HeadphoneOverreview

Meze Audio Empyrean II

Meze's flagship-chassis planar, retuned toward neutral: reviewers praise the comfort, build and stage almost unanimously, then split over its treble, its upper mids and whether it lost the original's charm.

56 sourcesUpdated
$2,999Typical US price

Score aggregates reviewer opinions across topics.

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Meze Audio Empyrean II

The short version

What to know.

An easy-to-drive 32-ohm open-back planar that keeps the Empyrean's chassis and retunes it brighter and cleaner. Seven measurement rigs agree on the shape: bass that extends far deeper than an HD 600's, a lift of a few dB in the 100–300 Hz region, a modest dip around 2 kHz, more 3–8 kHz energy than the original Empyrean, and a 6 kHz and 12 kHz treble emphasis whose height varies by rig. The Angled Alcantara pads cut the bass by roughly 3–5 dB for a leaner, airier sound. Sources broadly agree on class-leading comfort, superb build and accessories, precise imaging, a wide (if not the deepest) stage and good detail. They split on whether the bass is punchy or soft, whether the upper mids are natural or recessed, whether the lower treble is energetic or peaky, whether the tuning is a better-balanced Empyrean or a characterless V, how dynamic it sounds, and whether it is worth $3,000.

About this product

The 2023 second generation, which replaced the original 2018 Empyrean at the same $2,999 price. Same chassis and Rinaro MZ3 driver family, but a retuned driver, matte-black finish with Art Deco grilles, and new Duo and Angled Alcantara pads. Not the costlier Elite / Elite Tungsten, or the 2026 ARTA, which share the frame.

The Empyrean II is the 2023 successor to the Empyrean, the open-back planar that made Romania's Meze Audio a high-end name in 2018. It keeps the carbon-fibre headband, suspension strap and ovoid cups, and a Rinaro Isodynamic Hybrid Array driver that pairs a bass-oriented switchback coil with a spiral coil positioned over the ear canal. What changed is the tuning: Meze set out to make it more detailed and more neutral than the famously warm, lush original, and it ships with two magnetic pad sets, the Duo and the Angled Alcantara, that give it two distinct voicings.

At $2,999 it sits below Meze's Elite and competes with HiFiMAN's HE1000 series, Focal's Utopia and ZMF's planars and dynamics. At 32 ohms it is easy to drive. Its build and comfort are near-universally praised. Its sound has been harder to agree on: much of the press called it a clean, versatile upgrade, while a vocal group of critics and former Empyrean owners hear a V-shaped tuning with a peaky lower treble that traded away the original's character.

A good fit for

  • Listeners who prize comfort for long sessions above everything else
  • Anyone who found the original Empyrean too dark or thick and wants a cleaner take on the same chassis
  • Buyers who want flagship build quality and repairability that will last for years
  • People who want two tunings in one box and are happy to swap pads by mood or genre
  • High-end buyers who don't want to invest in a powerful desktop amp

Think twice if

  • You are sensitive to lower-treble peaks or sibilance: the 6 kHz emphasis is the most common complaint
  • You loved the original Empyrean's lush, warm, laid-back sound: this is a different, brighter tuning
  • You want maximum resolution for the money: several rivals at or below its price out-resolve it
  • You want deep, slamming sub-bass without EQ
  • You need isolation, or a headphone for travel or a shared room

The reviewer consensus

Agreement &
disagreement.

6 / 12topics divide opinion
imagingisolationsoundstagedetailcomfortbuildbassmidstrebletonalitydynamicsvalue
2 Strong agreement4 Mostly agree6 Divided opinions

Common ground7

  • Among the most comfortable headphones at any price, thanks to the suspension strap and deep, magnetically attached pads.
  • Superb build, finish and accessories, with a premium cable, a hard case and fully replaceable parts.
  • Precise imaging and clean instrument separation, a clear step up from the original Empyrean.

Points of contention6

  • Bass: punchy, deep and controlled vs thick in the upper bass vs soft and light in the deepest sub-bass.
  • Mids: articulate and natural vs recessed, 'cuppy' upper mids that push vocals back.
  • Treble: extended and airy vs a peaky, grainy lower treble around 6 kHz.

A closer listen.

12 topics · 6 divided
Left: criticalRight: positiveTighter lines: more agreement

Bass

Leans positiveDivided opinions
Reviewer sentiment26 supporting sources
CriticalNeutralPositive

Band: opinion spread · Dot: weighted average

Sources split three ways. Most hear deep, punchy, well-controlled bass with real weight for a planar. A smaller group hears the upper bass as thick or bloated (mostly on the Duo pads), and another hears soft impact and too little deep sub-bass, often when comparing it with the bassier original Empyrean or with the leaner Alcantara pads fitted.

Measured

With the Duo pads, every rig shows bass extending far below an HD 600's: +6.7 dB at 20 Hz on oratory1990's rig, +7.9 dB on Super* Review's, and +6 to +9 dB over the HD 650/6XX on Kuulokenurkka's and GadgetryTech's (Daemonxar's is smaller, +2.8 dB over its HD 600). Against Harman OE 2018 (oratory1990) it is −4.5 dB at 20 Hz but +4.2 dB at 200 Hz: a lift of a few dB across 100–300 Hz on every rig. The Angled Alcantara pads drop 20 Hz by 4–6 dB and 100 Hz by about 3–4 dB on the same rigs.

vs. listeners — Both complaints describe the same curve from opposite ends. The extension is real, but the lift sits higher, around 100–300 Hz, than in a sub-bass-shelf tuning, so it reads as thick to some and as more upper-bass body than deep slam to others. Pad choice moves it by several dB, and owners report that a broken seal (glasses, fit) takes much of it away.

Where it splits
Punchy, deep and well controlled: a satisfying, high-quality low end for an open planar.69%

“the lows come through with punch and power”

What Hi-Fi?
Too thick in the upper bass: a lift around 100–300 Hz that muddies the Duo-pad sound.14%

“the upper bass tends to be a bit on the thick side of things”

Resolve (Andrew Park), headphones.com forum
Soft impact and light in the deepest sub-bass, especially next to the original Empyrean.17%

“The Empy 2 is sort of soft-sounding, particularly in bass.”

SolarCetacean, Head-Fi
Link to this topic

The hardware

Specifications.

Checked

Design

Type
Open-back over-ear
Drivers
1 × 102 mm planar magnetic (Rinaro Isodynamic Hybrid Array, 102 × 73 mm ovoid)
Tuning
Pads · 2 options

Electrical

Impedance
32 Ω
Sensitivity
90 dB/mW≈ 104.9 dB/V
Frequency response
8 Hz – 110 kHz

Connection

Cable
Detachable, dual-entry
Connector
4-pin mini-XLR
Plugs supplied
6.35 mm

Physical

Weight
449 g
Released
2023-11

Manufacturer-published figures, not measurements · from mezeaudio.com, mezeaudio.com.

Follow the evidence

Sources 56

1–6 of 56 sources

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Limitations & method.

As of

What to keep in mind 6

  1. This is where opinion stands as of October 2026, nearly three years after launch. Much of the glowing early coverage came from review units Meze supplied, while many of the sharper criticisms came later, from owners and from listeners comparing it with the original Empyrean or the Elite.

  2. The two pad sets really do change the sound, by several dB in the bass, so two people describing 'the Empyrean II' may be describing different pads. How it fits matters too: glasses or a poor seal take away much of the bass.

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