[PopZeus]

I've had a pair of Empyreans for over a year, but it has never been my go to headphone. What amp/dac should I try pairing it with?

I’m considering the Burson Soloist as an upgrade. GSX mini is another highly regarded pairing but it’s not quite right for my setup,

 

[bpiotrow13]

I've had a pair of Empyreans for over a year, but it has never been my go to headphone. What amp/dac should I try pairing it with?

It all depends where (in terms of sound) You would like to go. For more spacious sound some use burson conductor 3, for a bit of tubey flavour (but not muddy at all) some use feliks euforia. Many options possible, but You need to know what You would like to achieve first.

 

[bpiotrow13]

The reason for the sharpness you mention can easily come from the DAC/amp pairing. In general the Empyrean is not harsh at all. Rather smooth in fact.

I have heard ZMF are treble shy in comparison to Empys, but never listened to ZMF myself. I compared Empys to Audeze lcd 3f and despite being a bit more bright Empys are definitely more smooth (treble is not piercing). But this is very subjective and one may feel some harshness where others do not. For myself i was surprised by lcd3f that i found them harsh despite being darker than empys.

You can certainly limit harshness with cables and dac. Cardas parsec is a good cable with this respect. R2R DACs as well. I personally have just bought Neko d100 DAC. Not sure if i will keep it, it is still burning in, but it seems it is a harshness killer

Interesting comment about ZMFs being less bold. @TheMiddleSky is that "bold" difference significant? I guess it is because planar drivers.

 

[OneEyedHito]

Silver cables have more of an immediate change on sound over amps (in the sub $1500 range) with Emps. I’ve gotten a better soundstage and overall frequency range to my ears with silver cables and several different amps. Soloist, Conductor 3xp, RME ADI-2, HoloAudio Azure, Naim Uniti Atom HE, Magni, THX, WA6, and probably a few others. Amps weren’t as big of a difference as pure silver cables. Wait I already said that

 

[Tanalasta]

I wasn’t a believer in cables until I moved into serious territory where even on A/B they made a difference. The Meze silver plated cable really should be the stock cable with the Empy. There’s still a slightly dark tonality.

I enjoy the Empy with Chord.

 

[fuhransahis]

I have heard ZMF are treble shy in comparison to Empys, but never listened to ZMF myself. I compared Empys to Audeze lcd 3f and despite being a bit more bright Empys are definitely more smooth (treble is not piercing). But this is very subjective and one may feel some harshness where others do not. For myself i was surprised by lcd3f that i found them harsh despite being darker than empys.

You can certainly limit harshness with cables and dac. Cardas parsec is a good cable with this respect. R2R DACs as well. I personally have just bought Neko d100 DAC. Not sure if i will keep it, it is still burning in, but it seems it is a harshness killer

Interesting comment about ZMFs being less bold. @TheMiddleSky is that "bold" difference significant? I guess it is because planar drivers.

Funny, I have the complete opposite experience. I've owned the Auteur and currently own a Verite Closed, I've found both to have greater (very noticeably so) treble presence and extension, and I found the Empy to be less dynamic than either of them.

I did note the shoutiness of the Empy during certain tracks at first but that went away with burn-in (owned the Empy for a month).

 

[TheMiddleSky]

I have heard ZMF are treble shy in comparison to Empys, but never listened to ZMF myself. I compared Empys to Audeze lcd 3f and despite being a bit more bright Empys are definitely more smooth (treble is not piercing). But this is very subjective and one may feel some harshness where others do not. For myself i was surprised by lcd3f that i found them harsh despite being darker than empys.

You can certainly limit harshness with cables and dac. Cardas parsec is a good cable with this respect. R2R DACs as well. I personally have just bought Neko d100 DAC. Not sure if i will keep it, it is still burning in, but it seems it is a harshness killer

Interesting comment about ZMFs being less bold. @TheMiddleSky is that "bold" difference significant? I guess it is because planar drivers.

"Bold" in this context rather fuller sound coming from upper bass / lower mid area with darker treble. imagine if you choose "bold" text on ms excel, everything becomes thicker.

Actually Verite produce more treble than the Empyrean, but like I wrote I heard some harsh/shouty on specific upper mid area, while the treble area is completely butter smooth.

These result came from some set up like Questyle CMA 12M, Chord Qutest + GSX MK2 / Wells Milo Vishay, or direct from Hugo 2. In general, I don't think Empyrean is a picky headphone to matching the set up. Could be my ears sensitive on these range of frequency maybe?

I'm completely aware Empyrean famous for its butter smooth and full body presentation, and not many people talk about the "shouty" things here.

 

[Ichos]

"Bold" in this context rather fuller sound coming from upper bass / lower mid area with darker treble. imagine if you choose "bold" text on ms excel, everything becomes thicker.

Actually Verite produce more treble than the Empyrean, but like I wrote I heard some harsh/shouty on specific upper mid area, while the treble area is completely butter smooth.

These result came from some set up like Questyle CMA 12M, Chord Qutest + GSX MK2 / Wells Milo Vishay, or direct from Hugo 2. In general, I don't think Empyrean is a picky headphone to matching the set up. Could be my ears sensitive on these range of frequency maybe?

I'm completely aware Empyrean famous for its butter smooth and full body presentation, and not many people talk about the "shouty" things here.

I can hear what are you saying in certain tracks.
There is a peak around 3-4kHz followed by a steep roll off.
This combination can make things rather shouty under certain circumstances.

 

[betula]

I can hear what are you saying in certain tracks.
There is a peak around 3-4kHz followed by a steep roll off.
This combination can make things rather shouty under certain circumstances.

Treble sensitivity in my experience seems to vary a lot individually. That is the reason why some treble sensitive people can't agree sometimes if a headphone has troublesome treble or not. Our ear canal and hearing is unique, some might be sensitive to 6K, 7K, or 10K specifically and have no problem with 200-300Hz up or down from their sensitive spot. 'I have a treble sensitivity' is like saying you have an allergy. Alright, but what kind of allergy, sir?

 

[Jonwch]

I can hear what are you saying in certain tracks.
There is a peak around 3-4kHz followed by a steep roll off.
This combination can make things rather shouty under certain circumstances.

Being sensitive to treble myself, after swapping to the TT2 from the iFi micro BL, I did notice slight fatigue after listening for a while. The BL smoothed over these peaks and made them a lot less noticeable, the TT2 being as revealing as it is brings basically everything out, that being said I'm extremely sensitive to treble, so what I usually do is add a bit of EQ to tone that area down. Having done that the TT2 and the empys are absolute sonic bliss, notably the dynamics and staging are to die for.

 

[Ichos]

Most people are sensitive from 4 to 6 kHz and that is why a lot of manufacturers usually boost the 7-10 kHz area to add detail and brilliance without the sound becoming very harsh.

Of course I agree with @betula that there is a great variation regarding mid - treble sensitivity.

For example a lot of people including me find the HD650 fatiguing.

I am not very sensitive to frequency variations but I am very sensitive in the away that affect timbre.

 

[betula]

Most people are sensitive from 4 to 6 kHz and that is why a lot of manufacturers usually boost the 7-10 kHz area to add detail and brilliance without the sound becoming very harsh.

Of course I agree with @betula that there is a great variation regarding mid - treble sensitivity.

For example a lot of people including me find the HD650 fatiguing.

I am not very sensitive to frequency variations but I am very sensitive in the away that affect timbre.

I might have a specific treble sensitivity that can be narrowed down to a certain frequency, but I haven't bothered to figure it out yet.
All I know is that I can't stand overly bright headphones with a punchy, harsh and sharp treble. I just follow my ears and pick the headphones that I like: usually on the darker, smoother side when compared to the average. That said, I like natural treble detail which is not forced, I like a thicker, meatier sound with good texture and timbre. And I like my bass powerful and as clean as possible, but never overpowering. I love dynamics and clarity too.

 

[Ichos]

I might have a specific treble sensitivity that can be narrowed down to a certain frequency, but I haven't bothered to figure it out yet.
All I know is that I can't stand overly bright headphones with a punchy, harsh and sharp treble. I just follow my ears and pick the headphones that I like: usually on the darker, smoother side when compared to the average. That said, I like natural treble detail which is not forced, I like a thicker, meatier sound with good texture and timbre. And I like my bass powerful and as clean as possible, but never overpowering. I love dynamics and clarity too.

My exact preferences!!!

 

[betula]

My exact preferences!!!

It might not be a coincidence that we are in the same thread.

 

[bpiotrow13]

Funny, I have the complete opposite experience. I've owned the Auteur and currently own a Verite Closed, I've found both to have greater (very noticeably so) treble presence and extension, and I found the Empy to be less dynamic than either of them.

May be, as mentioned, i have not listened to verite. Meze may be less dynamic (even muddy) with some amps but if paired with the right amp this is not the case. This is all subjective obviously.