Empire Ears Valkyrie - Official Thread

[Resolve]

The Empire Ears Valkyrie is a hybrid driver style IEM using a dynamic driver for bass frequencies, a balanced armature for the mids and an electrostatic driver for high frequencies.

Tech Specs:

• Drivers - 3 Proprietary Drivers, “Tribrid Design” (1 W9 Subwoofer, 1 Mid, 1 EST High)
• Estat Technology - Empire Intelligent Variable Electrostatic Control
• Technology - 4-Way SynX Crossover System, A.R.C. Resonance Mitigation Technology
• Impedance - 3 Ohms @ 1kHz
• Sensitivity - 96dB @ 1kHz, 1mW
• Cable - 26AWG UPOCC Litz Copper/UPOCC Silver Hybrid Cable, Handcrafted By Effect Audio

First impressions:
I mentioned to @taronlissimore that I think the Valkyrie sounds like a “spicy Campfire Solaris”, and I think I’m going to run with that. To be more specific, this is a V-shaped IEM that demonstrates the “guilty pleasure” concept isn’t mutually exclusive with exceptional performance. The dynamic driver gives it solid punch in the bass, much like the Solaris - if not slightly more so. Then there’s substantial midrange recession, more dramatic than the Solaris, as well as a bit more treble energy. The treble is well-extended, again much like the Solaris, however there’s also a slight 5khz peak that affects percussive instruments ever so slightly. Without even looking at the frequency response, that 5khz elevation is immediately recognizable on the Valkyrie, and this is why I like to call it a bit ‘spicy’. It’s just an extra little bit of energy that personally isn’t quite to my taste, but I can still see it being a desirable quality to some.

In spite of it not being totally my preference, it’s really good as far as performance goes, and the tonality is still quite agreeable for modern genres (an EDM lover’s dream?). In fact, while I’m able to find a few things to nitpick, there’s far more that this IEM gets right, and it’s easily one of my favorite Empire Ears IEMs. For anyone wanting something similar to the Solaris just with a bit more flare to it in the treble, the Valkyrie is worth a serious look.

[Resolve]

Just adding my impressions video here:

[toranku]

The Valkyrie has some of the best bass I’ve heard in an IEM. Particularly its subbass response as it hits & rumbles suuuuuper low. To balance it out, Empire tuned for more 1-8khz response which (imo) balanced it out nicely. It’s a bit like how Hyla chooses to tune their IEMs.

[antdroid]

The Empire Ears Valkyrie is one of the newer IEM models from the company’s X-Series of monitors. The Valkyrie is $1599 and is a tri-brid, 3-driver setup with a dynamic driver woofer, a balanced amature, and a Sonion Electrostatic Tweeter (EST) driver. This along with the Wraith are two of the tribrid IEMs that Empire Ears released in 2019.

I joined a Head-Fi tour of the Empire Ears Wraith and Valkyrie and being the last one of the tour, as of writing this, I was quickly sent these two units. I’d like to thank Empire Ears and Barra from Head-Fi for allowing me a chance to try these out.

Accessories & Build/Fit

The Valkyrie comes with in an average sized box with very cool drawer compartments much like the Sony IER-Z1R but on a smaller scale. It comes with a metal carrying case, a nicely braided Effect Audio Eros II cable, and a set of Final Type E tips and cleaning tools. I found the cable to be nicely made and looks attractive, however I did not like how springy it is which makes it a little hard to maneuver and hold in place.

The Wraith and Valkyrie differ a bit in design and size. The Valkyrie has a thinner shell which is a little lighter and easier to wear. It also has a spectacular green/blue/red shell that glows in different lighting, much like oil’s rainbow refraction glow in sunlight. My photos in this review do not do it justice. In comparison, the Wraith looks rather boring and bland.

For the review I opted to use my own 4.4mm and 2.5mm balanced cables to make use of my various sources. For the sources, I used a mixed bag of digital audio players and desktop gear. The following are the combinations of gears I tested with:

• Astell & Kern Kann Cube
• Sony NW-ZX507
• Astell & Kern SR25
• Samsung Galaxy S10e
• iFi Zen Dac + F. Audio AM01
• Schiit Bifrost 2 + Schiit Jotunheim

Sound Impressions

The Valkyrie is undoubtedly a V-Shaped IEM with powerful bass and elevated treble. There is no denying that at all. But can I change my perception of V-shaped IEMs? That’s hard to say. Most of the time, I can’t stand this sound signature because typically the bass is overbearing to the point that it becomes muddy and bloated, and then the treble has such a large rise that it becomes overly shrill and sibilant.

In the case of the Valkyrie, I find the bass to sound really nice to be honest, but the treble is just beyond my breaking point in many types of music I enjoy.

When I first put these things on and strapped on some EDM music, my first initial reaction was, wow I feel like I am at a rave again, something I haven’t personally gone to in at least 6 years. Boombastic bass and shrilly treble that made my ears want to bleed. But it’s kind of fun too, like a guilty pleasure in some ways.

But, I took them off. And then I tried them on again, with different music. This time some indie rock and bluegrass – my staple of Civil Wars, Chvrches and Alison Krauss. Chvrches’ music had great thundering bass, but with so much emphasis in upper frequencies on their songs, I was a little fatigued right off the bat. With Alison Krauss and Civil Wars, I had a very forward sense due to the amount of string instruments and female vocals at play. Unfortunately with these types of music, I find that the female singers do sound a bit too shrill and too unnaturally bright.

So I removed them from my ears again. Disappointed and wanting to write them off again.

And then I decided, let’s try rock music. Playing “Rooster” by Alice n Chains, I found that the V-shaped signature does wonders here with emphasis on the low end bass and metal guitars. Playing Radiohead however was a slightly more mixed bag, since again, I found the treble region to be just a tad too much, and was left with more fatigue.

I took a day off from the Valkyrie. And then slapped them on with rap music. I flipped my Sony ZX507 to Common’s Be record, and instantly enjoyed this from start to finish with the Valkyrie. There’s not a lot of upper range on this album except the occasional distorted female vocals like in “Testify” or the harmonics of drums, but for the most part, this album plays it simple and with the elevated low end and pinna gain, I actually found this to be a winning combination.

I can’t say this is necessarily true for all rap music though, as I do find some bands like The Roots with ?uestlove’s drumming to sound a little harsh, but in general, I do find it does well with rap and hip hop music for my taste, and also for the most part electronic dance music, as long as it’s recorded pretty well.

Wrap-Up

I really didn’t go into a very thoughtful and concise description of my sound impressions on this review as I typically do, but that’s because my experience with the Valkyrie is just that way, not typical. I don’t know if I really like it – actually I know I don’t really like it, at least not enough for me to purchase it myself, but I definitely see the appeal of this set. It has a fun sound. It’s a guilty pleasure, and it has technical chops to carry a sound signature I usually think of Beats or something first.

But the Valkyrie please it well, and there’s no bass bloat and no muddy sound for the most part. At least not to the level of my typical expectations of a V-Shaped sound signature. It doesn’t do every genre right, and in fact, I can’t stand it for most of my normal everyday music, but it does take me back to a younger self where my music tastes were more aligned with stuff that suit this IEM more so than my current everyday listening.

Take these impressions as however you like. I think it’s a very pretty and stunning IEM, with a sound signature that isn’t for everyone, including myself, but I definitely can see people enjoying this one. For me, I need to the try the Legend X for a guilty pleasure IEM (i.e. bass but less treble).

[Tom_Ato]

Time to revive the thread…

[Tom_Ato]

Review of Empire Ears VALKYRIE MKII (2021)

Intro

Meet the latest entry in Empire Ears (EE) broad range of in-ear monitors (IEMs), the VALKYRIE MKII. At a retail price of $1599, it sits somewhere in the upper midrange of their offerings.

The VALKYRIE MKII belongs to EE’s X Series which is mainly targeted at consumers rather than professionals. Those are covered by EE’s EP, or Empire Professional Series.

Specifications

3 Driver, Tribrid IEM Design:

• Universal in-ear monitor
• 1 Next Generation W9+ Subwoofer - Sub-Bass/Bass
• 1 Proprietary Balanced Armature Driver - Mid
• 1 Premium Electrostatic Driver - High, Ultra High
• 4-Way synX Crossover Network
• EIVEC - Empire Intelligent Electrostatic Control Technology
• A.R.C. Anti Resonance Compound Technology
• Impedance: 3.0 Ohms @ 1kHz
• Frequency Response: 5 Hz - 100kHz
• Sensitivity: 100dB @ 1kHz, 1mW
• Handcrafted Alpha Hybrid-IV (AH4) 26AWG UPOCC Copper Litz, Silver Litz
  4-Wire Cable

Disclaimer

My review consists solely of my own thoughts, opinions and impressions of the product. I paid for the tested product, it was not given for free. All pictures were taken by myself unless stated otherwise.

Review gear

Burson Audio Conductor 3X Reference (main testing source)
Cayin N8 DAP
Cayin N6 II DAP with E02 module

Music selection/Testing playlist

Voices, midrange, acoustic guitars etc.

Tenacious D - Tenacious D - Wonderboy
Marily Manson - The Pale Emperor - Day3
Chris Jones - Moonstruck
Sara K. - Hell or High Water - I Can’t Stand The Rain, Stars
Ana Tijoux - 1977 - Partir de Cero

Channel separation

Tenacious D - Tenacious D - Kielbasa
NIN - The Downward Spiral - Hurt
Johnny Cash - The Essential - Ring of Fire
Stephen Coleman - Westworld Season 2 Soundtrack - C.R.E.A.M.

Soundstage, treble, electric guitars etc.

Alice in Chains - MTV Unplugged - Rooster
Korn - MTV Unplugged - Freak on a Leash
Anneke van Giersbergen - Symphonized - Feel Alive
Howard Shore - The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - Blunt the Knives

Dynamics, bass, subbass

The Diary - The Gentle Storm - Endless Sea |Gentle Version|
Wardruna - Runaljod: Ragnarok - Tyr
Hans Zimmer - Man of Steel OST - Look to the Stars
Hans Zimmer - Pearl Harbor OST - Tennessee
Ice Cube - Raw Footage - Gangsta Rap Made Me Do It
Andreas Vollenweider - Vox - Enchanted Rocks

Packaging & Accessories

The packaging for all Empire Ears (EE) products is more or less the same which to me makes sense, because it shows consistency throughout their whole range. You get a very nicely designed white cardboard box with the Empire Ears Logo and the name or logo of your particular product. It’s not too big or small and radiates class and style. It consists of an outer “slider” cover and a sturdier inside box.

Once you open the magnetic flap of the box inside you find a compartment with a quick manual and a “thank you” card from EE congratulating you to your excellent purchase Underneath looms the IEM and cable ready for you to rip out and enjoy the music. A classy drawer underneath reveals an aluminum sheet containing various Final Audio silicon tips to choose from. The great thing here is that Empire Ears not only gives you the standard S, M and L sizes but XS, S, M, L and XL instead, which simply gives you a wider range of tips to match to your ears.

As my ear-canals are slightly different in size, it makes it easier for me to get a good fit. However, I would have wished for a selection of foam tips as I generally prefer foam over silicon. The included tips work well though.

Josh from EE told me that the tips were meticulously chosen for the best sound- and comfort experience through rigorous testing and since I had a lot of discussions with him, I can see that EE are very dedicated to delivering the best possible product to their customers. I could honestly feel the dedication which, at least for me, makes for a good brand experience.

Last but not least you get EE’s phantastic Pandora case, a black aluminum capsule to safely transport your precious in-ears. It’s built like the proverbial tank and is engraved with Empire’s logo and the name of your product.

Build quality & Fit

IEMs

The build quality of the VALKYRIE MKII is simply excellent. They look flawless with no visible seams between faceplate and in-ear. The VALKYRIE MKII’s look stunning with their so-called “Dragonhide” faceplate which I believe to be more or less the same as on their first iteration.

Fit and comfort, at least for my ears, is good and I get a good seal as well with the included silicon eartips. People with small ears (mine are average) should test first as these are rather big IEMs.

Cable

EE are including their copper/silver hybrid cable Alpha Hybrid-IV (AH4) with this one. You get to choose from 3.5mm single ended or 2.5mm balanced. I always go for balanced but that’s my personal preference. It’s a beautiful, classy and well made cable and I particularly like the sleek connectors and beautiful copper y-split.

I think it suits the VALKYRIE MKII very well. Unlike their Alpha-IV copper cable, this one is actually quite flexible hence wearing comfort and usability are good. Cable noise is reasonably low as well.

Sound

How does VALKYRIE MKII stack up in the sound department?

Overall tonality

This one is a very engaging and emotional in-ear monitor (IEM) rather than an analytical one. It delivers massive impact and very nice detail. The VALKYRIE MKII was clearly developed with pure fun in mind hence it is not for lovers of total neutrality.

Treble

Acoustic- and electric guitars as well as other string instruments sound nice and clear with good, silky smooth detail. I read about a certain harshness and sibilance of the first Valkyrie. That is absolutely not the case here. Like I said, the whole upper frequency range is very smooth throughout, making for a fatigue free listening experience.

There seems to be a slight treble emphasis making certain instruments like strings and guitars stand out. I found it a pleasure to listen to rock, acoustic rock and metal in particular but the VALKYRIE MKII seems to play nice with other genres as well.

Midrange

Male and female Voices are slightly pronounced but less so than the instruments mentioned in the treble paragraph. This can lead to the band/orchestra stepping into the foreground a bit. Good thing is, vocals are never subdued and remain nicely separated. I consider the midrange as rather balanced and unspectacular in a good way.

Bass/Sub-bass

Empire Ears implementation of their next-gen “Weapon-9+” subwoofer does it’s duty in the VALKYRIE MKII and boy, it does so with full force. My first thought was: “This is direct competition to EE’s excellent Legend X!”

Depending on your source, the VALKYRIE MKII’s pump a staggering amount of sub-bass into your ear canals. I noticed this in particular with Cayin N8 and N6II.
I actually had to turn down the volume once or twice while listening to sub-bass heavy music. Using a more neutral source like my Burson Conductor 3XR review unit, that bass impact is mitigated quite a bit. Don’t get me wrong: This is PURE FUN indeed. Call it “guilty pleasure” if you will, but I personally don’t use that term, because there’s no guilt involved in enjoying your music, right?

Soundstage

The soundstage is really good for an IEM. In fact, you get a nice sense of space around you and you get an idea about what/who is where in a live recording situation. It’s not overdone though, so more intimate recordings will give you just this intimacy necessary to enjoy them.

Channel separation

Channel separation is very good but not overdone. To my taste just the right amount.
Nothing more to say.

Neutrality

The VALKYRIE MKII is not a neutral IEM by any stretch. The massive bass and enhanced treble are designed for pure fun. This is not a dissection instrument but something that wants to move you, lift you to your feet and just enjoy your music.

Amplification/Matchability/Scalability

The VALKYRIE MKII will take the source it’s attached to and use it to full potential. Also, this is one of the few IEMs where different sources do have a big impact on its overall sound signature, so you should certainly test it with your existing equipment. While Cayin DAPs like the N6II or N8 will give you the full blast and glory of VALKYRIE’s Weapon 9+ subwoofers, more neutral DAP’s like the Astell & Kern ones will tame that bass quite a bit, resulting in a more relaxed sound signature.
While testing, the Burson desktop DAC/Amps provided a very good synergy with lots of detail, well controlled bass and nice stage.

Comparisons

Empire Ears Legend X (2199,-US$)

When I first listened to the VALKYRIE MKIIs, I thought “Hey, they sound a lot like the Legend X (LX) for less money. Did Empire Ears incidentally build an inhouse competitor preying on LX customers? Well, yes and no. In fact this is a good example on how memory can betray you and the only way to know for sure is to do a quick memory refresh. Fortunately I had my LX at hand to do so.

Switching to the Legend X, there are some similarities within the family, but the difference is apparent. The LX still delivers the most bass impact regardless of using the “old” Weapon 9 subwoofers, because it actually has two of them per side!

The soundstage on LX is larger and seems almost 3-dimensional. I said it before: The LX is the most intense listening experience with any in-ear monitor I ever had.
This can be good and bad depending on what you like.

Let me put it this way: The LX is pure adrenaline pumping through your veins like you’re some extreme sports junky jumping out of a plane holding your breath. The VALKYRIE MKII will give you a nice adrenaline boost too like downhill skiing at high speed always knowing you’re in control. Does that make any sense?

So this is not simply pitting a $1599 IEM against one that’s $600 more expensive and the latter wins. It’s purely about preference.

(One last thing worth mentioning is that the LX is much smaller than the VALKYRIE MKII making it potentially the better option for people with small ears.)

Verdict

The VALKYRIE MKII are actually very very good IEMs for the asking price, in fact I consider them excellent value for the money! 1599,-US$ is by no means cheap, but you get wonderful sound quality across all frequencies with an emphasis on sub-bass performance AND very good detail. You’re in the market for a fun IEM without sacrificing audiophile qualities? Grab ‘em and enjoy the “guilty pleasure”, but pleasure it is.

Pros

• Engaging, detailed, fun sound with massive bass and sub-bass
• Silky smooth treble
• Very good detail and stage
• Beautiful (subjective) and well made IEM and very good cable
• Excellent price-/performance ratio

Cons

• Massive bass and sub-bass could be overwhelming for some (can be mitigated with source matching)

[prfallon69]

Another excellent review Tom. I have to agree with you that these are really beautiful iems. Blue is my favourite colour and for this reason these are probably the best looking iem’s I’ve come across.

[Tom_Ato]

Thank you Paul!
When you see them live the colors change depending on the viewing angle. Really pretty. (And hard to photograph ) Soundwise I was really suprised as the reviews of the first Valkyrie were quite mixed.