[kamotepie]

I just paid $45 for shipping a pair of Monoprice Monolith M1060 cans from US to Australia. Funny thing is, they cost about the same as the Classics here down under, just short of AU$500. Can't wait to do A/B with my cans against the 106mm planar monster. These cans are freaks, just like the Classics, punching way above their price tag. Looks like the quality issues of the first batch were taken care of, especially with replacing MMCX connectors with good old 2.5mm mono plugs!

I'll research on the Monolith. Let us know your thoughts as well

 

[Preachy1]

  I just paid $45 for shipping a pair of Monoprice Monolith M1060 cans from US to Australia. Funny thing is, they cost about the same as the Classics here down under, just short of AU$500. Can't wait to do A/B with my cans against the 106mm planar monster. These cans are freaks, just like the Classics, punching way above their price tag. Looks like the quality issues of the first batch were taken care of, especially with replacing MMCX connectors with good old 2.5mm mono plugs!

Mind my asking where you ordered them from?  They have my eye as well, but Monoprice has been out of stock for a while now.  From a form factor, they look almost to be hybrid of the Hifiman 400 series and the Audeze LCD.

 

[MezeTeam]

Have you guys seen the video of Vlad changing the drivers of the 99 Classics?

 

[Dobrescu George]

Have you guys seen the video of Vlad changing the drivers of the 99 Classics?

Nice!

That looks unexpectedly easy to do!

 

[Preachy1]

Thanks to the Meze team, my replacement upgraded cables for the Maple/White arrived today. Thanks for the superb customer service!!!!!

 

[Dobrescu George]

Thanks to the Meze team, my replacement upgraded cables for the Maple/White arrived today. Thanks for the superb customer service!!!!!

Glad you sorted things out!

I'm actually surprised by how well things are handled at Meze considering that didn't know much about them a few weeks ago.

By the way, I hope that this is a fun read for this thread. I've posted it originally in the iFi BL thread, but the information is of actuality to this thread as well!

So more news on my iDSD BL Heaven Experience!

I have been plagued by an ear disease, something causing me pain and breaking my hearing for about three days. Seems it was caused by my trip to my hometown.

Anyways, I was getting back from and my ears were getting better, so I was sitting in the bus just looking outside. So I decide to try to watch some videos with Mi Max and iDSD BL + 99 Classics.

I started with this one song, a really complicated to do right song since it features a lot of complex guitars and such:

This song contains suicide and other NSFW themes. Proceed at your own risk!

[SPOILER/]



[/SPOILER]

At first, I couldn't believe how clean and well rendered the bass lines are and how natural and well textured the guitar tones are. The voices are sweet and although they're synthetic in the song, the BL + 99C combo makes them sound extremely enjoyable. The fact that I was able to enjoy it all this heaven of music from my smartphone and while on a bus trip means even so much more since it was already 5 days since I couldn't listen to music. Lovely experience. Since this song sounded so great, I decided to listen to one another while I'm on the road as there is not much to do in a bus.

The happiness one can get from using this kind of device is amazing especially the happiness one can get from hearing the music from this combo after having spent 5 days without music .

The rest of the trip was spent listening to music and after the trip ended, it was still music time. The one thing that truly amazes me every single time is the soundstage. I simply cannot get used to how large the soundstage is when iFi dries 99 Classics and I sometimes have to check whether the 3D button is engaged.

I actually liked listening to iFi iDSD BL so much that I started taking it outside.

This time, I couldn't use Mi Max because I don't have the right type of rubbers to stack them together, Mi Max being wider than iDSD BL. The solution was to strap FiiO X5ii to iDSD BL and carry them in the sidebag I usually carry X5ii in. This time X5ii acted as a DAC while iDSD acted as an amp. IT is possible to tell the differences, but the results are quite good. The depth the bass has with the combo, and the amount of energy and dynamism that the music gets is not easy to believe. What is harder to understand is why a 99 Classics get this crazy improvement since they're supposed to be easy to drive.

No matter what questions one might ask or what noisy thoughts one might have, the sound is the only thing that is possible to determine upon observation, and the sound is turning the 99 Classics + iDSD BL into something close to an end-game combo even for a pretty oblique and picky listener like me!

I congratulate both iFi and Meze teams for producing such great devices and for giving the listeners the possibility to experience all this fun!

 

[Dobrescu George]

You might ask how the audiophile takes a walk in the park or how an audiophile's jogging setup looks like? Well, kinda like this.

They wanted to take a walk in the park. They were not expecting this level of enjoyment to be possible while portable.

 

[Bansaku]

I am adding this snip-it from my post over in the 99 Neo thread here.
Ok, after spending several hours last night extending into the wee hours of the morning with the 99 Neo, I have to confess, Tyl was right. I broke my own rule and read Innerfidelity's preview, because hey, I was stoked about the 99 Neo's. User's impressions are one thing, but I don't like to be potentially influenced by professional, especially one held in high regard such as Tyl, backed up by graphs. In all honesty, my heart sank once I finished reading, prompting me to immediately go into pad swapping mode with the 99 Classics. Now I actually was slowly coming to Tyl's conclusion the more I listened to the larger pads, BEFORE I read the article. Certain songs I had not yet listened to weren't sounding right when heard, with way too much bass that had too much growl and rumble (distortion of the bad kind) that shouldn't be. However I was digging the sound of the soundstage, mids, and highs too much not to really care. Hey, if it sounds good to me why does it matter, right? Nope! The audiophile in me was perturbed. I was going to put it on the back burner as I needed to finish my 12 Classics review, but instead I was on a mission to try and hear what I saw with the graphs Tyl provided. To sum things up, the regular pads are now back on my 99 Classics.

 

[Bansaku]

 

[Dobrescu George]

Very cool looking picture!

My setup looks a bit more RAW though XD

 

[sabloke]

This one is somewhat more portable than yours
Got my M1060s delivered today and so far loving them. Extremely detailed, superbly textured bass, marvelous imaging. Exactly what you'd expect from 106mm planars. Quality is quite good for $300. Can't compare with my Meze as my wife took them at work for a few days. This setup and plus pair of cans (Classics, Oppo PM-3 or Nightowls) are flying with me to Bucharest in two weeks time!

 

[Dobrescu George]

Woah

Your setup does look like you're having lots of fun!!!

It is cool that you have both an open and a closed headphone, you can use the M1060 while alone and 99 Classics while on the go, cover all your needs.

I have been traveling again today and iDSD BL + Meze 99 Classics have been one of the best companions one could ever ask for. Amazing pairing with my music and my music videos!

 

[Bascule]

I'd be grateful for some clarification on thinking/ understanding for the plan to move to balanced, and on appropriate cable choices - I know there's discussion on the balanced cables to come from Meze - is there any details on what connector options there may be?

I guess the little connectors for a DAP will be the popular choice for most, but for my work system I would need an individual three-pin XLR for each side.

Meze, is this likely to be one of the options? If it isn't then I will need to start looking at third party solutions.

(Unless I've missed something, in which case please correct me!) This is what I'm proposing, have I got it right?

I need to source the XLR cables from DAC to AMPS - where's the best place to order these (UK)?

I also need to source the XLRs to the headphones - This is what I'm hoping Meze can clarify for me, that this layout will /will not be an option from them?

Or - any other recommendations!

All comments appreciated..

 

[Howlin Fester]

I'd be grateful for some clarification on thinking/ understanding for the plan to move to balanced, and on appropriate cable choices - I know there's discussion on the balanced cables to come from Meze - is there any details on what connector options there may be?

General discussion:
I'm not sure what options Meze will provide for their balanced cable. So let's just go with the assumption that they will use 2.5mm TRRS male. This is what is on the AK products and that cable would plug directly into those players and those types of players.

One option you may want to do is have a short adapter made that will allow the Meze to be used in your configuration. Take qty2 3 pin XLR that fit your amps and a 2.5mm TRRS female. It would look similar, to this cable below. (However the below cable is 2x 3PinXLR to 4 pin mini XLR. But you get the point.) The below snapshot is from Moon Audio's Silver Dragon adapter line. With this option, you can keep the Meze balanced cable as a stock product and buy adapters for whatever balanced amps you may have now and in the future. And there are many options.

A second option is to buy the Meze balanced cable and have it re-terminated with the 2x 3PinXLR that you need.

A third option is to build the cable yourself as others here have mentioned doing.

A fourth option is if Meze lets you select the balanced terminations you want to use. (Unknown at this time.)

Hopefully this helps.

 

[Bascule]

That's great thanks! I'm going to start with having a go at making the ones for the amps. Need to do some research on what cabling to purchase in the first place..