Thank you to headphones.com for the opportunity to participate in the Empyrean tour, and to Tyler for organizing and running a good show!
To cut straight to the chase, these were the best headphones I have ever experienced for any satisfactory length of time under ideal conditions. In my collection I have the likes of the LCD-2 (2020 Fazor), the HD6XX, and the Elegia, along with the respectable cans like the HE400i, HD560S, and the M1070. The Empyreans were at another level entirely. I found them to be highly dynamic and detailed, but never fatiguing. It will be hard to un-hear these.
Those who have previously testified to the luxurious build, light weight, and comfort were not exaggerating. The fully swiveling and spacious cups, the form-fitting head strap, and the quiet and secure friction height bars, were the best designed and implemented system I have yet encountered.
I tested these phones on two listening stations. The first was my desktop system, consisting of a Mac connected to an iFi iDSD Black Label DAC/Amp at 24-bit, 96KHz. Software used included Rogue Amoeba SoundSource with its parametric EQ and abundance of presets from the AutoEQ project. I listened to local files anywhere from hi-resolution FLAC, to maxed out MP3s at 256-320 kilobits/sec. I settled on the PEQ setting based on Crinacle’s measurements, and disabled xBass and 3D+ on the Black Label.
The second was my bedside rig. Here I used the line out from my DAPs such as the Shanling Q1 and ZiShan DSDs, connected to a Schiit Loki Mini+ tone control like to a Schiit Vali 2 tube amp. I added something like 3dB of bass using the Loki. I actually found that little-to-no EQ was actually necessary. Just a little seasoning to taste with the bass knob.
In my opinion, both systems provided ample power to drive the headphones to loud volumes without ever having to exceed twelve o’clock on the knob at normal (iFi) or high (Vali) gain settings.
Starting with the desktop I dove straight into some of my favorite tracks. I went with a bunch of songs from The Alan Parsons Project first. Not only do I love this band to death, these albums contain some of the best recorded and mastered material available. The bass and drums rhythm at the start of I Wouldn’t Want To Be Like You sounded pristine and tonally correct, making the LCD-2 sound somewhat smoothed over by comparison. The spooky jungle-sounding special effects at around the 2 minute mark of Games People Play were exactingly detailed and suitably atmospheric.
I delved into electric guitars with AC/DC’s Angus Young, because, who wouldn’t? The epic, bombastic Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap and Problem Child were highlights. When Angus wildly descends the fret ladder to his crescendos, well, this is a reminder of why classic rock will never go out of style. Analysis went out the window soon enough listening to these guys. Bon Scott’s vocals were exactly how you’d want them, although they did seem to fade in and out ever so slightly, reminding me why the HD6XX will never depart my collection when it comes to vocals.
Speaking of vocalists, when I headed off to the bedside I decided to let some of my favorite female vocalist play. I started off with my Shanling Q1 with its ES9218P Sabre DAC and chose Jenni Vartiainen as the opening act. I got through the first album, but sensed something wasn’t quite right. I played it again using the ZiShan DSDs and its AK4497 DAC, and lever looked back. For these headphones, I decided that the AKM DAC sounded subjectively better that the ESS DAC.
Jenni’s voice usually results in multiple eargasms of delight, and these sessions did not disappoint. The very beginning of Suru on Kunniavieras is a perfect example of what she does that does it for me every time. Following her was fellow Finn Tarja Turunen. Tarja is a classical-trained opera singer turned Metal goddess. Her post Nightwish compositions such as Victim of Ritual, Lucid Dreamer , and Mystique Voyage from Colours in the Dark contain richly layered and complex passages that can bring many headphones to their knees in submission. Not these Empyreans, though. In Tarja, they found their muse. I continued on with Kate Bush, Stevie Nicks, Heart’s Wilson sisters, and a few others before finishing with the incomparable Tori Amos’ breakthrough Little Earthquakes album. Here, not only her sweet southern voice, but also her relentless rocking piano were the stars. Yeah, I could have listened to Tori’s whole discography and never once been let down by these headphones.
This is starting to turn into a novel, and since I’m not being paid by the word (or at all for that matter), I’ll bring these observations to a conclusion by once again saying thank you to headphones.com for loaning them to me, and to anyone who took the time to read this paean to the Meze Empyreans. Now about that second mortgage to fund the purchase of these for myself…