[maggie17fan]

Would love to hear your opinion of the Rebel amp - been eyeing that myself.

 

[staffz93]

Would love to hear your opinion of the Rebel amp - been eyeing that myself.

To begin with, it is not a super accurate amp. So if you are in the market for super accuracy you can stop here. IMO it resembles tube prettiness without the hassle (or joy if you like tube rolling etc.) of tubes. I really enjoyed it with my HD6xx's and especially my Hifiman Sundaras. With those headphones the amp was amazing, well worth it. With the Empyreans I will use it when I am listening to strings or vocals as it makes everything sound intimate. One of its greatest strengths is that 3D effect music can have. On some types of music / tracks my Empyreans just go away and its music in the room. Its weakness with the Empyreans is that it does not control the lower end nearly as well as the other amp pictured (the Geshelli Labs Archel 2.5 pro). That is not to say electronic music with low end does not sound good but what I mean to say is... imagine a drum. The resonance and the snap. With the Rebel Amp you get more of the resonance and less snap while the Archel 2.5 pro gives much more snap. The Rebel Amp + Empyrean combo comes down to music pairing imo. It is not for all music, but the music it does well with is amazing.

 

[staffz93]

That amp looks cool.
I love my smsl thx 888!

Thanks! I preferred it to my SMSL SP-200. It is a custom copper color case to try and color coordinate my set up. Right now I have a black qutest, black and copper headphones and now a black and copper headphone amp!

 

[makan]

Been with the Empyrean for a few days now with leather pads. I prefer it eq'ed using my RME ADI-2 Pro to the following...I only use the first 5 as the RME parametric equalizer only has 5 bands....available at https://github.com/jaakkopasanen/Au...e/crinacle_harman_over-ear_2018/Meze Empyrean

More air, less veil, less bass hump, YMMV

Filter 1: ON PK Fc 160 Hz Gain -4.3 dB Q 0.62
Filter 2: ON PK Fc 2100 Hz Gain 3.6 dB Q 1.90
Filter 3: ON PK Fc 3860 Hz Gain 2.2 dB Q 2.75
Filter 4: ON PK Fc 7153 Hz Gain 4.2 dB Q 3.42
Filter 5: ON PK Fc 9089 Hz Gain 3.6 dB Q 3.51
Filter 6: ON PK Fc 249 Hz Gain -1.2 dB Q 4.69
Filter 7: ON PK Fc 315 Hz Gain 1.8 dB Q 5.22
Filter 8: ON PK Fc 944 Hz Gain -1.6 dB Q 5.43
Filter 9: ON PK Fc 10322 Hz Gain 2.0 dB Q 1.31
Filter 10: ON PK Fc 19422 Hz Gain -6.5 dB Q 0.28

 

[ThanatosVI]

Been with the Empyrean for a few days now with leather pads. I prefer it eq'ed using my RME ADI-2 Pro to the following...I only use the first 5 as the RME parametric equalizer only has 5 bands....available at https://github.com/jaakkopasanen/AutoEq/tree/master/results/crinacle/crinacle_harman_over-ear_2018/Meze Empyrean

More air, less veil, less bass hump, YMMV

Filter 1: ON PK Fc 160 Hz Gain -4.3 dB Q 0.62
Filter 2: ON PK Fc 2100 Hz Gain 3.6 dB Q 1.90
Filter 3: ON PK Fc 3860 Hz Gain 2.2 dB Q 2.75
Filter 4: ON PK Fc 7153 Hz Gain 4.2 dB Q 3.42
Filter 5: ON PK Fc 9089 Hz Gain 3.6 dB Q 3.51
Filter 6: ON PK Fc 249 Hz Gain -1.2 dB Q 4.69
Filter 7: ON PK Fc 315 Hz Gain 1.8 dB Q 5.22
Filter 8: ON PK Fc 944 Hz Gain -1.6 dB Q 5.43
Filter 9: ON PK Fc 10322 Hz Gain 2.0 dB Q 1.31
Filter 10: ON PK Fc 19422 Hz Gain -6.5 dB Q 0.28

Less Bass, blasphemy!

 

[Bonddam]

Been with the Empyrean for a few days now with leather pads. I prefer it eq'ed using my RME ADI-2 Pro to the following...I only use the first 5 as the RME parametric equalizer only has 5 bands....available at https://github.com/jaakkopasanen/AutoEq/tree/master/results/crinacle/crinacle_harman_over-ear_2018/Meze Empyrean

More air, less veil, less bass hump, YMMV

Filter 1: ON PK Fc 160 Hz Gain -4.3 dB Q 0.62
Filter 2: ON PK Fc 2100 Hz Gain 3.6 dB Q 1.90
Filter 3: ON PK Fc 3860 Hz Gain 2.2 dB Q 2.75
Filter 4: ON PK Fc 7153 Hz Gain 4.2 dB Q 3.42
Filter 5: ON PK Fc 9089 Hz Gain 3.6 dB Q 3.51
Filter 6: ON PK Fc 249 Hz Gain -1.2 dB Q 4.69
Filter 7: ON PK Fc 315 Hz Gain 1.8 dB Q 5.22
Filter 8: ON PK Fc 944 Hz Gain -1.6 dB Q 5.43
Filter 9: ON PK Fc 10322 Hz Gain 2.0 dB Q 1.31
Filter 10: ON PK Fc 19422 Hz Gain -6.5 dB Q 0.28

You can hear 19k? less bass is a crime.

 

[makan]

Looks like I am a bass criminal!

 

[elisiX]

Hi all - What is the general consensus on XLR vs. 6.3mm? Assume those with AMP's that support XLR would naturally go that way.

Keen to understand if there is any feeling that one is better/worse. 6.3mm is more versatile, but if there's an improvement with XLR, i'd be inclined to go that way.

 

[staffz93]

Hi all - What is the general consensus on XLR vs. 6.3mm? Assume those with AMP's that support XLR would naturally go that way.

Keen to understand if there is any feeling that one is better/worse. 6.3mm is more versatile, but if there's an improvement with XLR, i'd be inclined to go that way.

I get all my headphone cables as XLR that way I can get them to work with all amps by simply using a high quality adapter if there is no 4 pin xlr on the amp. This lets me experiment with the amp and figure out which output is better. As a general rule of thumb XLR has a higher voltage output vs rca which means less turn of the volume knob (and depending on the amp more wattage). The noise rejection rarely comes into play but if your source has both xlr and rca outs many people tend to go with xlr for this reason. If your amp is built well there should be little to no difference between the two.

 

[Ichos]

Hi all - What is the general consensus on XLR vs. 6.3mm? Assume those with AMP's that support XLR would naturally go that way.

Keen to understand if there is any feeling that one is better/worse. 6.3mm is more versatile, but if there's an improvement with XLR, i'd be inclined to go that way.

Depends on your chain.
If it is fully balanced then the best option is to go balanced.
If you have now single ended sources and you plan for something balanced on the future then order balanced cables with single ended adapter's.

 

[elisiX]

Thank you both.

 

[thecrow]

Thank you both.

One thing i found was that i wanted more than the stock cable. Ymmv

 

[Noobzilla]

Was folding clothes today and decided to try my Empys with my mobile set-up (phone + Mojo) instead of my usual IEM. I was quite disappointed haha.

 

[Simon-in-Suffolk]

Hi, I am new to the Empy camp, I have owned my pair for about a month now with almost daily use .. so I guess have started to run in And appeared to open up. I also use HD650s and have owned various Grado phones. I am so far thoroughly enjoying the Empys and boy are they detailed, insightful and nuanced without that artificial bright tinge you get on some other headphones, even on some other planars.. that just doesn’t sound real to me.
i have changed to the Meze silver plated cable, and yes I found quite sensitive on headphone amp for the quality of upper bass. I used a Hugo Original which has gorgeous mids with the Empy, but the sub bass is limited and upper bass could be a little lose or slightly too resonant on some tracks.
i have tried the Hugo 2 and that tightens the upper bass, sub bass becomes more apparent.. I hear it tracks where I never knew it was there. The mids and highs are more flowing with the Hugo 2.. really sounds wonderful.
i am know waiting to borrow a TT2 to see what that brings to the party.. but all in all really pleased with them, and love the musical insight and natural detail they bring... and you hear so much more in the master you didn’t know was there including production or performing errors which often makes me smile.
But yes I have found you need to be careful of the amp, and ensure you have them fitting correctly and not clamped too tight or pads touching ears.

 

[E8ArmyDiver]

Do you folks think it's fate that this is the amplifier I'm waiting to take delivery of?Now just need to move a few items on to other homes & I'll pull the trigger on the Copper Empies!
Sidebar:I have a Burson Conductor 3Performance,any comments on how the two should pair up?