Brand Overview: Empire Ears
Oh, my sweet little Empire. I wasn't a fan of their previous lineup bar Valkyrie mk1. The house tuning tends to have a bass shelf starting from 1khz which often results in a lot of bloat or smear. This time they've turned the tables around a little with their updated flagships and mk2 lineup.
EVR mk2
8 August 2020
This is so colored and far from what I'd call a vocal reference monitor. Tone is ugh. ESR mk2 has a better midrange. They've butchered the tuning of the previous EVR mk1. Really, really odd midrange.
ESR mk2
8 August 2020
A slightly warm, perhaps mid-centric monitor. Really nice and clear, forward vocal range. Bass and lower mids has that typical CI woofer type of midbass hump, showing some signs of bloat and wooliness. Treble is a little dark and does roll off in the top end (>10khz). While my comments may sound pretty unattractive, it shines when everything is put together with the midrange as its anchor. Decent monitor.
Bravado mk2
8 August 2020
Mud
Hero
8 August 2020
Here we see the typical v-shaped Empire house tuning the most with their new lineup. Shrill vocal range with powerful, forward bass. Lots of rumble and it does carry bloat but I would not describe the Hero as muddy. Works with pop genres but I cant help but feel its too unbalanced with many of my other genres.
Odin
8 August 2020
Okay, this is really good. Very well tuned and untypical of Empire Ears since their house sound often leans towards 1khz bass shelves. This one has a much much cleaner bass shelf but still retains lots of subbass. Somewhat like my own v4 target. Due to the lack of bloat (okay, a SMIDGEN of bloat; non-issue), it already sounds cleaner, much more articulate and accurate with the midrange than any Empire out there. Treble is also very even and extends decently. It really does do every genre of mine well with great technical ability. Tuning is seriously solid as a bass boosted neutral IEM. Bass has good tact, though a little too much for my own preferences but it is well balanced out with clean midbass. Midrange and treble I honestly don't have much to critique other than that it sounds normal and natural. High praise.
Easily one of the very best IEMs I've come across so far. Jack & Dean, if you are reading this, keep tuning IEMs like this.
Oh, my sweet little Empire. I wasn't a fan of their previous lineup bar Valkyrie mk1. The house tuning tends to have a bass shelf starting from 1khz which often results in a lot of bloat or smear. This time they've turned the tables around a little with their updated flagships and mk2 lineup.
EVR mk2
8 August 2020
This is so colored and far from what I'd call a vocal reference monitor. Tone is ugh. ESR mk2 has a better midrange. They've butchered the tuning of the previous EVR mk1. Really, really odd midrange.
ESR mk2
8 August 2020
A slightly warm, perhaps mid-centric monitor. Really nice and clear, forward vocal range. Bass and lower mids has that typical CI woofer type of midbass hump, showing some signs of bloat and wooliness. Treble is a little dark and does roll off in the top end (>10khz). While my comments may sound pretty unattractive, it shines when everything is put together with the midrange as its anchor. Decent monitor.
Bravado mk2
8 August 2020
Mud
Hero
8 August 2020
Here we see the typical v-shaped Empire house tuning the most with their new lineup. Shrill vocal range with powerful, forward bass. Lots of rumble and it does carry bloat but I would not describe the Hero as muddy. Works with pop genres but I cant help but feel its too unbalanced with many of my other genres.
Odin
8 August 2020
Okay, this is really good. Very well tuned and untypical of Empire Ears since their house sound often leans towards 1khz bass shelves. This one has a much much cleaner bass shelf but still retains lots of subbass. Somewhat like my own v4 target. Due to the lack of bloat (okay, a SMIDGEN of bloat; non-issue), it already sounds cleaner, much more articulate and accurate with the midrange than any Empire out there. Treble is also very even and extends decently. It really does do every genre of mine well with great technical ability. Tuning is seriously solid as a bass boosted neutral IEM. Bass has good tact, though a little too much for my own preferences but it is well balanced out with clean midbass. Midrange and treble I honestly don't have much to critique other than that it sounds normal and natural. High praise.
Easily one of the very best IEMs I've come across so far. Jack & Dean, if you are reading this, keep tuning IEMs like this.
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