I have the Aeon 2 closed and I don’t think you can compare it against the Empyrean it’s in a different class, if you want to compare against a closed back Headphone then it should be either the Focal Stella or ZMF Verite.
No, you'd look to compare it to a closed back more in its price range/class like the Celestee. I have both the A2C and Stellia and the Stellia is clearly superior in every way save for the fact it weighs a bit more and its headband can make some creaking noises. The fact it is superior should be no surprise given the huge price difference.
When it comes to the A2C, I've had it since early Feb 2020 and while I think the sound is nice, the build quality has come up quite short for the price:
-Within a few weeks, the paint was starting to flake off on the little folding arms despite mine supposedly being made after this issue was fixed. I never dropped or scraped them against anything...just flaked off on its own.
-The right ear pad is a bit deformed compared to the left and this started not long after I got them. Doesn't seem to impact sound quality though yet still annoying. I've tried to roll it and all that jazz yet it doesn't fix it.
-After around the 5-6 month mark, I noticed some weirdness started where the sound would become low in the right ear and this would crap everything to the left. I sort of fix this by undoing the connections. I thought it was a sign the driver was about to completely die yet it hasn't and it's usually a case where if this happens, I can get it fixed and it is fine for the rest my session.
-About 2 weeks ago, a piece of the plastic on the part that connects the head strap to the wire band snapped off on one of the wires. I can still snap the wire into the piece so it still holds everything yet this cracked without me dropping them or anything else to cause this to happen. I also don't use the headphone all that much these days.
All these I am sure could be fixed under warranty yet as I live in Canada, it's not the most convenient thing to have to send it to California and since they aren't things that cause me the inability to use the headphone, I will live with them, especially with me not using this as my main headphone. What I do know is this is my first and last DCA purchase and while I may enjoy the sound quality, I would not recommend this to others now. I did recommend it here back a year ago (if there's an ability to search the thread based on username, people will see my posts) yet all these little issues has changed that for me.
As for why I would not buy another DCA product, it's just not worth the potential hassle of sending something down there (especially California of all places given I am in Ontario so it's quite the distance) if there is a major problem and I thought having something that is more hand made would have better build quality and reliability yet it's been the exact opposite as every other headphone I have ever owned has not had a problem.