Honestly, the tradeoffs are well worth it for a more coherent tuning. These are much more natural sounding, with a great expansive soundstage, a ton of air, but with a little less precise imaging and none of that bloomy bass. That’s all I’m going to say about the leather pads (for now).Īnd there’s the alcantara pads (please use these instead). If you only used the Empyrean in this way, I can see how you could arrive at the conclusion that they are Beats by Meze™. If you liked the Z1R, maybe you’ll like the default tuning of the Empyrean, but for me it felt like there was a layer of haze coming across the entire spectrum. It reminds me of the warm tuning of the Sony MDR-Z1R, but without the huge treble spike. I have to think this is some concession to make a general consumer focused tuning, but I think it really does these headphones a disservice. For me, that is a sin bad enough to kill a headphone. The bass region is bloomy and it easily bleeds into the mids. I actually hate the stock tuning of the Empyreans with the default leather pads. The Eagles - Hotel California (both versions, you know which versions) SoundOkay that’s all great, but how does the Empyrean sound? This is fine if you plan to sit back and only listen to music, but for me that meant I could not use them while I was working or I had to consciously pre plan my movements to make sure they didn’t fall off. Any major movement up, down, left, or right would inevitably cause them to start tilting off your head. It takes a while to get used to, and you’ll definitely work out your neck muscles, but I found that this kind of setup forced you to be incredibly still while you were using them. There is no actual weight or clamping force on your head, but rather the weight is displaced through pressure on your neck.
In doing so, it’s almost like balancing the headphones on the top of your head. It is meant to hover over your ears to create an air gap so that you can fine tune the sound to your preference. The TC does not sit on your head like a traditional headphone. The TC is completely different in terms of fit from all these other headphones. The Utopia is no slouch either, but I would definitely start feeling some pressure at the top of my head and on my temple area if I used it for more than 4 hours. The Susvara would be a close second in terms of comfort although it had the uncanny ability to pull on my hair at the swivel points occasionally. It has the ability to almost feel as light as a pair of Bose QC’s, and I was able to wear them for many hours on end without any discomfort at the top of my head or on my temple. The Meze Empyrean is the most comfortable set of headphones I’ve tried so far (at least in this multi-kilobuck range). I don’t think I would actually use it to carry the headphones, but it is a nice value add.Ĭomfort (yes, it’s getting its own section.) Oh yeah and you get an aluminum briefcase. although it reminds me of something you’d find at a Dwarven armory in an Elder Scrolls game.ĭid I mention that the pads are HUGE? It looks about as ridiculous as the TC on your head- okay maybe not as ridiculous as the TC, but very close. Aesthetics-wise, I like (I hesitate to say “love”) the way the Empyrean looks. I don’t think the Empyrean would survive being run over by a truck, so I guess it loses to the TC in that sense. They also don’t feel like an IV tube for $6000 Hifiman headphones.
The stock cables are really well built and not stiff nor microphonic. No expense was spared when it came to the design and materials which cannot be said for the Susvara or Utopia. I'm waiting for some new ones to come in.)īuild & DesignThe Empyrean is built completely out of metal, carbon fiber, and leather. I do not see myself owning more than one pair of headphones, so I’ve been searching for that one pair of headphones that satisfies most of my needs even if it may not be the best in every category. The next priority would be the sounds of guitars in classic rock, alt rock, and progressive rock.
My music is a mix of everything under the sun, but I do mainly listen to music with female vocalists (Kpop, modern pop, acoustic pop, etc.), so the vocal/mid section is the biggest priority for me. While I love them all in different ways, I always felt that there was something off when it came to each of them whether it be lack of bass, comfort, or metallic timbre respectively. I’ve been around the block when it comes to the TOTL headphones - I’ve had the Hifiman Susvara, Abyss 1266 Phi TC, and Focal Utopia in my possession over the last year.
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