[paul2qute]

Sad face

 

[paul2qute]

Happy face

 

[paul2qute]

 

[Rowethren]

Haha. Well at least you are enjoying them

 

[koenoe]

Congrats mate! How do you like the comfort compared to the Utopia?

 

[paul2qute]

Congrats mate! How do you like the comfort compared to the Utopia?

Cheers Mate, they are massive and because I've got a shrunken head I've got it on the tightest fit but they are so comfortable, in my opinion more comfortable than the Utopia but I never had an issue with either if I'm honest.
I'm gonna swap the pads after as I've got a feeling I'll prefer the Alcantara pads

 

[dleblanc343]

If you're in Canada, or luckily in Montreal, we've got the Empyrean in stock for you guys to listen to!

What a gorgeous set of headphones!

 

[PeteSTRADAMUS]

Thanks mate. END GAME HEADPHONES FOR ME AMAZING! !!
This is what I wanted my focal Utopia headphones to sound like but never did

Hmmmmm them fighting words right there lol. The only thing that held the Utopia back for me was being overdriven easily and they would rattle. It's a dynamic driver problem. Won't have that with the Empyrean.

 

[PeteSTRADAMUS]

Lol you look like a real Polock

 

[PeteSTRADAMUS]

Same.

 

[racebit]

Thanks mate. END GAME HEADPHONES FOR ME AMAZING! !!
This is what I wanted my focal Utopia headphones to sound like but never did

Ah! But you are cheating, You now have Mscaler + TT2, while when you listened to the Utopia you did not.
Even a $100 headphone on the MS+TT2 may sound better than the Utopia on a lesser dac.
Joking, I am sure I would prefer the Empyrean to the Utopia myself, although I never used none of them.

 

[paul2qute]

Ah! But you are cheating, You now have Mscaler + TT2, while when you listened to the Utopia you did not.
Even a $100 headphone on the MS+TT2 may sound better than the Utopia on a lesser dac.
Joking, I am sure I would prefer the Empyrean to the Utopia myself, although I never used none of them.

Yes you are right, excellent point, not a fair comparison

 

[paul2qute]

I'm not sure if the suede ear pads are better to my ears, need plenty more listening as I'm running them in and listening to a couple of tracks

Gregory Porter I wonder who my daddy is sounded better with the leather pads to my ears.
Listened to Lenny Kravitz Low first with the suede then the leather pads and the leather pads sound well better, the bass is not deeper with the suede just more of a boom, the leather is tighter with far better definition and mid-range and top end just come alive with the leather pads, I feel the suede dulls it, so yes the Empyrean can be a dark headphone with the suede pads but you certainly couldn't call them a dark headphone with the leather pads, in my eyes you have the best of both worlds

 

[paul2qute]

Lol you look like a real Polock

Or a real pillock lol

 

[tunes]

There is an interesting review in German language here. You can use Google translate and most of the content is understandable!
This review compares the Meze Empyrean, the HE 1000 SE, the Audeze LCD4Z and the Ether 2. Very nice review.
I just finished my listening session with a Meze Empyrean and will write a review soon.
I do believe that the best gear to test Meze Empyrean's full quality would have been the Questyle CMA Twelve, or at least the CMA400i, but I do not have them...
So I used the gear available for me, started with the Arcam rHead, continuing with my Vorzüge Vorzamp Pure II+, and finishing with Vioelectric V100. I know that for the best performance more power would have needed, however I found the sound quality with the Vorzüge setup surprisingly excellent!
My best possible setup was:

As you can see I found the cheap Netgear WIFI Extender as an excellent solution connected to my high quality ASUS router (RT-N66U) in the air the sound quality is practically equal as if I connected my music player directly to the router!
I connected the WIFI Extender to my Bluseound Node 2 with an Audioquest Carbon CAT7 cable and connected the Node 2 with my Vorzüge PureII+ portable amp with a Nordost Heimdall interconnect cable. I had to use two adapters: An Audioquest RCA to jack adapter cable and a Furutech 6.3 mm to 3.5 mm jack adapter.
Even if the use of these adapters don't help the sound quality was clearly better with the small, but sensational Vorzüge amp than both the Arcam rHead and the Vioelectric V100 (the letter I used as an amp only). As you can see I added to the system an iFi AC iPurifier, which in my opinion helped to squeeze out more details from the Empyrean.

I know that this is a very unorthodox system, but believe me it sounds fabulous!
The only thing which I realized most probably attributable to the lack of power of the Vorzüge is that hard rock songs (like American Idiot from Green Day) hadn't got the sheer attack I can enjoy with my home audio system. I use as source the Node 2 connected to a three box HEED Obelisk (integrated, power amp and power supply) connected to my Spendor S5e floorstander speakers with Chord Epic Twin cables.
Later I will get an amp with more power and try the Empyrean again...

The Empyrean is a fantastic headphones which offered me pure joy during the two weeks listening sessions!
I made a genre list (based on SQ) as follows:
1. Classical music (easy flowing, very transparent, with nice but not huge soundstage, many small details, can be listened on low volume)
2. Soundtracks (using the advantage of the Empyrean's huge dynamics)
3. A Capella (try Angel of Harlem by The Persusions and Mary Did You Know by Pentatonix), human voices are breathtaking on the Empyrean
3. Jazz - fantastically natural timbers, great dynamics (try Cassandra Wilson's Strange Fruit, and Caravan by Jeff Goldblum)
4. World music - Try Rise by Anoushka Shankar
5. Rock - great details, but more power needed for the sheer attacks...

I just showed my favorite genres


Beauty and the East

Briefly read the German review article and I get a sense they liked the HIFIMAN HE1000se better?