Meze 99 Neo
I've reviewed their Classic, and appreciate Meze letting me review this model. Stay tuned for comparisons.

Background
I'm a lifelong musician, live and studio sound engineer, always with heavy duty earplugs. Often the only one in my band wearing them, but then, I've retained my unusually sensitive hearing because of it. I've tried too many headphones and in-ears to list. I'll refer to what I've tried where it's relevant in the review, to keep it simple. I've got some I'm happy with now, but I'm never tired of trying new things, so it brought me to these headphones.

What I Look For
I prefer warmer headphones, full lower mids, flat mids, reduced high mids. More than a moderate mid bass bump bothers me, and sub bass rarely extends low enough in most quality cans I'll try. I'll say "quality" since there are plenty that are explosive down there, but often at the expense of everything else. Some have said you can't have all frequencies well represented, but enough come close to this, so I know this can be done.

Common Issues
Fit has had me reject 80% of what I've tried. I much prefer over-ear. It's hard enough to get an over-ear to go over your ears (Senn. Momentum 1 for example and Momentum 2 isn't much better). My ears are fairly flat but learger around, proportional to being 6'5". My head is also, triple X hat size. Most companies could fit larger heads, with just an inch more band extension, but only some seem to take that into consideration.

Design and Comfort
These arrived well package and designed. Nice solid case and aesthetics. Very light yet sturdy. The plastic replacing the Classic's wood is sturdy, and not inclined to fingerprints. Still, I'm more into the sound aspect (and the fit, naturally). The band auto-fits easily, though like many w/ this style on me, they tend to contract when worn and have to be pulled back down sometimes. The design seems to allow some flex to fit better.

Fully extended they reach my ears but press on the top of my head. The pressure at the top of the cups that I had with the Classic is not there now. You'll see in pictures I slipped the band on top of the metal hoops to make more room. Pads are better, still not quite deep enough. As pictured, I'd put on Audio Technica MSR7 pads, perfect fit perfect, more space for ears, and sound. I'll go into that in more detail further into my review.

Sound Quality and Ideas
A bit warmer vs Classics and I prefer that. That Meze treble magic that no other company has pulled off. Clarity without any lack of detail, yet no audible peaks and no fatigue, even for one as sensitive to treble as me. This is their strongest point. There is still a bit of mid-fi quality, but that's not a bad thing. For their price, they are among the best. Many long for a "closed HD650 (now 660s) with more bass and air" and these are that.

The high mids are just right, blending with the highs perfectly. Another big win. The true mids (roughly 500 hz to 2 khz) are close to flat but with a pleasing bit of low mid warmth the Classic didn't quite have making them enjoyable, without a hard sound, yet you feel like you are missing nothing. Like the highs, they do this better than almost everyone else I've heard. A sound you can trust for accuracy, but is easy on the ears. Nice work.

The lower mids are not lacking, the Classic did a bit. There is a bit of a buildup here, and in the higher bass, evident on some recordings. That bugs me. My headphone earpad swap (to AT MSR7 pads) got rid of that as they added spaciousness, treble detail (without fatigue) and no loss of bass (rare with a pad swap) or maybe even a touch more sub bass. Low mids are a 6-7 stock, and a 9-10 with the MSR7 pads. Yes, it's that good.

Mid bass is nice with the right amount of boost. It has a bit more than the Classic, but till within an ideal range. Not for purists and not the "fastest" thing, but very pleasing. The fun goes lower (to my ear at least) than the Classic that rolled off under 40 hz. These don't roll off until under 30 hz with useful sub info at / below 20 hz. Graphs don't show this improvement though, in fact they show the Classic with the same or more extension.

How They Make This Better
Consider an easily removable pleather padded band vs. what is clamped on, as larger head folk like me can get by with just the outer metal hoop wires. They can be gently bent to fit even better. Their light weight, even lighter without that band, means no padding is no problem when the weight is spread out, with those two flat bands, which could always be wrapped in some thin padding, if needed. That would not be any issue for me.

Meze, please consider buying Audio Technica MSR7 pads. Test them, and develop your next pad based on that. They slip into the groove and fit perfectly. Images show the same depth - but the less rolled off interior means it helps the cups sit a bit farther out to fit ears better. The better stereo depth and width, cleaning up low mids / mid bass, no loss of subs and better treble clarity (with no extra treble level) is a worthwhile goal.

A word on the Audio Technica MSR7 ear pads. These are not as comfortable as the Meze stock pads which are amazingly soft. That firmness allows them to stay a bit farther out, giving you that space. The MSR7 pads ARE still very comfortable, it's just that the stock pads can spoil you, as they are among the most soft and compliant pads I've felt. So you won't feel uncomfortable, you just won't have the super pillow stock pads on them.

Additionally, that firmness can cause the clamp to increase, if you have a large head and the clamp bothers you, you will find it increases with these pads since they don't compress as much. I'm already to where they are a little too small for my head so that did make it worse. If I did a "big head mod" and removed the band to just leave the outer rings, this will not be an issue and I'm considering buying these and doing just that with these.



Mid December EDIT / Update for Brand New Pair

I need to add an update / edit to my review and on every Meze post, where I had said something in particular. The Audio Technica ATH-MSR7 pads, which worked a miracle on the Sony MDR-1A, did change the sound of these headphones a bit. The test pair I had had a bit of a lower mid to high bass resonance build up that these tamed. I think that's what also bothered Tyll and others. They still do that, and if you want that area cleared up a bit these do it. They don't increase treble or decrease the sub bass, but the mids are every so slightly more recessed (true mids, 500 to 2 khz), the high mids aren't changed. I ordered a brand new pair. Not this may be because of slight quality improvements but these new Meze 99 Neo were best stock. Right out of the box, no burn in. The MSR7 pads had the above minor effect, but it is no longer needed, high bass and low mids had no excess to me, and true mids were full and as accurate, as do I prefer. I can't say these are the best in my collection, as each as a purpose, but they are now my favorite sounding all-rounder. My EMU Teak and my Sony MDR-1A are a bit more extended on both ends of the spectrum but don't have quite the stereo magic and gets a bit fatiguing on some songs with that. My Sony MDR-Z7 has slightly more soundstage / warmth.

My Samson Z55 is a bit more flat / accurate. These still do treble better than any headphone I have ever heard. As easy on the ears as Senn HD650 but not 'veiled'. It you want a closed option - with a bit better imaging, more sub bass and more detail without any harshness, get these. I don't feel I lose any detail v. brighter phones I've heard, all the way up to the brightest and most expensive tested (the Focal Utopia or Sennheiser HSD800 / 700). Mids are absolutely perfect. Nothing missing, but no hot spots in true mids as Sony MDR-Z7 had before it was modded, and still can have occasionally, as some Planars can have. Even very neutral Samson Z55 is slightly north of what I'd like in that area vs. these. Without a high bass, low mid issue, I can't find a frequency area on it I'd want to change even with EQ if I tried to (I mix and master lots of music, I can usually find something). I'd maybe add 1 db at 10-20 hz (yes - I can hear that low), and that is it. Maybe 1/2 db less mid bass. If they did a slight tweak in design or quality control that caused this keep doing it. These are the BEST headphones under $250, period. I'd say even under $500. Open or closed. Being free of resonances and so spacious sounding, you don't need them open to to get that kind of width in their sound.

Mixcder V4.2
This is my second review. I was part of the review tour. Mixcder was very kind to let me retain the headphones and very friendly and responsive to emails.

Background
I'm a lifelong musician, live and studio sound engineer, always with heavy duty earplugs. Often the only one in my band wearing them, but then, I've retained my unusually sensitive hearing because of it. I've tried too many headphones and in ears to list. I'll refer to what I've tried where it's relevant in the review, to keep it simple. I've got some I'm happy with now, but I'm never tired of trying new things, so that brought me to these.

What I Look For
I prefer warmer headphones, full lower mids, flat mids, reduced high mids. More than a moderate mid bass bump bothers me, and sub bass rarely extends low enough in most quality cans I'll try. I'll say "quality" since there are plenty that are explosive down there, but often at the expense of everything else. Some have said you can't have all frequencies well represented, but enough come close to this, so I know this can be done.

Common Issues
Fit has had me reject 80% of what I've tried. I much prefer over-ear. It's hard enough to get over-ear to go over everyone's ears (Senn. Momentum 1 for example, Momentum 2 isn't much better). My ears fairly flat and proportional to being 6'5". My head is also, with Triple X hat size (few of those fit either). Most companies could fit larger heads, with an inch more band extension, but only some seem to take that into consideration.

Design and Comfort
These arrived well packaged and designed given how inexpensive they are at retail. Definitely built better than most under $50 USD cans. No case and it is not expected. They fold flat and you can find plenty of nice inexpensive hard cases for fold flat headphones. I won't post pictures, there are a ton of other pictures already posted in the reviews for this.

They don't extend far enough. I tried bending the headband at the center but it didn't help. A half an inch to an inch more extension on each side is all that would be needed. The extra cost for a bit more metal to slide out is negligible and many companies are penny wise and pound foolish to save money in cutting costs for important ergonomics.

If you can't get them fully down to your ears comfortably, you can't wear them and there has never been a mod that has been done that can work around it. The pads are a little too small and shallow, though soft. They have that fake smell too. Bose QC35 also fold flat and are portable, yet have ear cups that are deep enough and fully surround large ears.

The Bose also extend plenty far to easily reach my ears and are very light, and sturdy. I wish more would emulate their design. The angled drivers in these tell me there may be an effort to do that. Also, I prefer the cable entry to be on the left side, not the right as they are with the Mixcder headphones. This brings me to another macro evaluation.

I can't expect these to sound as good as Bose given their are a fraction of the price. The same amount of plastic, and 10-20 cents more metal for a longer headband reach, and a dollar more for better, larger, deeper ear pads could launch these into a higher territory of value. The better ear depth of the Bose doesn't make them any less portable.

Thin ear pads for portability is pure nonsense. It's cutting corners in an important area. It's not the material you're using, it's using just a bit more (which would add little to the cost of manufacture) and how you use it. It seems like these companies have small, flat eared midgets with tiny heads testing their headphones.

Sound Quality and Ideas
The sound with the wire is far better than wireless. The wireless range and connection is fast and works fine. No complaints there. The wired sound has perhaps the best midrange and bass for a moderate bass head who is not fond of the scooped V shape and prefers flat with extra bass and a bit less treble. The treble has issues here.

Wired bass is great, reaches low, moderate mid bass bump, bleeds just a bit up into the low mids but I don't mind that if it's just a little. The mids are solid without any ringing issues (like the Sony MDR-Z7 can have). Due to the very close proximity to the ear, that may be why. Literally called "proximity effect" in audio engineer speak.

That builds up the lower and middle mids nicely. Also being so close, there is no extra reflective space for sound to resonate from, and also there is less of a space to the ear itself for some sound deflection between that and the driver and the likely comb filtering and resonance that could result. It's possible to work around this though.

The Bose QC35 does this with DSP / EQ obviously. When NR is off it has that EQ off and they sound horrible in terms of ringy reflective sound (boxiness). It is rather stupid of Bose since their latest Sound True generation is nearly the same in build and drivers compared to the QC35. It has no EQ or DSP and if run flat, there is no boxiness.

Back to the Mixcder. Wired sound is good up to the treble, which is weird. I'll detail that more. It gets worse with BT and mainly in the bass that blows up to a ridiculous mid bass bump. It's so bad it's not useable. The idea of big bass bumps for "walking around outside" is also wrong, unless the headphones are bass light to begin with.

The weirdness of the treble is in both wired and wireless. Both are dark and dull, especially wireless. The actual detail level is worse, beyond just mere brightness. They still manage to have what appears to be at least one if not two narrow peaks just under 10 kHz that aren't always noticed, but when they are it's brutal. Dull yet peaky.

How They Make This Better
There you have it. Arguably among the best midrange quality of any cans at any price in wired mode. The bass quality and quantity there is also great. It suffers also from lack of soundstage due to proximity to the drivers, but that said, even in that way, the space is surprisingly good for cans without much space to let it develop that are also closed.

Put out a version with a $10-$20 higher price tag. $30 to include a cheap hard case for fold flat cans if you so desire. The core $10-$20 is to cover $5 in new and extra and better material and $5 in labor putting it in there. You still get a big return on your investment and put these in another category of quality that will rival cans that cost a lot more than that.

Longer reaching sliders for tall heads. Longer, wider, deeper ear cups. Getting wireless to at least sound similar (even if not as good) as wired. One should expect the same general sound, not to have remarkable mids and bass turn into a massive mid bass bump rendering them unusable. It will take some more research and trial and error to get it.

I'm glad they are listening. With all due respect to Meze, a competitor with great products including headphones that I tested, their newer headphones, from the reviews I've read of them, are nearly the same as the older line it was meant to be an alternative to in size, they suffer the same fate that these and many cans will suffer with needlessly.

Their ear cups were a bit too small, they made them a bit bigger but the headband design didn't change which was again too small. Bose gets it, trying on their latest generation of cans (go to Best Buy if you haven't, they're on display there) you feel like they really paid attention to comfort and being able to fit various heads and ears. It can be done.

Meze 99 Classic
This is my first review. I was part of the review tour. I want to thank Meze for doing this. 

Background
I'm a lifelong musician, live and studio sound engineer, always with heavy duty earplugs. Often the only one in my band wearing them, but then, I've retained my unusually sensitive hearing because of it. I've tried too many headphones and in ears to list. I'll refer to what I've tried where it's relevant in the review, to keep it simple. I've got some I'm happy with now, but I'm never tired of trying new things, so that brought me to these.

What I Look For
I prefer warmer headphones, full lower mids, flat mids, reduced high mids. More than a moderate mid bass bump bothers me, and sub bass rarely extends low enough in most quality cans I'll try. I'll say "quality" since there are plenty that are explosive down there, but often at the expense of everything else. Some have said you can't have all frequencies well represented, but enough come close to this, so I know this can be done.

Common Issues
Fit has had me reject 80% of what I've tried. I much prefer over-ear. It's hard enough to get over-ear to go over everyone's ears (Senn. Momentum 1 for example, Momentum 2 isn't much better). My ears fairly flat and proportional to being 6'5". My head is also, with Triple X hat size (few of those fit either). Most companies could fit larger heads, with an inch more band extension, but only some seem to take that into consideration.

Design and Comfort
These arrived well package and designed. Nice solid case and aesthetics. Very light yet sturdy. The wood is a nice touch but as long as headphones don't look ridiculous, I'm more into the sound aspect (and the fit, naturally). The band auto-fits easily, though like many with this design on me, they tend to contract a bit when worn and have to be pulled back down sometimes. The design seems to allow some flex to fit you better.

Still there was no way I would attempt radically bending these. Fully extended they just reached my ears but they exert pressure on the top part of the cup likely due to the width of my head, so I can not keep them on long. The pads are soft, not quite deep enough, and could be a bit longer top to bottom to fit my above average ears. This could reduce the bass a little more, but that could be addressed, in voicing the driver itself.

Sound Quality and Ideas
As commonly happens, I find them brighter than what I read in reviews, but not at all harsh. They do clarity very well, without sibilance or hype. This early in the game, they tamed one of the most difficult areas. There seems to be a mid-fi quality to them. A notch above Creative Aurvana Live! 2, but below the Sony MDR-Z7 / Sennheiser HD650. It's hard to quantify, but often (not always) cans can sound more or less "expensive".

The high mids are just right, blending with the highs perfectly. Another big win. The true mids (roughly 500 hz to 2 khz) are flat, which to my ears is a bit more than I'd like. Particularly in the 1 khz area. Some have put dips there (Audio Quest Nighthawk V1 (should a V2 be in the works) that are too much, and some are worse there (some AKG). This isn't very bothersome, it's just slightly north of what I'd like, in these headphones.

The lower mids seem a bit recessed. I'd call them just south of flat. Not as lacking as you think for two reasons. One, many like it just north of flat to warm it up. Two, the mids I talk about, and a slightly north of flat mid bass make these seem to be less than they really are. So these are actually close to just right. 1 db more, carefully done to avoid resonant "hollow" "ringy" sound some (as the ATH-M50 for example) can suffer from. 

The mid bass is perfect. Just the right amount of boost. Not an overbearing "boop" in the kick drums that bother me in the higher end Fostex, not scooped like the Sennheiser HD380. The fun starts to end under 40 hz where it rolls off. This is common. Just slightly below where a Sennheiser HD650 rolls off. Extending slightly farther than the HD650, but leaving me wishing for more extension, with less roll off, to complete things.

How They Make This Better
They look like high grade home use in pictures. Out of the box - they're smaller and lighter than you expect, with mid grade sound. The above sonic ideas would help. What bugs me about attempts at portable is this. If they don't fold, and foldability depends on thin cups, make the cups thicker. Companies should try on the cans, and when normal ears barely fit / touch the driver, make thicker & longer pads. This may impact bass.

Thus they should implement sonic changes to allow that. You can have longer, deeper pads with more sub bass (the Sony MDR-Z7 for example). The larger area around the ears should improve the spatial depth as that is another area lacking, as it does on most cans that barely get around your ears (ie. Momentum 2, Beats Studio, etc.). They could even look at angled drivers, some have that to add more natural spaciousness.

Given this is my first review, I hope I was still able to convey my ideas. These headphones don't hype things, and have potential small acoustic area and tuning changes that could bring big results. I could mostly trust mixing on these if I had to (though I prefer to mix with studio monitors and a properly set up sub in a properly set up room). I can't say that about many headphones. Keep up the good work Meze and keep us posted.