[RockStar2005]

I had tried and returned the 99 Classics as part of a pre-release tour they did. It was the smaller sized cups and of course I didn't have them long enough to work in them. I did the Neo tour and that was when I tried these pads. I don't have Brainwavz HM5 pads but I have the very similar version put out by that company that started with the letter "N" (can't think of it now) that are 90% the same, just a bit softer and not as thick (but still spacious, for keeping the ear away from touching the driver). Those seem to lose less bass. I've tried those vs. AT MSR7 pads on other cans (AT R70x, Sony MDR-1A). Because they'll fit just as well but put your ear a bit closer to the driver and due to their shape perhaps, they seem to retain more sub bass. They're great on both of those headphones too, improving spaciousness, cleaning up the low mids a bit. This is the top complaint I hear of the Neo, the low mid, high bass build up, muddiness. These pads 100% fix that, while adding a kind of spaciousness that really helps.

Wow, ok. Sounds like you've invested a lot of time into researching all this! Although you didn't try the Brainwavz ones I asked about on the 99 Cs, it sounds like you've pretty much tried out every other combination left! lol

For best fit and comfort, I would say my old Sony MDR-1A HPs were the best. I recently was at Best Buy and they had them on display in the Magnolia section. I tried them on again after selling mine like 2 years ago (had them for like 4-7 mos)..........STILL ULTRA comfortable. Unfortunately, I can't say the same about their sound quality. lol Not a wide soundstage, and they were a bit muddy/bassy in sound.

Yeah the B/W pads I mentioned really did add comfort and distance from the speaker drivers to my ears, which gave way to a bigger soundstage, and which meant increased clarity.

 

[Lurk650]

Finally got the Sheepskin Oval from BW. Mid-range gets pulled back slightly and since drivers are further away it increased the clarity allowing the congestion to ease up. Bass is relatively unchanged but somewhat tighter. It's also a lot more comfy now.

FWIW I Believe I had some of the original smaller pads or maybe the 2nd revision.

 

[mid-range]

Meze? Who the hell is Meze??? I think I was following the Klipsch thread when I first noticed Meze ads. It was just a minor distraction. They looked nice but they weren't "brand name" so I really wasn't interested. Yet like a bug being attracted to a bright light, I kept noticing them. I really like Klipsch products and their new headphone but was turned off by them when they raised the price $200.00 - to $1200.00. Since I'm older than dirt my only benefit in buying them would be for design & looks. I like wood and the build quality of the Classics looked pretty impressive. However, the pricing was actually a turn off. $309.00 for a really nice set of headphones? No way. These are crappy sounding headphones that were made to look expensive, so I thought! At this point I should say I'm Old School. I listen to headphones - period. No frequency response graphs telling me what I should hear, no decisions made based upon someone else's system, interpretation, hearing ability, music selection or mood. I could care less about spikes & dips (except potato chip dip & Au Jus). I do look for a common thread through the Head-Fi opinions though which were mostly overwhelmingly positive. I bought a pair of Classics. What a surprise. They have a near Grado like midrange. The highs aren't quite as high as the Grado SR225i but aren't as painful either. They are on par with my slightly modified AKG mid-production Sextetts. The bass is far deeper than either of the other two mentioned. Finally, I have a set of headphones that work for me; both for music and movies. The build quality is impressive. I'm glad I passed on the Klipsch; even when they were supposed to be $1000.00. I'm sure there are those who need to justify the prices of "high end" headphones, and will continue searching for nirvana. For me, I just kick back and enjoy - no more getting analytical with each song.

Two requests for the Meze staff. How about Limited Editions with exotic woods? How about a couple of different pads to satisfy us "pad rollers". Post how the sound would be affected with each different pad. For me I don't need so much bass since I listen to mostly 60's-70's music. I guess I could use tone controls but that's no fun.

 

[RockStar2005]

Meze? Who the hell is Meze??? I think I was following the Klipsch thread when I first noticed Meze ads. It was just a minor distraction. They looked nice but they weren't "brand name" so I really wasn't interested. Yet like a bug being attracted to a bright light, I kept noticing them. I really like Klipsch products and their new headphone but was turned off by them when they raised the price $200.00 - to $1200.00. Since I'm older than dirt my only benefit in buying them would be for design & looks. I like wood and the build quality of the Classics looked pretty impressive. However, the pricing was actually a turn off. $309.00 for a really nice set of headphones? No way. These are crappy sounding headphones that were made to look expensive, so I thought! At this point I should say I'm Old School. I listen to headphones - period. No frequency response graphs telling me what I should hear, no decisions made based upon someone else's system, interpretation, hearing ability, music selection or mood. I could care less about spikes & dips (except potato chip dip & Au Jus). I do look for a common thread through the Head-Fi opinions though which were mostly overwhelmingly positive. I bought a pair of Classics. What a surprise. They have a near Grado like midrange. The highs aren't quite as high as the Grado SR225i but aren't as painful either. They are on par with my slightly modified AKG mid-production Sextetts. The bass is far deeper than either of the other two mentioned. Finally, I have a set of headphones that work for me; both for music and movies. The build quality is impressive. I'm glad I passed on the Klipsch; even when they were supposed to be $1000.00. I'm sure there are those who need to justify the prices of "high end" headphones, and will continue searching for nirvana. For me, I just kick back and enjoy - no more getting analytical with each song.

Two requests for the Meze staff. How about Limited Editions with exotic woods? How about a couple of different pads to satisfy us "pad rollers". Post how the sound would be affected with each different pad. For me I don't need so much bass since I listen to mostly 60's-70's music. I guess I could use tone controls but that's no fun.

Great post mid-range!

Yeah I've been sayin' for a while now that Meze should consider having a special relationship with Brainwavz and their leather pads (the Meze pads are faux leather, which actually does breathe better, but is not as luxurious). They could "feature" the angled and non-angled B/W pads on their site in addition to their own. When I upgraded to the B/W non-angled sheepskin leather pads, my 99 C's sound quality improved quite noticeably. Hopefully Meze if you're reading this you consider what we're saying here. I would even go one further and suggest offering "suggested EQs" on your website to go along with the pads (in addition to the stock ones). People like having options, so they should be put on the table for customers to choose from.

 

[bmnathe]

where can I get these non-angled BW sheepskin pads? They look 'out of stock' everywhere.... Anyone know a guy?

 

[Ossy_TK]

where can I get these non-angled BW sheepskin pads? They look 'out of stock' everywhere.... Anyone know a guy?

There are some on Amazon.UK for 35 pounds.There were some on Amazon.DE as well,cheaper.
I also emailed Brainwavz and they told me to check in about 2 weeks,they should be back in stock.Shame-now they have cool sale.

 

[RockStar2005]

where can I get these non-angled BW sheepskin pads? They look 'out of stock' everywhere.... Anyone know a guy?

hey bmnathe,

Wow you're right........that's crazy! I checked all over and yes they appear to be sold out everywhere at this time, even on the Brainwavz site. I got mine on Amazon. They show "sold out" too. I would just keep checking Amazon, etc every couple days until they pop up again. I'm sure they will soon enough. This past weekend you had Black Friday & Cyber Monday, so that might be why they're currently out of stock.

 

[Lurk650]

Good thing I ordered mine a couple weeks afo. I just received my Sheepskin Ovals this past Wednesday, took over a week to ship from Hong Kong to Cali. Still faster than Ali and Penon lol.

They do greatly help the sound. Now, FWIW, having had new Neos a couple months ago, receiving the 99C used (purchased last year) I believe I have the first or second revision earpads. They were small and drivers sat on my ears basically. The sound was pretty midfocused with booming bass, overall a bit congested but still sounded very good. Now with the new pads the drivers are off my ears, more comfy and this has controlled the bass and pulled back the mid-range slightly allowing for better separation/less congestion, highs are unchanged as far as I can tell. Only downside to the Sheepskin is the noise the pads make when I walk, but it's minimal and I hardly walk in them.

 

[big45-70]

Has anyone found a copper replacement cable other then the official Meze balanced cable? I like the look, just not the price.

 

[superuser1]

Has anyone found a copper replacement cable other then the official Meze balanced cable? I like the look, just not the price.

Been looking however no luck yet!

 

[bmnathe]

hey bmnathe,

Wow you're right........that's crazy! I checked all over and yes they appear to be sold out everywhere at this time, even on the Brainwavz site. I got mine on Amazon. They show "sold out" too. I would just keep checking Amazon, etc every couple days until they pop up again. I'm sure they will soon enough. This past weekend you had Black Friday & Cyber Monday, so that might be why they're currently out of stock.

And they're back.... I just ordered a pair. Can't wait to feel that warm sheep scrotum on my temples.

 

[RockStar2005]

And they're back.... I just ordered a pair. Can't wait to feel that warm sheep scrotum on my temples.

 

[Lurk650]

Has anyone found a copper replacement cable other then the official Meze balanced cable? I like the look, just not the price.

http://tritonaudiocables.com/Triton-Copper-Dual-Sided-Stereo-or-Balanced_p_16.html

@alpha421 builds the cables. Considered grabbing one since I love his Hybrid cable on my Lyra II

 

[mid-range]

Great post mid-range!

Yeah I've been sayin' for a while now that Meze should consider having a special relationship with Brainwavz and their leather pads (the Meze pads are faux leather, which actually does breathe better, but is not as luxurious). They could "feature" the angled and non-angled B/W pads on their site in addition to their own. When I upgraded to the B/W non-angled sheepskin leather pads, my 99 C's sound quality improved quite noticeably. Hopefully Meze if you're reading this you consider what we're saying here. I would even go one further and suggest offering "suggested EQs" on your website to go along with the pads (in addition to the stock ones). People like having options, so they should be put on the table for customers to choose from.

I like that idea of posting suggested EQ's. I've tried the Brainwavz Hybrids, Sheepskins, and HiFiMan 400i velour's. I didn't like any of the changes in sound that they made. That's me. Everyone hears differently. I have a theory; the fatter your head is, the deeper the (boomy) bass will be due to the increase in clamp force. Just do a simple test. Pull the headphones away slightly and you'll notice a decrease in the boomy bass. In my quest for the "perfect" sound from the Classics, I took a couple of those foam discs that come with the K240 Chinese ear pads & stuck them between my ears and the Classic ear pad. Walla! I got the sound I was looking for. Mids & highs are grado like devoid of the ear piercing Grado highs! The bass was clean. All it took is a slight break in the seal around my ears (guess my head is fat). Unfortunately the only way I can make this mod permanent & professional looking is to glue the foam to my ears.
Every headphone manufacturer has to know that there is no "one size fits all." For the life of me I can't understand why there isn't two or three pad offerings for fine tuning. It would seem to me that would broaden the customer base in sales of the Classic. For me, I think that a hybrid like the Brainwavz, but with a more shallow height in the pad, would be perfect.
Meze could sell the headphone with your choice of a pad that may be closer to what you would expect in sound - and post the EQ's! Why not? We get a choice of silver or gold, and previously, maple! None of which has anything to do with sound! Hell. If we were into fashion only, we would by Beats or something similar. I think most serious audiophiles buy equipment that looks good and produces an accurate reproduction of sound as one would interpret it.
Okay Meze. You got the visual aspect of your headphones in the bag. The stock sound is great. How about letting the user tune the audio to his/her liking and not only post EQ's, but also recommended music categories for each type of pad?

 

[Mark Up]

I have a theory; the fatter your head is, the deeper the (boomy) bass will be due to the increase in clamp force. Just do a simple test. Pull the headphones away slightly and you'll notice a decrease in the boomy bass. In my quest for the "perfect" sound from the Classics, I took a couple of those foam discs that come with the K240 Chinese ear pads & stuck them between my ears and the Classic ear pad. Walla!

It's a matter of taste also. I never found any version of the Meze 99 to be overly bassy. I did find a bit too much higher mid bass and low mid resonance in the Neo (I'd only tried the first version of the Classic that had less bass). For me, MSR7 pads perfectly correct both of those. They do increase clamp however, so beware.