Ok, I think I have spent enough time with the 99 Classics to post my first impressions. This is not so much a mini-review as me rambling off thoughts.
I almost gave up on Canada Post delivering my 99 Classics on time yesterday as it was 4:30pm and heard no door-bell, but something told me to go down to the post-box and check for a delivery notice. Upon opening the door, I was greeted by not a failed delivery/pick-up notice rather a key to the big parcel box. I hastily opened up the larger box door and laughed out loud to myself; The lazy-cheeky postal worker saw that the box was an exact fit for the hold and was able to squeeze it in there with zero room to spare. I have small fingers so it was no problem to grab hold of the edges and pull it out. When I got the package inside and opened it up, my first thought was 'Damn they are cold!', followed by 'I wonder how long they were sitting in the box?'. Not an issue, I do live in Canada after all. Then my first impressions took a negative hit:
RANT TIME! Now, this is in no way directed towards Meze, rather the PRC and the person who boxed my headphones. I was rather excited when I saw that Meze were awesome enough to include a variety of STICKERS with their headphones! As a Gen X/ child of the 1980s, I LOVE STICKERS! In fact, I really appreciate it when I open up a box of tech and I find an included badge, pin, card, poster, key ring, button, lanyard, or sticker. To my disappointment, there was absolutely nothing inside the box except the case/headphones; I was expecting a bag with
at least the usual product writeup and warranty card, which I am assuming also contained the STICKERS...nope! So now I sit here looking at an empty space on my desk's cupboard that I had assigned to the Meze sticker....sad...
Fit/Looks
Anyway, normally when I get new piece of tech(/toys) I immediately start playing with it, however when I first put the 99 Classics on my head I instead sat in awe. I could not believe how comfortable they were! The quick-fit system was new to me and was please with how fast and easy (no muss no fuss) it was to to get the perfect fit. Wearing glasses, the pads did not add any unwanted discomfort
(at first, but when I took them off there was sore imprints of the arm-tips on my ears...typical before break-in of any pads) and the soft padded/wide headband feels like I am wearing nothing! Not only that, but simply wearing the 99 Classics made me feel like a million bucks! Before I even plugged in the cables I spent several minutes admiring myself in the mirror, capturing the stunning beauty and craftsmanship of the headphones from every angle. I normally don't do this. The only time I check out myself in the mirror is for a simple 'do I look presentable?' check before heading out the door...in pyjama pants and crocks! I am a non-flashy no-nonsense practical type of guy when it comes to looks and fashion, and could care less what a pair of headphones looks like upon my noggin. But the 99 Classics seem to radiate elegance and prestige, and made me feel really good about myself while wearing them, kind of like a Disney princess wearing a dress for the first time made from faery magic!
Sound
I did not know what to expect. In all honesty I was expecting the 99 Classics to sound no better that a solid pair of quality Sony or Panasonic. In other words, pretty good, but not spectacular. The first track I had que'd up on my iPod was
EPICA's Dreamscape off from The Quantum Enigma. This tracks starts off with Simone's angelic voice accompanied by a piano with subtle splashes of strings and shimmering cymbals, joined in by a choir until the 1:40 mark where the drums and guitars rev in giving a more heavy, epic tone. As the name suggests, the open, airy, ethereal sound of the song is that of a angelic dreamscape. The song not only has an amazing arrangement, but is one of my current favourites that has received many listenings. When I pushed play:
The 99 Classics blew my mind, exceeding my expectations by an embarrassing amount! These were not simply a sold pair of drivers wrapped up in stunning eye candy, Meze's claims of a true audiophile sound were not exaggerated! In all honesty, the 99 Classics sound signature, quality, and overall transparency/resolve sound like the person love-child of the beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro and the Sennheiser Momentum, wrapped up in a blanket of wood bliss! These are NOT your typical 'Men's Boutique' classy middle-age Dad headphones who's style overshadows their actual performance; The 99 Classics sound as fantastic as they look!
Bass: Fast, powerful, clean, with exceptional extension, but never overshadows the mids (for the most part) and treble despite adding that wood-warmth to the overall sound. The bass is pretty linear, with no typical mid-bass hump, but I must say that in terms of quantity it may be too much for audiophile purists. While much cleaner than my Momentums, the bass quantity of both headphones are on par with each other. I don't want to call out Meze, but the FR curve of the bass should be 2dB higher than pictured. However I wouldn't call the 99 Classics "Bass-heads"; I really depends on your personal preferences I suppose.
*Note: while the bass is awesome 98% of the time, on rare occasion the mid-lower mid-bass can sound too woody. It's not unpleasant, and is merely a characteristic of the wood enclosure and not distortion.* I will note though, out of every pair of headphones I have owned over the recent years, NONE have truly extended down to 10Hz. Playing
this test track, none of them are audible when the announcer says "10Hz", in fact with the 99 Classics as soon as I push play I immediately get the sub-bass rumble before words are spoken! A quick comparison, my Momentums start just before the 20Hz announcement, my M4U 1s start right at the 20Hz, while my HD598s start at aprx. 26Hz. Fantastic! Or is that Woodtastic!?
Mids: Ruler flat, clean, smooth, sitting perfectly in the middle with no recession, nor in-your-face glare. There is plenty of detail and micro detail to be heard, resulting in above par texture/transparency; Instruments and vocals sound very life-like and are quite engaging. While the 99 Classic's mids don't offer absolute resolve, they do instead favour smoothness over the nano-details resulting in a more musical presentation as well as more forgiving to poorly mastered tracks. All in all, very satisfying!
Treble: Much like the mids, very clean and smooth, ruler flat, and great extension with a gentle roll-off. While being very neutral and relaxed (thanks to the wood), the treble is very detailed with just the right amount of sparkle and crispness. There are no typical lower-mid treble spikes (which I loath) commonly found in high end headphones yet instruments and sounds crash, whiz, zip, and pop with good effect. I am actually impressed with not just the execution, but also the extension. There are several tracks that have bells or cymbals that on 90% of headphones I have listened to sound cringe-worthy, like a shark took a bite out of their decay, and as a result I use them for critical testing of absolute treble extension. I must say, while not having as much prismatic sparkle and sheen as my PSBs, the 99 Classics nailed it! Call me impressed!!
Sibilance: Accurate and very controlled. My ears are sensitive to frequencies in the sibilance region. That said, I did not hear any harshness, peakiness, or accentuation. Every voice had perfect sounding F, S, and Ts while maintaining a good sense of natural breath.
Soundstage: For a closed back set of headphones, the 99 Classics are well above par when it comes to soundstage. Up/down, left/right, and forward/back all had a good sense of space. Instruments never sounded congested. I do feel though that holographic imaging does take a hit in favour of the lush, warm sound that wood provides. I in no way though would consider that a negative.
Ok folks, there you have it. My impressions after about 10 hours of breaking the 99 Classics in. I will say that during that time, I do hear signs of burn-in taking effect (especially in the bass). I still have another 30 hours of real-use burn-in (I don't believe in running pink noise through them for days straight) before I will start on my actual review.
Meze, you guys have a real winner here with the 99 Classics!
