Meze Empyrean II vs Focal Utopia 2022

Buy the Meze Empyrean II here:

Buy the Focal Utopia here:

#MezeEmpyrean #focalutopia #audiophile

[chungang]

With the OG Empyrean I could kick back with a whole album and a glass of whiskey and stop caring about anything else but the music. When I wear other detail chasing headphones I find I can't do that.

[michaelp.]

People always complain that mezes arent worth the price, but then turn around and spend $6000 on a headphone put together with paperclips and tape.

[davidchen]

If you can only pick one. Zmf Atrium or Empyrean?

[wardvandecotte]

Since a couple of weeks I'm the happy owner of the Empy II.
Most comfortable cups I've ever had, no doubt.
Sound wise they're great, not super. Probably one of the best all-round headphones, works with any music genre.
Are these worth 3k? No. But apparently we're willing to pay huge amounts of money in this hobby. 😉

[vancybergoth]

In terms of design, two of my favorite headphones. I was able to hear both headphones last Saturday at the High End Munich, I didn't find the sound of the Meze Empyrean 2 particularly spectacular or worth the price. I absolutely agree with your assessment of the Utopia 2022, I was a big fan of the OG Utopia and was disappointed with the 2022, my father felt the same. For me, the absolute highlight of the trade fair was the brand new Abyss Diana DZ and with the new headband I found it even more comfortable and lighter on the head than the Empyrean.

[xi]

When you will review the Raal 1995 Immanis ? 🔥

[CaoimhinKay]

Interesting… are driver failures common in the 2022 v the OG Utopia?

[nothingelse]

I almost got a Empy II but instead I got a Audeze CRBN and a Blue Hawaii amp, I am debating getting a Stax X9000. I just don't know if I can spend that kind of money on headphones and look myself in the mirror lol

[tdfmike]

Empyreon + dave + mscsaler

I had the pleasure to listen to the og empyreon on that setup and compare it to the other totl headphones on the highend in munich.
The chord setup makes so much difference that I dont want to believe it... simlliar to the d8000pro + calysthe amethyst.
For some headphones the chain matters. Yes even for the empyreons..
Its just way out of my budget😢

[Aryzon]

I am curious, have you tried bass boosting Utopia. From my experience it's pretty much mandatory as you can push the bass to absurd levels without losing anything in the process.
I can send my EQ if you wish.

[sanhnguyen]

Do you feel the strap of empy2 is little bit sticky?

[TheVeganVicar]

As a fellow baldie, how on earth do you wear ANY of the Focal headphones? I find them to be unwearable for more than a few minutes. Even the original Audeze without the suspension straps were more wearable, perhaps.
Even if the Utopia was light years beyond the quality of the Susvara, I would still be extremely hesitant to buy one for this reason.

[nicholasmanning]

Could you consider using a mic screen for mitigating plosives? It is quite difficult to hear you in your videos and degraded the great experience listening to your thoughts. Cheers.

[boltvanderhuge]

Honestly I'd steer clear of focal based on build quality alone; so much plastic and plastic-on-metal in the headband that they are basically guaranteed to snap at the join points eventually

[aceofspades]

OG Utopia for -1800 vs OG Empy for -1300? And go…

[midnightisnice]

To all the swiftys: if eleven wasn’t a real number, the cheeseburgers wouldn’t have cheeee

[xi]

Both are not worth the price.
The only headphone which is really worth the price is the upcoming Shangri la mini from Hifiman . It was the star of the Munich High end show