MEZE Audio EMPYREAN
Disclaimer
- This review is based on "private purchases" or "items rented for a consideration".
- No remuneration or compensation, such as a manuscript fee, has been received for publishing this, and it is an honest evaluation based on measurement data from personal testing and personal opinion.
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Recommended for people like this
- High-end headphone collector
- People who are looking for a well-designed ornament that is good for interior decoration.
- MEZE Audio fans
audio-sound Score
- Total Score: 8.2 / 10.0
- Package: 9.0 / 10.0
- Build quality: 9.0 / 10.0
- Fitment: 8.5 / 10.0
- High range: 8.0 / 10.0
- Mid range: 7.0 / 10.0
- Low range: 8.0 / 10.0
- Less distortion: 8.0 / 10.0
- Want to see the score ranking? Click here!
Overview of MEZE Audio EMPYREAN
This review will give an overview of MEZE Audio EMPYREAN. A complete review of this product can be found here.
Basic Specifications
- Frequency range: 4Hz-110000Hz
- Impedance: 31.6Ω
- Sensitivity: 100dB
Features
World's First Isomagnetic Hybrid Array Driver
The highly acclaimed planar-field driver used in Empyrean has a unique shape in which the switchback coil and spiral coil are fused into a single coil within the driver, enabling natural and accurate sound to be delivered to the ear. The switchback coil primarily reproduces low frequencies, while the spiral coil efficiently reproduces mid and high frequencies, resulting in an optimal coil pattern for delivering mid and high frequencies to the eardrums without delay. This unique fusion improves sound imaging and localization by increasing the transmission efficiency of direct frequencies above 100,000 Hz and reducing delays caused by diffusion and reflection.
Ear cups with isomagnetic construction
Another of Empyrean's innovative designs is the isomagnetic construction of the ear cups. The earpads incorporate a metallic net with magnetic absorption properties that utilizes the magnetic field generated by the drivers to anchor the headphones and return 95% of the stray magnetic field towards the head to the drivers, improving driver efficiency by approximately 1dB.
Package
The package is above standard for the price.
Package contents
- MEZE Audio EMPYREAN
- Replacement ear pads
- Carrying case
- Instruction Manual
Build Quality
Build quality meets price standards.
Fit
The fit is good. The ear pads are very thick and comfortable.
Sound quality
audio status
Sound quality description
The following review was tested with a FiiO M15.
MEZE Audio EMPYREAN has a near neutral, full midrange sound.
Please see here for detailed reviews on sound quality.
Lows / Bass
The MEZE Audio EMPYREAN has a low-frequency range that is typical of planar-driven headphones, and despite being open headphones, the low frequencies extend quite deep.
Bass drum thickness and weight are not bad. Depth is not bad either, but rumble is weak.
The electric bass lacks a bit of blackness, and the tightness is a bit loose, sounding a bit bright and with a harsh edge.
Overall, it's a little less tight, so it's not expected to satisfy bass lovers, but it's not bad if you like a warmer sound.
Mids
The midrange of the MEZE Audio EMPYREAN is backward leaning, emphasizing staging and a sense of depth in its structure.
There is an overall tendency toward distant localization with a sense of forward localization, and there is a reverberant feel as if you are listening in a room with a lot of resonance and a little echo.
The rich sound is nice and immersive, but the edges and crunch are weak and lack a sense of structure, and the detail reproduction is not good. The contours are rounded and soft to the ear, making it comfortable to listen to, but the sound image of individual instruments in a song can easily sound muddy, and the music as a whole has a muddy feel, as if a veil is hanging over it.
This is not bad for enjoying the atmosphere, but it is not suitable for serious music appreciation. The overall structure is very carefully constructed with good linearity by taking advantage of the nature of the plane drive type, so there are no habits that stand out in some parts, but on the other hand, this means that the overall sound is uniformly vague.
Well, I don't think it is the kind of midrange that one would pay nearly 400,000 yen to listen to. Resolution is also mediocre.
Highs / Treble
The high frequencies of the MEZE Audio EMPYREAN are linear and well extended, reaching very high and very smooth. It does a good job of taking advantage of the planar drive system, but the problem is that the overall energy is weak.
The MEZE Audio EMPYREAN delivers a very consistent sound image in the high frequencies, so the overtones of violins and woodwinds extend very nicely and naturally, but the overall lack of luminance results in poor detail reproduction and a lack of dynamism.
Overall, the highs sound hazy, safe even for those sensitive to high frequencies, and do not get too loud when the volume is turned up, but in exchange they sacrifice detail and contour reproduction, making it impossible to get microscopically close to the music.
These headphones can be described as headphones for enjoying the atmosphere with a bit of distance in the general sense, but because of the price, the high frequency range should have been built up more, as expected.
While the range and sound image consistency of these headphones are good enough to keep them in the face of high-end equipment, their inability to make you listen to them carefully is a considerable loss.
The MEZE Audio EMPYREAN's high frequency range is just such an example of the kind of poor total sound design that can ruin the entire musical experience.
Sound quality general comment
- Original Sound Fidelity: A
- Recommendation: D-
- Personal preference: D-
MEZE has done a good job with the planar drive characteristics in the EMPYREAN, creating a headphone with good sound image consistency and excellent range. But that's basically all there is to it.
Compared to superior headphones such as the Sivga SV023, for example, which we reviewed most recently, the EMPYREAN has low resolution and poor detail reproduction, and while the overall sound is nice and smooth, it is not crisp.
If you are attracted by the beauty of the exterior, or if you are buying it as an ornament, or if you are just really smitten with the sound, well, there is nothing you can do about it, but if you are only thinking of buying the MEZE Audio EMPYREAN based on its reputation, you should carefully listen to a lower priced model before you decide to buy it. If this model was priced at $500 or less, I would have a slightly different viewpoint, but if you are paying close to $3,000 to listen to good sound, it would be a travesty to have to listen to such sound.
Basically, headphones in this price range are the height of luxury goods, and since performance rarely meets price, they are the kind of product you buy to show off and look good. In fact, there are quite a few products that can be bought for less than $100 that can be said to be better than these, and if you expand your budget range to $1,000 or less, you can easily find products that can beat these. There is no need to buy this unless you have extra money and want to waste it. It sounds good to say that it is a work of art, but it will annoy most users and annoy retailers if a manufacturer's sensibilities are forced on them without regard to cost. If you are buying these products for investment purposes, it may not be a bad idea, because you may be able to expect a price increase in the future for these products that are produced in small numbers.
Sound quality features
Pros
- Bright midrange
- Proper focus on the midrange
- Rich and immersive sounding
- Mellow and mellow
- Sense of envelopment
- Warm and pleasant to listen to
- Excellent range
- Spacious and well-connected sound image
Cons
- Lacks low-frequency depth
- Lack of textural accuracy
- Lack of structure
- Lack of contouring
- Poor sense of separation
- Lack of detail
- Lack of brightness
- Insufficient resolution considering the price
- Excessive price for sound quality
General comment
The MEZE Audio EMPYREAN is a high-end headphone capable of delivering a sound with excellent range and sound image consistency that is very planer-driven. However, detail reproduction is poor and the basic audio specs are far below the price level, which does not justify the price at all, at least when considering sound quality alone.
