MEZE AUDIO ELITE - The New Isodynamic Hybrid Array Headphone - official thread

[TheMiddleSky]

For whatever reason if a headphone doesn't try to force details in your face or aren't tuned a particular way, they don't like it.

That what I felt as well. Seems like they thought intense presentation = high fidelity.

Meanwhile there are some people that pay high end for maximum enjoyment (not only maximum amount of detail).

Anyway, almost a year since I bought Elite, for me still stand very solid against any TOTLs in the market, and still in number one position as most lifelike and enjoyable in overall presentation.

Having sad that, I'm still curious about latest TOTL release such as Caldera, Expanse and Utopia 2022 indeed

 

[ra990]

Please let us know the differences between these 2 cans or a link to the Utopia thread where you are reporting about it

I posted a few comparisons, but if you are interested, I will summarize here. I have been A/B'ing the Utopia 2022 with the Elites, easily switching back and fourth on the same track using two amps receiving the same digital signal.

I am very acclimated to the Elites by this time, they were my go to for a few months now, and as such the Nutopia initially sounded kind of flat, neutral, and boring compared to the Elites. A couple days of breaking the Utopias in and my brain acclimating, made that neutral signature very pleasing to me. Now, going back to the Elites is like a shock at how colored they are in comparison. On the Elite, the midbass region is being emphasized for warmth, mids/vocals are a little recessed, and treble/details are smoothed over. The Utopia's neutral signature and the speed of the drivers also illuminates detail and resolution that the Elites aren't being able to deliver at quite the same level. On the Elite, the last bit of detail is smoothed over, a bit hazy in comparison to the Utopia, and this makes them a little easier to enjoy with less than perfect recordings. On imaging, the Utopia is probably the best I've heard, with a perfect spherical presentation with even distance all around my head. Instruments are placed very precisely in this sphere. With the Elites, the imaging is cast a little bigger and thrown out a bit further from my head, but its less precise. The Elites give you a region where the instrument is in space, the Utopia give you the exact coordinates, if you will. Downside with the Utopia is that it is a little bass shy, with sub-bass roll-off, like most open back dynamic headphones. I don't have complaints about bass on the Elites, but I do give the Utopia a 4db bass shelf below 80hz to get them to where I want. The Chord Mojo2's DSP EQ works great for this and is very transparent. The Utopia is more punchy and dynamic sounding, as is to be expected. Things they have in common - both almost the same ease to drive, plug them into a dongle and you're good. As long as your source is good, the power requirements are never a concern. They're both fantastic headphones. Utopia is more analytical, reference, refined, with more punch and dynamics. The Elites are warmer, more comfortable, bigger sounding, and can be more enjoyable for non-critical and easy listening.

EDIT: I should say the above comparison was with the default, hybrid leather pads. I just put the alcantara pads on to try the same A/B. With alcantara, the midbass is reduced so they sound closer to the Utopia in tonality than with the hybrid pads. They lean more neutral, like the Utopia, but they still have a touch of that warmth and a bigger soundstage than Utopia. They become even more laid back with alcatara, so good for really long listening sessions, but also lose a bit of their their fun and become slightly less impactful with the alcantara pads.

 

[commtrd]

Interesting comparison between Utopia and Elite. Someday do hope to acquire 2022 Utopia as a nice complement to Elite but for now the Elite will have to do, still have 4z as well so not hurting for good cans to listen to. Intent is to someday also get a really nice tube amp as well to branch out into that end of the spectrum.

 

[betula]

I posted a few comparisons, but if you are interested, I will summarize here. I have been A/B'ing the Utopia 2022 with the Elites, easily switching back and fourth on the same track using two amps receiving the same digital signal.

I am very acclimated to the Elites by this time, they were my go to for a few months now, and as such the Nutopia initially sounded kind of flat, neutral, and boring compared to the Elites. A couple days of breaking the Utopias in and my brain acclimating, made that neutral signature very pleasing to me. Now, going back to the Elites is like a shock at how colored they are in comparison. On the Elite, the midbass region is being emphasized for warmth, mids/vocals are a little recessed, and treble/details are smoothed over. The Utopia's neutral signature and the speed of the drivers also illuminates detail and resolution that the Elites aren't being able to deliver at quite the same level. On the Elite, the last bit of detail is smoothed over, a bit hazy in comparison to the Utopia, and this makes them a little easier to enjoy with less than perfect recordings. On imaging, the Utopia is probably the best I've heard, with a perfect spherical presentation with even distance all around my head. Instruments are placed very precisely in this sphere. With the Elites, the imaging is cast a little bigger and thrown out a bit further from my head, but its less precise. The Elites give you a region where the instrument is in space, the Utopia give you the exact coordinates, if you will. Downside with the Utopia is that it is a little bass shy, with sub-bass roll-off, like most open back dynamic headphones. I don't have complaints about bass on the Elites, but I do give the Utopia a 4db bass shelf below 80hz to get them to where I want. The Chord Mojo2's DSP EQ works great for this and is very transparent. The Utopia is more punchy and dynamic sounding, as is to be expected. Things they have in common - both almost the same ease to drive, plug them into a dongle and you're good. As long as your source is good, the power requirements are never a concern. They're both fantastic headphones. Utopia is more analytical, reference, refined, with more punch and dynamics. The Elites are warmer, more comfortable, bigger sounding, and can be more enjoyable for non-critical and easy listening.

Nice comparison and feels accurate, even though I haven't heard the new Utopia yet. (I heard the OG.)

To me "bass roll-off" and "bass shy" are alarm bells and also, I am not looking for sharper details/better balance just want to enjoy music, so it is very likely that I personally would pass on the new Utopia as I did with the OG. Still exceptional headphones I think, just not for me.

 

[adrianm]

The Utopia's neutral signature and the speed of the drivers also illuminates detail and resolution that the Elites aren't being able to deliver at quite the same level

Is this the result of driving them out of the Mojo2? I'm curious why not upgrade your source chain. I consider Dave to be really detailed, but I still miss the dCS Lina from my short time with it. That added even more detail to the Elites via the Oor. I think the better the source chain is, the more these differences disappear. I loved the Utopia when I heard it, but the soundstage seemed very narrow to me.

 

[turbofeet]

The 2022 Utopia do seem interesting. I found the Stellia the most comfortable headphone ever. Great on detail, poor in the low end. That price is pretty steep as well.
For now I am in my own "Utopia" with the Elites and this will be even more heavenly once that Envy arrives tomorrow.

 

[ThanatosVI]

The 2022 Utopia do seem interesting. I found the Stellia the most comfortable headphone ever. Great on detail, poor in the low end. That price is pretty steep as well.
For now I am in my own "Utopia" with the Elites and this will be even more heavenly once that Envy arrives tomorrow.

Envy + Elite must be heavenly indeed

 

[TheMiddleSky]

The 2022 Utopia do seem interesting. I found the Stellia the most comfortable headphone ever. Great on detail, poor in the low end. That price is pretty steep as well.
For now I am in my own "Utopia" with the Elites and this will be even more heavenly once that Envy arrives tomorrow.

Do tell us how Envy paired with Elite. Heard a lot of good thing from that beautiful looking amp.

 

[betula]

Envy arrives tomorrow.

Seems like a pretty accurate name choice from Feliks Audio.

 

[ra990]

Nice comparison and feels accurate, even though I haven't heard the new Utopia yet. (I heard the OG.)

To me "bass roll-off" and "bass shy" are alarm bells and also, I am not looking for sharper details/better balance just want to enjoy music, so it is very likely that I personally would pass on the new Utopia as I did with the OG. Still exceptional headphones I think, just not for me.

Yep, you can see the subbass roll-off clearly on the frequency response of the Utopia and it's noticeable if you're used to the extended linear bass response of planar magnetic. That's just driver type limitation of an open back dynamic, but they do take EQ rather well because distortion in the bass region is pretty controlled up to louder volumes. However, they do present a very nice balanced bass sound even without EQ. Most audiophiles would be pleased. It's improved over the OG even because there's more control on the treble, which has the side effect of bringing more attention to the bass. I just like a bit more...it's going to be largely dependent on the listener's preference.

Is this the result of driving them out of the Mojo2? I'm curious why not upgrade your source chain. I consider Dave to be really detailed, but I still miss the dCS Lina from my short time with it. That added even more detail to the Elites via the Oor. I think the better the source chain is, the more these differences disappear. I loved the Utopia when I heard it, but the soundstage seemed very narrow to me.

Well, I am hesitant to buy the DAVE at this point. It is just an old product now and if I would upgrade, I'd rather go with a Mola Tambaqui or something with more modern streaming capability built in. Currently, I get the best results by using HQPlayer to give it a million taps with the SINC-M filter (this somewhat mimics the MScaler) and the Mojo2 does show the benefits and increase in resolution and spatial queues when using this setup. Honestly, it's so good already with this combination that I have very little desire to go for something more. That's the good thing about the Utopia and the Elite, you need a good clean source, but not that much power.

I'm getting a Woo Audio WA8 because I remember that little tube amp having amazing synergy with the OG Utopia. It injected some nice bass texture and an even more spacious feeling to them. I'm hoping it will have similar synergy with the 2022. So, I'm going to be selling my desktop setup and going with the Woo WA8 and Mojo 2 as my sources for the Utopia. I could even do HQPlayer -> Mojo2 -> WA8 for a crazy combination. It's going to be fun.

I also have a Topping A90D stack with one of their ESS DACs, to use as a comparison setup or to drive less efficient headphones, like my HE6SEv2, but I don't see myself reaching for that setup with the Utopia in front of me. The Utopia sounds pretty great out of this setup as well. On low gain, the A90D doesn't sound half bad with them, in fact, much better than the A90, which I returned after a week of auditioning.

 

[turbofeet]

Seems like a pretty accurate name choice from Feliks Audio.

Sorry! It is buy now pay later haha

 

[FooFighter]

Omg
Just looked up the price of the Feliks Envy.
Didn't expect it to be that expensive

 

[Arcamera]

Anyone here have experience comparing the Elite with the Abyss Diana?

 

[adrianm]

Well, I am hesitant to buy the DAVE at this point. It is just an old product now and if I would upgrade, I'd rather go with a Mola Tambaqui or something with more modern streaming capability built in. Currently, I get the best results by using HQPlayer to give it a million taps with the SINC-M filter (this somewhat mimics the MScaler) and the Mojo2 does show the benefits and increase in resolution and spatial queues when using this setup. Honestly, it's so good already with this combination that I have very little desire to go for something more. That's the good thing about the Utopia and the Elite, you need a good clean source, but not that much power.

It is, but it's still undefeated in a number of areas. One reason i wouldn't consider the Tambaqui is the lack of crossfeed. It's become essential to my listening. it's also the reason why i'm looking at the Lina as a replacement for Dave, but the price tag is tough to swallow.
I've been using sync-mx for a while now, but after a 3way shootout between the Lina stack, Dave and HQP+ Dave, I found it always ended up 3d. I appreciated the extra space before i got the Oor, but not, i've just found it blunts transients without adding much besides a bit of layering.
I've also found that while power isn't essential, the Elites do benefit from it (Using the Oor in SE vs Balanced mode).I have an order placed for a Zahl HM1 to use with the Elites (and whatever else might come out).

 

[betula]

I've also found that while power isn't essential, the Elites do benefit from it.

The Elites scale exceptionally well, while they sound alright from more affordable gear too.
I do not think it is a power issue, more like higher quality implementation in those superior DACs/amps.