, how can anyone remotely prefer Arya?

 

[MatW]

Pretty critical review. The title should have been 'A little better', because he's said that more than a few times...

Most people who have commented on them so far in this thread seem to be more enthusiastic about it, and more positive about the improvement relative to the Empyrean? I owned the Empyrean twice but sold it twice because I was looking for more than 'a little better'.. Unclear to me now if the Elite brings what I felt the Empy was lacking. But I won't really know until I hear them for myself..

Edit in March 2023: I acquired the Elite later and it’s one of my favorite headphones. I like it way better than the Empyrean.

 

[ThanatosVI]

I couldn't resist and setup the Elite on the Octave and the Solitaire P on the PA2000R Speakertaps.
Volume matched them by ear, and now I can instant swap them to compare.

 

[ThanatosVI]

Pad swap Adventures pt.1

Elite with Empyrean pads gives a little more bass extension and presence but loses much of what makes the Elite special.
It sounds very unengaging and boring in comparison. While I was very interested in this, it was an unexpectedly big dissapointment.

Empyrean with Elite pads works quite well and certainly is a flavor to Explore if it still fits your head (see below).
It has increased soundstage with more air in the treble but loses some of the Bass.
Due to it's warmer tone it still has plenty of Bass with those pads.

The warmer thicker sound signature of the Empyrean is much better for the leather pads of the Empyrean.
I now totally understand why they distinguish between Empyrean and Elite pads on the website, even though all pads fit technically on both headphones.
I have new found respect for pad manufacturers, it certainly is harder to make new pads than it might seem.

While the pad sizes are identical, the headbands are not.
When switching to the Empyrean leather pads I have to increase the headband setting (with Hybrid pads I use the smallest setting, so this is no issue for me, but might be for users that need the Max setting)

The Empyrean can also use both pads, here I'd have to decrease the setting, which isn't possible for me since I need the smallest setting with Empyrean pads already.

It's useable like this but less comfortable. Therefore I will use both with their stock pads from now on

Alcantara listening Tests will follow.

 

[Hoegaardener70]

Pad swap Adventures pt.1

Elite with Empyrean pads gives a little more bass extension and presence but loses much of what makes the Elite special.
It sounds very unengaging and boring in comparison. While I was very interested in this, it was an unexpectedly big dissapointment.

Empyrean with Elite pads works quite well and certainly is a flavor to Explore if it still fits your head (see below)

The warmer thicker sound signature fof the Empyrean its much better for the leather pads of the Empyrean.
I now totally understand why they distinguish between Empyrean and Elite pads on the website, even though all pads fit technically on both headphones.

While the pad sizes are identical, the headbands are not.
When switching to the Empyrean leather pads I have to increase the headband setting (with Hybrid pads I use the smallest setting, so this is no issue for me, but might be for users that need the Max setting)

The Empyrean can also use both pads, here I'd have to decrease the setting, which isn't possible for me since I need the smallest setting with Empyrean pads already.

It's useable like this but less comfortable. Therefore I will use both with their stock pads from now on

Alcantara listening Tests will follow.

I just concluded that I find the Alcantara pads more comfortable than the Elite ones. I also tend to think that they are not beneficial for the sound, but only by a small margin! I'd prefer them over the Elite pads for media and movies, however.