[Sound Eq]

Wow! You’re the first reviewer to describe them that way.

Well I am no hype guy, and yes I say it straight as it is, but I hope you caught what I am talking bout, its with music that is lacking which happens as well with all headphones, but with meze its like this, with great recordings you are up high high, with bad recordings you get smashed to undergrounds

So for example I am on tidal, I go listen to infected mushrooms- manipulator or the song return to the sauce, I will be in pure joy mode and no headphone at all can be close to empyrean at this point, and then I go type in the Cure - The only one, I will feel like a truck hit me and lost all my hearing senses. Yes this happens with all headphones, but because you reached the skies with songs like Manipulator that is when you get the shock factor more than any other headphone when you transition from those 2 songs

Now on a second scenario, lets say I get home, fire up tidal and type in U2 where the streets have no name, without listening to good recorded dynamic music, would I enjoy it on Empyrean and listen to it , the answer is no, but i can accept it on hifiman he1000v2

i tried changing cables to an 8 core fully balanced neotech cable all furutech plugs, it improved it a tiny bit

 

[TheDuke990]

I can say this with all honesty, if you listen first to meze to the genres I mentioned and then put on hifiman 1000, you will feel something is wrong with your hifiman 1000, as it will sound so thin and lacking in everything

I have had the same experiences but the other way round. For me the Empyrean sounded a little bit too thick and veiled compared to my other stuff (compared to HD800S, AKG K812, Audeze LCD-X, Stax, Denon D7200, etc.). Okay he never sounds fatiguating but I missed a little bit the energy (clarity) in the mids. I listen to it with the Furutech XLR upgrade cable from Meze and mostly with the leather pads.

 

[LCMusicLover]

Utopia is too thin for metal. SR009s with carbon is thicker and faster sounding. LCD4 is almost fast and clean with the right amp. I will stay with LCD4 seems Empyrean is not good enough for metal.

You should try to hear the ZMF Verite — definitely not thin, and very fast. Not reference sig, more W-shaped — I’ve seen it’s described as Japanese tuning. Pretty good impression of Verite w/ metal here:

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/zmf-verite.890270/page-53#post-14623942

Maybe very hard for you in Europe though.

 

[erik701]

Audeze LCD-4 are one of the best headphones for metal music, trust me. I don't have experience with Empyrean at all, but with LCD-4 you will not make a mistake, of course, when you will drive them with proper amp.

 

[erik701]

By the way, all metal lovers, check this thread:


https://www.head-fi.org/threads/headphones-for-metal-music-ultimate-solution.715478/

 

[ken6217]

Audeze LCD-4 are one of the best headphones for metal music, trust me. I don't have experience with Empyrean at all, but with LCD-4 you will not make a mistake, of course, when you will drive them with proper amp.

That is if you get a good one. Too many inconsistencies from LCD-4 to LCD-4.

 

[erik701]

That is if you get a good one. Too many inconsistencies from LCD-4 to LCD-4.

Yeah, I heard about this issue with LCD-4. I cannot comment on this, as I currently own and ever owned just one pair of LCD-4.

 

[ken6217]

I had pair 1 1/2 years ago and they were very good. I sold them to put the funds for something else. Recently I had debated buying an LCD-4 again and gave a pair a try. They sounded nothing like the ones that I owned. I passed on it. I'll get the Empyrean.

 

[erik701]

I was thinking about purchase of Empyrean, but my wallet was against that at the end of last year. Now, when more and more reviews and comparisons with LCD-4 are being released, I'm not sure, if Empyrean will be step further. Comfort is the only thing, which is claimed to be better by every reviewer, but I don't have issue with comfort or weight of LCD-4, so I'm not going to pull a trigger for now.

 

[project86]

I'll agree with Ken that Audeze headphones are highly variable. It's not just LCD-4, but that one suffers from it more than say, LCD-X in my experience. If you get a good one it can be superb, but there's also a chance you get mediocre or bad example... not to mention reliability can be an issue (not so bad these days but still much worse than Sennheiser, Sony, etc). They can be amazing - I have a "unicorn" LCD-2.2 pre-fazor that I will never give up, plus a very good LCD-3, but it was a long road to find these particular examples. I've had a good and a bad LCD-4 as well.

Hoping Empyrean sounds amazing but also hits those less tangible attributes like reliability, consistency, etc.

 

[Hifiearspeakers]

Do any of you other Empyrean owners think they don’t sound very detailed?

 

[up late]

I have had the same experiences but the other way round. For me the Empyrean sounded a little bit too thick and veiled compared to my other stuff (compared to HD800S, AKG K812, Audeze LCD-X, Stax, Denon D7200, etc.). Okay he never sounds fatiguating but I missed a little bit the energy (clarity) in the mids. I listen to it with the Furutech XLR upgrade cable from Meze and mostly with the leather pads.

i can relate to your impressions

Do any of you other Empyrean owners think they don’t sound very detailed?

i'm not an owner but i posted my impressions earlier in the thread. the empyrean wasn't the last word in resolution or clarity to my ears. there are other totl headphones that surpass it in these areas imo. it did make for a pleasant and non-fatiguing listen tho.

 

[ArthurPower]

I think it would be really helpful if everyone from this point forward when giving impressions of the Empyrean include what amp and other equipment they're using in each post as a reminder and for new readers jumping in. Even though these headphones are fairly easy to drive that doesn't mean they're not affected by what kind of amp is driving them. There's so many different amp designs and topologies used that this is an important variable to consider. I also think we need to find out which amps have the best synergy with these headphones along with what type of music is being used with each combination of gear.

If I've learned anything over the years from this hobby it is the significant difference that ear pads can make, as is already being discussed. It's no different than putting a pair of speakers in different rooms. The acoustics of the room have a major impact on how the speakers will perform. Although we have removed that variable with headphones there's still a lot going on within that inch between the drivers and your ear canal. I would love to see this community come up with a few ear pad mods that improve performance for different genres. No one pair of headphones is going to do everything perfectly, but having some well-documented ear pad mods will make it easy to switch between different types of music and make these headphones even more versatile.

 

[bimmer100]

I think it would be really helpful if everyone from this point forward when giving impressions of the Empyrean include what amp and other equipment they're using in each post as a reminder and for new readers jumping in. Even though these headphones are fairly easy to drive that doesn't mean they're not affected by what kind of amp is driving them. There's so many different amp designs and topologies used that this is an important variable to consider. I also think we need to find out which amps have the best synergy with these headphones along with what type of music is being used with each combination of gear.

If I've learned anything over the years from this hobby it is the significant difference that ear pads can make, as is already being discussed. It's no different than putting a pair of speakers in different rooms. The acoustics of the room have a major impact on how the speakers will perform. Although we have removed that variable with headphones there's still a lot going on within that inch between the drivers and your ear canal. I would love to see this community come up with a few ear pad mods that improve performance for different genres. No one pair of headphones is going to do everything perfectly, but having some well-documented ear pad mods will make it easy to switch between different types of music and make these headphones even more versatile.

I agree, both amp and dac make a difference imo. Enough so with certain headphones it’s very different when switching between my diff setups.

 

[saudio7]

They sounds very good from Dave headphone output, I think it would be hard to find amp which will not compromise on transparency.
I would love to see hybrid pads for Empyrean, this could give best from both.