MEZE AUDIO ELITE - The New Isodynamic Hybrid Array Headphone - official thread
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TheMiddleSky
Headphoneus Supremus
Nah, not yet. Will give it a try later when have a chance.
The Correlation
Head-Fier
I'm beginning to find some inconsistency in how headphones are benchmarked by the same reviewers. Cameron (GoldenSound) just posted his review on the ZMF Atrium. Similarly to DMS, he loved them but stated that they were very coloured and easily out-resolved by other headphones. However, the Atrium is still strongly recommended and called one of the best headphones.
When the Meze Elite was released it was different to other flagship headphones in that it was coloured and not as (apparently) detailed, but yet it sounded incredible. In fact, my Elite is the only headphone that has stuck around because it genuinely does something (I assume) like the Atrium where it just makes everything sound lovely.
Now, other reviewers gave the Elite a bad rep, said it wasn't competitive in detail at its price point, and overall just shunned it. However, the Atrium seems to be loved by all, even though these reviewers say that it has less detail than much cheaper headphones.
I definitely need to get my ears on an Atrium, but I am also confused as to why these headphones got such different reviews with detail retrieval being used as a benchmark only for the Elite/Empyrean.
Has anyone heard an Atrium and compared them with the Elite?
When the Meze Elite was released it was different to other flagship headphones in that it was coloured and not as (apparently) detailed, but yet it sounded incredible. In fact, my Elite is the only headphone that has stuck around because it genuinely does something (I assume) like the Atrium where it just makes everything sound lovely.
Now, other reviewers gave the Elite a bad rep, said it wasn't competitive in detail at its price point, and overall just shunned it. However, the Atrium seems to be loved by all, even though these reviewers say that it has less detail than much cheaper headphones.
I definitely need to get my ears on an Atrium, but I am also confused as to why these headphones got such different reviews with detail retrieval being used as a benchmark only for the Elite/Empyrean.
Has anyone heard an Atrium and compared them with the Elite?
I had the exact same thoughts, I also saw the review and as he described the Atriums, I kept thinking "this sounds just like the Elites". My only guess is that perhaps there is a different expectation for a high end flagship planar.
To answer your question, I did briefly demo the Atriums at Canjam and next to Elites, they were one of the HP's I really enjoyed. This is based on auditory memory but I found the Atrium to have more prominent mids, vocals especially seemed more intimate.
The treble to me did not sound as extended as the Elites and while there was really fantastic bass response, I did not get that nice sub bass extension that I like (hard to get this in dynamics which I why I like planars for music that has that). The Elites were also far more comfortable for me. If I had to sum them up in one word it would be "Organic". I believe the Elites are still superior with regards to detail retrieval and technicalities.
The Elites seem to focus on giving you the detail and technicalities but also making for an enjoyable music experience. The Atriums seem to focus on the enjoyable music experience first, all however its still no slouch in the technicalities department. Both are definitely colored compared to something like a Hifiman HE1000SE.
I think fans of the Elites and esp the OG Empy would like the Atriums IMO. Could make for a nice complement to the Elites esp if you listen to a lot of vocal/acoustic tracks.
TheMiddleSky
Headphoneus Supremus
You can say I'm an Elite fanboy (not a Meze fanboy though), and somehow hard for me to be able to enjoy Atrium. It's not bad or anything, but just can't "connect" to my preference. Vocal and mid-bass seems too forward. Separation and Detail also a bit blurry, and not as apparent as Elite, even though the soundstage presentation is nice. For Dynamic Driver actually I can enjoy ZMF Verite more.
Mind you that Atrium also much cheaper than Elite, so they don't need to compete together. I know 2 friends of mine who use Elite and also can enjoy Atrium, so back to subjective taste of course.
p,s: 99% songs in my playlist consist of Vocal
krude
1000+ Head-Fier
I learned to take all reviews with a large grain of salt. Elites in my system trade blows with the TC and outperform Utopia hands down when it comes to details.
I don't know how reviewers measure these things but Elite on a high end stack can be very analytical and sharp with details and clarity and also euphonic and magical on a different high end stack. It's a great versitile headphone. At this price point you could say it's a bargain
ckhirnigs113
Headphoneus Supremus
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I had a week at home with the Atrium and had that time to compare it to my Elite and OG Auteur. I found the Atrium to be a very enjoyable listen and a nice step up in technical ability versus my OG Auteur. The soundstage was larger and imaging was more precise than the Auteur. Bass was better as well, with more definition and texture.
When compared to the Elite, the Atrium wasn’t as detailed and the bass didn’t extend as deep. I also found the soundstage larger on the Elite. I love how ZMF headphones fit, but the Elite is the most comfortable high-end headphone I’ve ever put on my head.
Now that I’ve got the Angled Alcantara pads on my Elite, the technicalities have gone up another level all while maintaining the musical and enjoyable listening experience that won me over when I first got them and had the Hybrid pads installed.
All that being said, I have an Atrium Closed on order to serve as my closed-back complement to the Elite. I hope to enjoy them both side by side!
When compared to the Elite, the Atrium wasn’t as detailed and the bass didn’t extend as deep. I also found the soundstage larger on the Elite. I love how ZMF headphones fit, but the Elite is the most comfortable high-end headphone I’ve ever put on my head.
Now that I’ve got the Angled Alcantara pads on my Elite, the technicalities have gone up another level all while maintaining the musical and enjoyable listening experience that won me over when I first got them and had the Hybrid pads installed.
All that being said, I have an Atrium Closed on order to serve as my closed-back complement to the Elite. I hope to enjoy them both side by side!
FooFighter
Headphoneus Supremus
AC from my listening demo is rather intimate with a narrow stage but superb bass tonality.
Best closed back complement to Elite from ZMF is still VC imho but synergy is key, it likes Tubes best afaik.
I am currently pairing it with my N30LE in classic tube mode and enjoying it for bed time listening
Toonartist
Formerly known as dAndis67
I have the AC with my Elites and is used with tube amps.
The AC is noticeably narrower compared to the Elites (angled pads) but, the bass (sub bass) is really impressive and with the caldera suede (perf) pads, sounds very open indeed, especially with the Aegis amp.
I tend to use the Elites for classical, jazz or when I want a more referenced sound. If I want a more weighty presentation for EDM, Rock or, naturally, isolation I go with the AC. They provide a great foot tapping presentation.
The AC is noticeably narrower compared to the Elites (angled pads) but, the bass (sub bass) is really impressive and with the caldera suede (perf) pads, sounds very open indeed, especially with the Aegis amp.
I tend to use the Elites for classical, jazz or when I want a more referenced sound. If I want a more weighty presentation for EDM, Rock or, naturally, isolation I go with the AC. They provide a great foot tapping presentation.
Just as I find it odd the Elites have been overlooked and underappreciated in some critical circles, the Empy 2 seems to have received very enthusiastic praise from some of those same reviewers (even though the Elite is better in terms of technicalities by all accounts). Could it be a case of people overcorrecting for /trying to make up for their previous take on the Elite without admitting they got it wrong? This is pure conjecture but it does happen sometimes with reviewers I think...
MrHaelscheir
100+ Head-Fier
Maybe for some ears, the Elite's elevated upper bass and midrange and relaxed upper midrange incurs the impression of loss of clarity and hence a loss of the sense of "resolution". Biases from having in the past reviewed the Empyrean may have also come into play. Or indeed, compared to most headphones in that price range, the Empyrean and Elite opt to relax the "ear gain region" from 1 kHz to 4 kHz (the Empyrean relaxes that up to 6 kHz) that other headphones in their price range generally do not, giving an impression of "less detail" that I argue is easily remedied with EQ, that tonality perhaps also preventing the reviewer from appreciating the gains from its huge presentation (large driver and earpads) competitive with HiFiMan eggs. The out-of-box tonality may not be the best for certain genres, making classical music sound bloated and "dirty" (6 kHz elevation) in my case where clarity and vividness is much preferred, though pleasantly warm and "romantic" for some other genres like guitar and vocals, but I'd say reviewers then overlook the driver's objectively exceptional performance in the distortion realm, outclassing the HE1000se (post #4,789), for example, and measurements theoretically demonstrating its capacity for delivering a given tonality (through EQ) with superior cleanness (exquisitely low distortion and a reasonably clean CSD), mind the capacity of that minimum-phase EQ to improve the transient response.
I am otherwise quite skeptical of the folk conception of "headphone resolution" as being anything more than (a) treble peaks or elevated treble creating an impression of elevated detail, (b) a lack of treble peaks improving clarity and preventing small details from being masked, (c) the "more resolving" headphone measurably elevating a frequency band more compared to the "less resolving" headphone, which can be corrected with EQ unless the frequency relaxation is caused by a major phase cancellation or EQing up would cause audible harmonic distortion, (d) expectation bias from one's own or second-hand presumptions in conjunction with the specifics of how they volume-matched the headphones for comparison ("louder" even by 1 dB may be enough to perceive "more detail"), or confirmation bias without sufficient critical volume-matched cross-listening to confirm meaningful, explainable, or remediable (through EQ) differences, (e) a general frequency response smoothness, neutrality, or clear-sounding tonal balance that creates the impression of no frequency band masking out the other (midrange bloat else "dirty treble" incurring the sense of a "veil") and thus hindering the perception of "detail", and (f) the transient response being measurably incisive, which requires an accurate phase response measurement in addition to the magnitude response.
In that regard, I can't say I have heard any "more" detail or texture through my short time with the Sennheiser HE-1 and Stax SR-X9000 that couldn't be explained by a measurably more forward 6 kHz region and the frequency response being exceptionally smooth, which I could match if not top in smoothness and cleanness with minimum-phase EQ; I likewise do not hear substantial advantages between my HE1000se and the Arya Stealth I started out with a mere 10 months ago, and my measurements agree with this impression. Discounting psychological effects, sound is simply a superposition of sine waves of different frequencies, amplitudes/magnitudes, and phases, and we already know how to transparently manipulate these with EQ. As for ZMF's headphones, though I haven't heard them but may likely at least find them agreeable, I at least know objectively from measurements that they relax certain frequencies in places that the human ear would not relax from neutral speakers in a stereo triangle, and as such I could not call them truly "resolving" (presenting all frequencies at their appropriate levels) until corrected with EQ.
Now, what would be cool is if reviewers were to supplement standard test head measurements with in-ear microphones showing the actual tonality reaching their ears (using a neutral speaker as a reference) and how it compares with other reviewers, but yes, good blocked ear canal in-ear microphones aren't exactly a commodity (or as with https://www.earfish.eu/, it can take a month or so for them to get back to you).
That's why I don't take most reviewers too seriously. But your point is interesting. There was a lot of 'hate' towards OG Empy and Elite, while they seem to love the Atrium. The tuning philosophy is similar behind these headphones: fun, warmer, enjoyable versus dead neutral and super technical. So why they love one and hate the other? I can only think of personal taste which some reviewers try to 'sell' as objective truth.
I like the Atrium and see why people love it, but the Caldera is by far my favourite ZMF. If we compare the Elite and the Atrium, the Elite has bigger stage, better technicalities/resolution/details. The Atrium is thicker and fun and more coloured. To me the Caldera edges out the Elite, but I love them all. My preference would be: Caldera, Elite, Atrium.
We also can't forget that the Atrium is pretty much half the price of the Elite and has dynamic drivers. So they are not necessarily direct competitors.
searchingtom
100+ Head-Fier
The ultimate test: what do you keep (or buy a second time) and how often do you reach for it?
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Many hp:s that I tried did just this, Arya, Diana and ADX5k(great hp btw). But there are exceptions to this: CA-1a had more detail than my elites, or those abformentioned cans. It must be the speed of the ribbed element. Those did not have elevated highs, and are to this day the most detailed hp:s I have heard. Once there is a similar hp with better pads and the ability be driven with a regular amp, I will get that. For that reason I kept my Elites and sold those, tough if I listened more rock and heavy metal I might have kept CA-1A, strings were just something else.
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MrHaelscheir
100+ Head-Fier
I suppose it depends on which pads you used with the CA-1a per the frequency responses compared below:
That 5 kHz elevation relative to the midrange if also present with your own ears might be enough, but perhaps those ribbon drivers do indeed have incisive transients.
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