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!

Just from some of my readings in here, is it safe to say that this may not be the dac to get if I will be running with usb instead of optical? Curious if it's unanimous that the usb underperformed, cheers!

Thank you very much for the detailed information, this is exactly what I have been most curious about. I assume these impressions are all after the 12au7 roll, however your description of the EL34 in triode mode is exactly what I'm looking to achieve. It almost seems that running the amp in UL...

Great review. I was being pushed away on the idea of this amp after impressions started trickling in, but that change of the 12au7 tubes suggests it would get exactly where I want. I wonder if they will start offering these, or other tube options upon purchase. I am curious if you could...

Anybody start receiving the Jet Black version?

I feel the Arya is a significant step. My second "real" headphones were the he400i, I loved those things back then. When I had gotten the Sundara I A/B tested them and that proved to me that there was no reason for me to keep using the 400i, it was just a noticeable improvement. I feel the same...

HD598, for it is what got me started.. ha. Actually though, either the Beyer dt-1990 or Fostex TH-X00 purpleheart

How do any Arya & Empyrean users find the platinum pairs with those headphones? Considering changing out my CTH + LPS for the platinum.

I've been planning on going to the HPA-4 from my 789, but after my research it seems there really isn't enough difference in sound itself to warrant such a price jump. So, here I am asking if anyone here has thoughts on the 887 vs 789 and if they could perceive any sound differences at all. I'm...

I see you have the LCD-4 as well. Would love to hear a little comparison if you get around to it as I'm selling the 4 to fund the Empy. I keep reading the Empy isn't as detailed as others for its price, but it's tonality is great. Sits well with me. Glad to hear you like them!

Glad to hear! (ha ha..) I did see someone, not sure if it was in this thread though - comment on the HPA-4 and Empy being a underwhelming pairing which has haulted my plans of buying the HPA-4 at the moment. Any positives or negatives in your experience involving tubes vs SS with the Empy...