Meze Empyrean Review - The most beautiful headphone you probably shouldn't buy 

The Snap-transition is excellent

This is like the polar opposite of Dankpods, which I found this channel through the recommendations on. Gotta say, I love both.

Just found this channel. It's Zeos' refined cousin.

Nice review! I like your channel a lot! I'd like to ask you though, how did you like the sound with the leather pads? I didn't hear you talking about it in the video. According to a lot of people they're supposed to be more dynamic sounding compared to the alcantara pads.

Watching this video on my Meze Empyrean which I literally just received yesterday 😅 Edit: As much as I'd love to have my purchase justified by a reviewer I trust, I appreciate your honest review. I don't have "golden ears" and they sound phenomenal to me so it's not like I'm going to return them now. I think they perfectly round out my current collection of cans. And congrats on finishing Uni!

Great review and looking forward to the upcoming content. Well done

Really interesting, well done on this, the recent MQA examination and your content in general. Being able to produce quality content this rapidly is deeply impressive. When I see you on my feed I know I'm in for a good ride. P.S:- Hoping the comments on the HE1000SE intimate a future in depth review. Really curious for potential comparisons with Susvara, perceived difference, and things you may even be able to do with the analyser. Hoping THD on headphones is something you're interested in, only really seen on the T+A Solitaire P and missing transducer side in general IMHO (beside Soundnews). (Though measurements solely does not a good headphone make ofc)

What an amazing review! Great stuff!!

Great review. I got the impression that you reviewed them on the alcantara pads. Idk if that's true, you just didn't mention the differences when they are significant. The leather are the stock option and quite a bit less dark and have better depth + separation.

Welcome back to everyone's favourite game of: CAN I AFFORD THIS?! No.

I came for the MQA study but this is a spectacular review that blends the real time personal nature of Zreviews, but the analytical nature of Metal571. The song choice is great, the sections are as long as they need to be with little to no fat/filler. You’ve got my sub

I got these one year ago this month during the intense covid lock downs. There were no shows or anywhere to test tons of different headphones. I was able to demo them at home for a few weeks from my local dealer. Those few weeks gave me enough to know I would be very happy with them. Sitting here 1 year later and still very happy and use them constantly. Ended up upgrading my DAC and amp this past year and finally have my PC audio set up complete. Friends who aren't in the hobby are blown away how good they are. Think I'll stick with them for awhile although I am dying for a chance to hear the Susvara soon! If they are good enough guess it's time to start saving :) While they list at $3,000 I ended up paying about 75% of that for a new pair which made it more palatable. Still a lot of money for headphones though lol!

You getting rid of the wavy cam!? I really like it! Along with your editing, it gives your videos an extra layer of personality.

I listened to every track u mentioned with empyrean(borrowed) and I feel what u stated, nice and objective review!

Thanks a lot, love the review, really insightful. Quick question, how do you afford all the gear (as a student!!!). Keep up the good work.

Eyo, love your stuffs! Wondering if you could cover any desktop amps for passive speakers?

i really like your taste in music. Any chance you'd release a list of the your favorite bands and or tracks?

Nice to see Adam Tell mentioned here.always loved his work.

I'd love to see you review the Unique Melody Mest MKII. I've tried so many IEMs over the years, that nothing wowed me the most than the Mest MKII. To my ears, the Mest MKII are my endgame IEMs, and I will not be looking into buying anymore at all.

Absolutely spot on review. I feel exactly the same way. I recommended these to a friend who just wanted some good headphones without having to obsess over the hobby like me and he loves it for all the reasons you stated. When I listed to it though, I always just feel that I'd rather listen to my Susvara or VC.

did you dent the right cup?

Glad to have a new review of yours to watch and new music to discover from it

Had mine since release, you should have done the tests with both pads as they change everything.

Nice review! I have had mine for about 6 months now and got a great deal from my local HiFi store. Ex-demo (as new) for the local equivalent of US$2700. For me they are the best cans I have owned and I like them much better than the LCD-3s or HD800s which are the other “flagships” I have spent most time listening to. To my ears they are rich, full and detailed without being fatiguing (I am very sensitive to zingy treble), easy to listen to for hours on end and do my music justice across every genre. Comfort and build is impeccable. I have them hooked up to a Topping Dx7/A90 stack and see no need to upgrade or experiment further in the headphone domain… (remind me of this in 12 months time…)

Your channel is absolutely terrific. Thank you so much for your overview of this headphone. :)

Dude you have the absolute best test tracks, do you have a public playlist that you can share?

It would be good to hear your opinion on the Empyreans after EQ.

I am curious about your take on the Meze Elite, the so-called improved version of the Meze Empyrean.

Oh my god, your visualizer is lovely. Is that a roon thing?

You’re welcome 🐅 Though me and you disagree in regards to staging and imaging and layering, The ear placement inside the cup in conjunction to the driver is critical, and that sweet spot is essential. But my word, they are pretty

I love my Sundara's but I am running them on my portable DAC/Amp Ray Samuels Predator, it seems to run out of steam and I get some mushiness to the sound when I crank it up, the bass gets out of control. Any recommendations for amping the Sundara?

Hope you review the new Elite model, bc it might have fixed everything (granted it is $4k)

This channel boutta grow fast... And I think it's more than deserved. Super interesting content. I'm here with my Audient iD14 interface, and I'm seriously looking at a Schiit Bifrost 2 and Lyr 3 for my Sennheiser HD 700 headphones. Just need a push to spend that amount of money lmao - It's something I CAN do... but sheeesh

Thomas & Stereo’s recent video opens a discussion on a topic I’ve been pondering for quite some time now-“more” is not necessarily better for everyone. I find the Empys a headphone to not get technical, to not be wow’d, but to rather sink in and just relax. Nothing sounds bad. Pop, electronica, rap, and hip hop sounds fun. If anyone wants a headphone that does “more”, these aren’t it. If someone’s looking for a headphone to have fun and relax, I find these check that box. Back to Thomas’ point, “more” might not be better, and whatever you’re budget might be, everything within that budget should be fair game, retail price notwithstanding. “Everything sounds good” seems to be the running theme from friends who have tried them. One even went as far to say, “It makes badly recorded music sound good.” Great review! Thought it was well articulated and detailed. 👍

That dent's driving me mental.

Man, congrats with finishing the university! Really looking forward to the future stuff. You've became my most favorite headphone & audio gear reviewer really fast, i love everything about your content.

Very good points.

Hello. What amp or dac is that under the monitor? The ones with the white lights around the dials. Looks great

another great review. and thanks for the track list. :))

First time watching a review on this channel, and i had to check if the video was on 1,5x speed

I would love to have these, but they are ouside of my reasonable price range. However the price is also kind of what I appreciate about these headphones. They manufacture these as their flagship and they sell it as a flagship. They are a romanian company and manufacture in Romania and they give you a lot of extras like an extra set of ear pads, a stellar case and a the balanced cable. They could easily have these be produced in China, get rid of the aluminium case, remove the extra cable and the ear pads, and sell them significantly cheaper, but they don't. I personally wish they would've gone for a midrange Planar that I could reasonably afford first, but when companies release a flagship product, it should have no compromises in terms of build quality, overall quality and accessories and I think that's exactly what Meze has done here. If you compare that to the trend some smartphone manufactures started to get into, where they sell their flagships without charger an manufacture them in China, i think what Meze does with the Empyreans is admirable. And I don't know what it is, because if Apple just included a charger and asked for 40€ more, I would have had no issues with it, but having to order a charger seperately when I buy a phone for over 1K, having to order the charger seperately just annoyed me.

My favourite reviewers currently are you, Resolve and Chrono in no particular order

Nice English accent. Where are you from specifically? Great that you warned me that these look greater than they sound, because I was going to buy them over the Focal Utopia. Would you consider them better for acoustic music?

11:05 potential answer. The drum doesn’t sound as powerful because the transient response of these headphones is so fast compared to others which probably make the drum louder because the diaphragm is playing for longer.

As someone who is very new to the hobby experience wise I found the way you described the way these sound compared to other headphones around the same price to be very interesting and informative on how music and such can be staged, presented etc etc. Like everything you said about the empy I can kinda visualize or imagine in a way but when you were talking about separation and stage and all that and compared it to other headphones it made them sound like an outright different class of sound compared to empy. Is this kinda why I've seen these called the peak/King of midfi? Also I think explaining the difference between like midfi and hifi would be a cool Idea for a video and would help people like myself understand the difference between them a bit more. Anyways love your vids and I wish you the best, also congrats on finishing with uni!

Which headphones do you feel pair well with the Asgard 3?

I have these and the Utopias. While Utopia is definitely a technically better headphone, for listening while I work, the Empyrean is the best. The sound quality is good, the comfort superb and it works with all kinds of music.

Best youtube reviewer in the hobby, dude. Keep going, keep growing.

I did hope they were like LCD2f...but with comfort lol It's really hard to find something that sounds like my 2f but just a bit more detail and soundstage, I tried the X, but they sounded joyless vs my 2f, and I even tried the Arya Stealth, but everything is just too far away all the time.

Btw love the way the videos are intro'd in, one of the best I know

i love your channel, but please try empyrean with a better dac and amp

odd choice to review using the mushy pads. Did you give the leather ones a try? universally the reviews talk about how poor the alcantara sound and measure. That said, your points are still valid with the leather IMO. I have the empy.. and they aren't work 3k. (my normal go to is the Focal Utopia. PrimaLuna EVO 400 with KT150s and a Rockna Wavedream.) I'd suggest revisiting the empy with some time using leather pads.

Have both the ZMF VCs (African Blackwood, Auteur Lambskins) and the Meze Empys (Leather Pads). Running balanced off both Cayin HA-300 and iFi DSD Pro. While I like the detailed review, it just convinces me of the truth that there are no headphones extremely competent on all types of music, and depending on what you're planning to listening to or the mood you're in that day, you can definitely use a different setup to give you what you want. I would rarely ever be listening to the selection used in this review for the Empys. I can attest that listening to Charlie Hayden's Art of Song on the Empys driven by the HA-300 (with WE300Bs) is superb, in warmth, balance, soundstage, pretty much as good as I've ever heard. Cranking up Pat Metheny's Are You Going With Me (Live) on the Empys on the iFi, you can definitely hear the separation and layering of this very busy track, not quite missing as the review implies. The ZMF VC is indeed more heavily coloured and richer, and might fit the kind of music selection in this review.

Subbed. Any chance on doing reviews of the jotunheim 2? also, will there be reviews of certain combos in the future? like bifrost 2+ jotunheim 2 for example ?

Can you make a video about hd 600/650/6xx and how it compares to these 1000+ $ headphones.

What are you using for the spectrum analyser on your right monitor?

15:28 How did you bend the grille like that @GoldenSound?

I would like to a see an HD800s review

Hooray a new video! I’ve been going through withdrawal for a few weeks after binge watching all your reviews one night.

Since you mentioned the upgraded cable and I've seen Audioquest XLRs in the Bifrost 2 review, I'm curious, do you generally think cables can make a noticeable difference to sound? Or do you have them for other reasons?

You're just finishing uni? What did you take and if you don't mind, where did you go. I'm making my choices at the moment.

Very nice Review. You’re on point. There is just one thing you did not get. This headphone is not just for those who don’t want to get to far into the „audiophile rabbithole“, but also (as you mentioned) for those who is searching a headphone you can play all genres fantastic with. You mentioned and also explained it. But you where not accepting it as a soundquality which I think is a mistake. but nonetheless I Really appreciate your work (especially the MQA video was top notch amazing). Kind regards from Germany PS: do you get the Sennheiser IE 900?

thanks for review... just for curiosity, are you using some kind of power generator/filter in your setup?

I listen to a lot of metal on these. New Machine Head ep landed yesterday, production is really good and drums can sound epic on these. Thick, lush, punchy and realistic.

Glad to see you back buddy! I’m looking at getting the Abyss 1266 Phi TC. Have you heard those? Have you heard any Woo Audio head amps? They make fabulous tube headphone amps. What is that TC electronic thing you have? I want one of those. :) On the Audioprecision thing…I wouldn’t waste your money, Use your ears not measurements. I trust what you are hearing. And a lot of times your ears will reveal things that measurements can’t capture.

I was wondering why your impressions were initially different to mine, then I realised that you weren't using the leather pads. Also, the older stock cable made them sound muffled. I can't help wondering if they didn't assume people would all choose the "good" upgrade cable.

I find oratory1990's equalizer settings make a great improvement to the sound.

Awesome review. Love hunger of the pine. First time hearing it

What would you say would be a 3k dollar headphone sound wise or similar in price. I don’t know much about expensive headphones and how to pair them with a amp but I am interested in finding a headphone that would be worth sound wise the price it is

Would you prefer ZMF VC or he1000v2 or lcd 4?

Beats Zeos by an order of magnitude. Much more succinct and just as entertaining. Ouch! Was that a dent we saw on the cup back?

How does the sound change using the other pads? Your reviews are usually quite thorough but unless I somehow missed it, I don't believe that you mentioned that at all...

Good video GoldenSound. Interesting that you prefer them on an amp with a bit of warmth, I would have assumed that it's warmer nature would have benefitted from a more neutral amp. It's great that you have so many dacs and amps on hand to have a good idea of what pairs well and what doesn't.

Great content - really like this channel 👌🏽❤️

Is there a dent in the right side or is that a trick of the light?

I think it's a shame that you don't mention that the Empyreans doesn't necessarily require an Amp, it doesn't have to be a "sitting at home listening and analyzing music" kind of headphone and I do believe that the original idea of Meze was to create the ultimate travel headphones.

What camera do you use to record these?

wonder what does it sound like wearing that for gaming?

2 years late. But, is there a dent on the external right earcup? Is that considered good build quality?

I remember Dankpods said the leather cups make a big difference in sound. is that something you notice?

Only reason why I want these is because its so different! I'm a beginner in the Audiophile game, and noticed I'm finding myself just wanting the most expensive stuff. I know it doesn't mean better, but these are so beautiful, easy to play music through (with the low ohms), and because DankPods really sold me on them! I want HD600's, but 300 ohms for the music to sound good!? I know, there's DAC's like Fiio, Sony etc, but sheesh.

@15:45 Good quality ??? Why do I see a dent in them. on the side ???

THE SNAPS!!! AND THE WARM MIDTONE OF THE SNAPS!!!

Is this pair dented? I can see a reflection on the right cover is a bit warped. It's soo annoying

You mentioned a lot that there are better options for your money, which cand do you have in mind tho?

Couldn’t agree more. I have these. It knocks some things out of the park, Jackson’s Thriller to name one but other things (Breeders - Last Splash album) are unlistenable. It’s unbelievably black and white. If the track has the muscle to reach the top, bingo, everything else falls to its death

Nice review!

Glad to see a review that doesn't just fawn over a pricy product. Really appreciate the honesty of what what's good and what ISN'T. It's why I'm a Patron. 👍

Kudos to you, hope you passed your viva with flying colours - and had a great celebration afterwards :)

Definitely a pair I plan to own someday. Unlikely for full price, just not going to pass the WAF. So here's wishing for a sale some point in the next 5 years somewhere north of 20%. Appreciate the thoroughness of the review and for helping many of us live vicariously through the Tube.

What is the correct amplifier sonic temperature to elicit the best possible performance from these? Rather than vague terms like too warm, etc., I think we would all appreciate a more specific temperature or perhaps a range, expressed in degrees Celsius or Fahrenheit. Kelvin is fine too if that's your preference, of course.

At 3k ..and a decent source chain …you’re going to be into the headphone headspace.

I'm torn. I tried these at CanJam London in 2019 and was absolutely floored by the build quality, comfort and sound as well! I really remember thinking that it was on another level at the time, compared to some of the other headphones I tried e.g. Focal Stellia and Utopia, Audeze LCD-4 and others, and some Hifiman ones - didn't try the Susvara though sadly. I guess the build quality, comfort and presentation might've just made such a stellar initial impression on me that it made me blind to some of its flaws in terms of sound that majority of people seem to agree on are present. Especially considering I thought it just sounded fun, dynamic and yes, good, as well. I couldn't really find any music that sounded bad on it when I demo'd it, granted for 10 - 15 short minutes in a big loud hall... I really need to give them a listen again and compare them with other headphones at a local hifi place some time.

Interesting to see someone driving headphones with preamp or power amp. Does the ahb2 provide flat frequency response for headphones?

How did they get dented?

Not related to the headphones. What is that little screen with the buttons that is next to the keyboard? EQ of some sort? 😊

Do you use a mains conditioner like a Furman Elite?

I would be curious to hear what you think of the HEDDPhone In comparison. Sound is to me easily the best in this general price range even though the fit is terrible.

Is there any headphone that sounds great with everything? I'm not an audiophile nut so I think these headphones will suit me best.

I ALWAYS SAY NO ONE SOUNDS BETTER SPEAKING IN ENGLISH THAN AN ENGLISHMAN...FANTASTICAL THOROUGH REVIEW... THANK YOU