[Quadfather]

I’ve had times where I have purchased a component and got caught up in the hype, listened to it, loved the great detail etc, and then after a couple of days realized that it was just too fatiguing, and became dissapointed.

I have had the opposite happen as well. I did not like the AKG K812 headphones when I first got them. But now, they are one of my go-to headphones with the Questyle QP1R and the Lotoo Paw Gold Diana.

 

[Deftone]

I honestly dont think people give themselfs enough time at all with new gear and in some cases a couple of hours before its shipped back.

650 for me at first sounded bloated thick and slow, after 2-3 months of using 650 everything else i tried sounded "off" like atificial or synthetic. Hard to describe.

 

[Quadfather]

I honestly dont think people give themselfs enough time at all with new gear and in some cases a couple of hours before its shipped back.

650 for me at first sounded bloated thick and slow, after 2-3 months of using 650 everything else i tried sounded "off" like atificial or synthetic. Hard to describe.

I always give things a lot of time. I really did not like my AKG K812 headphones at all when I first heard them and now I love them. I gave my Bottlehead Crack a full year and decided I didn't really like desktop audio and sold it.

 

[jlbrach]

to compare HP's to speakers simply rotate the HP cups so they are facing out and turn the sound up loud and go back and forth between the HP and the speakers...simple

 

[Phronesis]

I always give things a lot of time. I really did not like my AKG K812 headphones at all when I first heard them and now I love them. I gave my Bottlehead Crack a full year and decided I didn't really like desktop audio and sold it.

My experience is that I can adapt to the sound of pretty much any headphone over time, so that it sounds better over time. But what I look for is headphones that sound good to me in the first seconds, minutes, and hours, and over time they sound even better to me.

The headphones I currently have which sound really good me to all sounded good to me initially also. When I first tried the 99 Classics, I was immediately impressed with the sound, continued to be impressed with it when auditioning it at home for a week, so I decided that I had to keep it, even though I had several 'better' headphones which cost a lot more. Many months later, it sounds better to me than ever.

I recently tried the Z1R, didn't like it out of the gate, and that didn't improve after hours of listening over several days, so I returned it. I'm currently auditioning the LCD-4, and while it does sound quite good to me, I continue to like the sound of my LCD-3 and HD800S even more, so I won't be buying the LCD-4.

 

[Quadfather]

My experience is that I can adapt to the sound of pretty much any headphone over time, so that it sounds better over time. But what I look for is headphones that sound good to me in the first seconds, minutes, and hours, and over time they sound even better to me.

The headphones I currently have which sound really good me to all sounded good to me initially also. When I first tried the 99 Classics, I was immediately impressed with the sound, continued to be impressed with it when auditioning it at home for a week, so I decided that I had to keep it, even though I had several 'better' headphones which cost a lot more. Many months later, it sounds better to me than ever.

I recently tried the Z1R, didn't like it out of the gate, and that didn't improve after hours of listening over several days, so I returned it. I'm currently auditioning the LCD-4, and while it does sound quite good to me, I continue to like the sound of my LCD-3 and HD800S even more, so I won't be buying the LCD-4.

The headphone I really enjoyed out of the gate is the Shure SRH1540. I am very curious to audition this new Meze Audio. I started Loving the AKG headphones when I actually tried different sources and found the ones that work best with the headphones. The AKG headphones sound particularly good out of the Questyle QP1R.

 

[up late]

i had the unexpected pleasure of briefly trying the empyrean when i visited my local headphone store today. the ear cups looked smaller than i thought they would be and were fitted with deep leather covered ear pads. the ear pad openings appeared rather narrow tho. the empyrean's appearance is understated in a regal kind of way, and the fit and finish is superb. it felt surprisingly light in my hands - almost delicate. weight distribution was excellent on my head. this is a headphone that i could wear comfortably for long listening sessions. the apertures in the ear pads are narrower than i'd like but once i wrangled my large ears into them, they felt comfortable if a tad claustrophobic.

the empyrean reproduced my test tracks in a smooth and unforced manner. it reminded me of the sr-007 in that sense. it's an easy listen without edges or bite. the presentation seemed balanced across the frequency range. i wouldn't describe it as the last word in clarity but it makes for a non-fatiguing listen.

 

[ken6217]

i had the unexpected pleasure of briefly trying the empyrean when i visited my local headphone store today. the ear cups looked smaller than i thought they would be and were fitted with deep leather covered ear pads. the ear pad openings appeared rather narrow tho. the empyrean's appearance is understated in a regal kind of way, and the fit and finish is superb. it felt surprisingly light in my hands - almost delicate. weight distribution was excellent on my head. this is a headphone that i could wear comfortably for long listening sessions. the apertures in the ear pads are narrower than i'd like but once i wrangled my large ears into them, they felt comfortable if a tad claustrophobic.

the empyrean reproduced my test tracks in a smooth and unforced manner. it reminded me of the sr-007 in that sense. it's an easy listen without edges or bite. the presentation seemed balanced across the frequency range. i wouldn't describe it as the last word in clarity but it makes for a non-fatiguing listen.

This sounds right up my alley.

How is the bass? Can you compare it to any other headphones that you have listened too? Thanks.

 

[up late]

it has more bass quantity than my utopia. it's a planar magnetic headphone so bass is usually a strong suit.

 

[supervisor]

seems the Empyrean has a lot in common with the Ether 2? or am I off-base?

 

[paul2qute]

I've had a proper chat with Roger from nintronics and he has told me you need to run them in and I would be mad to not give them a chance so I've ordered the focal aria 936 today and I'm going to keep them now, he said I would have the best of both worlds, decent speakers and top headphones

 

[jmills8]

I've had a proper chat with Roger from nintronics and he has told me you need to run them in and I would be mad to not give them a chance so I've ordered the focal aria 936 today and I'm going to keep them now, he said I would have the best of both worlds, decent speakers and top headphones

The focal aria 936 gonna sound like the Utopia ?

 

[Beagle]

They were reviewed in the newest Hi-Fi News UK publication. The lab report indicates a rather warm, full bass, rolled off kind of sound but the review itself was favourable. But since Ken Kessler loves every headphone he reviews, take with a subjective grain of salt. I need an audition, but I get the feeling that they make music sound very nice and pleasant.

To anyone who has heard both, how does the Empyrean compare to the Audeze MX4?

 

[up late]

that description aligns with my own impression of it

 

[ken6217]

That description sounds like my Ether Flow Open.