Thanks for your input. When you say the Meze is a downgrade in overall sound quality, are we talking about a completely different experience or something you barely notice?
Why I'm looking for a comparison: There's no place to audition "exotic" cans nearby and I don't like to buy stuff in order to return it after testing. So I went for the Hope 6 blindly about a year ago and I can't say they're disappointing, but I'm not happy with them either. This time I can at least put things in perspective when somebody compares the pandora to something else.
My main issue with the pandora: The soundstage is too wide for my taste – or maybe it's just not deep enough for how wide it is. I'd only call it pizza shaped if I held the pizza in front of my face like a mirror – so close that the topping burns my skin. I expect the music to be located in a cone in front of me. It irritates me when some instruments seem to be located right beside or above me.
Comfort is not a huge issue for me, but the weight does make the pandoras a little inconvenient. According to your description the Meze appears to improve these two aspects – comfort and soundstage – for my taste.
Soundwise I like the Pandora very much for ambient music and "quiet" parts with a small ensemble of instruments. However, most of my music is progressive rock/metal with powerful male singers and I miss some punch. I'm looking for an alternative that makes the most out of male vocals and dynamic sound, with what I call a more "natural" soundstage. Do you think the Meze is worth a try?
OK, first thing first, I adore the Pandora. So I will say it's a half-half on both sides.
Heck I got the TH-X00 Purpleheart and still think it's one or many grades lower than my Pandora. in the listening experience.
The vocal of the Pandora is just superb.
I get what your dislike for the soundstage of the Pandora. The vertical soundstage is just gigantic compare to the horizontal soundstage.
The Meze's soundstage is rather conventional shaped, much balanced on both axii compare to the Pandora. Like your normal headphones.
The sound is kinda JVC-esque, lush and warm, not sure I will call it dynamic though.
And I won't really call the male vocal on the Meze to be superior, but the punch? Definitely. God the Pandora really has tiny bass.
Actually in almost all senses the Meze is a pair conventional headphones, when compare to the Pandora. So you can expect great improvement on comfort , if your head ain't inhumanly huge.
The Meze can easily become a portable choice, and the fact that the form factor of it it is a pair of portable cans.
I did mention it fits a lot of genre well, except instrumental or orchestra, didn't I?
The sound of it is so different from the Pandora, you will hardly compare both of them, which goes back to my question/conclusion in last post.
I'm tempted to get a pair too, but my hands are full of stuffs to listen right now and I'm moving soon.
Get The Meze
