[iFi audio]

Yes, I tested the Hip-DAC but it was waaay too loud for me, not enjoyable at all,

Thanks for your feedback, it's much appreciated. Just to clarify, your cans went too loud too quickly? If so, was hip-dac's Power Match button engaged?

 

[AlexCross]

Thanks for your feedback, it's much appreciated. Just to clarify, your cans went too loud too quickly? If so, was hip-dac's Power Match button engaged?

Yes, they went too loud too quickly. Power Match made not much difference for me. If I remember correctly I tested Power Match on and off. It was way too loud already at 8 o‘clock position. Here‘s my review from another thread:

I first bought the hip DAC for my Meze 99 Classics as I heard that this might be a good pair. To be honest, for me, it wasn't. The sound was just so overwhelming, but in a negative way. It was just not pleasant to listen to my music. I was literally bombarded with sound, no chance of enjoying the music.

 

[iFi audio]

Yes, they went too loud too quickly. Power Match made not much difference for me. If I remember correctly I tested Power Match on and off. It was way too loud already at 8 o‘clock position.

OK, understood and all good. Thanks for giving our hip-dac a chance

 

[Johnfg465vd]

Thanks! Yes, I tested the Hip-DAC but it was waaay too loud for me, not enjoyable at all, so I went with the Q3. Would love to try a Mojo one day, but this and the iDSD are pretty expensive. Yes, they might deliver another phenomenal sound level but I thought the 99C‘s are already so good out of the box that a budget but great DAC would be sufficient. Hence the FiiO. 500-700€ just to use the Mezes without EQ? I don‘t know… and is the sound so much better than with a Q3?

Just to clarify, I'm not suggesting you buy the iDSD Signature or the Mojo, in fact I would actually recommend you hold off on buying the Mojo for now cause there are rumors of a Mojo 2. I'm just stating that I don't feel the need to EQ with the Signature. I'm sure Fiio Q3 is a pretty good product and sound quality improvements as you go up in price is definitely going to be less and less, but whether it's worth the cost is going to be a subjective thing and will largely depend on your hearing and how comfortable you are spending money in this hobby.

I tried a few EQ presets back when I first got my 99C. first one was by @PopZeus in this thread, second EQ was also from this thread don't remember which one it was. Third EQ was from Audiophile-Heaven and finally fourth from AutoEQ presets. I didn't like any of them. I tried EQing myself but to my ears EQ did something to the overall sound that was not to my liking.

A while back I asked Mr. Watts about EQ:
Q: Thanks for your explanation, makes sense that Mojo would do a better Job of reconstructing the original signal. I'm curious about something, and sorry if this has been discussed before. Would using EQ effect the transients timing or how mojo reconstructs the source signal? I never had good results when using EQ and I'm curious if it's because of my lack of experience using an Equalizer or If there is more to it.

Yes EQ as currently handled is certainly not transparent; you need much greater accuracy than 64b floating point to make it completely transparent. This is why EQ does not sound as good as keeping it bit perfect - the problem isn't about transients but about noise floor modulation, and how small signals are treated. With conventional EQ very small signals are degraded (the amplitude and phase shift is different to large signals). Making very small signals to be the same as large signals needs very much more capable DSP than is currently available.

At the end of the day, if you are happy with the way your headphones sound with EQ that's awesome. I got my Topping BC3 3 days ago and really enjoy listening to it even though for me it's no where close to the sound of iDSD or Mojo.

 

[iFi audio]

I'm just stating that I don't feel the need to EQ with the Signature.

iDSD Signature is a bit faster and more resolving than our iDSD BL, so in that sense it's a better fit for Meze 99 Classics.

 

[pk4425]

Yes, they went too loud too quickly. Power Match made not much difference for me. If I remember correctly I tested Power Match on and off. It was way too loud already at 8 o‘clock position. Here‘s my review from another thread:

I first bought the hip DAC for my Meze 99 Classics as I heard that this might be a good pair. To be honest, for me, it wasn't. The sound was just so overwhelming, but in a negative way. It was just not pleasant to listen to my music. I was literally bombarded with sound, no chance of enjoying the music.

Well, that's to be expected since the hip-dac is a very powerful portable amp and the 99 Classics are SO easy to drive. When you pair them, you're essentially putting a Formula One engine into a lawn mower. Overkill.

Sincere question: Why are you using an amp with the 99 Classics? They're among the easiest closed-back audiophile cans to drive with full fidelity from a phone or laptop. They're only 32 ohms impedance and 103 db sensitivity, fitting the easy-to-drive puzzle slot of low impedance and high sensitivity with EASE.

I own the 99 Classics and the hip-dac, but I never use the hip-dac with my 99 Classics because it's overkill. The 99 Classics are about the easiest-to-drive audiophile cans I've ever owned. I use my hip-dac for my HE-400se's and HD 560s'.

 

[HurricaneBob01]

I know I bitched about these cans when I first got them, but they've really grown on me...

 

[AlexCross]

Well, that's to be expected since the hip-dac is a very powerful portable amp and the 99 Classics are SO easy to drive. When you pair them, you're essentially putting a Formula One engine into a lawn mower. Overkill.

Sincere question: Why are you using an amp with the 99 Classics? They're among the easiest closed-back audiophile cans to drive with full fidelity from a phone or laptop. They're only 32 ohms impedance and 103 db sensitivity, fitting the easy-to-drive puzzle slot of low impedance and high sensitivity with EASE.

I own the 99 Classics and the hip-dac, but I never use the hip-dac with my 99 Classics because it's overkill. The 99 Classics are about the easiest-to-drive audiophile cans I've ever owned. I use my hip-dac for my HE-400se's and HD 560s'.

Yes, you are completely right. I wanted to enhance the sound quality a bit (less boomy bass, more clarity), hence a DAC/AMP. Are you using the 99C without any DAC/AMP? Only stock cable and pads?

 

[pk4425]

Yes, you are completely right. I wanted to enhance the sound quality a bit (less boomy bass, more clarity), hence a DAC/AMP. Are you using the 99C without any DAC/AMP? Only stock cable and pads?

Yes, sir. Stock cable and pads. No amp. The 99 Classics don't need amplification and don't improve that much with it. Pad-swapping and switching cables is the way to go with these cans if you want to tweak the sound without EQ.

I was tempted to buy the Meze silver cable to reduce the bass boom and increase clarity, but it's damn expensive at $120 -- more than a third of the cost of the headphone. The Meze 99 Classics plus the silver cable almost approaches the price of the Dan Clark Audio Aeon RT, which is a better headphone, period.

Plus, the HiFiMan HE-400se have replaced the 99 Classics as my daily drivers, so I really don't want to sink a lot of additional money into a can that I won't use all that often.

Good luck, man! Feel free to ask any questions.

 

[rex4539]

I would argue that any headphone improves with proper amplification.

I own the 99 Classics and I have paired them with a Feliks Audio Echo Mark II tube amplifier. The sound has been transformed

Using specific amplifiers you can steer the sound signature to your preference. It's not just about pure driving requirements.

 

[PopZeus]

Yeah, the 99s don't need a lot of power but they definitely scale up when you give them better power and sources. To a point, of course. They sound good out of a phone or BT dongle, but they sound great with the N3Pro in tube mode. Neither are the most resolving headphone or DAP, but together there's some synergy and everything falls into place. So I can believe that they're awesome with a desktop tube amp. I haven't tried them with the ZDT Jr yet. Hmm... perhaps when it's not the annual summer heatwave.

 

[JamminVMI]

Yeah, the 99s don't need a lot of power but they definitely scale up when you give them better power and sources. To a point, of course. They sound good out of a phone or BT dongle, but they sound great with the N3Pro in tube mode. Neither are the most resolving headphone or DAP, but together there's some synergy and everything falls into place. So I can believe that they're awesome with a desktop tube amp. I haven't tried them with the ZDT Jr yet. Hmm... perhaps when it's not the annual summer heatwave.

I really enjoy my 99 Noirs. I started using them with Schiit’s Asgard 3, which sits on my desk, and they are certainly more amazing in all ways than they are from any of my DAPs. But they are ‘way more fun with Schiit’s Vali 2 single tube amp, which I travel with in my carry-on (TSA is sometimes interested in tubes - but there’s always one of them into audio, which makes the discussion FUN). Then one night I decided to try the 99s on my Lyr 3... There, the 99s are a different animal. Still the most fun, but with more detail and a larger fiels to play in, as the gain more width and depth.

They aren’t my Dan Clarks, but for the money, these things are hard to beat. And they DO improve with good amplification. Haven’t found a headphone that doesn’t.

 

[iFi audio]

I know I bitched about these cans when I first got them, but they've really grown on me...

Suffice it to say, you're not the only one

 

[HurricaneBob01]

HELP!

I picked up my headphones this morning and they are really unbalanced. The right side seems to be an the normal volume, but the left is much lower. I've tried restarting all my equipment and re-setting all the cables, but nothing has fixed it. Has anyone else run across this issue?

 

[Johnfg465vd]

HELP!

I picked up my headphones this morning and they are really unbalanced. The right side seems to be an the normal volume, but the left is much lower. I've tried restarting all my equipment and re-setting all the cables, but nothing has fixed it. Has anyone else run across this issue?

Kinda happened to me, left side of my 99C. I rotated the left side cable a bit when connected to the headphone and that fixed it. Never had it again. Might be you need to replace the left connector.