Meze Empyrean 2?

Just got finished reading nearly every review on the Atrium open and great job to everyone in here. There is no over hyping and the reviews just have a sense of sensibility which makes wanting to buy them more difficult vs my initial desire to blind buy based on a handful of reads. They definitely sound like a pair I would enjoy but the subjective nature of this hobby can really put a damper on things lol.

I started to wonder if anyone had any impressions on the Meze Empyrean 2. I do realize they are different driver types but curious if anyone have given these a go.

 

I have Empy 2 but not Atrium. I just recently asked in a Telegram chat about comparing the 2 and got a pretty good response:

"Atrium is a colored intimate headphone with great soundstage.

Atrium has more and punchier bass than Empy 2 (Empy 2 has good bass presence for sure tho).

Both have thick lower mids. Atrium upper mids are forward. While Empy 2 is more on the recessed side.

Empy 2 has more treble. Atrium is on the darker side. Not as dark as say HD650 though.

Empy 2 wins very much in terms of details. Also can be a bit clearer. Atrium has very intimate vocals. Empy 2s vocals aren't thin but not quite as intimate.

Depends what you want. Empyrean 2 does a good job towing the line of being fun but also having a sound that works for the technical aspects and neutrality.

Atrium Open is a clear colored presentation that may not work for everyone but is very fun to me. There is no headphone I enjoy more than the Atrium for sitting down and relaxing to music. It isn't one you go for looking for details though.

You may end uo not liking Atrium or much prefering one or the other. That depends on your preferences. Atrium isn't very amp picky. Though really likes tubes."

Having had Empy 2 for a few months I completely agree with this description of it. The only thing I don't like are the pads which are just too small for my huge ears. Hence why I'm eager to try Atrium as well.

 

I wonder if the reviewer is confusing upper mid & treble speed/attack/emphasis with microdetail. I have never heard the Empyrean, and the Atrium is behind the Utopia or say the ZMF Verite as to plankton, but not that far behind. It's attack and decay is "slow" like the sennheiser's however and this leads some (novice?) listeners to miss the detail.

I scratch my head at that.

For most (novice?) listeners I would say the opposite - a well sorted SS is going to grip the bass, prevent bass-to-mid bleed, etc. better than tubes. However that is just a generalization - reality is "it depends". I can say that the Atrium certainly scales, revealing the plankton from a good tube amp for example

 

That makes a lot of sense. I spent about a month with the Caldera so I know how thoughtfully designed these ZMFs are. Would never underestimate them