Meze Empyrean

Discussion in 'Headphones' started by 9suns, Mar 22, 2018.

  1. Thenewerguy009

    Thenewerguy009 Friend

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    I think $3k.
     
  2. phaeton

    phaeton Acquaintance

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    umh.. so same as HEKv2 and very close to the MSRP of the Utopia....
    must sound better than an HEKv2 then, otherwise it will have an hard life....
     
  3. ufospls2

    ufospls2 Friend

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    Ok. So after reading a google translated chinese link, and head-fi, this appears to be what Meze is considering for the final package. $3000USD also seems to be the final price.

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    Dark grey colour, hard shell case, two cables, two pairs of pads.

    I kinda like the copper grills more, but it does look nice in grey as well. $3000USD for what appears to be solid build quality and materials ought to have Hifiman taking a good hard look at themselves. I know they won't, but still...

    I wonder how it sounds vs. the new HE1000SE and HE1000V2, as those seem to be its competitors in terms of pricing. My local headphone shop sells Meze, so I hope I can get my ears on a pair of these once they are released :)
     
  4. m17xr2b

    m17xr2b Friend

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    Out of the HPA4 they did have similarities to the HD650M and in some areas an upgrade. Same ballpark type of signature, a hint of warmth but neutral overall. Deeper bass without the mid hump of the senns, improved controll, similar mid smoothness and grainless, slightly less detail but I was using the wywires platinum on the senn so cables may be a factor, quite spacious. On my setup the HD650 scale far more than the canjam setup and beats it in every way. Still for around 3K I would rather got the Stratus/Af/ECP and HD650. A much better investment long term.
     
  5. netforce

    netforce MOT: Headphones.com

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    Got a rough estimate of shipping the first batch, checking to see if I can share it next week.

    $3k is the confirmed price.
     
  6. FallingObjects

    FallingObjects Pay It Forward

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    Does the 20% headfi2.5 code work for this too? (/sarcasm)

    The finish on the cups is really pretty tho, do have to say.
     
  7. Hands

    Hands Overzealous Auto Flusher - Measurbator

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    Copy/Pasta my RMAF thread impressions on these to keep discussion alive here:

    Meze Empyrean - Pretty good overall, though I didn't find it to be a highlight like some did. Pretty good, but not great, and too expensive. I found the bass and mids to be a little too thick and bloomy overall, and the highs seems a littlerough and scratchy. So, while the tone was overall kind of warm and thick, the timbre left something to be desired even if subtle in its etch. It was kind of like an HE1000's sound signature, but with a fuller sounding low-end and a much less rough and bright sounding top-end.

    However, I only tried these with the velour pads, so I can't speak to how they sounded with the leather pads. The pads were insanely comfortable, but the suspension strap headband somehow started to hurt the top of my head in short order. I found that odd. Maybe it was a fluke.
     
  8. Jinxy245

    Jinxy245 Vegan Puss

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  9. Hands

    Hands Overzealous Auto Flusher - Measurbator

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    Did he stop using compensated results or something? Nonetheless, too few data points to say definitively, but FR looks pretty good on paper.

    But a couple guesses on my end:

    1. Scale makes these look less bassy than they are. These sounded thick when I listened to them. Otherwise they were fairly well behaved except for a mildly rough timbre.

    2. That the midrange distortion looks dirtier than the HD800 worries me that these will fall apart with louder listening, much like many of the HFMs that show increased distortion when driven loudly. Also could contribute to the mildly rough timbre I heard. Subtle stuff like that can creep through in surprising ways.

    Of course, more data points needed, as I said. And maybe FR and THD will look good, but CSDs will look like ragged ass. That's always a possibility.
     
  10. Elnrik

    Elnrik Super Friendly

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    Those are also using the suede / microfiber pads. When I demoed them, I preferred the leather pads. With either pad, I definitely would not say they sound like an HD800 with better bass and no 6K spike - which is what that graph pretty much makes the Empyrean out to be.

    Much fuckery going on with those measurements, I think.

    Regardless, I liked the headphone a lot despite it being "thick" sounding. (My inner basshead child giggled from all the bassyness.) It seemed similar to the Atticus in some ways, with a more behaved FR. Maybe I'm alone in that opinion, but that's the only way I can think to word it.
     
  11. Magnetostatic_Tubephile

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    Empyrean would only make more sense to me than your suggestion in case of exceptionally neutral frequency response (taking good SQ as granted at the announced price point). Tonally neutral headphones are still rare to nonexistent (HD650 not quite up to the task IMHO) while you can find plenty of excellent sounding and measuring amps out there. Headphones are by far the most important (and problematic) part of this hobby to my ears.

    Yes, Jude probably now in the middle of "research" for a new target FR curve. The latest Focal graph also posted without any compensation.

    Would be great to have the headphone reviewed and measured by SBAF, along with Ether 2 (and maybe even Verite and Aeolus). Why headphones got so expensive lately? I guess its time to start donating more to SBAF funds...
     
  12. raducutzu

    raducutzu New

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    For what I could understand, he said that the metal mesh of the earpad would push the stray magnetic field back towards the driver, therefore increasing its efficiency.

    It may very well be mumbo-jumbo, but for God´s sake, the guy is Ukrainian, too, give him some credit, bro ;)
     
  13. Ithilstone

    Ithilstone New

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    hmm just to chip in - as far as I know that "guy with beard" is from Romania and not Ukraine
    also and the way he worded it makes it sound like proper BS - i think what he meant though is not the ear-pads but grill shape/material and it was just language barier.
    - still sceptical about it but need to say Empyrean sounds rather nice ;]
     
  14. PhilW

    PhilW MOT: Audio Concierge

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    Yeah I'm certainly looking forward to my pair arriving. These are the best headphones for 2018 in my opinion.
     
  15. m17xr2b

    m17xr2b Friend

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    Best overpriced headphone of 2018 in my opinion. They do sound good tho.
     
  16. raducutzu

    raducutzu New

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    As a Romanian myself, all I can say is that the bearded guy is not Romanian, but Ukrainian, he must be some sort of spokesperson for Rinaro, the driver manufacturer in Ukraine.
     
    Last edited: Nov 30, 2018
  17. Pharmaboy

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    I'm kinda late to this party. Heard two different pairs of Empyrean at CanJam NYC in February (different colors--no other differences) and everything about this headphone knocked me sideways: it's physically beautiful, a real art object, and I loved the sound.

    Acoustic memory being imperfect...I remember it as a somewhat warm, bassy, very musical planar sound. No brightness (at all), big, expressive midrange, very nice, tinkly treble. Soundstaging wasn't my focus, but it didn't seem on the intimate/focused/precise side--larger than many headphones I heard that day. The kind of headphones I have trouble taking off. They instantly sounded wonderful to my ears.

    I've been jonesing about this one ever since that day. The gold screens on dark grey = gorgeous.
     
  18. HAL9000

    HAL9000 Almost "Made"

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    @Doina will Meze be at CES? If so, what is the booth number?
     
  19. cutter

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    Meze will be at Canjam New York in 16-17 February
     
  20. Lyander

    Lyander Official SBAF Equitable Empathizer

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    @Doina isn't currently doing stuff for Meze, if memory serves. Personal stuff came up and someone else is taking on her tasks at the moment. Shooting them an email and asking if they'll be signing up here :)

    Got a reply, they won't be at CES. Shame about that .
     
    Last edited: Jan 10, 2019

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