Here are some off the cuff impressions.ġ. I got there early and was able to listen before the room got loud. I had a chance to audition these for a good spell at a local meet yesterday. Maybe it’s a little recessed mids shaken with a bit of elevated mid-bass and a dash of woolly. Other words I’ve tried and discarded are: pillowy, fluffy, creamy, soft, feathery.not hard-hitting, unimpactful. Gooey probably isn’t the correct word, nor does ‘too smooth’ really convey the impression I’m trying to express. Overall, Empyrean makes me wish the firmware on my Sonica exposed the 9038 digital filters so I could switch to ‘Sharp’. And to my ears E2 depth kills Empy depth. Part of the problem is that I’m deep into my affair w/ Ether 2, which has the best headstage of all my cans, and which totally shines from LP.Įmpyrean stage isn’t bad - just seems a bit smeared compared to E2, Auteur, and especially Utopia’s very precise instrument placement. Unfortunately, LP tends to turn ‘too smooth’ into gooey with all the tubes l’ve tried. I’m hearing a lot more headstage depth out of my Liquid Platinum than my Bryston BHA-1. Strangely, those things are tied together.
Value wise, I wouldn't pay the asking price, but I definitely don't dislike & : Nice write-ups which generally match my impressions.įor me, the negatives are ‘too smooth’ and headstage depth and precision. Tonally I think I prefer the Verum prototype I heard (would prefer a wider stage) or the Hifiman Edition X2 but I do like them. Splashiness is magnified with velour pads.ĭecent wide stage, fairly tall & deep.not exaggerated, not as wide as 800s, but not constrained.ĭetail retrieval is very good, not in your face.probably a few notches behind the Sennheiser all stars, but better than most. Treble is mostly well behaved, somewhat splashy, but again not mount Beyer. It does take the edge off of hot recordings (Bonamassa's guitar, Adel's vocals). Definitely not for mid-heads, reduction in guitar bite etc., but I don't think it's smothered. Mids are super smooth.some will find them recessed, but not objectionable to me. Definitely not as clean, but not horrible. If you're coming from something/neutral thin, it's a shock, but I don't think it's too far north of Aeolus with universe pads. Bass is powerful, but not as bad as I feared from previous comments.
I have a pair on long term loan right now, I'll throw 2 cents in.ĪIO PC > Gungnir D/S via USB (Gen5) > ifi iCAN Pro