[Toonartist]

I too have been hesitant to get the angled Alcantara, primarily because it seems to attract those who haven’t been that happy with the hybrids nor the og Alcantara, and who simply feel there’s a veil in the elites, even with an upgrade cable. I personally do not fall in that camp.

Is there anybody who went from loving the hybrids, to also loving the angled Alcantara?

Yes. That would be me.

In 18 months I probably used the previous Alcantara possibly 2-3 times. I still do like the Hybrids but only use them with EDM. That said, I have been playing around with the Angled pads with low shelf +4db @ 40hz. The new pads with classical, jazz, acoustic and most general pop sound great. I didn't feel like there was less bass as such, just a lot tighter with more texture etc. I'd say it just bleeds less into the mids making them sound a little brighter.

I never felt the Elites sounded like they had a veil to them but when moving from the Angled pads back to the Hybrids, I can understand where they're coming from. I still feel the detail is all still there with them, just a different tonal balance that helps with spacial cues and making some of the detail more obvious.

As I've mentioned previously, this is with a set of tubes that does have great bass extension and I'd agree that if you have a system that is on the brighter side then the angled pads might not sound as good.

 

[MatW]

Just played around a bit with the angled pads yesterday. I will probably use them occasionally for variety but I prefer the hybrid pads. They sound 'fuller' to me. The angled pads do tighten up the sound but they make the Elite sound a little thin and bright to me. I can see some preferring them, but I like the Elite (and the Empyrean for that matter) for what they are with stock (hybrid/leather) pads, with a fuller sound. Maybe less refined but more musical.

 

[ThanatosVI]

After living with the angled pads for a while it turned out that I use 90% Hybrid pads on my Elite.

However I really enjoy the angled Pads on the Empyrean and in the past months used them most of the time in that configuration

 

[TheAttorney]

@TheAttorney I have attached the 19-filter PEQ in "Meze Elite - GRAS - neutral reference V1 PEQ equivalent.txt". "

Thank you so much. I'll have a go with this later.

After checking the APO specs, it looks like this EQ app runs on Windows, whereas my Roon resides on a closed, linux-based system, so Roon PEQ (or convolution plug=in) is currently my only option for changing EQ.

 

[Roybenz]

Did try hybrid and angled back and fourth and it’s a tough choise. Guess I will switch it after the music genre. The hybrids are my favorite after all, I think. It’s fuller and more intimate. Angled have more depth in stage but it’s thinner sounding and has bit more resolution kind of.

 

[TheAttorney]

The text I shared is for variable-band graphic EQ, which is effectively like "connect-the-dots" control of an EQ compensation curve. I unfortunately do not have an equivalent parametric EQ version prepared yet, but may try to create one this evening, EST. The attached files on their own and per the readme.txt therein are best used with Equalizer APO. If you are interested, setup of Equalizer APO is relatively quick other than one's needing to during installation select the playback device that the EQ will be applied to, reboot your PC to complete installation, and then copy the attached folder into C:\Program Files\EqualizerAPO\config, replacing the existing config.txt file (or merging the contents if you already have one set up). I believe Equalizer APO should be able to operate without conflicting with Roon.

So, I've now tried the 19-bands on Roon's PEQ, resulting in below graph. Note that Roon doesn't appear to be able to show the true end result, just all 19 bands super-imposed on each other. Note also that I've zoomed in on the vertical scale, which exaggerates the changes.

So how did it sound?.... Mixed. This EQ changed the overall presentation more than any recommended EQ that I've tried before on any headphone. It did clean up the Hybrid's "overfull" bass and it did add extra presence and treble energy and it did seem to widen the Hybrid's slightly "shut in" sound stage. It was a bit like listening to a different recording or different headphone, so it took me a while to get a handle on whether I actually liked the change.

But there is a big but... the overall presentation suffered from the usual Roon DSP's loss of transparency. There was reduced depth to the overall sound stage and reduced space around the individual images and a general loss of "you are there" feeling. In the end, I preferred the Hybrids without EQ. The result would probably have been different had I had a more transparent EQ app.

After trying the above with the Hybrids for a while, I went back to the non-EQ'd Angled pads and it was no contest - the Angled easily won.

Looking back over recent posts, it's clear that there's still a lot of love for the Hybrids, and it's great to have that choice. I'd say that the Angled are ever so slightly too bright to be absolutely tonally perfect for me. They are also more transparent in that they'll more easily show up the differences between dark and bright recordings. The quality and character of all the upstream components will obviously affect whether that very slight brightness is a problem or a virtue. Also, I've found that small positional pad adjustments around the ears can subtly increase or reduce this very slight brightness.

In the meantime, I've revised my earlier comment that I'm still keeping half an an eye out for my final end-game headphones. I'm now feeling that Angled Elites are already my end game, and any final tweaks to be done will be on upstream components.

 

[MatW]

So, I've now tried the 19-bands on Roon's PEQ, resulting in below graph. Note that Roon doesn't appear to be able to show the true end result, just all 19 bands super-imposed on each other. Note also that I've zoomed in on the vertical scale, which exaggerates the changes.



So how did it sound?.... Mixed. This EQ changed the overall presentation more than any recommended EQ that I've tried before on any headphone. It did clean up the Hybrid's "overfull" bass and it did add extra presence and treble energy and it did seem to widen the Hybrid's slightly "shut in" sound stage. It was a bit like listening to a different recording or different headphone, so it took me a while to get a handle on whether I actually liked the change.

But there is a big but... the overall presentation suffered from the usual Roon DSP's loss of transparency. There was reduced depth to the overall sound stage and reduced space around the individual images and a general loss of "you are there" feeling. In the end, I preferred the Hybrids without EQ. The result would probably have been different had I had a more transparent EQ app.

After trying the above with the Hybrids for a while, I went back to the non-EQ'd Angled pads and it was no contest - the Angled easily won.

Looking back over recent posts, it's clear that there's still a lot of love for the Hybrids, and it's great to have that choice. I'd say that the Angled are ever so slightly too bright to be absolutely tonally perfect for me. They are also more transparent in that they'll more easily show up the differences between dark and bright recordings. The quality and character of all the upstream components will obviously affect whether that very slight brightness is a problem or a virtue. Also, I've found that small positional pad adjustments around the ears can subtly increase or reduce this very slight brightness.

In the meantime, I've revised my earlier comment that I'm still keeping half an an eye out for my final end-game headphones. I'm now feeling that Angled Elites are already my end game, and any final tweaks to be done will be on upstream components.

The white line is the end result.

 

[betula]

Removed.

 

[adrianm]

Another price drop on the Dark Mystery+ silver plated cable in case anyone's interested, Lavri grand XLR available separately :

https://www.head-fi.org/classifieds...of-100-6-3mm-meze-upgrade-silver-cable.43736/

 

[gipsy]

OK, now I saw this guy's measurements in a previous post
They are completely off in the bass, this is absolutely not what I am hearing and here are measurements by Meze own laboratory for your reference.
I don't know the details of their set-up.

Red is angled, green is stock Alcantara.

Measurement I have posted is between Hybrid and Angled Alcantara.
Your graph is between "normal" and angled Alcantara.
There is discrepancy.

 

[Ichos]

Measurement I have posted is between Hybrid and Angled Alcantara.
Your graph is between "normal" and angled Alcantara.
There is discrepancy.

Yes this is true but still the actual bass response that I am hearing with the Angled is not in agreement with the roll off that the graph displays.
Anyway, different rigs, different measurements.

 

[oniel459]

Just noticed that both the full sized briefcase and the stock cable are no more with purchasing Elites at least. Now it’s the travel case and your choice between copper and silver upgrade cables.

 

[ThanatosVI]

Just noticed that both the full sized briefcase and the stock cable are no more with purchasing Elites at least. Now it’s the travel case and your choice between copper and silver upgrade cables.

Damn this is essentially a 250-500€ price drop since the upgrade cable comes at ko charge

 

[betula]

Just noticed that both the full sized briefcase and the stock cable are no more with purchasing Elites at least. Now it’s the travel case and your choice between copper and silver upgrade cables.

In that case perhaps Meze could offer a fair exchange policy for the old Elite stock cables. I haven't used mine for example, but Elites with the stock cable have just lost a few hundred $ resale value.
Other than that IMo it is a welcomed change that was long due.

 

[MrHaelscheir]

Just noticed that both the full sized briefcase and the stock cable are no more with purchasing Elites at least. Now it’s the travel case and your choice between copper and silver upgrade cables.

Huh. Looks like I may need to contact my local shop for a price match since a few weeks ago when I purchased mine, the stock cable was OFC standard, the PCUHD with the 4.4 mm termination I wanted being extra.