[Pharmaboy]

Wait, @Pharmaboy has a sense of humor?

He can find his ass with both hands in the dark.* Beyond that, nothing is certain...

*it takes longer than changing Empyrean pads

 

[Bakath]

New Empyrean owner also to the forum, I hate to ask as I am sure it has been asked many a time but there's 253 pages to scroll through. Anyhow what's the thought on DAC / Amp pairing, does there seem to be a clear winner or is it still up in the air?

So far I can say no matter what I plug them into I am amazed, never had a set just work with well everything and any music. Really love to see how good they can get hence the question.

 

[Bern2]

New Empyrean owner also to the forum, I hate to ask as I am sure it has been asked many a time but there's 253 pages to scroll through. Anyhow what's the thought on DAC / Amp pairing, does there seem to be a clear winner or is it still up in the air?

So far I can say no matter what I plug them into I am amazed, never had a set just work with well everything and any music. Really love to see how good they can get hence the question.

C'mon...man up! Start slogging thru the pages!

There's a search function upper right. Use Dac as a term and search the tread only.

Bern

 

[Andrew DiMarcangelo]

New Empyrean owner also to the forum, I hate to ask as I am sure it has been asked many a time but there's 253 pages to scroll through. Anyhow what's the thought on DAC / Amp pairing, does there seem to be a clear winner or is it still up in the air?

So far I can say no matter what I plug them into I am amazed, never had a set just work with well everything and any music. Really love to see how good they can get hence the question.

Everything I have plugged them into sounds phenonemal. They scale and pair very well. I’ve spent about half the time using the Hugo 2 and the other half with the tube stage on iDSD Pro.

 

[Bakath]

Everything I have plugged them into sounds phenonemal. They scale and pair very well. I’ve spent about half the time using the Hugo 2 and the other half with the tube stage on iDSD Pro.

It is crazy, even my phone makes them sing but the one that got me was this Marantz theater receiver I have running my PC sound, nothing sounds good out the headphone jack of that thing but these did.

 

[CRITICALSHOT]

New Empyrean owner also to the forum, I hate to ask as I am sure it has been asked many a time but there's 253 pages to scroll through. Anyhow what's the thought on DAC / Amp pairing, does there seem to be a clear winner or is it still up in the air?

So far I can say no matter what I plug them into I am amazed, never had a set just work with well everything and any music. Really love to see how good they can get hence the question.

Welcome; the EMP's are easy to drive and has no particular flaw that needs to be addressed with EQ or electronics. What are you using currently?

 

[Bakath]

C'mon...man up! Start slogging thru the pages!

There's a search function upper right. Use Dac as a term and search the tread only.

Bern

I know man sorry, you might have caught me being lazy.

 

[Andrew DiMarcangelo]

It is crazy, even my phone makes them sing but the one that got me was this Marantz theater receiver I have running my PC sound, nothing sounds good out the headphone jack of that thing but these did.

It’s rare for even top tier AVRs to have anything other than a middling headphone amp. I tried a pair of headphones in my Denon 6400H one time and I almost gagged.

 

[Bakath]

Welcome; the EMP's are easy to drive and has no particular flaw that needs to be addressed with EQ or electronics. What are you using currently?

Right now I picked up a Pro Box S2 to hold me over till I find something. I have on hand a Schitt Val 2, an Aune t1 1st gen and I hate to say the Woo Fire Flies which I wish I never bought. So as you can see it's time to upgrade my sources though that little Aune T1 for what it is holds it own, smokes them silly Fire Flies.

Thanks for the Welcome.

 

[LCMusicLover]

New Empyrean owner also to the forum, I hate to ask as I am sure it has been asked many a time but there's 253 pages to scroll through. Anyhow what's the thought on DAC / Amp pairing, does there seem to be a clear winner or is it still up in the air?

So far I can say no matter what I plug them into I am amazed, never had a set just work with well everything and any music. Really love to see how good they can get hence the question.

I believe I'm in the minority, but...

I find the sig a little on the laid back/relaxed side, so I prefer a brighter, more energetic chain to feed them. SS BHA-1 preferred over Liquid Platinum. Silver cable preferred over copper.

 

[Pharmaboy]

New Empyrean owner also to the forum, I hate to ask as I am sure it has been asked many a time but there's 253 pages to scroll through. Anyhow what's the thought on DAC / Amp pairing, does there seem to be a clear winner or is it still up in the air?

So far I can say no matter what I plug them into I am amazed, never had a set just work with well everything and any music. Really love to see how good they can get hence the question.

I actually heard the Empyrean more in show conditions, incl. multiple times/rooms in Feb CanJam, than in my own system, so maybe that makes the following comment less than rigorous.

I have yet to hear any amp/DAC combination really make the Empyrean really sound "bad" or even particularly different from its own sonic baseline. But I certainly did hear it sound quite amazing w/this or that source. This is a rare quality--that a headphone that scales w/TOTL sources, but doesn't exact a sonic toll when fed sources that are less than state of the art.

The conventional wisdom, here and on other sites, is the somewhat warm Empyrean should pair better w/relatively lean, neutral sources. Maybe true, maybe not. I heard it with some TOTL tube amps, for example, which probably aren't the last word in neutrality--and thought the sound was glorious.

 

[Andrew DiMarcangelo]

Chord DACs really are an ideal neutral pairing. I’ve talked with folks at Meze and they feel the same, FWIW.

 

[Bakath]

It’s rare for even top tier AVRs to have anything other than a middling headphone amp. I tried a pair of headphones in my Denon 6400H one time and I almost gagged.

I know man that is why I was shocked they where at least listenable off that. I have to admit I was like a little kid running around trying them on everything I could think of when I first got them, was fun hearing them take on anything I feed it.

 

[Bakath]

I actually heard the Empyrean more in show conditions, incl. multiple times/rooms in Feb CanJam, than in my own system, so maybe that makes the following comment less than rigorous.

I have yet to hear any amp/DAC combination really make the Empyrean really sound "bad" or even particularly different from its own sonic baseline. But I certainly did hear it sound quite amazing w/this or that source. This is a rare quality--that a headphone that scales w/TOTL sources, but doesn't exact a sonic toll when fed sources that are less than state of the art.

The conventional wisdom, here and on other sites, is the somewhat warm Empyrean should pair better w/relatively lean, neutral sources. Maybe true, maybe not. I heard it with some TOTL tube amps, for example, which probably aren't the last word in neutrality--and thought the sound was glorious.

You are right they are glorious, so much in fact I have no interest in ever trying another set, will be selling off all the ones I have now and already moved my LCD-Xs.

 

[CRITICALSHOT]

You are right they are glorious, so much in fact I have no interest in ever trying another set, will be selling off all the ones I have now and already moved my LCD-Xs.

I have the Schiit Valhala 1, Pre Box S2, Sennheiser HDV 820, Hugo 2, Hugo TT2 and the Rogue Audio RH-5. I am mainly using it with the Hugo TT2 fed into the RA RH-5. Since the RA RH-5 is also a preamp, it is also part of a 2 channel set up. The cool thing is I can just plug the EMP's into the Hugo TT 2 or into the RA RH-5 depending on my mood. I do think that it pairs great with the chord DAC's. The RA RH-5 is a tube preamp/hp amp and it sounds great with the Genalex - Gold Lion B749 / ECC82 / 12AU7 Preamp Vacuum Tubes. The tube amp gives me a wider and deeper soundstage while accenting the EMP's midrange. I think the Valhalla with stock tubes sounds great with the EMP's, but remember my DAC is a Hugo TT2, so I think that plays a part.