no…I was thinking the Denon, my bad.
what are your thoughts of the Denon biodynamic vs the Beyer?
who else makes biodynamic? any IEMS?
Ah, I think the heritage headphones are also biodynamic, also pretty good lol. Can be had used around 800 usd
cool. the HP-3’s are well over a grand…the 5200’s should be around $700 here I think.
Perhaps an option?
Don’t have time to see if this is fully legit but if so that’s a good price
no position to buy…just saying it’s a style on my list.
M0N, do you find that the Microzotl is headphone picky like some other tube amps, or is it more versatile? For example, could it run low impedance Planars or similar?
IMO it is pretty dang versatile, it runs mostly anything reasonable I throw at it well enough with no issues
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but you don’t use it often and would prefer a SS amp instead?
That was in response to use with the clears, it depends on the headphones
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I have only had a low IMPEDANCE tube headphone amp (MAD Ear+ HD II) for about a month. My impressions so far:
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Grado GH2’s have been a magical combo with them, after I reduced volume via DAC.
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As has been noted, the HD600’s transform on a tube amp. I was shocked at the difference. However the Grado’s edged them out and they’re gone. If I didn’t have the Grado’s, I would have kept them just for the tube amp.
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Sundara’s really didn’t work on tubes at all for me. Not a pleasant sound.
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Elex’s were strange. I didn’t care for them at first, but when I tried two weeks later, I did. Great clarity, range and airiness. But lacked authority and slam (I am still surprised at how bassy the Elex’s are. Did not expect that).
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Fostex TH-610’s. Quick test and I didn’t enjoy it.
Last one was a surprise.
6) Meze 99 Classic’s are my oldest 'phones (about 3-4 years old). I love them as my out and about/work headphones and was always the first to say they didn’t scale well, if at all. Well I was WAY wrong. On my tube amp, they improve in a large way. It is not a transformation like the HD600’s, it just improves in every area. The vocals, the strings, the bass, it all sounds sharper and cleaner than on my SS amps.
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can you edit your above post with a mention of the amp you used?
also, did this amp tame the treble and enhance the bass of the GH2’s? how did it influence their soundstage and imaging?
I only own one tube amp: MAD Ear+ HD II.
I don’t find the treble troubling, so I didn’t really notice. It did seem to give stronger bass on some songs, but not others. If it’s in the song, it comes out. There were songs where I wished for a bit more bass, but such is life with Grado’s.
Even with my Elex’s there is no Boom.
I’ve just bought the Meze Empyrean (literally just arrived today) and I’m waiting for an amp to arrive within the week.
The amp is the Miltra OTL-8XT. It’s is an OTL tube amp. Specs from website state:
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Output power RMS: sinus 1KHz @ 250Ohm – 550mW per channel
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Frequency range: 10Hz – 60kHz +/-3dB
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Volume control range: -78dB to 0dB with resolution 1dB per step
Do you think I’m going to have an issue matching these?? Bit late now as I already bought them 
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there may be an issue as most OTL are meant only for high impedance headphones, like 300 ohms and higher. examples are the Sennheiser HD600, 650 and 660s. @M0N has told me there are very high end OTL amps that can do low impedance headphones like your Empyrean, but looking up the specs of this 8XT, it’s output info starts @ 250 ohms, which is high impedance.
I don’t recall if running low impedance headphones is bad for just the amp or if it will damage them as well, but essentially, don’t use them with that amp.
if you want a tube amp, you need to get yourself a hybrid tube amp…unless the cost of one of those special OTL is in reach for you. hopefully @M0N will pipe up quickly and ejumicate all of us.
I’ve not heard any miltra amps so I can’t really comment, but typically an amp like that isn’t really going to work that well with something like an empyrean. Luckily the empyrean is fairly efficient and not really all that amp picky so it could still be fine, but it’s likely not an amp I’d consider with an empyrean as a main priority (but still can’t say much, not heard myself)
Likely won’t damage anything, just might not sound the best, no real way of knowing without listening to it
Or transformer coupled tube, that works too, again all depends on the amp in the end. Just typically otl are geared for higher impedance and voltage delivery rather than current for lower impedance or planar
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hmmm…I swear I read or was told that a low impedance headphone put into a high impedance amp is bad. the opposite is what would sound bad because the amp doesn’t have enough juice for the headphone. a perfect example is when you plug headphones into your phone but cannot get high enough volume to enjoy them.
Perhaps sound wise, but you are unlikely to actually damage things from what I know
With an otl, it’s pretty load sensitive, and due to the nature of the design, it’s better at driving voltage rather than current. Output impedance also plays into this with lower dampening factor and impedance ratios which can really change how some lower impedance headphones react as well. Overall otl designs just really aren’t designed for driving lower impedance loads, esp ones that are fairly current demanding like planar for example. Using a transformer in the design to step down the voltage to lower voltage with higher current for lower impedance loads is desirable for lower impedance or more current hungry loads in a tube design. Not really someone who looks too deeply into topology nor an electrical engineer, so don’t know too much about how things work, I just know that most otl I’ve tried didn’t really sound all that great with lower impedance cans or more demanding planar lol. I think your lacking juice statement is somewhat right since it can’t make that much power at lower impedance
The manufacturer says: the amplifier can work with headphones with an impedance of 20 to 600 Ω; its output power is quite - for this type of design - large and amounts to 550 mW (1 kHz, 250 Ω). So it should drive most of the constructions available on the market.
He also said: “I haven’t had contact with these headphones, but I think it will work well together. The impedance is also right, I tested these amplifiers with headphones with a lower impedance - 21 Ohm, so I think they will be fine.”
Guess I will find out in a few days when it arrives! Although I don’t have anything to compare it to.
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If it sounds good then nothing to worry about lol as that’s all that matters. Will be curious on your thoughts on it 
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Lol very true! Problem is - as I’m completely new to high end audio - if it’s only achieving a small percentage of what it’s capable of (sound quality wise) I probably wouldn’t even realize and think it sounds great! 
I think it’s a stunning design. And reviews on build quality have been very positive.
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