Meze Empyrean over-ear Headphones - Official Thread

You can choose which termination you want when you order an Empyrean. So you could request the stock cable terminated to XLR4 without extra cost.

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Yep, Taron told me later. It’s part of my Edit 2 :slight_smile:

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Good points, driftingbunnies! I do not doubt that some MSB customers use the XLR. But I still maintain that the engineering itself is much more important than SE vs balanced. There is superb SE gear out there and I’m sure that there is crap balanced out there, too. Something else I’m thinking of is that I just got a new tube phono stage and tube line stage preamp from Keith Herron at Herron Audio. He’s somebody else who believes in SE and that’s all that’s available in his gear. Check out mentions of his stuff online, and yeah, it really is as good as everybody says it is; it rocks my world! Highly recommended! The phono preamp is $3600 and the line stage preamp is about twice that much. I guess ‘SE vs Balanced’ goes along with ‘Tube vs SS’ and ‘analog vs digital’ - gives us all plenty to talk about!! It’s all good!! :+1::headphones::notes::bangbang:

Until there are balanced ended triodes, I will abide by all derivations of single ended triodes. Sarcasm.

I concur.

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Sorry to disappoint, but there’s no way I’m going to equal @driftingbunnies’ amazing review. :slight_smile:

I just had my turn in the Empyrean world tour and demo’d the headphones for four days. I’m coming to this evaluation from a very inexperienced place, I think this was only the second time in my life I’ve ever listened to planar-magnetic headphones and the only other time was a pair of LCD3s for just a few minutes in an audio shop’s showroom. I’m comparing the Empyrean against my only other “real” headphones which are some Drop HD6XX and my daily drivers which are a pair of Focal Stellia (see my previous review here).

For gear I was driving the Empyrean with a Focal Arche, a Monoprice Monolith THX AAA 887, and a Topping DX7 Pro. I used my MiniDSP ears simply to level-match the output when comparing tracks across the headphones.

The first thing I noticed is that these are by far the most comfortable headphones I’ve ever worn. After wearing my Stellia pretty much all day, every day for the past year I was reminded how wonderful a lighter-weight, open-back headphone can be. The one caveat to this comfort is that my completely boring and average-sized head fit inside at the absolute smallest setting of the Empyrean. My girlfriend, who I’ve always considered to also have a very normal and average sized head couldn’t wear them comfortably at all, the ear cups ended up sitting low on the sides of her face and the drivers were not even close to being well-aligned with her ear canals. After reading how proud Meze are about the array layout in these headphones it was sort of surprising that they appear to have only accounted for particularly large-headed listeners:

Her earlobes got the full force of the headphone’s “power focus” until we folded up a hand towel and put it on top of her head to offset the headphone adjustments.

The tonal choices in the Empyrean were immediately obvious, and it was remarkable to hear the more forward bass and mids as compared to the treble-focused Stellia that I am used to. I dug out my old, trusty “wonky bass” tag in Roon and really appreciated the alternative presentation from the Meze. I focused on tracks that make excellent use of bass but not necessarily “bass heavy” tracks, I think that’s where you can really explore how a headphone’s tone and delivery do or do not contribute to the overall listening experience. In some cases (Alta’s Thylacine for example) the bass was truly great and I preferred the Meze over the Focal just because of the fuller presentation. But other tracks like Bob Moses - Stealing Fire I wasn’t actually that impressed. The bass was full but muddied and smeary. With that track in particular I was worried maybe I was just exposing limitations of the recording, but comparing against non-headphone listening with good floor standing speakers and subwoofers I don’t think that’s the case, I think the Meze just didn’t do a very good job with that song’s particular non-impact bass riff. The empyrean just lost a bit of the musicality of the track.

What I found was that the stronger bass was very evident, but I can’t honestly say I preferred that over my Stellia. At least in this case, the equivalent price points do seem to really correlate. They were different, for sure, but I struggle to point in either direction qualatatively. Different but similar?

The soundstage seemed about as narrow as I find the Stellia (also not really stunners in this regard) and wasn’t anything particularly impressive. The much, much stronger bass and mids were fine insofar as it was, but maybe I’m just not a really “bassy” headphone guy? Without the thump in my chest I just didn’t find it compelling enough to have lost the crystal clear highs from the Focal. No aspect of the Empyrean really stuck out for me. They were exceedingly competent, very comfortable, but I wasn’t sad to box them up and ship them out to the next person in line.

I will say that my girlfriend strongly preferred the Meze to my Focal, so that’s a counterpoint.

I know if I had gone from 6XX to Empyrean I’d be singing their praises right now. They’re capital-G good headphones and I think worth their cost. But they weren’t as amazing as I’d hoped they might be and if I did have them in my collection I think I might struggle to add them to the rotation for any reasons beyond just physical comfort.

I think that there is a listener who would be very happy with these headphones, but that listener probably isn’t me. I don’t think I’ve done a great job with this review, but fundamentally I’m just not feeling a lot of enthusiasm for them. They were good. I’m glad I got to try them. They’re not on my wish list any more, but that doesn’t mean they’re bad headphones. They just didn’t really inspire me like I’d hoped they would.

A huge thanks to headphones.com for sponsoring this demo tour. I’ve been interested in these headphones for a while now and it was a great opportunity to give them a good test in my home with music I am familiar with.

Thanks for reading! If there’s one thing that I do rate five stars, it’s this community!

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Nothing wrong with it all. Good job. Got your points across as to what you liked and didnt like in an easily accessible way.

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Any insight is good insight. I think you did an excellent job of breaking down why they didn’t work out for you. Those very same points on why they didn’t work for you could by why they work for someone else. Never be ashamed for having an opinion!

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Great writeup @nugget. I really enjoyed reading it. I hope to see more of your writeups. I love reading people’s opinions of the same gear. It’s all about the differing perspectives.

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This attitude is why we (at least me) keep coming back to this site. Not many manufacturers or vendors publicly acknowledge negatives.

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While their sound is too dark and heavy for me, I totally agree about their comfort - I’ve tried lots of different headphones, and Empyrean beats them all handily, including Utopia and ZMF Verite Open…

Thanks to Headphones.com for setting this tour up!

These are one of the headphones that I really wanted to try out when I first joined the hobby, so thank you for giving the community the chance to do so.

Source: Flux Labs FA-10 + Modius | Tidal + Spotify + FLAC

The build quality and packaging are fantastic. The Empyrean comes in this very nice aluminum case.

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Inside you get two sets of pads: Alcantara and Leather.

The pads are attached by magnets and it is by far it’s the best pad swapping experience I’ve had. It is very effortless to detach and attach the pads - would like to see more headphones with this design.
After trying both I prefer the feel of the leather pads, but the sound of the suede.

Comfort

The Empyrean is very comfortable with the suspension strap, however, the design is pretty exaggerated with the carbon fiber band sticking far out and doesn’t disappear in the background compared to something like Audeze’s suspension headband. So it could look a bit ridiculous if you’re using this for a conference call :sweat_smile:

In terms of adjustment - I found that these are not picky at all in that you don’t have to fine-tune it to get the exact fitment. This could be attributed to the great design of the suspension headband. I’ve found that with other headphones I’d have to readjust a few times to get it just right. As always YMMV, but for me, these were easy to get fitted on my head.

Sound

Tonally - These leaned warm. I much preferred tonality from the suede pads vs the leather because the suede pads tamed the high frequencies that the leather seems to accentuate.

Soundstage - It was much smaller than I am used to when it comes to planars. I wasn’t expecting this, but I guess it’s due to the way the planar array is designed on the Empyrean.

Bass - The bass was something I was looking forward to the most. This was the one area I found most lacking. I expected them to slam much more. However, bass notes felt a little flat for me? It’s hard to explain, but there wasn’t any excitement for me. The notes sounded thick, but it didn’t have the texture… there goes the audiophile terms again… but that’s how it sounded and I’m going with it!

Mids - I thought the mids were pretty forward, but paired with the thick bass notes I felt that sometimes vocals got lost in the mix. They weren’t missing, but I felt they would be smoothed over by the bass at times.

Treble - I felt that the treble was fine, but on some tracks it became too spicy for me which was surprising because I thought the Focal Clear OG would be brighter in that regard. The suede pads helped bring that spiciness down. However, in overall tonality, I think the Clear OG handle the highs much better.

Overall I think these headphones were interesting. Unfortunately, it doesn’t fit my sound preferences but I love the looks and comfort of them. They were easy to put on and forget.

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Nice write up @PForPho. :+1:t4:

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That was a great write up although I am surprised to see you didn’t mention the terrible technical ability the empyrean has over other headphones in its price bracket but besides that it was a great review.

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Nice impressions and writeup @PForPho.

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Sonnet Morpheus, fed from pi2aes via I2S, naa, Roon- Hqplayer 4x upsampling, pcm only
Day 1 Jotunheim 2

Al Green, Tired of Being Alone
Empy Velour - what a nice smooth tone, ultra smooth vocals. strong central bass line may be too much ,definitely prominent, maybe too much. I love the sound though,chorus, horns , lead vocals. I don’t think anything is smoothed over, just smooooth.
Another observation, in a quietly sung section the reverb or room decay was obvious. Now that I am aware of it, I can hear it on the other phones. It is shorter here but better defined.
Empy Leather- natural decay in line with other headphones, tighter bass, still plenty of it. Vocals still smooth

HD800s - less bass fo sho but in the overall mix, better placed if a little light. Almost as smooth as Empy but not quite. Stage is wider and this helps heep the instruments separate. Empy is closer while being just as separate, no clutter but the bass has some boom, Stage may be taller.

VO - in short, the wrong amp. We’ll see about tubes later

LSA HP2 - As usual on these phones, choruses and horn sections have more distinct individual elements, room effect extends further out and longer vs the more compact sound from the Empy. A uniqueness to this closed headphone is that it seems to play without walls, as if the sound goes right past you with the closed cup being ignored. All the music has room to play in, like an outdoor concert. Bass is acceptable. I like the timbre of the Empy better but the bass is too much, too elevated. The HP2 can go as low as needed but never gets da boom. None of the frequencies seem to get in the way of any others.

HD 650 -Known for mid bass bloom, it has the most Empy like bass but with more bloom and less punch. Longer room decay. I think several of the phones will do better with tubes. The Black Amp, due to arrive Friday also likely to be a better choice. Hope to get some time in.

Verum 1 - Best bass, timbre and amount. Maybe the general overall most pleasant. Al Green can be shouty. Not on this phone or the Empy. Win for the planars. Still has his sharp edge but it does not grate. Long room decay like all the others except the Empy.

Speakers - Mark&Daniel Maximus Ruby. VTV purifi amp. - Well, more stage, Al not too edgy. Al has moved back , the instruments forward. May have to work on speaker placement ,or not, teensy hint of reverb, noticed it was missing.

Back to Empy - Just the best presentation over all. Al never sounded better, he may be getting smoothed over a bit, less edge, but well, it’s better and the least fatiguing.

Ola Gjello -North Country II for flugelhorn, cello & piano - Stone Rose
I have heard this many times on all my gear. Empy leather has excellent resolution but this song needs space, only 3 instruments, they should remain distinct, piano loses it somewhat when the flugelhorn becomes prominent. Cello becomes forgotten but it is always there once it starts, just fades too much into the background with the Empy/leather/Jot2. HD800s did better here. LTA HP2 sets the standard for this. It may lack some of the body of the other phones but I am on the fence about whether it isn’t more correct as so many more subtleties are more audible.

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Day2
ZDS
Al Green again
Empy- decay solved , more extended and better resolved, bass still strong but also better resolved. Empy’s have improved.

Playlist 24 tracks highlights
Allman Brothers, Live At The Fillmore East, Stormy Monday
Bass plays throughout, tends to disappear at times on other gear, not here, not overbearing but always there. Nice staging, definitely live. Hammond b rolls through me. Nice. I may have to listen to the whole album later.

Andra Day, Cheers to the Fall, same album
Well resolved bass and kick drum start this off with a punch. The diva starts divaing, the chorus joins in. This chorus has been a problem before, hitting your ears like a hand clap on the Jot2. Not here. it is presented very well.

Cassandra Wilson, Solomon Sang, New Moon Daughter
lot’s of subtle instruments, rich voice with a very wide range, all the subtleties present and well resolved, her voice is not muffled anywhere, her talent on full display.

Clifford Jordan Quartet, Blues In Advance, Live At Ethels
Acoustic bass is quite nice good timbre, easy to follow goes very low with good resolution. Sax does not have any irritating bursts, movement around the stage can be followed. Percussion is to the right where Clifford hangs out during the bass and piano duet. I am getting a better sense of stage with the ZDS

Hilary Hahn, Hugo Wolff, The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Barber & Meyer, Violin Concertos, Violin Concerto Movement ll
Low level detail is as clear as I have heard. Instrument separation is excellent.

Joe Walsh, Falling Down, So What
Vocals slightly veiled from what I am used to, very nice presentation

Gregg Allman, These Days, Laid Back
Lot’s of added reverb is well restrained not canned at all, great presentation, vocals laid back, not forward, almost veiled

Kendra Schank, Photograph, Afterglow
low level detail , light chimes throughout well resolved, close miked vocals have no nasties, light bass, almost one note with other gear, more distinct here, nice decay with the piano.

Die Walkurie Kirsten Flagstad, Georg Solti, Wiener Philharmoniker, Wagner Act 3
vocals well in hand, have sounded brassy with other gear, good low level detail

Tower Of Song, Leonard Cohen, The Ladies Man In Concert, well recorded but with some static, never released
Bass is solid, boomy bloomy with other gear, vocal again a little veiled, the gravel is still there but it has been paved, room acoustics not as apparent as I have heard.

Hilary Hahn and the St Paul orchestra again, Viloin Concerto Movement 1
low level detail, orchestra in space, sense of the room, very pleasant

Ola Gjello -North Country II for flugelhorn, cello & piano - Stone Rose
separation solved, nothing washed out by other instruments, Empy benefits from this tube amp

Storms on the Ocean, Amber Rubarth, Dr Chesky
Turned up volume so vocals and acoustic guitar were clear, well presented, nice strings got a bit loud but overall, fine.

One Step Up, Bruce Springsteen
And the volume gets turned down, nice bass line, good in the mix, does not get in the way, clear guitar, ethereal chorus, light percussion, well represented. Confused, lead vocals are very clear, maybe well resolved and yet appear mildly smoothed over, higher resolution with a veil?

Let It Grow, Eric Clapton
More confusion with lead vocals, very well resolved, veil? not sure. This can be a wall of sound with different gears. Not here, instruments, chorus well presented. Bass, percussion, very good in the mix. This headphone appears quite adept at differentiating sounds that can be congealed or muddy on different gear. Good synergy with this amp.

Sultans Of Swing, Dire Straits
Male vocal shines again, veil or not, this sounds better resolved. Some of this smoothing may actually be distortions that are not present with other gear, who knows but the HP is on a hot streak. Bass enjoyable, not overly prominent.

Emotional Rescue, Rolling Stones
Punchy prominent bass and percussion open up this track, better timbre than I am used to on that bass. Vocals again very well resolved. Fun song.

Try And Love Again, The Eagles
Fatigue test, guitar in the right channel can be painfully piercing. Well tamed and resolved now, not unpleasant. General overall solid presentation.

The Real Me, The Who
Another strong bass intro with guitar, male vocals shine again, percussion exceptionally clear and well placed.

4th Of July, Bruce Springsteen
Nice tuba or synth doing the bass line, another fine reproduction.

Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here With You, Bob Dylan
Bob never sounded this good. male vocals again, everything is just fine.

Pat Metheny Unity Group - Kin <–> On Day One. Lots of resonances here and a later passage gives a good congestion test and it passes the test. Almost exhilirating. Bass is strong, cymbals with long sustain are also featured, lead electric guitar with subued tone, saxophone, many tempo changes, synthesizer also subdued, atmospheric. Chorus add late during the busy passage, passes with flying colors.

Wrapping up with Melody Gardot - Baby I’m A Fool - My One And Only Thrill
Ah, here we are, ultra smooth but what’s missing or smoothed is the breath that can be heard while singing, not the intake between but the outgoing air during. This can increase involvement and improve pace, song is not as bouncy as I am used to.

Our Love Is Easy
Organic, sonorous, song and headphone, well suited for this performance.

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Day 3 SW51+
If you are unfamiliar with this amp, it is exclusive to SBAF, Where it excels for me is space and separation. It does do more, it is a set tube amp with transformers vs the OTL Eddie Current Zana Deux S. Generally lauded for it’s simple direct design by those who understand amp design.

Stormy Monday
More sense of a live performance, no area is overdone, you might say it is all gently laid out and clear, typical for the amp. Empy likes this amp.

Cheers to The Fall
Again same results. Diva is a diva,percussion bass, guitar, chorus is well expressed and wide. best of the bunch on that score. Nothing to complain about. This song is about the champion singing though and the instruments are simple and allow her to shine.

Solomon Sang
Diva of a different nature. capable of incredible subtle nuance and expression in a 3 octave range. Master of her instrument and well on display here. The sound? Why does it excel? For this song to sound it’s best, all of the subtleties from the singer and the band need to be heard. They play for each other around the singer and are all important.
Takeaway? “Nothing lives forever but the love that bears your name.” What a complete and sweet presentation.

Blues In Advance
Same story, live jazz club, plenty of space, punchy and delicate as needed, excellent acoustic bass, no nasties.

Hilary Hahn 1
Delicate strings, large ochestra, lot’s of low level detial, varying volumes well presented defining space, better staging and placement with this amp for this hp. Fully enjoyable.

Falling Down
Staging and separation , immediately apparent. absolutely nothing in your face but it is all there, presented for your consideration.

These Days
Added reverb present but not as noticeable as the other 2 amps. This amp may be a tiny bit bass lite but the Empy presents it well as bass is a strength.

Photograph
Nothing to complain about, light chimes all present and accounted for, vocals have no nasties and are well expressed. Again a good pairing. Piano has room to to present itself and it’s decay.

Tower of Song
Best bass of the punch. Any vocal smoothing seems to be gone, gravel is all back, maybe a hint of smoothness. Live recordings are benefitting from the amp. Natural spaciousness is undisturbed. I have heard more of the room but that is with a different dac.

Hilary Hahn 2
This was a $1 purchase from a thrift shop, never heard of her but she sure was cute which was a good thing as this is an excellent recording and she is exceptionally talented,obvious no matter what playback chain is in use. More string texture is being heard. Orchestra well spaced.

North Country
The spaciousness of the amp and HP are clear. Nothing becomes obscured, no matter how busy it gets. I would not call this a black background and a black background is not all that if it is not a revealing background and that is what this amp provides. Evident in this playback, decays all present. The cheapest amp may be the best amp but the ZDS and VO are a bit of magic, so horses for courses.

Storms On The Ocean
Typically needs a volume increase when it shows up but not with this amp. Sometimes lower volume is just as audible and preferable. No complaints still sweet and well resolved. Empy is a fine choice for this song

One Step Up
Intro bass is best yet, synergy. Vocals are fine and may also be most preferable. Detailed and again spacious atmosphere.

Let It Grow
Exhalations while singing are audible. Sweet presentation.

The Black Amp is in town
Blues In Advance - Clifford Jordan Quartet
And this is where the tour ends. I will let the amp run for a day with music playing not not with the Empy.

Summary:

Why do I listen to headphones? 99% of the time music over speakers does not bother anyone else. So I listen to hear what I am missing with speakers. Detail, subleties, no outside disturbances. I have probably overdone it with headphones. Thinking of thinning the herd.

If all I had was Empy and a SW51+, I could not complain, much.
Having heard the synergy of the VO with ZDS, though…

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Do you have the Zana deux SE or Super?

Super with a P&G pot upgrade. Shame I couldn’t get the Empy with the Black Amp. It didn’t sound right. Was just a pot issue after all so I maxed it out and handle volume with the Morpheus. A shame, it is the best SS amp I have ever listened to.
Don’t have the label yet, maybe I’ll slice the box open and have a listen.

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Having a listen with The Black Amp, Synergy. This is in the same league as the ZDS and may replace it. Solomon Sang - Cassandra Wilson was exceptionally rendered, just more texture from the instruments. Vocals smooth and clear.
Al Green who presented problems with Jot 2 while singing the blues, has gotten better, easier to hear details and lyrics. Bass doesn’t threaten me. Roon now has him on radio and he is doing well.
Hilary Hahn and the orchestra are in full lucid detail. As good as I have heard.
Makes you wonder what the other 3k+ phones sound like. Abyss, Hifiman and whatever others. Just a different flavor or more of everything? There is a used pristine pair available at 2k but I have the VO and this is just another flavor at the same level so…
Desert island, Black Amp, Empy can come with morpheus dac, pi2aes and roon Gonna need internet.

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