[hristo]

From what I've heard these are two similarly priced amazing top tier headphones.

Which one of the two has a wider soundstage, is more comfortable and fun to listen to?

I understand that it all comes down to personal preference and I am looking for subjective opinions.

Has anyone of you had the chance to audition both?

Which one would you choose if you had to keep only one and why?

ZMF would probably have a higher resale value as I see Empys sell for under 2k nowadays but let that be out of the equation; let's assume you'd never sell your pick.

 

[Monsterzero]

Two very different headphones. It mainly boils down to what the rest of your chain consists of. If you like to listen on the go out of a DAP or a phone then the Empy will be what you want. Similarly, if you have an entry level desktop solid state amp the empy will still be the one to have.

Now if you are farther along in the hobby and have a full sized tube amp, then thats where the Atrium will pull away from the Meze.

And yes, ZMFs hold their value better.

 

[kumar402]

I agree with @Monsterzero
At one point I had ZMF Verite and Empyrean. Now I have ZMF
Out of good quality amp with higher output impedance, ZMF pulls ahead.
For DAP/ THX amp etc go with Empy.

 

[monkey4054]

I've heard both and preferred the Empyrean personally. Really subjective though. It depends on the sort of music you listen to and how you like it presented.

 

[monkey4054]

From what I've heard these are two similarly priced amazing top tier headphones.

Which one of the two has a wider soundstage, is more comfortable and fun to listen to?

I understand that it all comes down to personal preference and I am looking for subjective opinions.

Has anyone of you had the chance to audition both?

Which one would you choose if you had to keep only one and why?

ZMF would probably have a higher resale value as I see Empys sell for under 2k nowadays but let that be out of the equation; let's assume you'd never sell your pick.

Wider soundstage... probably Atrium
More comfortable.. both very comfortable, Empyrean is lighter.
I've tried both and own Empyrean now.
I listen to metal and rock, mostly modern stuff. Empyrean clearly better suited to those genres.
If you like vocal heavy, acoustic, softer, more mellow stuff... Atrium is the better pick.

 

[Wladimir]

Really no contest, at least with the Atrium Closed. But you gotta feed the Empys with proper gear and especially headphone cable.

 

[tjzurlaaa]

Atrium all day

 

[nexgen]

Really no contest, at least with the Atrium Closed. But you gotta feed the Empys with proper gear and especially headphone cable.

You mean Empyreans are better than ZMF AC for you ? I have Empyreans mark I and do love also musicality pair of ZMF Auteur OG but in technical aspects Meze are better no doubt. I wonder if Atrium Open will be a significant upgrade over Meze Empy in any meaning ? I have no way to try AO other than by purchasing it.

 

[Wladimir]

You mean Empyreans are better than ZMF AC for you ?

The thing about Empyreans is that they're scaling extremely well with the gear. You could search this literal formulation on this forum, how many members (with some high/ultra-fi systems) have said this or something similar.

The myth that they're easy to drive comes perhaps from the fact that they can get loud easily and they never sound straight up bad. But speaking from my experience with ZMF AC, they sounded dull/closed/suffocated/boring compared to my Empys (running stock leather pads). But it takes one hell of a system for them to really shine. I mean, not only thoroughly cleaned up power delivery, but also resonance management of each analog and digital component and its power supply, up to the power filter and modem/router.

Invest rather in your chain to get most of your Empys, for low investments you could achieve big result, especially in the resonance management. Don't forget that each system sound as good as its weakest link, so don't skip on quality cabling as well - AC, DC and also ethernet play a huge role. Then if possible, try to implement Diretta in your chain before your DDC. Or even better - build your own Diretta Endpoint instead of that DDC. I can give you some guidance and tutorial how to do it, this would transform your experience to another level.

 

[nexgen]

The thing about Empyreans is that they're scaling extremely well with the gear.

I can confirm it too. xDuoo XD05 Pro is great combo but much better as alone DAC. When I paired it with Aune S17 Pro I was impressed how much Empyreans rised. They scale very good with better (and propably more powerful) amp. My desktop setup is endgame for me so I do not plan to change/add anything in future but thank you for you kind proposition.

Also thank you for description of comparision AC to Empys. Open version should sound more open, airy and engaging but if there are no much technical or timbre advantages so I'll probably skip buying them.