[GiBGUN]

I like it myself, it's just kind of disappointing to those who rocked LCD-4 imo (still pissed i sold mine. that was my first 'TOTL' set of cans). It's pretty good at everything and there's nothing wrong with that.

Yeah the LCD-4 are so damn nice. I find the LCD-R similar enough to hang on to, but it misses the insane slam of the 4.

 

[betula]

Yeah the LCD-4 are so damn nice. I find the LCD-R similar enough to hang on to, but it misses the insane slam of the 4.

Bass on the 4 is very enjoyable. Upper frequencies are a bit dark, but it still has many fans. I am not too keen on the 5 with its more 'studio monitor' kind of approach. I was also not too keen on the 700g+ weight of the 4. Luckily there are several other fantastic alternatives: Soli P, D8Kpro, Elite, Caldera.

 

[GiBGUN]

Bass on the 4 is very enjoyable. Upper frequencies are a bit dark, but it still has many fans. I am not too keen on the 5 with its more 'studio monitor' kind of approach. I was also not too keen on the 700g+ weight of the 4. Luckily there are several other fantastic alternatives: Soli P, D8Kpro, Elite, Caldera.

I really enjoyed the Elite. I wonder if/when Meze plan to release an Elite 2.

 

[Slackaveli]

Yeah the LCD-4 are so damn nice. I find the LCD-R similar enough to hang on to, but it misses the insane slam of the 4.

it wasnt perfect, it had some weirdness going on in the upper mids or something but that SLAM though. I just wished the LCD-5 would have been a refined LCD-4. Sure doubt I'm alone on that.

 

[Slackaveli]

Bass on the 4 is very enjoyable. Upper frequencies are a bit dark, but it still has many fans. I am not too keen on the 5 with its more 'studio monitor' kind of approach. I was also not too keen on the 700g+ weight of the 4. Luckily there are several other fantastic alternatives: Soli P, D8Kpro, Elite, Caldera.

If only we could all be Zeos and have the lot of them on the wall lol.

 

[bsiegler]

Have you guys EQ'd the 5 much? I am very new to this all and it does seem that some folks seem against EQing in general, but if you can smooth out some of the shout-y areas and lift where necessary, you can get a really ideal sound profile. I was pretty happy with @Resolve's Empy II EQ recommendations!

 

[ThanatosVI]

Have you guys EQ'd the 5 much? I am very new to this all and it does seem that some folks seem against EQing in general, but if you can smooth out some of the shout-y areas and lift where necessary, you can get a really ideal sound profile. I was pretty happy with @Resolve's Empy II EQ recommendations!

If you're open to EQ the LCD-5 is a pretty good Plattform.

Personally I still prefer everything from Meze over the LCD-5

 

[betula]

I really enjoyed the Elite. I wonder if/when Meze plan to release an Elite 2.

Everyone keeps asking about an Elite 2 since the Empy 2 release. Only Meze knows if they want to do something on that front, but I wouldn't hold my breath. Even if there is something in the make, it will probably be years away.
To me the Elite doesn't really need an improvement/change after adding the angled pads. The angled pads improved balance and detail clarity/depth/precision. After the initial overwhelming success of the og Empy in 2018, people later on started to complain about its elevated mid-bass and resolution slightly behind its price tag. I think, that is what Meze mostly tried to address with Empy 2.
Elite already has a much better balance and even different diaphragms to both Empy 1 and 2. There aren't really any 'issues' that need addressing with the Elite. IMO if Meze ever comes out with a new flagship, that has to be and will be different enough to call it something else and not Elite 2. Just my speculation.

 

[djentbat]

Since I am now a proud owner of the Empyrean II, I wanted to share my initial experience with them.

As a fan of the OG Empy sound signature, these are definitely a big departure from the OG sound.
Definitely much clearer and brighter, OG Empyrean was a bit too dark compared to its siblings in the price range. On the other hand it is perhaps the most fun headphone I've heard at that price and that remains so even with the Empyrean II in my possession.

The Empyrean II are no question the more technically competent headphone and it's not just due to the new Duo pads. In fact while the Duo pads offer amazing clarity, bass is so lean that it doesn't offer any satisfaction whatsoever, especially with any heavier rock and metal tracks.

However it is possible to fix this while retaining much of the Empyrean II's clarity improvements over the OG and that is, (somewhat surprisingly), by using the OG Empy's full leather pads. These add the much needed slam and body to the II's bass while remaining much clearer than the OG. So far they're my favorite pads. (On the OG, I prefer the AA pads).

I’ve been waiting for this comparison point. I have the IIs but my biggest complete is the anemic bass

 

[ThanatosVI]

Everyone keeps asking about an Elite 2 since the Empy 2 release. Only Meze knows if they want to do something on that front, but I wouldn't hold my breath. Even if there is something in the make, it will probably be years away.
To me the Elite doesn't really need an improvement/change after adding the angled pads. The angled pads improved balance and detail clarity/depth/precision. After the initial overwhelming success of the og Empy in 2018, people later on started to complain about its elevated mid-bass and resolution slightly behind its price tag. I think, that is what Meze mostly tried to address with Empy 2.
Elite already has a much better balance and even different diaphragms to both Empy 1 and 2. There aren't really any 'issues' that need addressing with the Elite. IMO if Meze ever comes out with a new flagship, that has to be and will be different enough to call it something else and not Elite 2. Just my speculation.

Exactly.

Meze received a lot of feedback on the midbass elevation and resolution and addressed this with the Empyrean II.

The Elite received no vocal criticism about any glaring flaws, therefore I wouldn't hold my breath for an Elite II.

Personally I even think the Empyrean II shouldn't have replaced the Empyrean but instead should have received a different Name for a different flavor in the lineup

 

[betula]

Exactly.

Meze received a lot of feedback on the midbass elevation and resolution and addressed this with the Empyrean II.

The Elite received no vocal criticism about any glaring flaws, therefore I wouldn't hold my breath for an Elite II.

Personally I even think the Empyrean II shouldn't have replaced the Empyrean but instead should have received a different Name for a different flavor in the lineup

I agree, they could have kept the og Empy in the line-up, perhaps with a lower price. At CanJam I tried the og Empy on the dCS Bartók + Lina amp and they sounded surprisingly good, fun and enjoyable.

 

[Quarzer]

 

[bsiegler]

What stand?

 

[sparkofinsanity]

What stand?

ROOMs Audio Line

 

[Currawong]

I'm looking for some recommendations for those who may be familiar with both the Empy II and any of the following cans: LCD 5, Susvara, 1266. I'm fairly set at this point on keeping my Empy II over my Diana MR largely due to comfort, soundstage, and bass impact. I loved some of the clarity and intimacy I got from the MR, especially in some Steely Dan guitar runs, but in the end I personally prefer the Empys.

With that said, I'm looking to go a bit higher in tier level with the three cans mentioned. I love soundstage (I feel this is such a hallmark of open-backed phones, which I'm admittedly very new to), bass depth + impact, and clarity is also very important to me. From what I understand, the Susvara is potentially the least bass-y of the three, although I'm curious if that can be remedied with some EQing? Anywho, any advice or comparisons would be much appreciated! I'm currently open to any amp setups depending on what is needed for what I have, although I'm currently eyeing the Wandla stack . I listen to practically every genre, but lean towards hip hop, modern jazz, classic rock, and anything acoustic that is well recorded.

Thanks in advance, you all have been wonderful to learn from!

Why not the Elite?
The LCD-5 feels more tuned for studio use, which has a different set of priorities.
The Susvaras to sound their best need speaker-power-output amps IMO (though people on the forum will argue about this, I did use the word "best" in this sentence).
The 1266 I'll leave to people with more experience with it, but it seems that you're asking about headphones that have a high chance of not satisfying you unless you get more equipment (a better amplifier and then better DAC for that amp) in addition to get the best out of them, and then you still may not be happy.

EQ'ing especially -- it's rather like taking a step straight back after going forward. Almost any EQ is going to remove detail from the music, which negates the point of having high-end headphones in the first place.

Why not just get a Loki or Lokius and see what you can do with your headphones to begin with?