I finished writing the main part of my EE HERO review. Pictures and comparisons are still missing, so please consider this a first draft…
Intro
Meet the latest entry in Empire Ears (EE) broad range of in-ear monitors (IEMs), the Hero. At a retail price of $1349, it sits somewhere in the middle of their offerings.
The HERO belongs to EE’s X Series which is, as far as I understand, mainly targeted at consumers rather than professionals. Those are covered by EE’s EP, or Empire Professional Series.
Specifications
4 Proprietary Drivers, Hybrid Design:
- Universal in-ear monitor
- 1 Next Generation W9+ Subwoofer - Sub-Bass/Bass
- 3 Proprietary Balanced Armature Drivers - 1 Mid, 1 Mid-High, 1 High
- 4-Way synX Crossover Network
- A.R.C. Resonance Mitigation Technology
- Impedance: 17.6 Ohms @ 1kHz
- Frequency Response: 5 Hz - 40kHz
- Sensitivity: 105dB @ 1kHz, 1mW
- Handcrafted Alpha-IV 26AWG UPOCC Copper Litz Cable
Disclaimer
My review consists solely of my own thoughts, opinions and impressions of the product. All pictures were taken by myself unless stated otherwise.
Review gear
-
Burson Audio Conductor 3X Reference (main testing source)
-
Astell & Kern SP1000M DAP
-
Cayin N8 DAP
-
Cayin N6 II DAP with E02 module
-
Empire Ears Alpha-IV cable (2.5mm balanced)
-
Satin Audio Medusa II cable (2.5mm balanced)
Music selection/Testing playlist
Voices, midrange, acoustic guitars etc.
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
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 black or 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.
Build quality & Fit
IEMs
The build quality of the HERO is simply excellent. They look flawless with no visible seams between faceplate and in-ear. In the past I refrained from anything IEM related that was not metal. I felt that plastics are just cheap. So when first buying an IEM made of resin, I was dumbstruck, as it did not look cheap at all, on the contrary. Same goes for the HERO. They just look classy in my opinion.
Fit and comfort, at least for my ears is very good with rather long nozzle enabling a good seal for me. Hence the IEMs do not sit flush in my ears but stand out a couple of millimeters, which is no problem for me.
Cable
EE are using a variation of Effect Audio’s Ares II which they call Alpha-IV or simply A4. 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 super small y-split. Yes, that cable looks gorgeous in my opinion.
What I don’t like so much is the rigidness of the cable. When I first removed it from the package, it took me some time to straighten it out. It’s still rigid and, for me, flexibility, especially for an IEM cable is an important factor. I clearly prefer softer, more flexible cables. I gave the feedback to EE and I am curious if other customers had similar remarks or if I am the only one.
However, cable noise is at an acceptable level / no issue. Soundwise I have no complaints whatsoever. After all, EE tested A LOT of cables. I saw the pictures of their workshop with I-don’t-know-how-many cables hanging and lying around, so here again, they went through a lot of trouble to find the best match.
Sound
Let’s come to the bread-and-butter now, shall we?
Overall tonality
I consider the overall tonality of the HERO as musical/emotional rather than analytical with very good impact and detail. I believe the goal was to create an IEM that delivers a fun experience across various genres. It’s definitely not made to dissect music but rather to enjoy it.
Treble
Acoustic- and electric guitars sound clear and detailed throughout. I really enjoy the representation as I listen to a lot of acoustic guitar music and rock music in particular. There’s certainly no lack of sparkle and detail for sure. I would describe the treble representation as slightly forward/emphasized. Since I don’t do measurements, I cannot back that impression up with data though.
This slight treble emphasis occasionally leads to a certain sibilance, most apparent in “s”- sounds, depending on the music and source (DAC/AMP/DAP) that is used. Sometimes it’s barely noticeable and sometimes it is. It will also depend on how sensitive a person is in that regard.
Midrange
Voices, male and female alike, are just so slightly pronounced and overall quite enjoyable. The midrange to me seems rather balanced and unspectacular in a positive sense. I don’t miss anything and I don’t hear anything special there, apart from the aforementioned slightly forward voice representation. It’s certainly enjoyable to listen to acoustic/unplugged recordings with the HERO.
Bass/Sub-bass
Thanks to the excellent “Weapon-9+” subwoofer that is also found in the Odin, the HERO naturally excels in this department.
There’s not too many IEMs out there with this kind of impact and sub-bass rumble for sure, making orchestral soundtracks, live sessions, Hip-hop and basically any kind of recording with a good dynamic range a treat. If you’re the kind of person that enjoys just having some fun time without worrying about a neutral representation, the HERO will tick all boxes in that regard. It’s almost on a similar level with EEs Legend X here, being (in)famous for punching deep and hard.
Soundstage
I would describe the soundstage on the Hero as rather average than large. Recordings like Alice in Chains “MTV Unplugged” from 1996 feel like you are part of the audience standing right in front of the stage in a small club rather than being in a large theatre. This gives me a more intimate feeling which I quite enjoy. Listening to Anneke van Giersbergen’s “Symphonized” album, the stage is larger but not huge. I guess it depends on a persons preferences really.
Channel separation
Channel separation is good, slightly above average I would say. I heard in-ears with a much more pronounced separation making for an almost uncanny listening experience at times (EEs own Legend X for example). Again: this is very much up to personal preference. I personally like the HEROs capabilities in that regard.
Neutrality
The HERO certainly is not an in-ear that I would consider neutral. It emphasises bass and treble but leaves the midrange pretty much untouched making for a colorful, fun experience.
Amplification/Matchability/Scalability
The Hero certainly scales well with the source and is not particularly hard to drive.
I would recommend using a rather “warm” source over a more neutral one mitigating the effect of the occasional sibilance.
Going from the Burson to a Cayin N8, in balanced mode there is noticeably more bass and sub-bass impact. Moving to tube-output, the bass is tamed a bit and becomes more civil. As one would assume, sibilance becomes less of an issue here as the tubes do what they’re supposed to do. In single ended (solid state) mode, some of the massive energy from balanced is lost, retaining the same overall tonality.
When I first listened to the HERO on my Astell & Kern SP1000M, I did not particularly like the synergy as the Sp1000M, while being an excellent device, has a tonality that leans closer to neutral than, say, the Cayin DAPs. I guess the Burson desktop DAC/Amp sits somewhere in between. That being said, I did listen with the SP1000M with the HERO fresh out-of-the-box, so no burn-in time.
I did a little cable-rolling as well and switched from EE’s Alpha-IV cable to Satin Audio’s Medusa II (259,-$), just out of curiosity. I don’t want to go into details here, but let’s just say that you can tune the sound of the HERO further to your liking with a bit of experimenting on that side.
As of the time of writing this review, the HERO still has below 10 hours of usage, so I will give it a bit more time for either my ears to adjust and/or the IEMs to burn-in, however one might prefer to call it.
Comparisons
…work in progress…
Empire Ears Legend X (2200,-US$)
Empire Ears Odin (3400,-US$)
Shozy Pola 39 (850,-US$)
Verdict
The HERO is a fun IEM rather than a surgical instrument. Still, there is plenty of detail to be discovered. It inherits some of the DNA from Odin as well as the fun factor of the Legend X. Is it as good as those two? No, but at 1000 or 2000 $ less respectively, I guess that cannot be expected. The HERO scales well, so “more power” certainly does not hurt and with the right source (and cable), you can pretty much tailor the sound to your liking quite a bit.
And I don’t regret it.
