[PinkyPowers]

Loving the Meze in balanced on my Astell&Kern AK120II.

 

[nmatheis]

I owned the Meze when they were first released and now and the comfort difference is night and day. I returned them before and love them now.

There was a photo, I think on this thread with a then and now comparison. I will see if I can find it.

I totally agree and haven't noticed any of the distortion that's been mentioned recently in the thread. The new pads actually enticed me to finally buy these after I gave them a mostly positive review. Meze has addressed most of the dings I had against these, so kudos to them!

PinkyPowers - Nice, bro. I need me some of that balanced Meze action. I might just PM you...

 

[Sweetness2309]

FYI. The new larger pads you are so happy with are not yet available for the Light Maple Wood Classics.
Meze has been great with their customer service. They are working on producing the larger cream colored pads and will be sending me a pair when they are ready.

 

[BloodyPenguin]

Brothers:  99 & 12 Classics:


 
--

 

[superuser1]

  Brothers:  99 & 12 Classics:
 
--

 
Are the 12 Classics as good as the 99s??

 

[BloodyPenguin]

   
Are the 12 Classics as good as the 99s??

 
IMO, yes. 

 

[MezeTeam]

  Hello, the biggest pads arrived.
The sound is almost identical, comfort is greater for me.
Now they cover my whole ear and I do not have to adjust every little time.
I am very satisfied.
On the other hand, I have seen a Meze 77 Deco model, more portable and very beautiful,  know when it will be available?
 

 
regards

 
 
Ah, the 77 Deco! Quite a beauty and only two of them have ever been made (three actually, but one has been picked apart and put back together too many times).
 
Unfortunately, the 77 Deco project has been shelved indefinitely. We do work on it (experiment would be the proper word, actually) but no release period set as of yet. The 77 Deco looks nice but it is not functional in its current state. There are a lot of things that can change in this project now, maybe we will opt out the cables entirely, only time will tell.
 
We want this project to happen, though. As soon as we'll have more information on it, we'll share it with you guys!
 
The next in line is the 99 Neo that is coming along nicely. 

 

[ubs28]

We are experimenting with different shapes of earpads but I would like to add just one thing: our experiments show that a larger diameter cup does not necessarily result in more sense of space. Also, comfort can come sometimes from a deeper earpad with a cavity just as wide and tall as before. Either way, we are still experimenting and will show some prototype earpads at different CanJams.

I hope you do. If you fix the comfort issues then you got a real winner. That was the only thing that stopped me from buying the Meze 99 as my portable closed headphone.

 

[emptymt]

   
 
Ah, the 77 Deco! Quite a beauty and only two of them have ever been made (three actually, but one has been picked apart and put back together too many times).
 
Unfortunately, the 77 Deco project has been shelved indefinitely. We do work on it (experiment would be the proper word, actually) but no release period set as of yet. The 77 Deco looks nice but it is not functional in its current state. There are a lot of things that can change in this project now, maybe we will opt out the cables entirely, only time will tell.
 
We want this project to happen, though. As soon as we'll have more information on it, we'll share it with you guys!
 
The next in line is the 99 Neo that is coming along nicely. 

will there be a balanced cable for the 99s?
some dap has balanced output, I though it could be a good idea.

 

[subguy812]

 
will there be a balanced cable for the 99s?
some dap has balanced output, I though it could be a good idea.

People are modding and Meze has discussed.

 

[MezeTeam]

 
will there be a balanced cable for the 99s?
some dap has balanced output, I though it could be a good idea.

 
As a matter of fact we did listen to the voices of the thread and are thinking of releasing a balanced cable option. 
 
But as of now we do not have any concrete information on the matter. When news will surface, you guys will be among the first to know and surely among the first to try them out. 

 

[PinkyPowers]

As a matter of fact we did listen to the voices of the thread and are thinking of releasing a balanced cable option. 

But as of now we do not have any concrete information on the matter. When news will surface, you guys will be among the first to know and surely among the first to try them out. 

If you could make the connectors available to the public, that would be a huge help.

 

[sov73811]

Sorry I've been away for awhile but these past months have been C-R-A-Z-Y. And you know what? I gotta say that my experience of headphones in the past months was a nice way to keep me somewhat sane (Okay I lost that a long time ago).
 
Bansaku, love the stories! 
 
But using the Meze Classics 99 on and off for 10 months and the more I listen to them the more I'm impressed how they can offer these sweet headphones for the $309 they do. Now if only they can make a folding version of the 99 classics....*sigh* maybe I just need a bigger bag for work.
 
I believe some wanted to compare the Meze to the NAD Viso HP50. I think I can somewhat help with that.
 
I've been using the NAD Viso HP 50 since March of 2015. They are spectacular closed back headphones with a mid-range and air that may well be unrivaled for the $250-$300 range I'm guessing. But my first pair had one of the inputs die a year and two months in (Last May). I got a replacement from Gramophone a month later and while it was nice to have a brand new set, I lost my beautiful Red color. The second pair had its left input die on me in December while I was in Ohio on business so once again I had to get them replaced. Thankfully still within warranty but I doubt they will this time. 
 
The reason why I'm conflicted about keeping the HP50 around or sending them to Amazon (or some unlucky soul whom I will bring with me into the rabbit-hole of Audiophile-Land) is because the mid-range. It's soooo clear, pronounced, and probably why Paul Barton can say these headphones have a thing called "Room Feel". But with build quality proven to be this bad, I don't know if I want to even use them much anymore! And did I mention these headphones were used at a desk in an office 99% of the time? So yeah, it's not like I was putting any abuse on them.
 
But the Meze has more bass, more treble, and the mids while not quite pronounced don't take a complete "back seat." In fact, sometimes I feel like these headphones can be neutral-ish until I put say the Sennheiser HD600 on. Then it's like, "Oh...well silly me. Was having too much fun." Sometimes though I do feel the bass is too much though.
 
So I went another route: The Audio Technica MSR7. WOW....talk about a 180. Really pronounced treble with a bit of bass sprinkled on top and the mids...well not much different from the 99 Classics if not a bit more recessed. Yeah even after 100 + hours of burn time (200?) they had to go back. I was successful in giving the treble a bit of a nerf and a buff to the bass a bit using some random foam I had lying around from some AKG K240 knockoffs. Superlux I think? But something wasn't quite...right about them even after that. At least transience was incredible; easily the best thing about it. 
 
I even picked these babies up:  http://a.co/brPyr5o The Yaxi DX pads for Sony studio monitors. They fit the MSR7 like a glove.
 
They worked okay on the MSR7 but wasn't enough to manipulate the sound to a something better. The design of the MSR7 just adds too much treble to it. 
 
On a whim though, I tried the pads on the Viso HP50...didn't fit too well and leaked sound too much. 
 
Then I put them on the 99 Classics...
 
Very interesting. Bass while still very heavy, didn't boom too much. Treble seemed to get slightly accentuated. Mids stayed the same. The pads fit slightly loosely but they're on there. They also don't leak sound either. 
 
I'll see if I can get pics of the pads with measurements so you can get a better idea of what a curious person will be getting into...should anyone want to listen to this noob.
 
And coming up...Oppo PM-3 vs. Meze 99 Classics! After about 100 hours of burn time for the Oppo, it's time to see how well the dynamic drivers of the 99 holds up against a full fledged planar magnetic headphone!

 

[donwhee]

Curious to hear from Meze 99 owners how the sound compares to the Ultrasone Edition 8. I'm currently using the Teac HA-P90SD DAP player and am really loving the combo. The only downside I'm experiencing with the Ultrasone, is sibilance from certain audio recordings.

Also, factoring that the cables are non-detachable....and to a certain degree, the price too (paid $700 used)...

Opinions greatly appreciated!

 

[MattRG]

  Sorry I've been away for awhile but these past months have been C-R-A-Z-Y. And you know what? I gotta say that my experience of headphones in the past months was a nice way to keep me somewhat sane (Okay I lost that a long time ago).
 
Bansaku, love the stories! 
 
But using the Meze Classics 99 on and off for 10 months and the more I listen to them the more I'm impressed how they can offer these sweet headphones for the $309 they do. Now if only they can make a folding version of the 99 classics....*sigh* maybe I just need a bigger bag for work.
 
I believe some wanted to compare the Meze to the NAD Viso HP50. I think I can somewhat help with that.
 
I've been using the NAD Viso HP 50 since March of 2015. They are spectacular closed back headphones with a mid-range and air that may well be unrivaled for the $250-$300 range I'm guessing. But my first pair had one of the inputs die a year and two months in (Last May). I got a replacement from Gramophone a month later and while it was nice to have a brand new set, I lost my beautiful Red color. The second pair had its left input die on me in December while I was in Ohio on business so once again I had to get them replaced. Thankfully still within warranty but I doubt they will this time. 
 
The reason why I'm conflicted about keeping the HP50 around or sending them to Amazon (or some unlucky soul whom I will bring with me into the rabbit-hole of Audiophile-Land) is because the mid-range. It's soooo clear, pronounced, and probably why Paul Barton can say these headphones have a thing called "Room Feel". But with build quality proven to be this bad, I don't know if I want to even use them much anymore! And did I mention these headphones were used at a desk in an office 99% of the time? So yeah, it's not like I was putting any abuse on them.
 
But the Meze has more bass, more treble, and the mids while not quite pronounced don't take a complete "back seat." In fact, sometimes I feel like these headphones can be neutral-ish until I put say the Sennheiser HD600 on. Then it's like, "Oh...well silly me. Was having too much fun." Sometimes though I do feel the bass is too much though.
 
So I went another route: The Audio Technica MSR7. WOW....talk about a 180. Really pronounced treble with a bit of bass sprinkled on top and the mids...well not much different from the 99 Classics if not a bit more recessed. Yeah even after 100 + hours of burn time (200?) they had to go back. I was successful in giving the treble a bit of a nerf and a buff to the bass a bit using some random foam I had lying around from some AKG K240 knockoffs. Superlux I think? But something wasn't quite...right about them even after that. At least transience was incredible; easily the best thing about it. 
 
I even picked these babies up:  http://a.co/brPyr5o The Yaxi DX pads for Sony studio monitors. They fit the MSR7 like a glove.
 
They worked okay on the MSR7 but wasn't enough to manipulate the sound to a something better. The design of the MSR7 just adds too much treble to it. 
 
On a whim though, I tried the pads on the Viso HP50...didn't fit too well and leaked sound too much. 
 
Then I put them on the 99 Classics...
 
Very interesting. Bass while still very heavy, didn't boom too much. Treble seemed to get slightly accentuated. Mids stayed the same. The pads fit slightly loosely but they're on there. They also don't leak sound either. 
 
I'll see if I can get pics of the pads with measurements so you can get a better idea of what a curious person will be getting into...should anyone want to listen to this noob.
 
And coming up...Oppo PM-3 vs. Meze 99 Classics! After about 100 hours of burn time for the Oppo, it's time to see how well the dynamic drivers of the 99 holds up against a full fledged planar magnetic headphone!

 
Interesting read and thanks for the comparisons.  I look forward to the PM-3 vs 99 Classics face-off.  I'm thinking of doing a comparison with the TH-X00's once my pair gets here from Massdrop (should be this week).  All I can say is: the wood is good!