The fact that you managed to buy something cheap and are happy with your choice is fine and may influence your perception of quality and, consequently, value of gear available on the market. It is however, only your perception.
Meze Audio 109 Pro
- Thread starter Ichos
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The fact that you managed to buy something cheap and are happy with your choice is fine and may influence your perception of quality and, consequently, value of gear available on the market. It is however, only your perception.
pk4425
1000+ Head-Fier
The only sure way to find out is to listen to them with your ears and brain.A very good gear maybe, but how much better than my HD650 / FiiO K5 Pro combo ?
I believe 109pro deserves for something better than k5, so not necessary to replace hd650 by 109pros.
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The k7 is fsntastic with the 109
MetaModern87
New Head-Fier
That is a super awesome value. Balanced AND you get dual AKM dacs! Might be a slight upgrade from my Topping Dx3 Pro+
still need an balanced adapter for my hart cable. but otherwise i am verry happy with it.
Does anyone here own both the 109 Pro and the Verite Open? I know they're in totally different price brackets but I'd be interested to hear how they compare in soundstage, imaging, separation, and holography. I'm looking for something airier and more spacious than my Atticus and 6XX that will be good for classical and jazz. I'm assuming Verite has more detail retrieval and speed, and it also has the unique ZMF cup reverb, but outside of those things I'd be interested to know how they compare and if there would be any reasons to choose the 109 Pro over the Verite (aside from the unbeatable comfort).
I'm also very interested in the Elite and the Empy 2 especially since I don't have a planar right now, but I'm not sure it makes sense to spend that kind of money given that I don't do much critical listening and mostly just want a very musical and absorbing experience (which I know is what the Empy does)
I'm also very interested in the Elite and the Empy 2 especially since I don't have a planar right now, but I'm not sure it makes sense to spend that kind of money given that I don't do much critical listening and mostly just want a very musical and absorbing experience (which I know is what the Empy does)
I own the Meze 109 pro and also heard all the Meze line up and a lot of the ZMF line up at London CanJam.
Here's my brief thoughts from that experience, and as ever, it's only my subjective thoughts.
In the Meze line up I instantly warmed to the 109 pro. Looks, comfort, but above all sound. Definitely coloured tuning but with good treble extension and a wide soundstage. I instantly fell in love with it. Moved onto the Liric and had the complete opposite. Horrible fit, wasn't keen on the looks but above all the tuning wasn't to my liking either. Instant flop for me. I then tried the Elite. Wow!.... Just Wow on every level for me! Above anything else I tried that day the Elite gave me the most realistic instrument placement and timbre I'd heard. On anything I threw at, which included Classical, Jazz and all sorts in-between, it just shone! My end game headphone for sure. I came back to the Empyrean at the end of the day. Tbf it had been a long day and at that point it just felt like the little brother/sister of the Elite. Very nice but not on Elite level.
The first thing I heard of ZMF was what is now being called Bokeh (hadn't been given a name at that point). I absolutely loved it instantly!, on every level. The best closed back I'd heard that day by a country mile. I then tried the VC. Again, very very nice but I preferred the tuning of the Bokeh just a bit more. I then had a line up of various other models laid out for me from the lovely people at ZMF and tbh I can't remember all the ones I heard, and at that point I was most interested in closed backs as I simply could not believe how good the soundstage was on the Bokeh and VC. I never thought that was possible on closed backs. I think I heard the Verite open, but if I did it didn't stand out. I really liked all the half a dozen or more ZMF models I heard, but the winner for me was the Bokeh, and that was before knowing the prices.
When you say you want a very musical and absorbing experience, about 3 months into 109 pro ownership I'm getting that in spades. At the price point it's an absolute killer for me. Of all the ones you mention though the Elite stands out as truly special in every department. It perhaps wasn't the most 'exciting', in the same way as the 109 pro and Bokeh are, as it's just sooooo smooth and gorgeous on everything you throw at it, but I found I could enjoy it both for analytical listening and also for just kicking back with. I dream of one day being lucky enough to own a set.
Sorry for the ramble as it probably doesn't answer your specific question. Only you can really decide on comparisons from your own listening, and for that I can thoroughly recommend CanJam, if you can get a quiet space and/or get in early, which luckily I did with the Meze's and ZMF's.
This is actually really helpful, thanks! I went to CanJam Chicago this year, but I was only focused on looking for a closed back around $1k so I didn't try any of the Mezes and I didn't try any of ZMF's open backs. Sadly I didn't get any time with the Bokeh but I went home with an Atticus which was tied for my favorite along with the VC, although I felt it was hard to fully get to know each of the headphones in the noisy showroom listening conditions. (P.S. I saw you got the Quasar VC and it looks amazing! I have a stabilized Atticus on order to replace my stock camphor one
)I think the 109 Pro would probably be the biggest departure from my Atticus and 6XX tonality-wise, so maybe that would make sense to go with! I also just found out there's actually a Meze dealer in town so I'll definitely try to go in and demo everything within the next week - hopefully they have all the higher end models. I imagine the Elite will also be a dream headphone of mine, but the question is whether it's better enough to justify over $3k more than the 109 Pro, and I'm guessing that won't be the case for me since I don't think I have the most discerning ears anyway.
The Empy 2 is still very intriguing and it seems like it's pushing closer to the 109 Pro's tonality, so maybe that's sort of the new Meze house sound. It's gotten so much praise from youtubers so far, but I tend to take those reviews with a grain of salt. It'll be interesting to see impressions here on head-fi soon
Also, it seems like people are happy with the midrange timbre of the 109, but I've heard people say the treble can sound a bit thin. For this reason is the 109 maybe not a great choice with things like classical and jazz, or do people find it works well with large instrumental sections that have lots of treble information?
i had some issues with the treble in the beginning it sounded harsh too me it was weird.
but i gave them time too adjust and also i might belive my hart audio cable and K7 fixed some of the issues. the headphone works flawlessly for me
but i gave them time too adjust and also i might belive my hart audio cable and K7 fixed some of the issues. the headphone works flawlessly for me
It's great that you've got a Meze dealer locally. You're in for a real treat if you can audition the whole line up. I'd be interested to hear what you make of the Liric. Maybe the fit coloured my judgement, but I didn't like anything about it.This is actually really helpful, thanks! I went to CanJam Chicago this year, but I was only focused on looking for a closed back around $1k so I didn't try any of the Mezes and I didn't try any of ZMF's open backs. Sadly I didn't get any time with the Bokeh but I went home with an Atticus which was tied for my favorite along with the VC, although I felt it was hard to fully get to know each of the headphones in the noisy showroom listening conditions. (P.S. I saw you got the Quasar VC and it looks amazing! I have a stabilized Atticus on order to replace my stock camphor one
I think the 109 Pro would probably be the biggest departure from my Atticus and 6XX tonality-wise, so maybe that would make sense to go with! I also just found out there's actually a Meze dealer in town so I'll definitely try to go in and demo everything within the next week - hopefully they have all the higher end models. I imagine the Elite will also be a dream headphone of mine, but the question is whether it's better enough to justify over $3k more than the 109 Pro, and I'm guessing that won't be the case for me since I don't think I have the most discerning ears anyway.
The Empy 2 is still very intriguing and it seems like it's pushing closer to the 109 Pro's tonality, so maybe that's sort of the new Meze house sound. It's gotten so much praise from youtubers so far, but I tend to take those reviews with a grain of salt. It'll be interesting to see impressions here on head-fi soon
Without doubt for me the 109 pro is the sweet spot in their line up. It's a no brainer on price, but also the tuning is warm and inviting with nothing lacking to me. I don't find any thinness on the treble personally.
I tried other headphones that I found lacking at CanJam, Focals generally sounded dry to me and the Sennheiser HD800S for example was superb for comfort, detail and soundstage but left me cold as it felt hollow with no bottom end weight to it. The Meze 109 pro hit the spot nicely for me.
Btw, I think you may have me confused regarding the Quasar VC. Unfortunately I don't own a single ZMF headphone......yet. God willing though I will be able to buy a Bokeh as the next addition to my headphone stable.
Enjoy your Meze auditions
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If you do have the money take the Elite. Maybe a used one. It does give you airy spacious absorbing experience. Then you do not have to upgrade any more for quite while.
I have to confess that with my Oppo PM2 doing a nice enough silky smooth planar magnetic job for me, they will likely be the ones going to help finance a secondhand Elite one of these days.
The space is certainly amazing. Imaging and realistic instrument timbre is just superb!
Would 109 Pro be a considerable upgrade on AKG K712 Pro for classical music and movies? Could someone characterize the main differences between the sound of the two headphones, please?
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