Yeah must be
MEZE AUDIO ELITE - The New Isodynamic Hybrid Array Headphone - official thread
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srkbear
500+ Head-Fier
You know, you know me well enough by now to recognize I’m a big fan of bass, and in spite of myself I prefer the Alcantara pads too! In fact I was so convinced I would want the hybrids based on their reputation for more low end that I didn’t even try the Alcantara pads until I had listened to the hybrids for many hours.I too recently acquired a Nirvana amp, and a Susvara. The amp is excellent, and the Susvara is pretty awesome, but-- I still love the Meze. If anything, my experience so far has only reinforced the excellence of the Elite. Given learning about all the Susvara experience out there, I know the Susvara can scale to great heights, when paired with 100watt speaker amps, etc. But just having them side by side through my Auris Nirvana-- I still prefer the Elite.
That said, I still prefer the Alcantara pads, so what do I know, ha
The hybrids do indeed offer more bass slam, but to my ears they do so at the expense of clarity in the high end. When I switched to the Alcantara pads, detail sprang to life that I had been missing, and so out came the ASP bass boost on my Pro iCAN Signature and just a smidgen of DSP.
I dialed in around 3db in the 100 hz range to add a little more punch, and a very sharp, hi Q score 1.5 db increase around 3,000 hz to bring out a tad more detail. And then I truly appreciated what these Elites were capable of.
An engineer from another site gave me the attached graph to guide me on my PEQ choices, and it has served me well. I think the stock tuning on the Elites is very fine, but until they offer a pad option that blends the best of the Alcantara and Hybrids, I think I’m going to stick with the Alcantara and acquiesce to PEQ for the time being. Given the nonpareil attributes this headphone offers in terms of design, build and comfort, I think it’s well worth it.
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That is a pretty good graph. The only thing I don't get is the 'tight bass'. Tight bass to me is not rolled off. I call bass tight when it is well controlled with quick transients, and it is snappy.
srkbear
500+ Head-Fier
Thanks I just replaced it with a higher resolution copy. I think it originated from DIY Audio Heaven but has been circulated endless times over the years.
I think the “tight bass” definition is based on the subtle details in the bass being brought out when those frequencies are attenuated—not necessarily the most audibly pleasing bass, but technically more accurate and precise in discerning the instruments playing in those frequency ranges. When the frequencies themselves are emphasized, the bass has more punch and warmth, but the details themselves are less “resolving”.
For some of the descriptions I’ve had to take them more literally than based on the conventional descriptors we’ve grown accustomed to…
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lucasratmundo
100+ Head-Fier
Selling my Elite for a very discounted price in the UK to fund some other acquisitions. Message me if you're interested.
LCMusicLover
Headphoneus Supremus
Wow, great price. Can’t believe they haven’t moved after nearly a month.
Just to nudge your compatriots, Elite play wonderfully well w/ Hugo 2.
yeah same story with my Dave, tough market
Quite interesting:
Would love some solid state amp suggestions to pair with the elite? I want a warm tube like sound, without going with a tube amp. I have a feliks euforia already.
Toonartist
Formerly known as dAndis67
When I was looking for a tube amp, I noticed my Naim Atom HE had a similar tone. A slight warmth but still plenty of detail. It might be worth a listen if you can. I preferred the bass, warmth etc with that compared to the TT2 I had.
I love the GSX Mini with my Elite. You could probably find a warmer SS amp (IHA-6 for example) but the control and tight impact the Mini adds to Elite is sublime. Pair it with an R2R DAC and you got warmth too.
Violectric V222 or V340.
FooFighter
Headphoneus Supremus
+1 quite happy with Holo Audio Spring 3 KTE
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