Thanks to a generous offering from a fellow head-fier, I have been given the chance of borrowing a pair of Empyreans for close to a month now, so time is up for sharing some impressions!
I was curious to give a proper listening to the Empy after a couple of very brief occasions where I found them underwhelming compared to both their reputation and my expectations.
This time, I could let their sound signature sink in (they are
very different sounding than my daily driver, the AB-1266), and, above all, I had the chance of playing with some combinations of earpads and cables which ended up as an eye-opening experience.
First-off, to reconnect with my previous listening, I tried them with the leather pads, and immediately I recognized the traits that I did not appreciate in my former auditions, namely a nearly bloated bass and an overly dark and warm signature which does not fit my tastes, especially with the music genres I listen the most, i.e. classical and jazz.
The revelation came when I switched to the alcantara pads, which I never tried before, and that transformed the Empyrean into a definitely more interesting animal for me...
I realize that many others in this same thread reported exactly the opposite, but I hear what I hear, and what I hear with the alcantara pads is a more balanced, neutral sound with a tighter, punchier, better defined bass / sub-bass which does not bleed into the lower midrange.
I had the possibility of rolling three headphone cables: a Moon Audio Black Dragon, their Silver Dragon and a custom solid copper core cable my friend included in the package, of which I do not know the sourcing.
The solid copper turned to be my preferred one, because of its ability to retain the full bodied sound signature of the Empyrean, together with a better sense of speed and transparency, so most of my listening since then has then been with the alcantara pads / solid copper cable.
In this configuration, I found the Empyrean a very appealing headphone, as it combines a very pleasing tonality, tilted towards a rich, meaty, round core sound presentation, with a very good handling of the technical skills one expects at this level of gear.
It has a relatively forward, but totally not fatiguing, display of midrange contents - vocals
in primis - and an overall smoothness which is suggesting a relaxed abandon to listening rather than an analytical approach.
It manages to still allow a good insight in the details of a score, a wide and deep soundstage with more than decent imaging and separation.
The bass is bouncy and full without being loose in the best planar-magnetic way, and the treble is well extended as well.
I found the Empyrean most enjoyable with vocals - thanks to a visceral and luxuriant midrange -, modern pop / rock music - thanks to its energy density and rather forgiving nature -, and with thinner classical recordings.
In comparison to the other flagship headphones I had in my stable, the Empyrean fall somewhat in between the LCD-4 and Susvara in terms of overall balance, and most certainly far from the AB-1266 / RAAL SR1a colder, more analytical character.
vs. LCD-4: the Audeze have a special way of presenting the midrange, and vocals in particular, with a creaminess which is impossible to resist. Also, their bass is even deeper, more enveloping than the Empy's. On the other hand the highs are more rolled-off and the PRaT is a bit weaker on the LCD-4.
vs. Susvara: the Susvara - out of a great amp - is a more technically accomplished headphone IMHO: detail, transparency, visceral impact, bass layering, treble resolution are all superior to the Empyrean. The midrange is comparatively leaner on the HiFiMan but possibly even truer; conversely, they are less forgiving.
vs. AB-1266 TC: my system is optimized for the Abyss with the Superconductor cable, the Riviera AIC-10 amp and a carefully matched Mullard NOS tube being chosen to mitigate the coldness / thinness / recession of its midrange. Even after this (wildly expensive, by the way) optimization, the Empyrean shows a more satisfying midrange, especially in the vocals region, and a better sense of presence due to its slightly more forwardness. The TC are superior in all other areas, e.g. the slam, the theatrical soundstage management, the extension, control and articulation of the bass, the rhythmic drive and speed, transparency.
vs. SR1a: well the SR1a is the polar opposite of the Empy, they are so much yin/yang headphones, that it does not even make much sense to make a comparison. Think Lotus Elise vs. BMW X5.
A big advantage of the Empyrean over the other products mentioned above is that they are immensely easier to drive. Actually, in my system I even preferred them directly out of my Chord DAVE than from the Riviera AIC-10 to some respects (agility, detail, transparency).
All in all, I did not find any apparent flaw on the Empyrean, it goes close to the scoring full marks over most of the parameters I tend to refer in my enjoyment of audio gear, although without excelling in any specific one, and it has an overall easy to love, full and rich, signature that makes it a great choice as a single option (especially if you don't want to invest in powerful amps) or, in my situation, a very nice complement to something like the AB-1266.
