[thubes]

Purpose: Office/Coffee Shop Listening
Source: iPhone 7 or Nothing Special Work Laptop
Music: Spotify Premium
Budget: Ideally 400 or under, really don't want to go much higher but you can try to convince
Decision: PM-3 vs Meze 99 Classics vs Wireless P7s

Concerns:
- Love the wireless and look of P7s, concerned sound will not be comparable to the other two and questions about durability per Amazon reviews
- PM-3 concerned will reveal quality issues from spotify premium and concerned will require amp and will push me out of budget range
- Meze 99 Classics could be best all around option, do I need amp, also concerned about how flashy they look for my nonprofit office
- If Amp and or DAC recommended what's the low cost way to go

What would you do?

 

[PaganDL]

Hi thubes,

Can't help you with the P7s as I neither own nor have demo them so can't comment there but I would question Amazon Reviews as they're not known for their accuracy, among other things...

What I can comment on are the other two headphones you're interested in as I own the Meze 99 Classics & the PM 3.

With either 99 Classics or PM 3, you can't go wrong, if you can demo them or all three, I would definitely recommend doing this.
One thing to note & isn't really discussed on the Head Fi forums & this is highly subjective but PM 3 has an optional balanced cable which I recommend you consider if you decide on the PM 3 as this changes the sound signature by widening it to be more to the side & behind the listener as well as a sense of more 'surround' space whereas with the standard cable it comes with, the sound is narrower & seems to come more from the front.
Just something to take note of.

By the way, this is just an observation but for the 99 Classics if brass or silver is considered flashy, then I think there may be problems somewhere...
Also, for better sound isolation & fit for anyone who has medium sized or bigger &/or odd shaped ears, the stock pads for the 99 Classics aren't quite comfortable for more than a few hours, I recommend ZMF's spare cowhide or lambskin pads instead.

Please define quality issues with the PM 3 from Spotify Premium :
If you mean your connection to Spotify, these are known & dependant on your wireless/internet connection
Or if :
You mean the audio from Spotify Premium through the PM 3 doesn't sound good then I would question Spotify Premium's audio quality...

Regardless how good your equipment is, be it an amplifier &/or headphones, your SOURCE MATTERS...

Good quality doesn't necessarily mean high quality & good equipment will reveal what works & what doesn't but that's a whole other topic...

Back to what is being discussed, basically all an amplifier does, especially for headphones is potentially improve signal & definitely volume, sound quality as stated above depends on source, not necessarily amp.
So if you feel an amp is worth considering now, go for it otherwise, see how you feel after you've had whichever headphone you decide on for a while.
Oppo HA 2 or HA2 SE would work well for this as well as a good powerbank for your phone.

Hope this helps

 

[thubes]

Thanks for the feedback, this is helpful. Obviously I'm a noob when it comes to lots of this although I pride myself on researching skills and feel like I have read more headphone related material in the last 2 weeks than I ever knew existed.

I think your thoughts mirrored lots of my suspicions. What I was trying to say with Spotify is because I've read that the PM-3s are very revealing, I was concerned because I know Spotify isn't lossless and thought that might be more apparent with those than the other two. I don't know if that makes sense or is correct but that's the track I was on.

Regardless, I decided! Ordered the 99 classics in walnut silver and they should arrive tonight! I'm very excited. I have no doubt the PM-3s are great but it came down to choosing between multiple good options for me. For budget dac/amps I was looking at the Schiit Fulla 2 if I decide to run them out of the laptop, but I think I'm going to be fine playing them out of my ipad for now. Will consider more purchases down the road but it's already a significant jump in quality for me.

Now I'm going to try to sell my older and loved ath-ew9s. And reading competing articles on burn-in ...

 

[PaganDL]

No problem, thubes,

Happy to help as most on here are, you're going to be very happy with the 99 classics for your needs.
Regarding burn in if you mean headphone burn in, remember highly subjective & personal, the 99 Classics require at least 20 hours to sound 'natural', 'right' or whatever term you want to use to describe the sound to your liking though I did throughly enjoy it from the instant I got it.
40 hours or more doesn't hurt either as some have claimed a 'warmer' sound, personally, I did notice that 'warmth' at 20 hours but once again highly subjective also it helps to cheat a little with the 'burn in' by letting sound, any sound run through it from the headphone out.
Don't forget about considering the ZMF spare pads for the 99 Classics.

As said, a good amp to recommend later on if you need more signal & volume control are the Oppo HA2 or HA2 SE as well as being a good powerbank for your phone.
Something else to consider if you decide on a more dedicated amp to run from your laptop is a usb audio interface, something like the Lexicon Alpha or depending on your output needs, Presonus Audiobox 22VSL or Audiobox 44VSL.

Hope this helps.

 

[thubes]

Thanks and will definitely consider the pads, I like the idea of the lamb skin. Do they fit well? Or can you order custom sizes?

Thanks for the other advice as well. I'll look into those a little more.

 

[PaganDL]

No problem,

Nope...

Only one size & definitely fit well...just one thing, remember to add leather protector before you use the pads then they will last a long, long time.

Hope this helps.

 

[emergencylies]

I've heard the p7 and pm3. The meze 99 stands out - some people like, but some people don't. But, it defintiely says, look at these expensive headphones.
 
There are others in this price range, too - the AT msr7, the new AT sr9, denon mm-40, sony mdr-1a and mdr-1abt(wireless) and the master and dynamics mh40s. All of those are more subtle, sleek, business like except maybe the mm-400. I found the pm3 flat, thin and boring, personally. The p7 has comfort issues for me and I'd put it below the PM3 in SQ but much more fun. Neither need an amp, and I didn't find much difference in using a dragonfly portable amp with either of them. Amping is something you could return to later, based on how you find your headphone has been working out.

 

[PaganDL]

thubes, please feel free to take what emergencylies says with a grain of salt, among other things...


Hi emergencylies,

This seems to be an ANNOYING TREND on the forums here, if you refer to the thread start, thubes SPECIFICALLY asked about comparing 3 headphones, they didn't ask for any other headphone to compare, not to mention if you ACTUALLY READ what I wrote, SOUND IS PERSONAL & HIGHLY SUBJECTIVE so it is sometimes hard to agree or disagree on this subject, hence we have the headfi forums & community.

So what makes you say the Meze 99 Classics are expensive if you say there are other good headphones in the same price range, this is contradictory, isn't it?
Woudln't that make the others you suggested expensive too?
Also, why do people keep saying brass & silver make things look at expensive nor is there anything wrong with making a statement, especially if it can be proven.

In regards to PM 3, I did mention a balanced cable & how it changes the sound signature, so unless you have tried both cables & once again, SOURCE DEPENDANT, resulting sound does make a lot of difference.

Hope this helps.