The Emperor's New Sound - Meze Empyrean II

What happens when you combine the fantastic Lotoo Mjölnir with the new Meze Empyrean II headphones? More details, better treble, bass, great voices and a wide stage? Sure . But most of all, lose yourself in the music! 

We have tested the Empyrean II and it is now available to our customers as a demo device in the showroom or for testing at home. But before we go into more detail about the sound, as always a little unboxing photo session...

When unpacking it is immediately noticeable that Meze has dispensed with the aluminum case of the Empyrean and Elite for the Empyrean II and has instead switched to a much smaller ABS plastic case. It may not look quite as elegant as its predecessor, but it is lighter and easier to transport due to its compactness - it can even fit in a backpack. 

What is new is the now standard premium cable, which is available in pure copper or silver-coated copper. Here in the picture is the copper version.

On the outside, little has changed - Meze largely relies on the popular, iconic design of its predecessor. The included earpads, which contribute significantly to the new sound of the Empyrean II, have been completely redesigned.

The workmanship is still flawless - this was also the case with its predecessor and the wearing comfort of the Empyrean II is excellent.

As you can see, the Empyrean II harmonizes perfectly with our new "workhorse", the Lotoo Mjölnir. This is hi-fi at the highest level - visually and acoustically.

The first bars of the music immediately prove 2 things:

1) The Lotoo Mjölnir actually manages to get the maximum performance out of every headphone and in-ear that can be connected to get it out.

2) The new Meze Empyrean II is not what I imagined it to be or what most reviews suggest for me. That doesn't mean it's worse or completely different - quite the opposite. But more on that later.

What does the Empyrean II sound like?

I have to elaborate a bit on this. I have to admit that I really liked the Empyrean I - better than the Elite, which is 1000 CHF more expensive. Why ? Because he was and is simply wonderfully musical. The Elite plays much more analytically and precisely - in the end it is purely a matter of taste.

The first test reports of the Empyrean II agree that the "new" one is more in the direction of the Elite - i.e. significantly more neutral and slimmer is. - Apparently customer wishes have been taken into account and the tuning has been optimized accordingly. There are certainly customers who, like me, were and are very happy with the performance of the “old” Empyrean.

Mixed Emotions

So I approached testing the Empyrean II with mixed emotions. But the first bars that the Mjölnir elicited from the "new" made me breathe a sigh of relief - the qualities of the predecessor, the musicality are still there - just significantly better!

While the Empyrean I could be described as "warm "Coordinated", the "new one" knows how to inspire with more details and resolution - but without losing musicality. On the contrary: the thing "rocks" - or to put it another way, the Empyrean II plays with a light-footedness and a self-confidence that after a few minutes I completely forgot to pay attention to details and note the characteristics of the headphones and just listened to music. 

And even as I'm writing this, it's hard for me to switch to "analysis mode" because I'd much rather just indulge in the music! 😢🤩

Head cinema

As already said, the new Empyrean II is at least as musical as the old one, but the sound has been improved in many details. The Bass is faster and crisper without losing impact, Details are excellently brought out and the headphones offer a realistic stage with excellent space.

Orchestral pieces and orchestral soundtracks such as "The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt" unleash a veritable storm of sound on the listener, so that images arise in the head and one feels like one is right in the middle of the action - mental cinema at its finest . 

In complex pieces, the individual instruments are clearly highlighted and the channel separation is excellent. 

But my personal highlight is the voice reproduction. The singer and singer fit seamlessly into the overall picture of the orchestra or band, but are so clearly outlined and easily brought into the foreground by the Empyrean, as if they were standing in front of me in the flesh - great!

I don't want to analyze any further at this point, I just want to listen to music and say goodbye to this blog - but not without urgently recommending you a listening session in our showroom or at home to lay! 🙌 The Empyrean II is now available as a demo!

More blogs on the topic 

Force of nature for the senses - Lotoo Mjölnir

A dream comes true - our new showroom!