[Rowethren]

Thanks for the response. i assume youre running that in multibit most of the time?

Multibit is the only mode it has, for delta sigma it is just a standard Gungnir as they are completely different DAC chips inside them.

 

[Jvincent]

Multibit is the only mode it has, for delta sigma it is just a standard Gungnir as they are completely different DAC chips inside them.

ah, that makes sense. thanks

 

[tradyblix]

So far this year, my chain has developed from M Scaler -> Mojopoly -> Empyreans to M Scaler -> loaner Hugo 2 -> Empyreans and now finally M Scaler -> TT2 -> Empyreans, and in all setups I stuck with the leather pads. I don't really get on with the alcantara sound.

That's a very impressive system, that retails for about 10x what the Hugo2 alone does and also is a desktop amp, so I'd hope it sounds different.

I was specifically talking about my experience with the Hugo2's amp alone. It sounds totally different when used as a dac with the TA-ZH1 so I'd probably use leather there as well.

Still, I thought it might be interesting for folks looking for a use for the pads. I found them to make bright sounding amps tamer.

As always, YMMV. But I know what I heard. I'm not necessarily on a quest for the utmost detail because some of my favorite records don't benefit from that. Perhaps that explains why I enjoy Alcantara as an option. It might also be that I have the Utopia as an option for more detail as well so don't mind a more relaxed sound. I do tend to like warmer sound in general.

I haven't taken the silver plunge yet, maybe one day. Those Norne cables are attractive looking.

 

[LCMusicLover]

I'll take a listen with my Carbon tonight. Don't have CTH, so can't help there.

My bias is to avoid more warmth, hence my preference for Bryston BHA-1/Empy vs Liquid Platinum/Empy. Also, prefer silver cable vs copper.

Finally got around to hooking Liquid Carbon X (LC-X) since I sold and shipped my BHA-1 to help fund DSHA-3F purchase.

I guess expectation bias is fully in play -- LC-X does tilt Empy warmer vs BHA-1, not as warm as with Liquid Platinum (LP) with Siemens NOS CCa or E88CC tubes. About the same as LP w/ Brimar CV2492.

A little more air with LP/Brimar vs LC-X, but pretty close.

I'm really wondering how the 3F will pair with Empy. But I'll set that aside, since I'm looking to wait at least 3 months before 3F pops up:

 

[Currawong]

Has anyone tried the Empyrean with the Yiggy 2 and Ragnarock?

Selling a bunch of my gear that i was using with hd 800 S to fund my new Empyreans and their Amp/dac. ive also been looking into the holo audio spring 2 KTE and Azure amp, however am slightly getting turned off by these considering the spring 1 was said by many to be outlassed by the yiggy 2 and holo audio themselves say the spring 2 isnt a massive preformance gain over the spring 1.

Any info or spectacular amp/dac pairings you recommend would be nice. and yes i have used the search function and looked up amps/dacs in this thread. There isnt a ton of info.

thanks,
Josh

Yggy and Spring 2 KTE are different beasts. The Yggy is just dead on the border between "musical" and "accurate". The S2KTE is more on the "musical" side, ranging from lively in NOS mode, to being detailed, exciting and musical with the right HQPlayer-enabled up-sampling. The Yggy is more "buy, plug in via USB, and use" whereas the S2KTE is a bit more "Make sure you have a good USB or I2S transport and up-sampling software for best results.". Coincidentally, I just plugged the Azure in again and the whole Kitsune set-up is very highly enjoyable with the Empyrean.

The Hugo 2 is on another level in the time domain of music, and you’ll realise this within a few hours. It is a little on the uh, harsh side (bright side?) esp compared to the laid back tazzy, but it is on another level. I was convinced: that is an amazing DAC.

Make sure you have a good, noise-free USB transport.

I'm not necessarily on a quest for the utmost detail because some of my favorite records don't benefit from that.

Tried the red and orange filters? They are great for less quality recordings.

 

[project86]

(slightly) off topic for Empyrean discussion but I agree - Hugo 2 definitely resolves differences in USB output from one device to the next. Tried it direct with a Surface Pro and it was.... not fun. Switched to my Nativ Vita music server with an iFi Gemini3.0 split USB cable, with the power leg connected to a Keces P8 LPSU, also an iFi iPurifier3 in the chain, and it was a totally different sound.

This relates to Empyrean because it could very clearly differentiate between the two systems. Some have made it out to be such a smooth signature that it might not resolve things like this, but I disagree.

 

[bimmer100]

Super short 4ft sg3-c with furutech connectors. This is a demo cable for a weekend show. Never used these connectors before. Prefer peerless.
This is my “stock” empyrean sg3 textile cable with black grey and dark/med grey herring bone. The splitter matches the empyrean adjustment columns and black grille. The mini xlr connectors are custom so don’t ask him for these. They don’t exist. Only red carbon fiber type. The 4pin xlr is pure silver pin peerless with polished barrel.

I am about to receive my S3 Silvergarde cable for my new Empy's tomorrow too! Can't wait to hear these headphones with them. I received my S3-C last week for my Focal Clear/Elegia's and they were a huge improvement over the standard balanced cable that came with my Focals.

Sweet! Would love to hear your thoughts on the SG3... did you get the Clear or textile for the empyrean?
I have the textile SG3 and am getting a SG3-C cable for it today to test as well.

Love this cable. But also have the copper furukawa Meze Audio cable that was early on avail and very attractive copper cable. But strongly prefer the SG3 as a nicely paired sound signature. Plus being textile it’s incredibly flexible and insanely light weight. The clear version should be almost as good. I believe it’s TPU and should be like my silver draug TPU for my susvara’s.

Please share you thoughts on the cable when you have had some time with it and empyrean

 

[Pharmaboy]

I recommend the GSX mini for the Meze. Quite a good synergy between the two products. I hope the Mini will start to ship soon. Such a versatile amp.

The 1st Empyrean I heard at CanJam NYC in February was powered by a Gilmore Lite Mk2. I'd never heard that amp before, but the combination sounded excellent to me...

 

[Pharmaboy]

(slightly) off topic for Empyrean discussion but I agree - Hugo 2 definitely resolves differences in USB output from one device to the next. Tried it direct with a Surface Pro and it was.... not fun. Switched to my Nativ Vita music server with an iFi Gemini3.0 split USB cable, with the power leg connected to a Keces P8 LPSU, also an iFi iPurifier3 in the chain, and it was a totally different sound.

This relates to Empyrean because it could very clearly differentiate between the two systems. Some have made it out to be such a smooth signature that it might not resolve things like this, but I disagree.

Totally agree w/your 2nd paragraph. I've tried my Empyrean w/4 SS & 2 tube amps (incl. 1 OTL). Sound is somewhat different on each. At least IMS, the best SS sound is w/the V281 & the best tube sound is w/the OTL, the Woo WA3. Bizarrely, the Empyrean sounded somewhat bright (upper mids seemed edgier than usual) on my warmest amp, the Liquid Carbon v2.

The WA3 surprised me: the Empyrean is a low impedance planar, and while I'd read that planars respond to impedance mismatches differently than dynamics, I didn't really believe it. Now I do. The sound on the WA3 is controlled, level, organic, relaxed. I thought the bass sounded flatter and better-controlled than on any other amp I've heard here (though somewhat less dynamic than on the V281).

Then again, the V281 is the most dynamic amp I've ever heard...

 

[kumar402]

Multibit is the only mode it has, for delta sigma it is just a standard Gungnir as they are completely different DAC chips inside them.

I will second that. Gumby seems to be nice pair with Empyrean.

 

[project86]

Totally agree w/your 2nd paragraph. I've tried my Empyrean w/4 SS & 2 tube amps (incl. 1 OTL). Sound is somewhat different on each. At least IMS, the best SS sound is w/the V281 & the best tube sound is w/the OTL, the Woo WA3. Bizarrely, the Empyrean sounded somewhat bright (upper mids seemed edgier than usual) on my warmest amp, the Liquid Carbon v2.

The WA3 surprised me: the Empyrean is a low impedance planar, and while I'd read that planars respond to impedance mismatches differently than dynamics, I didn't really believe it. Now I do. The sound on the WA3 is controlled, level, organic, relaxed. I thought the bass sounded flatter and better-controlled than on any other amp I've heard here (though somewhat less dynamic than on the V281).

Then again, the V281 is the most dynamic amp I've ever heard...

Perhaps an unpopular opinion, but the WA3 might be my favorite Woo amp. I think they do a great job with relatively simple designs like that. When things get complicated, as in some of their "higher" models, I start to find fault with the choices made. But the WA3 sounds great. I also really enjoy the WA6, more so than the WA6-SE (again, unpopular choice but that's how I hear it).

 

[ken6217]

Totally agree w/your 2nd paragraph. I've tried my Empyrean w/4 SS & 2 tube amps (incl. 1 OTL). Sound is somewhat different on each. At least IMS, the best SS sound is w/the V281 & the best tube sound is w/the OTL, the Woo WA3. Bizarrely, the Empyrean sounded somewhat bright (upper mids seemed edgier than usual) on my warmest amp, the Liquid Carbon v2.

The WA3 surprised me: the Empyrean is a low impedance planar, and while I'd read that planars respond to impedance mismatches differently than dynamics, I didn't really believe it. Now I do. The sound on the WA3 is controlled, level, organic, relaxed. I thought the bass sounded flatter and better-controlled than on any other amp I've heard here (though somewhat less dynamic than on the V281).

Then again, the V281 is the most dynamic amp I've ever heard...

Frank, have you listened to the Empyrean with the WA22?

 

[Pharmaboy]

Frank, have you listened to the Empyrean with the WA22?

Frank must be one of my other personalities. He's not here now, so Peter will answer:

Yes, I've heard it at some length on the WA22. Bear in mind that the WA22 is one of those amps where everybody tube rolls, never uses stock tubes, so every WA22 sounds at least somewhat different from every other. At least on my WA22's NOS tube set, what I heard were typical tube assets & liabilities:

Assets:

1. This trumps all the others -- HUGE midrange with quite evident 3-D dimensionality of notes, enlarged/spacious/enveloping soundstage, and delicate/"tinkly" treble. The timbre of various instruments becomes very easy to distinguish here. With a couple exceptions (see below), everything good about the Empyrean gets even better on the WA22
2. Microdynamics, those tiny shading of dynamics on the level of a musical note, seem improved, more evident w/tubes
3. Resolution is really no different w/tubes vs SS, but the way resolution is expressed changes. Instead of typical SS assets (sharp transients, detail that's easy to hear, great dynamics), tubes give a more dimensional quality w/more nuanced reproduction of spatial cues--for example, it becomes easier to hear the space in which the music was recorded. The result is that those same musical details seem more realistic, like music IRL

Liabilities:

1. No matter which tubes I use, the bass range doesn't go quite as deep or have the same impact as on SS amps
   • However, if one is willing to use adapters that "gang" 2 or even 3 power or driver tubes per channel, it's possible to change the bass range of this amp quite a bit, according to what I read in the WA22 thread here
2. And macrodynamics, top-to-bottom, are less impactful/in-your-face than SS

IMO, the assets outweigh the liabilities. As it happens, I have the WA22 F.S., but I'm not selling because I dislike the sound. It's all about size, weight, other issues. In general, I'm a tube lover and there may be another tube amp in my future.

FYI, other big tube amps, typically larger/more expensive than the WA22, do things a bit differently, depending on tubes used. It's possible to preserve more of the bass slam and overall dynamics, to accompany all that midrange layering and soundstage goodness. I heard a few endgame tube amps at CanJam, and the Empyrean really responded.

 

[jinxy245]

Frank must be one of my other personalities. He's not here now, so Peter will answer:

Not to speak for Ken, but not knowing your first name, I think he went with your avatar's. Would you have preferred Mr. Stein?

 

[Pharmaboy]

Not to speak for Ken, but not knowing your first name, I think he went with your avatar's. Would you have preferred Mr. Stein?

HA! Never thought of that. Of course you're right.

Cognitions are never quite the same following reanimation w/an unfamiliar brain...