The pure truth - Empire Ears ESR MKII

Intro

Empire Ears (EE) are opening the year 2021 with some new and exciting products. One of these is the ESR MKII, the next iteration of their ESR ("Empire Studio Reference") in-ear studio monitor. 

While the original ESR featured 3 balanced armature drivers, the 2021 ESR MKII features a 5-driver hybrid design with 3 balanced armature drivers and 2 electrostatic drivers. The ESR MKII is aimed primarily at professional users such as musicians and studio technicians or sound engineers, which doesn't mean that music lovers won't also enjoy it.



Specifications

5 Driver, Hybrid IEM Design:
Universal In-Ear Monitor
3 Proprietary Balanced Armature Drivers - Low, Medium, High
2 Premium Electrostatic Driver - Ultra High
4-Way synX Crossover
EIVEC - Empire Intelligent Electrostatic Control Technology
A.R.C. Anti-resonance connection technology
Impedance: 3.9 ohms @ 1kHz
Frequency response: 10 Hz - 100kHz
Sensitivity: 111dB @ 1kHz, 1mW
Hand-made Alpha-IV 26AWG UPOCC copper wire

Note

My test report consists exclusively of my own thoughts, opinions and impressions of the product. I paid for the product tested, it was not provided to me for free. All pictures were taken by myself unless otherwise stated.

Test units



Burson Audio Soloist 3XP / Composer 3XP Combo ( Main test source)
Cayin N8 DAP
Cayin N6 II DAP with E02 module
Empire Ears Alpha-IV cable (2.5mm balanced)

Music selection/test playlist

Voices, mids, acoustic guitars etc.

Tenacious D - Tenacious D - Wonderboy
Marily Manson - The Pale Emperor - Day3
Chris Jones - Moonstruck
Sara K. - Hell or High Water - I Can't Stand The Rain, Stars
Ana Tijoux - 1977 - Partir de Cero

Channel separation

TTenacious D - Tenacious D - Kielbasa
NIN - The Downward Spiral - Hurt
Johnny Cash - The Essential - Ring of Fire
Stephen Coleman - Westworld Season 2 Soundtrack - C.R.E.A.M.

Soundstage, treble, electric guitars etc.

Alice in Chains - MTV Unplugged - Rooster
Korn - MTV Unplugged - Freak on a Leash
Anneke van Giersbergen - Symphonized - Feel Alive
Howard Shore - The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - Blunt the Knives

Dynamics, bass, sub-bass

The Diary - The Gentle Storm - Endless Sea |Gentle Version|
Wardruna - Runaljod: Ragnarok - Tyr
Hans Zimmer - Man of Steel OST - Look to the Stars
Hans Zimmer - Pearl Harbor OST - Tennessee
Ice Cube - Raw Footage - Gangsta Rap Made Me Do It

The packaging for all Empire Ears (EE) products are more or less the same, which makes sense to me as it shows consistency across the range. 

You get a beautifully designed white cardboard box with the Empire Ears logo and the name or logo of the respective product. It is neither too big nor too small and exudes class and style. It consists of an outer "slider" sleeve and a sturdier inner box.



If you open the magnetic flap of the box, you will find a compartment inside with a quick guide and a "thank you card" from EE congratulating you on the successful purchase. Underneath, the IEM and cable are ready for you to pull out and enjoy the music. In a stylish drawer underneath there is an aluminum plate with various Final Audio silicone tips that you can choose from.



The great thing is that at Empire Ears there are not only the standard sizes S, M and L, but also XS, S, M, L and XL, which makes it easy has a larger selection of tips that you can adapt to your ears. Since my ear canals are slightly different sizes, this makes it easier for me to get a good fit. However, I would have liked a selection of foam attachments as I generally prefer foam to silicone. However, the included attachments work well.

Last but not least, there is the fantastic Pandora case from EE, a black aluminum capsule for safely transporting the precious in-ears. It's built like the proverbial tank and is engraved with the Empire logo and the name of your product.


Build Quality & Fit

In Ears



The build quality of the ESR MKII is excellent, just like all of EE's in-ears. To be honest, I didn't notice any difference in build quality between the entry-level and top-of-the-line products. To me, this is simply a sign that they don't compromise on quality, regardless of the price. I like that!

The new ESR MKIIs are black with a brushed silver faceplate and silver logo that "floats" over the brushed silver. The design is rather subtle and seems very stylish and elegant to me. The fit and comfort, at least for my average-sized ears, is good, with the fairly long sound opening allowing for a good seal. As a result, the IEMs don't sit flush in my ears, but stick out a few millimeters, which isn't a problem for me.

Cables

EE use a variant of the Ares II from Effect Audio, which they call Alpha-IV or simply A4. You can choose between 3.5mm single ended or 2.5mm symmetrical.  It's a beautiful, elegant and well-made cable and I particularly like the slim connectors and the super small Y-split. Yes, the cable looks beautiful in my opinion.





What I like less is the stiffness of the cable. Personally, I prefer slightly softer, more flexible cables. However, the cable noise is at a low level/not an issue. I have no complaints at all regarding the sound. It's a good cable.

Sound

How "flat" and true to the source are these improved studio in-ears?

Overall tonality

As the name ESR (Empire Studio Reference) suggests, EE considers this IEM to be their reference for a flat and uncolored studio monitor. Since I usually prefer the consumer X series products since I'm not a professional, I didn't really know what to expect. However, I own the Phantom studio monitor (which is significantly more expensive), so I had a rough idea of ​​what a "flat" reference studio in-ear might sound like. I was both right and wrong.

The overall tonality is actually nicely balanced and, as far as I can tell, neutral. No frequency appears to be excessive and I assume the frequency response matches the "flat" description. Since I don't take measurements, I can't confirm this with data. It's just my impression after a week of listening to music, watching movies and playing with the ESR MKIIs.

One thing that's immediately noticeable is that the ESR MKIIs play the music like it is, that is, good recordings sound good, bad ones sound bad. But that's the point of a reference studio in-ear monitor, or?

Treble

The combination of symmetrical armature and dual electrostatic ( E-Stat) drivers deliver a beautifully detailed and smooth high frequency range without boost. Strings and guitars sound very natural to me. Since there doesn't seem to be any treble boost, you might miss the typical "sparkle" that you're used to on other, more consumer-oriented devices, but that's not the case. It's all there, but you have to get used to a completely different tuning, or rather - the lack of one.

I first noticed this with my EE Phantoms, but after a while I started to use them Enjoy the overall quality of a natural frequency response. For long listening sessions, this is simply perfect.

Midrange

Voices, both male and female, are reproduced very naturally and stand out from the rest of the composition, without the Impression of an artificial frequency increase. Like the treble range, the entire midrange is also nicely separated and overall balanced.

Bass/Low Bass

The bass of Balanced Armature (BA) drivers is very different from dynamic drivers (DD). The frequency response is flat, neutral and tight, which is of course intended. There is no deafening boom and boom like the EE Valkyrie MKIIs or the EE Legend Still, the ESR MKIIs surprised me in a good way here, as their bass response is by no means lifeless or completely devoid of sub-bass, as I expected. It's all there - if it's in the recording. It's a joy to listen to Jeff Goldblum and the Mildred Snitzer Orchestra perform "Cantaloup Island." I feel like I'm actually attending the concert.

Soundstage

Surprisingly, the soundstage seems above average to me. Live recordings sound spacious, while everything in the music - the instruments, the singer(s), the audience - is well separated. I had a pivotal moment when I was playing a game and I suddenly heard a noise from outside. I took off the ESR MKIIs only to discover that the noise was actually coming from the game itself.

Channel separation/instrument separation

The channel separation is really very good. Instrument separation is excellent, depending on the source material. You can tell that these IEMs were made for professionals who need to be as close to the truth as possible.

Neutrality

The ESR MKII are neutral sounding IEMs with a apparently flat frequency response, presenting you with what's in the music without leaving anything out and without adding or boosting anything. They are indeed designed to analyze and dissect music, but - somehow they still manage to convey emotion and enjoyment. I can't really make sense of it.And I mean that in a good way!

Amplification/Adaptability/Scalability

The ESR MKII are quite sensitive IEMs, they don't need a lot of amplifier power to power their work to do. And since their specialty is faithful reproduction, their main strength will be with a neutral source. In my test, I found the combination with Burson Desktop DAC/Amps to be very good in this regard.

If you want to deviate from the path of total truth, you can pair them with less neutral sources. I tried it with my Cayin DAPs and enjoyed the extra warmth and energy the ESR MKII received from this combination. So basically you can adapt these studio IEMs pretty well to your current task, which I find quite interesting.

Conclusion



Paired with the right source, the ESR MKIIs give the truth and nothing but the truth. They are aimed primarily at music professionals, but will certainly meet the needs of other users as well. Anyone who prefers a more neutral music reproduction or is simply looking for an in-ear for a more relaxed and fatigue-free listening experience should find this set very interesting.

I enjoyed my time with the ESR MKIIs, although I usually prefer the I prefer a fun-oriented type of headphones. Funnily enough, I've even used them for movies and games and never once did I feel like anything was missing. Not once did I feel the need to switch to a different set of in-ears. As I said, I'm not a sound engineer or musician, but I believe that these IEMs will certainly appeal to a wider range of users than just professionals. They may be more expensive than their predecessors, but they make up for it with greatly improved technology, beautiful looks and, above all, sound reproduction that really deserves the name Empire Studio Reference.