[yyzSB]

If you get the chance to hear one close your eyes and go for it. They are (or were) from Kelwona, BC so maybe easier to find in Canada.

 

[340519]

If you get the chance to hear one close your eyes and go for it. They are (or were) from Kelwona, BC so maybe easier to find in Canada.

Well that's cool, but 8k USD for that aesthetic I just couldn't do it.

 

[Zurv]

Interesting as I just sold all of my speakers and gone totally headphone. No room interactions and I like the musicians in my head.

near-field for me - saves me from the room issues. I'm super in love with the Elac AMT tweeters on their Vela series. The more costly setup for HT sounds like butt for music, which is very frustrating Room acoustics treatments are creeping in, but stopped and got this headphones instead. Much less fighting with the wife is involved.
I wish these headphones wow'd me as much as you guys. *sigh* I think i need to start double fisting the coolaid and look at better cables.
I feel better spending money on a cable than a 60 year old tube with unknown life left in it. (... as a look at a box of tubes i keep adding too.)

anyone have thoughts on the moon silver dragon cable? I was also looking Norne Audio cables, but that site is stunningly ghetto and it seems they've had issue/delays/contact issues for .. most of this year. (i'm guessing Covid related, but if i spend a ton on a cable, i'd like not to wait weeks/months to get it.)
Anyone using the meze silver plated cable? Other copper with plated silver that you like?

 

[yyzSB]

I wish these headphones wow'd me as much as you guys. *sigh* I think i need to start double fisting the coolaid and look at better cables.

I am not too knowledgeable on headphones so take this with that in mind.

It took over 150 hours before I was really into the sound of the headphones. Once over 200 hours it seemed to still be improving with the sound clearing up. I though a silver cable would be needed over the stock copper cable. However, it was recommended to me to try the Wywire Platinum copper XLR. There is a 40% of sale now so I bought one for $400 shipped to me. It should arrive this week. I am very happy with the default XLR now so the Wywire should be an added bonus. I also wanted an XLR 4 pin connection to the amp.

Are you using tubes anywhere in your headphone chain? I find that the Empy is already a little soft on top and a detailed amp and DAC is preferred for me.

 

[Noobzilla]

It's here! My first impression was "ooooo shinier than I thought!" I was initially against posting pics since we have a ton of that already, but I didn't see many pics showing the different shades of copper. Depending on the angle and amount of light, the color can go from bronze to copper to gold as shown below from left to right. There's only natural daylight when I took the pic. I would assume that those pics with very gold colors had direct lighting on them.





Types of music I most listen to: film scores, video game music, instrumentals, rock, pop, R&B

Sound. I wasn't that impressed. Not that it's not a clear improvement over my much cheaper TH-X00 Ebony headphones, but at this price I was expecting more! Then I switched from 3.5mm IEM output to 6.3mm Phones output from my RME ADI-2 DAC FS. To my surprise there's slight noticeable improvement (not sure if due to dac/amp or the cables or both). Now I'm happy! I've thought I've heard everything I can from a music I've listened to a hundred times, but I was wrong. Just playing Thriller by Michael Jackson I could already hear extra door creaks.

I've had some very few FLAC files I use for comparison. My previous conclusion was "I can't hear that much difference, so Tidal Hi-Fi is good enough." However, with my new dac/amp and the Empy, the FLACs are now even more noticeably better than streaming. Just to be sure I even downloaded some FLACs directly from Tidal. Looks like I'm gonna be busy downloading everything in DSD or FLAC! (definitely not from Tidal since it is pricier there)

Pads. From Twister in his review here which has also been quoted elsewhere in this forum.

There is a noticeable difference in sound using either leather or Alcantara earpads. With leather pads I’m hearing mid-bass to have a more pronounced punch, mids having a fuller body and more natural tonality with a more intimate presentation, and treble being more natural and smoother. With Alcantara, bass is a little more neutral, mids are more transparent and a little brighter with slightly more out-of-your head presentation, and treble has more sparkle and airiness.

I agree with Twister's summary. I personally prefer the leather pads but that doesn't mean I don't appreciate the alcantara pads. The leather pads are overall more fun for me but I do find the alcantara pads more relaxing to listen to. Good thing is that the pads are super duper easily swappable! It's enjoyable switching back and forth to compare.

Comfort. The Empyreans are very comfortable, plus with the non-fatiguing sound, I could fall asleep with these! It is not heavy and there's a lot of space around my ears so it doesn't get too warm over time. The alcantara pads is softer and cooler around the ears vs the leather pads.

Next steps. I hope I can demo some cables. I see more people saying that they get better sound from non-stock cables but I have to hear to believe. As someone who prefers bass and based on what people say about copper vs silver, then I may prefer copper cables.

 

[Ichos]

@Zurv

In my opinion headphones can't and will never replace speakers.
So I don't seek headphones to simulate speaker listening.
Can't be done.
So it is a welcome feature for a headphone to sound wide enough with plenty of air and separation but other than that I don't care.
When I say that a headphone is speaker like it is not about headstage is about being visceral and full sounding with the same tonality.
And the Empyrean ticks all that boxes.
I love them but there is no way that can replace my speaker setup.

 

[Chris Kaoss]

near-field for me - saves me from the room issues. I'm super in love with the Elac AMT tweeters on their Vela series. The more costly setup for HT sounds like butt for music, which is very frustrating Room acoustics treatments are creeping in, but stopped and got this headphones instead. Much less fighting with the wife is involved.
I wish these headphones wow'd me as much as you guys. *sigh* I think i need to start double fisting the coolaid and look at better cables.
I feel better spending money on a cable than a 60 year old tube with unknown life left in it. (... as a look at a box of tubes i keep adding too.)

anyone have thoughts on the moon silver dragon cable? I was also looking Norne Audio cables, but that site is stunningly ghetto and it seems they've had issue/delays/contact issues for .. most of this year. (i'm guessing Covid related, but if i spend a ton on a cable, i'd like not to wait weeks/months to get it.)
Anyone using the meze silver plated cable? Other copper with plated silver that you like?

Save your coins and get a Phonitor 2/ XE instead.
There's no headphone out there which could compete with a good speaker rig.
But i for my like the super stereo effect while listening to headphones.

The AMT on my Elacs are outstanding too.
I like the sound reproduction the Air-X 407 is capable to.

If you can't fight the super stereo from the Empy, get a Phonitor and you'll be safe.

 

[340519]

@Zurv

In my opinion headphones can't and will never replace speakers.
So I don't seek headphones to simulate speaker listening.
Can't be done.
So it is a welcome feature for a headphone to sound wide enough with plenty of air and separation but other than that I don't care.
When I say that a headphone is speaker like it is not about headstage is about being visceral and full sounding with the same tonality.
And the Empyrean ticks all that boxes.
I love them but there is no way that can replace my speaker setup.

Interesting. I just liquidated all my speaker set ups for headphones. To me there is no comparison. Headphones are much better in all regards and I have had high end set ups for 35 years. Thank goodness I fell into quality headphones as I did not think this was capable from cans, and it's all because of headfi.

 

[340519]

Save your coins and get a Phonitor 2/ XE instead.
There's no headphone out there which could compete with a good speaker rig.
But i for my like the super stereo effect while listening to headphones.

The AMT on my Elacs are outstanding too.
I like the sound reproduction the Air-X 407 is capable to.

If you can't fight the super stereo from the Empy, get a Phonitor and you'll be safe.

I disagree. It's all subjective. To me no speaker setup can beat headphones.

 

[Ichos]

Headphone listening is in contradiction with the human hearing perception.
We must listen everything with both of our ears.
If I was living alone like I used to do I would never reach for headphones.
My child birth forced me in that hobby.
It took me more than a year to get fully accustomed to headphone listening.
Now I like it but still prefer speakers to a greater extent.

Anyway it is good to have all options at our disposal and choose what we like the best.

 

[340519]

Headphone listening is in contradiction with the human hearing perception.
We must listen everything with both of our ears.
If I was living alone like I used to do I would never reach for headphones.
My child birth forced me in that hobby.
It took me more than a year to get fully accustomed to headphone listening.
Now I like it but still prefer speakers to a greater extent.

Anyway it is good to have all options at our disposal and choose what we like the best.

Yes I will agree to disagree.

 

[Noobzilla]

I was planning to get an omega stand but read how it would put stress on the pads and clamping mechanism (which makes sense). The Empy lies down nicely on flat surface then I can put cloth on top nice and easy.

 

[Zurv]

It's here! My first impression was "ooooo shinier than I thought!" I was initially against posting pics since we have a ton of that already, but I didn't see many pics showing the different shades of copper. Depending on the angle and amount of light, the color can go from bronze to copper to gold as shown below from left to right. There's only natural daylight when I took the pic. I would assume that those pics with very gold colors had direct lighting on them.

Is that a reviewer's kit? ie, it has 2 cables in it. That isn't normal.. sadly.

 

[Chris Kaoss]

I disagree. It's all subjective. To me no speaker setup can beat headphones.

Yes, it's all subjective.

It comes down to what specific characteristic you're after.

 

[ThanatosVI]

Has anyone ever tested the empyrean with the primaluna evo or HP amp?