[Zhang Enyuan]

mha200 Perfect push EMPYREAN Is the best ear amplifier I have ever met Replace Big Golden Lion

 

[BenSherman]

Please share some photo of your Empyrean with OTL-8XT, I beg they look stunning when pair together.

Here you go! The Miltra is stunningly built. It's a work of art. And Krzystof at Miltra is a gentleman to deal with.

I'm going to hold back on my review until my Ares II arrives tomorrow!!

 

[mynamesjeff]

Has anyone tried Lavricables Silver Cable with their empy? Looking at the Grand Line potentially.

 

[Dalmonegrig]

Has anyone tried Lavricables Silver Cable with their empy? Looking at the Grand Line potentially.

Lavricables Grand 20 core silver (4-pin XLR)

 

[Moose246]

Courtesy of The Cable Co's lending library program I recently tried out three premium headphones:
- Meze Empyrean
- Audeze LCD-4z
- Focal Clear MG

My gear is a combination RME ADI-2 DAC, sometimes using a THX AAA 789 amp. Also have An Oppo DV-980H player with a Yamaha A-S500. Mojo for mobile.

Current headphones are variety....HD650, HE-400i, DT 177x GO, Fostex TH900mk2. Wanted to try out some of the big dogs to see if the improvement would be worth the price to my, admittedly, technically unqualified ears.

I have to say they all most certainly were. However, the Empyreans won me over the most. Don't get wrong, the Audeze and Focal's were incredible....it's a bit like comparing a Ferrari, Lambo, and 911 Turbo - I'd gladly take any of them.

I like a warm signature...liberal u shape EQ. Don't listen to any classical, jazz, vocal, EDM....exclusively rock and pop. Everything from Zeppelin/Who/Beatles to DMB/Elton John/U2 to Metallica/Slipknot/Tool.

The Audeze and Focal's had what I'd call a very similar sound signature while the Meze quite different. The best way to describe is that it sounded as if the sound, particularly vocals, were being projected via metal tunnel. More "tinny". The Meze sounded much warmer and realistic to me. The former 2 pairs probably had more detail retrieval but not by a wild amount. I imagine the highly technical listeners may like that characteristic....flatter EQ, hearing every little nuance, "as the artist intended"....and I can appreciate that. But the Meze just sounded better and more enjoyable - less fatiguing on my part.

So I picked up a pair of Empyreans - should be arriving tomorrow. Now considering cable options, because why not. I could see complementing them with a highly technical pair of headphones for the times when maybe I want to do critical listening vs just sitting back to chill. Maybe a pair of Utopias or something. Glad I was able to audition the different models since I may not have chosen the Meze otherwise. I was also surprised how different each was.

 

[Moose246]

Lavricables Grand 20 core silver (4-pin XLR)

What are your thoughts on this cable?

 

[Kevintj604]

What are your thoughts on this cable?

If you're looking at cables for the Empy you should be looking at the PCUHD:

https://mezeaudio.com/collections/accessories/products/balanced-silver-plated-pcuhd-upgrade-cable

Easily the nicest cable i've ever tried and stunning in look and feel. These elevate the Empyrean quite a bit.

 

[Moose246]

If you're looking at cables for the Empy you should be looking at the PCUHD:

https://mezeaudio.com/collections/accessories/products/balanced-silver-plated-pcuhd-upgrade-cable

Easily the nicest cable i've ever tried and stunning in look and feel. These elevate the Empyrean quite a bit.

I think these are essentially the same cable as the Lavricables mentioned above. I guess that's the question...is there a difference among manufactures, or products they use, or is silver silver. To my ears I likely wouldn't be able to tell the difference, and the prices are basically the same.

Haven't read a bad thing about silver cables with the Empyreans yet.

 

[Kevintj604]

I think these are essentially the same cable as the Lavricables mentioned above. I guess that's the question...is there a difference among manufactures, or products they use, or is silver silver. To my ears I likely wouldn't be able to tell the difference, and the prices are basically the same.

Haven't read a bad thing about silver cables with the Empyreans yet.

It depends on what you're buying the cable for. I'm buying for aesthetics, build quality, ergonomics as well as sound quality. Lavricables don't really scream premium to me and to be honest I don't know if they'd be a big enough upgrade for me to bother.

For Empy I'd be looking at color matching with a Norne Drausk or higher and buying that or either Meze silver or copper cables. The hand braiding in Furukawa is noticeable and the cable feels and looks unbelievably premium.

 

[Dalmonegrig]

What are your thoughts on this cable?

take a look here

 

[Moose246]

With the credit I have at cable co (they charge 5% of retail for the loaners, which is non-refundable but can be applied to product) I'll pick up the silver coated PCUHD Meze branded cable. I also ordered a Arctic Magnus Series. Will likely try the pure silver route at some point, whether it be Arctic, Norne, or Lavricable. I'm intrigued by the Lavri's.

On another note, I've been running the Empy's quite a bit - this is the pair I've been waiting years for. They fit my preferences perfectly....I can't put 'em down.

 

[The1Signature]

i am very happy with my empyrean. so far, i use it ONLY with the shanling m8.

however, i wanted to buy a desktop dac / amp.

i started reading about some options here and there.

1 questions that comes to my mind is:

i do have the silver upgraded meze cable - balanced. so i listen ONLY balanced.

people recommend the RME ADI2 DAC. but is not balanced.

so they add the Monolith THX 887 to it as a stack.

however, do i really need both when i do only balanced anyway?

so i am wasting all the resources of the RME ADI2 DAC when using it just as a dac right?

hence, a combo of Massdrop x Grace Design Standard DAC + Monolith THX 887 maybe achieve the exact same output (and would be cheaper and would really use the resources)?!

 

[Dalmonegrig]

i am very happy with my empyrean. so far, i use it ONLY with the shanling m8.

however, i wanted to buy a desktop dac / amp.

Burson Audio Conductor 3X Reference

 

[The1Signature]

I recently upgraded my temporal amp/dac combo from iFi micro BL to RME Adi-2 Dac FS (holy crap the naming of hifi is just absurd) and I sm now really, I mean really impressed with the Empyrean. I am still liking the alcantara pads more, I feel like the alcantara + silver upgrade cable and the RME all balance things out that I am not missing anything from the Empyrean. At least not for my usage which is mainly electronic music, movie scores and some classical. I also game with the Empyrean and they perform there as well.

Really really satisfied. I have rarely been this impressed with a pair of any gear, there seems to be always something missing but no, not with these.

i would like to buy them as well but i am really searching for a balanced cable option here.

 

[Ichos]

Get an SMSL 200 stack or FiiO K9 Pro.
Of course there are other numerous options from iFi to Schiit etc.