Been awhile since I’ve been here, but I am asking what people’s opinion on a empyrean Jr would be. I’m having a hard time thinking of selling them, but they would pay for a very essential piece in my music making, so I am asking what lesser cost headphones has brought you closest to the Empy...

Overall I feel like the LCD did just a little more something special for thick guitar tones, but the Empy is the only other headphone I’ve heard this on, just to a lesser extent. Sub-bass was maybe a little deeper, but the Empy has more mid-bass which is to my preference. Mids a little more...

Not the sticks, but no demo possibilities here either, but I like you wasn't a Beyer fan, returned the 1990. The Empy just arrived late last week, following reviews and impressions to what I believe my tastes are worked out perfectly. Overall my favorite. The LCD-4 also sounded greatly to my...

Interesting read.. I honestly never had a close look and believed mine had the grill this whole time. That said, I do not experience brightness in a negative way with my pair, but I can tell a huge difference in sound vs the Empyrean for sure. Everytime I listen to the Arya, I feel like there...

Just got mine yesterday after a long wait. These are exactly what I was looking for.. the Arya compliment them well and I like them more than I did the LCD-4.

Got these 3+ months ago..

I listen to many genres, but multiple subgenres of rock and metal included.. I'll have a pair any day now, just waiting on arrival. I'll be including impressions here after some time with them and I will definitely run plenty rock and metal through them before sharing thoughts.

You are doing God's work lol. Look very forward to this.. only wish you had an Empy to use in these comparisons too. :)

I wonder if the iDefender+ could help? Seems to be one of the reasonably priced add-ons from iFi.

What are the best ways to test for channel imbalance without any addition gear? The Arya has passed the tests I've tried, but it's still the only headphone that while wearing I can't help but feel the left driver is prioritized while listening. Getting stumped on if it's just me, or if it's...

What kind of limits are people generally finding for pairing the Empy when it comes to warmth, by tube amps or warm SS amps? I have my eye on the Liquid Gold x and Cayin HA-6A to pair with the Empyrean, Arya, k 712 and 6xx. I tend to like warmth, the Arya with 789 is pushing my limits on...

+/- 2 weeks til my Empy gets here, there will be a an initial impressions comparison after some time with it. :)

I personally wouldn't concern myself much with the usb cable, but if down the road you want to get just a little more out of it, maybe a Linear power supply. I'm uncertain if that works with the sdac variant as I have the standalone amp version, just to clarify.

Fair enough, thanks for the info! I'll probably just sit tight for a little while to see how the Liquid Platinum dac is received as well as any other AKM4499 dac that may come out this year. Hard to not pull the trigger on the D90 now though!