Thought I’d start a thread because it doesn’t really fall under any of the specific topics we have and I’ll have quite a few things passing through here and comparisons planned.
Listened to a bunch of different gear tonight but the highlight was using the HM1 as the center of it.
I matched volume on the two inputs between DAC IV Special and Wavedream Sig, and then used it to preamp the AIC and listened with Susvara (at some point I also gave 433/Utopia a little bit of time). AIC was set on unity gain and I controlled volume through HM1.
First two differences I’ve noticed between IV and WD are that WD was much more forward and that WD’s low end is a little leaner but more defined than IV. the SW1X feels a little fuller on the low end around the edges, it masks a little bit of definition and texture and that gives it a tad more romantic and old school vibe?
one thing I like with WD that I’m missing a little bit on IV is vocal forwardness
I’m listening to the Silk Sonic album and with IV the vocals seem to be on the same line (depth wise) as the band, with WD there’s a bit more depth separation that I can imagine is more fitting of how they would be standing…
First listen was with WD Sig, HM1 and a DHC Compliment-C cable and it was a bit boring.
Later in the evening I switched to WD Sig, AIC10 with a Tungsram tube as I felt it probably needed a warmer chain and things improved but it was still, to my surprise, a little fatiguing and grainy?
I was listening to Stolen Moments from The Blues and the Abstract Truth album, which I’m very familiar with, while working on a document, and the sax was a bit much.
Like with any headphone, it depends on your chain and preferences I guess? or if you’re willing to shop used and what dealer pricing can you get for a new set of these?
Meze’s asking price is a lot about the entire package and not only the sound, and I don’t have here the new case it comes with etc to really value the deal.
The clamp is just right and comfort is very good (I remember it being better). I also think the pads play a big role here and I have only the new version that came with them. They are not as soft and pillowy as I’d want the pads to be, perhaps the full leather options are.
I don’t remember how long ago I sold my OG empy (two years maybe?) but from distant memory these sound way different and it’s not as much about “the move” and more about if either of them fit what you’re looking for and what you prioritize. Competition is tough in today’s market (both used and new).
I plan to try a different cable and some more combinations of gear in the next few days and will share more.
More Meze Empyrean 2 thoughts:
Empy2 still sounds grainy to me, even with different tubes and trying all three amps I had here. There’s some treble peaks that aren’t sitting well with me.
From memory it’s definitely different from what I remember the Meze house sound.
It’s not as special anymore and there are better options if it just tries to compete with everyone for being a normally tuned headphone. Biggest two things going for it are comfort and drivability, and I guess price in some ways depending on what you compare this to.
It’s hard to judge it at MSRP though because there aren’t a lot of options at $3K and under that compete at this level but I’d take Tungsten easily over it if you can drive it with your chain (not an easy task), and I’d probably prefer HE1000se too. I’ll know soon enough how MR compares to it.
I do think that the DHC comp-c cable I have with it isn’t a great match, and it sounded a little better even with the regular Audeze mini-xlr cable.
Mass Kobo 433:
I really like this (relatively) little amp. It has plenty of power and although I don’t really have anything here price wise to compare it with and it’s all by memory - it seems to be priced right and you get very good sound for the money. I’ve used it with Susvara, Utopia, Stellia and Empy2 and enjoyed it with all of them.
It’s tuned a little warm but still close to neutral, just enough to be a fun solid state to listen to.
With Susvara it’s easily noticable where it falls short and that is the usual problem with this level of amps and sus - it feels too lean.
With Utopia it feels much more at home and for those who prefer solid state amps I think this is a very good pairing. Personally I think Utopia OG matches better with tubes, and would still take a MZ3 over 433 but if this was sitting on my desk somewhere I would absolutely enjoy my time with it.
HM1 does beat it easily on most accounts as expected.
I could see how people buy it and finish here, there’s nothing obviously missing from it.
I’ve listened to it mostly with WD so far so there’s less variation in what I changed but I’ll use it a bit more with DAC IV tomorrow. I’m still getting to know the SW1X so intentionally not posting too much about it yet…
Thanks for updating us on the Empy2. That’s sounds disappointing since most of the reviews were positive. It looks like the MR will be the better option in that price range
Was the loaner you have a retail or a demo unit? I haven’t seen any owner reports floating around.
It’s a demo unit that was in canjam dallas.
MR should get here today or tomorrow and we’ll see what all the fuss is about! It’s going to be the first Diana I hear so very excited to try it out
Agree with you on these impressions on the Empyrean II. I had described the treble as sharp or forced but grain with treble peaks is a better way to put it I think. I was wondering if you would like it or not but sounds like we are roughly in agreement with how it sounds. Still curious on your impressions of the vocal presentation if you get a chance to listen for that.
My brain associates grain with film, and that’s not a bad thing as grain is an inherent artifact of film.
When grain is artificially reduced in post production that’s generally seen as a bad thing since it introduces an artificial look to the film (referring to motion pictures, but this is similar with still photography).
To me grain is unwanted peaks in parts of the frequency response where it feels like I notice certain sounds more than I should and there’s a sense of unevenness… it’s the opposite of a smooth FR.
You can still extend very high and go very low without rolling off and be grainy which is the case with empy to my ears
I looked at head-fi last night and found some impressions. The consensus I’m getting is that it’s tuned very similarly to the 109 Pro (one owner even referred to it as an upgraded 109 Pro).
I guess the popularity of the 109 Pro helped determine the direction of the Empy2 which makes business sense, but is unfortunate for those who enjoyed the original Empyrean.
For what it’s worth, my definition of grain in audio is the roughness in certain areas of the frequency response. I think this is a distortion thing.
For example, the empy 1 had some roughness around deeper male vocals. It wasn’t terrible, but it was grainier vs something like the Susvara, Utopia, D8KP.
Most recently comparing the V2 to the MR, I noticed better clarity in the vocals and lower portion of the FR. The V2 did really well on something like the mojo 2, but when I threw it on the MJ3 I noticed more grain, and what I believe is distortion. The MR didn’t have this issue off of the MJ3. I believe it’s because the MR has lower distortion and MJ3 Is adding a little bit too much for the V2 (for my taste).
I also think this is why I enjoy the Utopia 22 over the OG. I feel around the vocals and certain portions of the mid range, the 22 came off as having more clarity, not a ton but slightly better. Again, I think this is a distortion thing, and I perceive it as grain.
If I remember correctly, meze said the empy 1 had very low distortion in the bass. From memory I feel like I agreed. It got rougher in the mids. I don’t think it was a bad headphone and I enjoyed it. I wanted more slam and I’m glad I didn’t pay msrp but it was still a fun headphone to me.
