Rafaelo or someone else,
I am finally buying a decent headphone and it looks like the Meze 99 is a good choice. I listen to all sorts of music (the most to ambient, radiohead, classical and techno also metal). For the moment I have a very cheap headphone of a few euro's. But I don't know which one to choose.
The Neo or the Classics. The price for the Neo is 195 euro on amazon.de and the cheapest I can find the classics also on amazon.de is 275 euro.
What is the difference of the two? Is it only the esthetic? Or is there a difference in sound. And is the difference worth it.
I haven't got the possibility to listen to it. So I hope you guys can help here.
Or what is your reason to choose one over the other?
Thanks
This is obviously my personal opinion but
I would definitely choose now the Meze 99 noir. Actually, if I could exchange it with my neo I would have done it without second thought.
For me the most beautiful 99 is the noir by far and if it sounds identical to classics then I am veey happy.
I can refer also to pinky powers reviews, as I have done in the past, that I found them very similar to my observations. I also believe like him that for some whatever reason there is some additional clarity with the classics, is like a category above.
The noir seems to give the price of the neo with the sound signature of classics in an astonishing beautiful new package that is also more discrete. I cannot stop looking the massdrop pictures but I have two 99 I cannot afford another one.
Having said that if someone has some ocd like me will use the neo more as it is far more scratch resistant than the classics. For that reason alone, even me, I have used the neo far more than the classics, usually in bed before sleep. Also, the Neo is far more comfortable than the classics due to the different pads I think.
But lately as my daughter sleeps in the other room I listen a lot with my open headphones but a comparison will be completely unfair here i.e. open Vs closed. But when I listen he4xx (which is a wonderful sound quality wise headphone for me) before sleeping I get relaxed and ready to fall asleep. When I am listening to Neo I want to get up and dance or go to the disco. This is the champion of having fan with music.
For more info I can also refer to my xDSD review where I discuss the synergy with meze in general. As xDSD is coming in this week I will explore further.
If cannot/want to buy noir the prices of classics flactuate in the past at some point I observed 230£ price for classics. Also, you need to factor in the cost of the 3m original cable (20€ + 20€ shipping) in the price of Neo (not included in massdrop as well but included with classics). I needed this cable and I bought an extra one for my neo.
Good luck with your choice!