[Arcayne]

Got word that Empyreans have arrived. Picking them up from the dealer tomorrow. Very excited. Anything I should know or prepare for getting them new?

My current setup is an Asgard 3 and Bifrost 2 stack. I know the Asgard 3 doesn’t really pair well, so I have a Jot 2 on the way (probably be a couple months due to the Schiit shortage). I’ll be running SE until the Jot amp arrives.

For me, and many others, the stock cable is a major pain. It's too long, and because it's a flat cable it's not very pliable either. So I pretty much immediately ordered an upgrade cable (Meze's silver-plated upgrade cable terminated to 4pin XLR) and an XLR to 6.3mm TRS pigtail adapter from Forza Audioworks. So it might be good to keep in mind that you may find yourself wanting to purchase an aftermarket cable as well. Just try to avoid very cheap cables and adapters. I've tried a cheap cable and a few adapters from AliExpress, and they all degraded the sound noticeably compared to the stock cable.

I have owned the Asgard 3 before and currently own a Jot 2. I agree that the Asgard 3 isn't a great pairing with the Empyrean, but it's definitely not bad either. The pairing is just a bit too warm and mellow sounding imo. The Jot 2 will provide a nice upgrade in overall technicalities, and it has better synergy with the Empyrean as well. It's my go-to recommendation for an inexpensive amp to pair with Empyreans, so I'd say you certainly made the right call ordering a Jot 2.

Other than that, if you're looking for a headphone stand that matches the Empyrean's headband radius seamlessly to prevent potential deformation over time, and you're not opposed to spend a pretty penny, I recommend a ROOM's Audio Line FS Pro A.

 

[j0val]

For me, and many others, the stock cable is a major pain. It's too long, and because it's a flat cable it's not very pliable either. So I pretty much immediately ordered an upgrade cable (Meze's silver-plated upgrade cable terminated to 4pin XLR) and an XLR to 6.3mm TRS pigtail adapter from Forza Audioworks. So it might be good to keep in mind that you may find yourself wanting to purchase an aftermarket cable as well. Just try to avoid very cheap cables and adapters. I've tried a cheap cable and a few adapters from AliExpress, and they all degraded the sound noticeably compared to the stock cable.

I have owned the Asgard 3 before and currently own a Jot 2. I agree that the Asgard 3 isn't a great pairing with the Empyrean, but it's definitely not bad either. The pairing is just a bit too warm and mellow sounding imo. The Jot 2 will provide a nice upgrade in overall technicalities, and it has better synergy with the Empyrean as well. It's my go-to recommendation for an inexpensive amp to pair with Empyreans, so I'd say you certainly made the right call ordering a Jot 2.

Other than that, if you're looking for a headphone stand that matches the Empyrean's headband radius seamlessly to prevent potential deformation over time, and you're not opposed to spend a pretty penny, I recommend a ROOM's Audio Line FS Pro A.

This is great. Thanks for the response! Glad to hear the Jot 2 will be a good pairing. That along with the Bifrost 2 is about as far as I want to go for a while in terms of gear. Gotta give my wallet a break. Thanks for the recommendation on the cable too. I'll look into getting it when the Jot 2 arrives. I feel pretty dumb right now not having ordered the XLR cable straight away and just getting an adapter.

Thanks to the others that responded as well. Going to enjoy and break them in. I let my wife listen to them and now she's happily helping add some hours to it. First cans that made her want to listen.

Here's a pic I took of them today after picking them up. Amazing so far!

 

[DaYooper]

This is great. Thanks for the response! Glad to hear the Jot 2 will be a good pairing. That along with the Bifrost 2 is about as far as I want to go for a while in terms of gear. Gotta give my wallet a break. Thanks for the recommendation on the cable too. I'll look into getting it when the Jot 2 arrives. I feel pretty dumb right now not having ordered the XLR cable straight away and just getting an adapter.

Thanks to the others that responded as well. Going to enjoy and break them in. I let my wife listen to them and now she's happily helping add some hours to it. First cans that made her want to listen.

Here's a pic I took of them today after picking them up. Amazing so far!

So you have them configured for M8 that switches channels, eh? Nice photo though.

 

[Terriero]

This is great. Thanks for the response! Glad to hear the Jot 2 will be a good pairing. That along with the Bifrost 2 is about as far as I want to go for a while in terms of gear. Gotta give my wallet a break. Thanks for the recommendation on the cable too. I'll look into getting it when the Jot 2 arrives. I feel pretty dumb right now not having ordered the XLR cable straight away and just getting an adapter.

Thanks to the others that responded as well. Going to enjoy and break them in. I let my wife listen to them and now she's happily helping add some hours to it. First cans that made her want to listen.

Here's a pic I took of them today after picking them up. Amazing so far!

You can let her to try the Empys but maybe she formulates that fear question: how much money I have in my head?

Enjoy them a lot

 

[Tanalasta]

The cables add up. Whilst it is an upgrade, they’re far from (in)expensive (and go a way towards a decent source like the Naim
Headphone edition). I’d enjoy your Empy’s with the stock cable before you upgrade.

(I have the silver plated cable and the stock cables)

 

[Kiats]

The cables add up. Whilst it is an upgrade, they’re far from expensive (and go a way towards a decent source like the Naim
Headphone edition). I’d enjoy your Empy’s with the stock cable before you upgrade.

(I have the silver plated cable and the stock cables)

Agree. Have a listen to the stock cables and see how you like the sonics and if the relative stiffness versus braided cables bothers you. For me, I have found the stock cable fine because it is the right length for me as i listen mostly to my desktop rig and frankly i don’t notice the stiffness. Because i also have the Audeze LCD3 and LCD 4 (and LCD2 previously), I have plenty of different cables with the same mini XLR connectors. But I must confess that I have not quite felt the need to switch cables at this stage. I just enjoy the relaxing and musical nature of the Empys.

 

[Mike C]

Just saying, the Empyrean bass can sound quite tight and impactful with the proper pairing.
I agree, in general the Empyrean bass can easily sound muddy and out of control.
Paired with a scientifically accurate DAC and a clean dynamic amp however, that bass becomes tight and punchy as one would expect.

Absolutely right, in my experience.
In fact I have no concerns over some of the issues that some users and reviews report, such as limited detail.

I've just listened to the Sheffield Labs CD of Clair Marlo, Let it Go, the song Let it Go. Totally amazing!
Everything (not just bass) is tight and impactful; transients are lightning fast, dynamic, dramatic, totally WOW. String plucks are amazing. At the same time, lots of quiet backing singing. And it all gels together to be musical. So so much on this track. At the same time, there is character and tone of notes, the different inflections within a musical thread.
On different music, I do notice the speed of the Empy in terms of how very quickly things start and stop; such as sequences of very fast short piano notes, getting the individual notes rather than them being run into each other. Things like this, to me, do give a high degree of detail.

Yes, to get this does need a good dac; I know my Lector Digicode (multibit and valve) is very good indeed (but I'm looking elsewhere anyway).

Dead right about the need for a clean dynamic amp, and that is well put. Actual power is no guarantee ... only milliwatts are actually used. Some high power amps can have limited dynamics, some low power amps can have good dynamics (such as my 3.5 watt SET in my speaker system). Measurements and specs don't tell very much about amps. What people find to work or not work is great information, which is a reason why forums like this are so valuable!

I believe that a good power supply in an amp is a major factor in dynamics. There is no 'best' or we'd all use it.
Myself, I like valve amps and have been building for many years, and funnily enough I found headphone amps to be tricky in spite of the low power.
My way with the power supply is:
valve rectifier for sweetness and musicality, damper diodes rather than say GZ34 as this has quite a high equivalent resistance
rectifiers paralleled up to further reduce the equivalent resistance
3 stage supply with low resistance chokes - no dropper resistors
small value film/oil capacitors - no electrolytics!
the supply is modelled for fast clean transient response.
Voltage regulation is not used; the chokes give a high degree of robustness.
I'm fairly sure that all the above contribute to decent dynamics.
Anyway, it works OK and I'm sure that's why I get a very good sound from the Empyrean. But I know there are many other fine types of power supply.

All this, and choice of valve and circuit, has taken quite a bit of development. Same goes for the professionals, so don't begrudge them their prices.

Empyrean sounded good with my lesser amps but has responded very highly indeed to improvements.

 

[bpiotrow13]

Paired with a scientifically accurate DAC and a clean dynamic amp however, that bass becomes tight and punchy as one would expect.

Exactly. When i plugged Meze to my setup i was really surprised how defined bass can be on velour pads.

 

[bpiotrow13]

used mostly the leather pads during my last review which could be part of why the Empyrean felt a bit harsh to me. The other times I reviewed it, I used the Alcantara pads but I was comparing it to a Verite Open which I would consider smoother and warmer than the Empyrean.

Meze with leather pads can really sound a bit harsh in trebles (i am treble sensitive so really care about treble). With alcantara pads all harshness is gone with trebles still extended. I compared meze to hd600 (You mentioned) a couple of days ago and really hd600 were noticeably more harsh, at least to me.

As for verite open i am really interested how they compare to meze as they are high impedance phones and it is easier to choose tube amp for them. Some say Verite has some hars upper midrange, but i would be very interested to hear them myself if opportunity arises.

 

[Kiats]

Agree with your chaps. I do have a nice little range of headphones. Contrary to the contradictory reports I read before making the leap of faith to get one, I have found out of my desktop rig, it sounds very good indeed. It may not be a Susvara, an Utopia, the beast of an Abyss, a LCD4 but in its own space I don’t think it is in any way inferior in terms of detail or impact. In fact it has to be my “comfort” headphone at the end of a crazy day. What more can one ask for?

 

[driftingbunnies]

Meze with leather pads can really sound a bit harsh in trebles (i am treble sensitive so really care about treble). With alcantara pads all harshness is gone with trebles still extended. I compared meze to hd600 (You mentioned) a couple of days ago and really hd600 were noticeably more harsh, at least to me.

The HD600s are honestly not great on anything except for good tube amps and speaker amps. I'm not surprised they were harsh for you. It's kind of interesting cause it seems like Empy might be more forgiving on lower end gear compared to HD600 but then it flips. HD600 off a speaker amp wins on timbre, nuance, and overall tonal balance. I did use the leather pads on my last test which is probably why I experienced more harshness compared to others.

 

[bpiotrow13]

The HD600s are honestly not great on anything except for good tube amps and speaker amps. I'm not surprised they were harsh for you. It's kind of interesting cause it seems like Empy might be more forgiving on lower end gear compared to HD600 but then it flips. HD600 off a speaker amp wins on timbre, nuance, and overall tonal balance. I did use the leather pads on my last test which is probably why I experienced more harshness compared to others.

I tried hd600 on Ayon ha3, it is a good tube amp making meze really shining. Maybe hd600 prefers something warmer or just a comparison with Empyreans is not fair.

Maybe a good point that hd600 are not great, but they were my first serious headphones, which i like up to now with good otl amps, so maybe i am not objective here

And i do not like meze with skin pads Too aggressive treble (i am really sensitive here) and much smaller soundstage than with alcantara pads, at least to my perception. I really feel the difference between pads in meze is significant.

 

[betula]

Absolutely right, in my experience.
In fact I have no concerns over some of the issues that some users and reviews report, such as limited detail.

I've just listened to the Sheffield Labs CD of Clair Marlo, Let it Go, the song Let it Go. Totally amazing!
Everything (not just bass) is tight and impactful; transients are lightning fast, dynamic, dramatic, totally WOW. String plucks are amazing. At the same time, lots of quiet backing singing. And it all gels together to be musical. So so much on this track. At the same time, there is character and tone of notes, the different inflections within a musical thread.
On different music, I do notice the speed of the Empy in terms of how very quickly things start and stop; such as sequences of very fast short piano notes, getting the individual notes rather than them being run into each other. Things like this, to me, do give a high degree of detail.

Yes, to get this does need a good dac; I know my Lector Digicode (multibit and valve) is very good indeed (but I'm looking elsewhere anyway).

Dead right about the need for a clean dynamic amp, and that is well put. Actual power is no guarantee ... only milliwatts are actually used. Some high power amps can have limited dynamics, some low power amps can have good dynamics (such as my 3.5 watt SET in my speaker system). Measurements and specs don't tell very much about amps. What people find to work or not work is great information, which is a reason why forums like this are so valuable!

I believe that a good power supply in an amp is a major factor in dynamics. There is no 'best' or we'd all use it.
Myself, I like valve amps and have been building for many years, and funnily enough I found headphone amps to be tricky in spite of the low power.
My way with the power supply is:
valve rectifier for sweetness and musicality, damper diodes rather than say GZ34 as this has quite a high equivalent resistance
rectifiers paralleled up to further reduce the equivalent resistance
3 stage supply with low resistance chokes - no dropper resistors
small value film/oil capacitors - no electrolytics!
the supply is modelled for fast clean transient response.
Voltage regulation is not used; the chokes give a high degree of robustness.
I'm fairly sure that all the above contribute to decent dynamics.
Anyway, it works OK and I'm sure that's why I get a very good sound from the Empyrean. But I know there are many other fine types of power supply.

All this, and choice of valve and circuit, has taken quite a bit of development. Same goes for the professionals, so don't begrudge them their prices.

Empyrean sounded good with my lesser amps but has responded very highly indeed to improvements.

Great post and insight to amps.

The cleanliness, impact and dynamism of the Empy (especially bass) is indeed not a power related issue, but pairing (or something else technical perhaps). 1W is more than enough for the Empyrean, that most amps easily produce these days. With 4W or even 8W dynamism and cleanliness do not necessarily improve. It is definitely not a power related issue.

 

[Fernando Goñi]

You can't go wrong with either option you have chosen as candidates. But as the price difference might already indicate, the Soloist 3XP could be a step-up to the SA-1.
I do personally like the Empyreans on both the Soloist 3XP (+ Composer 3XP) as well on the SA-1 (+ Musician Pegasus), but I would say the Soloist 3XP has the lead in comparison, especially in Headphone Power Amp Mode with the Empyreans, bypassing the internal volume control section completely.
The SA-1 has a better price-performance value for sure. The number of reviews on the SA-1 is growing every day and they are more than positive overall. If you want a new amp right now with kinda money restriction, the SA-1 could fit in very well. If you can wait some more month to save up for the Soloist 3XP, this could be the better long term investment.

Well. After a lot of consideration and reading a lot of reviews, I have found a very good offer at the Conductor 3 Reference and took the plunge. I think it has enough power not needing the 3XR version and the DAC section seems very competent. I like the idea of the upgradeable opamps and the one box solution.
My wallet really hates me anyway…

 

[Newsee]

Well. After a lot of consideration and reading a lot of reviews, I have found a very good offer at the Conductor 3 Reference and took the plunge. I think it has enough power not needing the 3XR version and the DAC section seems very competent. I like the idea of the upgradeable opamps and the one box solution.
My wallet really hates me anyway…

I love the pairing. Just make sure you set the Conductor 3R to low gain before you start listening. The high gain is very loud already at position 1. From there the loudness increases the same small steps as in low gain.