Hi Folks,
Just received the Empyrean. I'm listening to it out of a Windows PC and an ALO PanAm tube amp that I find has a tendency towards slight brightness. I've only been listening for an hour, but I do feel I'm starting to get a handle on the sound. Obviously, I wouldn't put too much stock in my description as the unit is not broken in and I'm not yet using on my highest quality amplification. I have listened to a variety of music, symphonic metal, brass band, easy listening. I think the headphone is competitive with other flagships. I would say the sound is pretty balanced, clear, full, and impactful. I might prefer a touch more crispness, especially in the upper frequencies, as I feel that a touch more upper midrange and treble would be a good thing. While overall clarity is very good, I think it's not the absolute clearest I have heard. I would not describe the unit as euphonic (in the sense of having lots of bloom), but it strikes me as musical. Is it as sharp or clear as a Utopia? I haven't compared directly, but my gut says not quite. I would say the sound is pretty natural though. There are no obvious frequency anomalies, but I would probably describe the headphone as having a very slight warmth in the lower midrange, but not to its detriment and not overtly obvious. Some 'high-end' headphones annoy me with an artificial boost of lower midrange. I do not feel the Empyrean is artificially boosting lower midrange, nor do I feel it is congested. That said, the slight warmth probably holds it back from being as clear and transparent as I would like - but it is still reasonably good in these regards. The unit does seem to have me turning the volume up more than I would with a brighter headphone. This could be reflective of a very slightly laid back upper midrange. But I should be clear - I do not find the upper midrange to be lacking significantly, but in my opinion it is shy of neutral - certainly, I do not think folks would accuse the headphone of being bright in the upper midrange. I am listening with the leather pads. I have not yet tried the others. The headphone is pretty comfortable thus far, but I would prefer a system that would allow me to slide the cups precisely the same on each ear. There are no indents on the sliding mechanism. Overall, I am enjoying the headphones quite a bit. I'll provide additional information if I detect changes over time or if I detect substantial benefit from using a higher quality system.
PS - Piano and drums, and sax sound very good. I might like my trumpet to have a slight bit more bite to it, but trumpet is pretty good sounding too. The headphone is also capable of presenting a powerful sound on rock.
I do not generally hear the sound as muffled like some have said, though on rare occasion the warmth might cause a little bit of that sensation - but not with most of the music I have heard thus far. I also think the sound is fairly large and I would say the sound is neither recessed or overly forward, but if someone asked and I had to choose, I would describe as more forward than recessed.
I realized I did not comment on bass. I prefer neutral rather than bass-heavy sound. The Meze Empyrean bass is very good quality. It's well balanced, tight, present, but not bloated. While I would not characterize it as punchy in the sense I do not feel it pressurize in my ears, I do think it is very good in terms of quantity and quality. It's very satisfying to me.
One other thing - I am sensitive to channel imbalance but the Empyrean sounds perfectly matched between left and right channel - though I have not run the specific tests that would confirm this. in conclusion, I am impressed overall, thus far. For reference, other headphones I am familiar with include Utopia, Stax L700/009, Final Audio D8000, and Hifiman Susvara, Accoustic Research AR-H1, Brainwavz Alara, Quad ERA-1, Senn HD800(S). The fact that Empyrean is competitive with these says quite a lot.
Update - as I play, it is occurring to me that it lacks a little bit of 'air' around the instruments. Not too bothersome, but noticeable to me.