Meze EMPYREAN - the First Isodynamic Hybrid Array Headphone
Jun 12, 2020 at 6:52 AM Post #6,751 of 12,975
So first off it appears that my system was glitched when I first listened to the empys. Tidal was sending out a normal bitstream to the dac, not the hifi or master bit rate, and the volume level under the properties of the dac was not fixed. Within tidal the bda was recognized but not how it ought to be. Strange. I find computers are so twitchy and any number of small things can go wrong. The bda was recognized but the configuration was off and the stream was not bit perfect. The bda is also finicky, where the computer has to up and running before I plug the dac into the power socket for it to recognize the usb stream from the computer. Geeesh. I think this is why my first impressions of the empys might have been off. Last night I straightened everything out and the empys were glorious. Just beautiful. You all were right.
 
Jun 12, 2020 at 7:48 AM Post #6,752 of 12,975
So first off it appears that my system was glitched when I first listened to the empys. Tidal was sending out a normal bitstream to the dac, not the hifi or master bit rate, and the volume level under the properties of the dac was not fixed. Within tidal the bda was recognized but not how it ought to be. Strange. I find computers are so twitchy and any number of small things can go wrong. The bda was recognized but the configuration was off and the stream was not bit perfect. The bda is also finicky, where the computer has to up and running before I plug the dac into the power socket for it to recognize the usb stream from the computer. Geeesh. I think this is why my first impressions of the empys might have been off. Last night I straightened everything out and the empys were glorious. Just beautiful. You all were right.
In case you too may find this:

i quite often find that I need a little time to adjust to what the empys offer if i have been using my utopia or hekse for sometime or days when coming back to empys

not so much at all when going the other way from the empys
 
Jun 12, 2020 at 9:17 AM Post #6,753 of 12,975
In case you too may find this:

i quite often find that I need a little time to adjust to what the empys offer if i have been using my utopia or hekse for sometime or days when coming back to empys

not so much at all when going the other way from the empys
This is absolutely true. I switched from Stellia and even LCD-3 earlier this week to Empy and it did not sound good. A little while later my ears had adjusted and back to goodness.
 
Jun 12, 2020 at 9:30 AM Post #6,754 of 12,975
I switched from Arya and LCD-2C to Empyrean and it immediately sounded amazing 🤔
 
Jun 12, 2020 at 9:46 AM Post #6,755 of 12,975
I just have an intimate relationship with Focal JM Lab over the past 20 years. I have owned many of their speakers and in fact I'm selling a electra 900 series home theatre package right now. The left and right towers qere 10k new. Focals are bright and have always been bright. I could never use them to listen to music, but only movies. The utopia is no exception meaning bright. And after the hd800 I realized that bright headphones are not for me as they hurt the eardrums and are not fun to listen to.

Edit: that's why I was so shocked at the Clears and kept them after hearing them. They are not bright. I was leary to even give them a chance because of my sordid history with Focal. I like it when I'm proven wrong.
 
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Jun 12, 2020 at 10:08 AM Post #6,756 of 12,975
This is absolutely true. I switched from Stellia and even LCD-3 earlier this week to Empy and it did not sound good. A little while later my ears had adjusted and back to goodness.
Perhaps, though a good level of detail is there, it’s less of a “critical listening“ headphone than some others for me. And hence it’s me afjusting my expectations or headspace that I am in.

”giving in” to what your headfi gear offers - isn’t that one of the earlier steps in the 12 step program of audiophiles anonymous (And not always looking for upgrades)?
 
Jun 12, 2020 at 10:09 AM Post #6,757 of 12,975
Perhaps, though a good level of detail is there, it’s less of a “critical listening“ headphone than some others for me. And hence it’s me afjusting my expectations or headspace that I am in.

”giving in” to what it offers - isn’t that one of the earlier steps in the 12 step program of audiophiles anonymous?
Yes it does have less detail it seems than the LCD 4 for instance. The 4s showcase bad recordings but the empyreans gloss over imperfections which is nice.
 
Jun 12, 2020 at 12:18 PM Post #6,758 of 12,975
Got a surprise today. I thought they weren’t coming till the 24th so really surprised when I came back from walking the dog and these were waiting for me. Exciting weekend ahead.

Now just got to decide If I am going to keep what I have with the Klipsch Heritage amp and Grado GS2000e and get out the game or make one last move.

Thinking about selling the grado and the klipsch to get a Feliks Euforia. Does anyone have experience of the Empyrean and Euforia pairing? Is it worth it?

17C39C5D-A392-4A60-9A10-4F5BC21D1716.jpeg
 
Jun 12, 2020 at 1:52 PM Post #6,760 of 12,975
Got a surprise today. I thought they weren’t coming till the 24th so really surprised when I came back from walking the dog and these were waiting for me. Exciting weekend ahead.

Now just got to decide If I am going to keep what I have with the Klipsch Heritage amp and Grado GS2000e and get out the game or make one last move.

Thinking about selling the grado and the klipsch to get a Feliks Euforia. Does anyone have experience of the Empyrean and Euforia pairing? Is it worth it?

17C39C5D-A392-4A60-9A10-4F5BC21D1716.jpeg
Looks fantastic! Congrats!
 
Jun 12, 2020 at 2:07 PM Post #6,762 of 12,975
Got a surprise today. I thought they weren’t coming till the 24th so really surprised when I came back from walking the dog and these were waiting for me. Exciting weekend ahead.

Now just got to decide If I am going to keep what I have with the Klipsch Heritage amp and Grado GS2000e and get out the game or make one last move.

Thinking about selling the grado and the klipsch to get a Feliks Euforia. Does anyone have experience of the Empyrean and Euforia pairing? Is it worth it?

17C39C5D-A392-4A60-9A10-4F5BC21D1716.jpeg

Based on your picture, you have a very nice vintage Pioneer stereo that would likely have the Empy's sounding glorious................have you used it yet???? All I use are vintage amps, driving low impedance headphones (Denon LA7000) all the way up to very hard to drive planars (HE-6SE) and have NEVER been disappointed with the sound.
 
Jun 12, 2020 at 2:17 PM Post #6,763 of 12,975
Got a surprise today. I thought they weren’t coming till the 24th so really surprised when I came back from walking the dog and these were waiting for me. Exciting weekend ahead.

Now just got to decide If I am going to keep what I have with the Klipsch Heritage amp and Grado GS2000e and get out the game or make one last move.

Thinking about selling the grado and the klipsch to get a Feliks Euforia. Does anyone have experience of the Empyrean and Euforia pairing? Is it worth it?

17C39C5D-A392-4A60-9A10-4F5BC21D1716.jpeg
The Empyrean have a very intoxicating sound, you're in for a treat
 
Jun 12, 2020 at 2:53 PM Post #6,765 of 12,975
Based on your picture, you have a very nice vintage Pioneer stereo that would likely have the Empy's sounding glorious................have you used it yet???? All I use are vintage amps, driving low impedance headphones (Denon LA7000) all the way up to very hard to drive planars (HE-6SE) and have NEVER been disappointed with the sound.
I haven’t used it yet. Unfortunately life is getting in the way of me listening right now which is frustrating but I should have most of tomorrow to listen. I’ll let you know around this time tomorrow. I bought the amp cheap awhile ago for my HD800S. I was trying to tame the treble but there was a loud hum from the amp and it was very hazy sounding I probably need new capacitors and a clean out. I ended up selling the HD800S I loved those things but after 30 minutes I just couldn’t handle it. The Grado GS2000e was the closest to that sound I could find without making my ears bleed and giving me headaches.
 

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