Meze Empyrean

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

  1. Pharmaboy

    Pharmaboy Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    May 3, 2018
    Likes Received:
    2,464
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Goshen, NY
    In the spirit of full disclosure, I, too, am older: have tinnitus & no doubt some roll-off of treble. I prefer somewhat warm, euphonic headphones. Over my ~4 years in this hobby, I've learned to appreciate headphones that are more resolving & accurate in the upper mids & treble, though a little bit much is way too much for me in that regard.

    This is not a new thing. Years ago w/a big 2-channel system, I preferred exactly the same sonic profile, including use of tube amps & preamps. It had taken me a good 5 years of expensive sonic unpleasantness before that to realize what I liked/needed...after that, smooth sailing. My comparison standard for any audio equipment, then and now, is how close it gets to the sound of real acoustic music in a good performance space. That's actually an impossible standard, but some gear gets satisfyingly close.

    Re frequency graphs: every headphone I like has curves that deviate from flat (or what passes for flat in headphones)...as do headphones I don't like at all. I've tried & failed to hear correlation between graphs and actual sound. Maybe I just lack experience & need to hear more headphones.

    No doubt this has to do with uniquely personal psychoacoustic setting of headphone audio: the headphone/ear/brain interface.
     
  2. Hands

    Hands Overzealous Auto Flusher - Measurbator

    Staff Member Pyrate MZR
    Joined:
    Sep 27, 2015
    Likes Received:
    12,285
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Colorado
    Home Page:
    Do you, by chance, have measurements for the HE1000?

    The Empy reminded me of a bassier HE1000 with slightly more agreeable treble. Though I can't remember which pads they had on it at the time.
     
  3. Hrodulf

    Hrodulf Prohibited from acting as an MOT until year 2050

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 28, 2015
    Likes Received:
    4,276
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Just wen't through the database. Here's the HE1000se.

    Screenshot 2019-02-19 at 11.59.09.png
     
  4. k1arg

    k1arg Facebook Friend

    Contributor
    Joined:
    Oct 12, 2015
    Likes Received:
    153
    Trophy Points:
    43
    Location:
    London, UK
    Can I just say that I really miss the Sonarworks "simulate" function for doing such comparisons. ;-)
     
  5. chi2

    chi2 New

    Joined:
    Oct 24, 2015
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    1
    If this is what it seems, that is left vs. right channel, 10 dB difference at 6 and 11 kHz is hefty. For individualized compensation curves no big problem to deal with but how do you treat such an imbalance when wanting to build a general HE1000SE compensation? The next pair could be just the other way around.
     
  6. Hrodulf

    Hrodulf Prohibited from acting as an MOT until year 2050

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 28, 2015
    Likes Received:
    4,276
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Yeah, it sucks that we had to remove it. I had big plans to get the devs to do a mix-n-match feature where you can listen to any headphone on your system. However Crutchfield has the patent on this and we would hate getting sued.

    We don't. If the sample-to-sample variation is too large then we don't create an average profile. We've measured over 6000 headphones so far (not all of them different models, mind you), yet we've created a little over 300 average profiles.
     
  7. Hands

    Hands Overzealous Auto Flusher - Measurbator

    Staff Member Pyrate MZR
    Joined:
    Sep 27, 2015
    Likes Received:
    12,285
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Colorado
    Home Page:
    Oh my stars, my memory was right when I heard the Empys as a fatter/bassier, less treble fucked (mostly low treble) version of the HE1000.
     
  8. Elnrik

    Elnrik Super Friendly

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Jan 10, 2017
    Likes Received:
    8,973
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Denver CO
    Home Page:
    WTF

    First, I'd like to say you're a freak of nature.

    Second, I think this is strange as hell because I don't really care for the he1000 but I really like the Empy.
     
  9. Pharmaboy

    Pharmaboy Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    May 3, 2018
    Likes Received:
    2,464
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Goshen, NY
    "treble fucked" (love it!)

    Never heard the HEK, so wouldn't know. But did hear the Susvara at CanJam (twice). And "treble-fucked" is a great way to describe it.

    (I'd pay $6K to not listen to that)

    PS: I'm a big fan of the Empyrean.
     
  10. MisterRogers

    MisterRogers Ethernet Nervosa

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 27, 2015
    Likes Received:
    2,063
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    Aurora, CO
    Home Page:
    Truth.
     
  11. Hands

    Hands Overzealous Auto Flusher - Measurbator

    Staff Member Pyrate MZR
    Joined:
    Sep 27, 2015
    Likes Received:
    12,285
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Colorado
    Home Page:
    Treble problems? Add bass, probably sounds more enjoyable. Tone down some of that treble + add bass? Probably still more enjoyable.

    HFM has weird stuff going on in general even ignoring frequency response.
     
  12. Ice-man

    Ice-man Friend

    Pyrate Banned
    Joined:
    Oct 12, 2015
    Likes Received:
    3,455
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Empy loaner? Of my top five guys I trust, my #2 guy says the Empy is his #1 headphone. Need to hear this one.
     
  13. Rowethren

    Rowethren Acquaintance

    Joined:
    Oct 6, 2018
    Likes Received:
    34
    Trophy Points:
    18
    Location:
    United Kingdom
    I have had the Empyreans for a couple of weeks now and I think I have decided upon the leather pads as the vocals sound more prominent. The bass is really slamming so songs with repeated fast bass drum kicks sound phenomenal, almost hit as hard as the real thing, the bass just feels so hefty I love it!

    The treble and mids are nicely detailed and never harsh but at the same time I never feel I am missing any of the detail which is perfect for my preference.

    The sound stage is nice and wide, you really get that out of head feeling with well recorded tracks, certainly far better than the Ether Flows I had before hand, it is very easy to pick out each instrument as well if there is something specific you want to listen to in a particular song.

    Interestingly the FR seems very similar my K10 CIEMs which I also love and similar to my Monitor Audio Platinum PL100 II setup. I guess I like bass lol...

    My only real complaint is that the stock cable is incredibly stiff. It feels like a 240V power cable which is pretty poor for something attached to your head! Thankfully I got a cable I already owned re-terminated to mini XLR so that resolved that issue.
     
  14. EndGame

    EndGame New

    Joined:
    Mar 15, 2019
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    3
    Location:
    South Jersey
    Listening to an Empyrean was the highlight for me at the recent CanJam in NY. Absolutely phenomenal headphones. And what actually blew me away more than the sound (which was excellent) was the build quality and comfort. The design is brilliant and, no exaggeration, they are THE most comfortable headphones I’ve ever worn. The clamp and weight distribution is better than any set of cans I’ve put on my (massive) head. I could easily see myself wearing these all day without the slightest bit of fatigue. I have an order in for a few Empyreans as I prepare to build a new high end personal audio store and I couldn't be more excited to spend time with a set for myself.
     
  15. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

    Staff Member Pyrate BWC
    Joined:
    Sep 24, 2015
    Likes Received:
    89,778
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Padre Island CC TX
    ^ After having them in my house for about a week, I have to say that I disagree with you on just about everything.

    I've finally made up my mind that the Empryrean are kind of sucky from a sonics and ergonomics point of view. The build looks nice, very artistic and attractive/
    1. Sonics are weird:
      1. f**k-ton o' bass. Tried both leather and soft velvet pads. I prefer the leather pads because of the presentation is a bit tighter. The softer pads sound more bassy and mushier. My issue is too much bass. Like a fuckton of bass. I've been trying not to cuss as much, but yeah. It's so much that I have to say fuckton. There's a hole in the upper mids with really screwed up peaky distorted highs.
      2. Horrible timbre: Besides the peak, the timbre is so bad that they remind me of Ultrasone's crappier stuff from 8 years ago with high-frequency mosquito effects.
      3. No synergies: One can mitigate the highs with slightly rolled sounding 300B tube amp, but the 300B's lower bass and midrange bloom make the lows all sorts of bloated and muddy. On the other hand, a neutral tight solid-state amp will do wonders for the lows (still a lot of bass) but makes the highs shitty as can be and possibly more so shitty.
      4. Thin-sound / bad ergo: As an aside, I have heard a few reports (private) that these sound thin and lean. I did not have this experience. However, I have a theory about why this is. The headband is fricking wide! People with big heads like me will have no problem with the seal. However, people with smaller / narrower heads may have an issue with a proper seal at the top given how the cups swivel and the angle which they attached to the rotation point.
    2. Ergonomics are middling:
      1. Overly big / bulky. Pretty as they may be, they just seem overly big. They feel bigger than the Verums already given the gimbal and swivel mechanism on the outside of the cups. The pads are overly thick and make the headphone wide with too much weight on the periphery. I feel like I need to turn my head slowly, otherwise, the inertia will twist the headphones off.
      2. Sharp edges. There is a little bit of sharp edge where the outside plastic cover meets with the inner cup that houses the driver. This unacceptable for a near $2800 $3000 headphone.
      3. Hard to adjust gimbals. The gimbals are a tight friction fit. It's a bitch grabbing the thin headband with one hand while exerting significant effort with the other to lower or raise the gimbals.
      4. Cheap mini-XLRs. Ever used cheap China imitation XLRs or Neutrik Speakons? Yeah. This is how they feel.
    And I thought the Verums were big and bulky!
    upload_2019-3-31_13-56-28.png

    NOTE:

    I already took measurements with the leather pads. I have the soft pad measurements incoming and at a glance I am not sure they are consistent with @Vtory's. It's possible there may be some sample variation. But what I have is simply not listenable.

    Impressions are now taking into account the price point at $2800 $3000. I actually thought it was $800.
     
    Last edited: Mar 31, 2019
  16. cskippy

    cskippy Creamy warmpoo

    Pyrate MZR
    Joined:
    Oct 14, 2015
    Likes Received:
    3,999
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Tempe, Arizona
    Wow WTF!

    I didn't get a chance to hear them but lol at the size. Geez...
     
  17. brencho

    brencho Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Dec 18, 2015
    Likes Received:
    7,978
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    LA
    Yeah these look and sound kinda like what you might expect from Batman's motorcycle thing from the Nolan Dark Knight trilogy.

    L_468569_db8a8417.jpg
     
  18. Galm

    Galm Still looking for Little Red Riding Hood

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Feb 17, 2017
    Likes Received:
    372
    Trophy Points:
    63
    Location:
    East U.S.
    I don't think I've posted this here but I think it could be interesting so viola.

    So when I first heard these things at Canjam NYC last year I heard 3-4 different pairs and... They were *all* over the place. The first one I tried broke almost immediately with a left driver cutting out. The second pair sounded horrendous.

    At that point I'm not even sure why but I tried a third pair and I thought it sounded vastly more impressive. The third unit was good enough I wanted to try one on my system, though I never got around to it.

    I know this was when they were still "tuning" them. But it makes me wonder if there are a lot of duds or big drastic differences between units. If that is the case, it's still no excuse and would be pathetic at the price point.

    I mostly adding this because I think one of the pairs I heard sounded pretty dead on to your description. Bad. But I also remember thinking one unit sounded pretty coherent and full sounding.
     
  19. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

    Staff Member Pyrate BWC
    Joined:
    Sep 24, 2015
    Likes Received:
    89,778
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Padre Island CC TX
    This is good to know. Based on measurements and impressions from long-time members and even Jude who I regard as untrustworthy or noob 65% of the time, I'm more apt to believe in some product variation. I'd said this before: if it sounds and measures differently (past normal thresholds), then it actually is different!

    upload_2019-3-31_14-42-13.png
     
  20. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

    Staff Member Pyrate BWC
    Joined:
    Sep 24, 2015
    Likes Received:
    89,778
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Padre Island CC TX
    Oh, and I have no idea who RINARO is. This is really bad because now I think RINARO makes crappy inconsistent sounding drivers. I know who Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, and Ronald McDonald are, but no idea who is Rinaro. Maybe there is a better iso driver company named Mezzi.

    upload_2019-3-31_14-45-34.png
     

Share This Page