[bagwell359]

Imo this is well worth it.
At least from what I read about the Ether 2

E2 is well under appreciated. The bass is awesome for being accurate. Treble annoys some, fixed via EQ.

 

[Terriero]

@betula I saw that you signed up for the Liric tour, I hope you would be chosen because I like a lot reading your mini-reviews here about Empyrean and comparisons with D8000 (when I read your comparisons I feel that you are comparing my 9200s vs my Z7s, because I feel the same between these two headphones)

 

[betula]

Thanks @Terriero. Fingers crossed.

 

[Andykong]

It's interesting (and a bit sad) how certain conceptions of good quality headphone sound have become so dominant, that if some headphone manufactures bring forward phones contradicting those conceptions (and offering more alternatives to choose from), these headphones meet strong critique and struggle to get wide recognition as high (sound) quality phones

Well said, couldn't have said it better.

 

[betula]

There are better headphones when it comes to technicalities: speed, prat, insight, details.
Yet Meze has discovered something special and unique: a sweet and lifelike tone that is addictive.

 

[Terriero]

@ThanatosVI I don't know if I missed it, have you compare your Mezes or just put some impressions regarding to your Meze Elite when you purchased them?. @Relaxasaurus compared both models (Empys and Elite) in his youtube channel and also he compared the Elites with my HD 800s (I loved that comparison).

If you have to choose one Meze, what would it be? Elite? I know that this will vary depending of your mood or if you want a closed back in certain circumstances (you would go with the Liric)...

Thanks in advance.

 

[ThanatosVI]

@ThanatosVI I don't know if I missed it, have you compare your Mezes or just put some impressions regarding to your Meze Elite when you purchased them?. @Relaxasaurus compared both models (Empys and Elite) in his youtube channel and also he compared the Elites with my HD 800s (I loved that comparison).

If you have to choose one Meze, what would it be? Elite? I know that this will vary depending of your mood or if you want a closed back in certain circumstances (you would go with the Liric)...

Thanks in advance.

I put down my impressions to each Meze in their own thread.
There are some comparisons here and there between each other and also to my Solitaire P.

I will keep all my Mezes, if I had to choose a single one it would be the Elite.

 

[ufospls2]

Out of the three choices, Empyrean, LIRIC, ELITE? No question, ELITE every day of the week, and twice on sunday.

Unless you need a closed back, then the choice is obvious : )

 

[BenSherman]

Hey , I have been enjoying the Empyreans from the humble Zen Can that I have for review!
That's an achievement!

Do you think the Zen Can I'd a suitable amp for the Empyrean?

I could spend more on an amp (say up to around the cost of a Schiit Jotunheim 2), but the Zen Can has such great reviews - I don't know if the extra spend would be worth it?

 

[Ichos]

Do you think the Zen Can I'd a suitable amp for the Empyrean?

I could spend more on an amp (say up to around the cost of a Schiit Jotunheim 2), but the Zen Can has such great reviews - I don't know if the extra spend would be worth it?

Yes it is more than enough and good sounding.
I have used the combo extensively while reviewing the ZEN CAN.
Fully balanced works better and you get some good flavor of analog sound but without extra warmness or thickness that could possibly affect the Empyrean in a negative way.
What is your DAC?

 

[BenSherman]

Yes it is more than enough and good sounding.
I have used the combo extensively while reviewing the ZEN CAN.
Fully balanced works better and you get some good flavor of analog sound but without extra warmness or thickness that could possibly affect the Empyrean in a negative way.
What is your DAC?

I have a Denafrips Ares II.

I'd rather spend the extra for the Schiit Jotunheim 2 if it would be an improvement over the ZEN CAN, but obviously don't want to waste money if there's no discernible difference. I also have another option of buying a used ifi Micro iDSD Black Label for in between the cost of the ZEN CAN and the Jot 2.

I've just bought a Miltra OTL-8XT which will be my main amp. However, I also wanted a solid state amplifier to use as an alternative to the OTL tube amp.

I plan to use the SS amp for electronic dance music, so would want something with maximum punch/slam and a really clean, pure sound.

The tube amp will be for 'real' music - bands, vocals etc.

The Empyrean is my only headphone by the way.

Thanks for your help.

 

[Ichos]

I have a Denafrips Ares II.

I'd rather spend the extra for the Schiit Jotunheim 2 if it would be an improvement over the ZEN CAN, but obviously don't want to waste money if there's no discernible difference. I also have another option of buying a used ifi Micro iDSD Black Label for in between the cost of the ZEN CAN and the Jot 2.

I've just bought a Miltra OTL-8XT which will be my main amp. However, I also wanted a solid state amplifier to use as an alternative to the OTL tube amp.

I plan to use the SS amp for electronic dance music, so would want something with maximum punch/slam and a really clean, pure sound.

The tube amp will be for 'real' music - bands, vocals etc.

The Empyrean is my only headphone by the way.

Thanks for your help.

Unfortunately I never heard the Jot 2 but another amplifier that ticks the boxes is the SMSL HO200.
https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/smsl-ho200.25426/review/27016/
As you can read and see in the attached photo I used it with Ares II to a great success.

 

[DownToThis]

I'm super excited as I received my Empyrean yesterday. They are simply lovely. I have an older nuforce icon hdp and have been looking at dac/amps upgrades as well. Seem to be some great recommendations on this thread. The ares II mentioned above seems like a good start

 

[kleimart]

Have anybody compared the Elite with the Empyrean + Upgrade Silver Cable from Meze?

 

[Toonartist]

I had the Empyrean with the silver upgrade cable from Meze and now have the Elites with the same cable. I'm probably not the best to offer a comparison, others will chip in but I found the biggest difference, other than the extra detail and pace is the amount of air, bigger soundstage and crystal clear layering & imaging. The Empyrean give you occasions when you think the sounds are coming from within the room, this seems to happen a lot more with the Elites. They have a very real and engaging sound...love them.

From a mechanical point of view as well, the actual cups don't spin around on the rods anywhere near as much (a positive) and as a result, feel more solid and stable. They do seem to hold position on the rods better as well.