Bare in mind I only had a day of listening experience with the Susvara and I owned the Empyrean for a few years. I tried the Empyrean out of several different DACs/amps while I only heard the Susvara out of the TT2 and TT1.This is not necessary the case. It is just a top amp is needed. People praise Empys with Eufioria (i personally never tried). I listen to Meze with Ayon ha3 and it amazing, punchy sound with tube imagining.
Btw, how would You compare Empys to Susvara? This comparison seems very interesting.
Based on this limited experience I would say the Susvara is the better sounding headphone and I would probably trade my Empyrean for a Susvara. That said, the price difference in real life is crazy and I don't think it reflects the level of quality difference.
Sure the Susvara is more balanced and more neutral without sounding boring. To me it sounded like 'the perfect headphone'. The Susvara does everything I want from a headphone and doesn't fall short on anything. More technical than the Empyrean and almost equally musical. The Susvara is the untouchable perfection for £5000. The Empyrean's technical performance is quite behind the Susvara. Not as refined, not as detailed. But the Empyrean's warm and engaging sound for less than half the price makes it a very competitive choice. If someone resonates to the level of Empy's musical engagement I can actually see people picking the Empyrean over the Susvara for certain tracks or albums.
EDIT: The Susvara is better overall. But in some cases the Empyrean is more enjoyable.
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