Meze 99 Classics Walnut Gold Headphones (Gold & Black)

Product Information

Comfort still isn’t perfect, the drivers protrude a little, just contacting my outer ear though I didn’t find this to be an issue unless I wore the headphones for days on end. It is worth mentioning that all the wood that we use in our headphones is strictly harvested from sources with certificate of origin. Are we just hungry or do Meze Audio’s 99 Classics conjure up images of flatbread, falafel and baba ganoush, washed down with a chocolate-flaked ice cream cone? Lower end dig very deep, so you will have no difficulties hearing clearly sub bass line and it will be well separated from pumped up mid bass, this type of presentation make it as nicely enjoyable for cello centered classical music than synth bass plus digital kick in electronic, but here, better will be the mastering better will be the final result. The launch of the 99 Classics mark a breakthrough for Meze Audio, a decade-old Romanian headphones brand created by a guitar-loving founder with a desire to make a pair of headphones he could feel as passionately about as his Fender Stratocaster.

The 99 Neo’s also have pretty great detail retrieval even if their more natural, darker sound favours smoothness over aggressive detail and clarity. The Meze 99 Classics is primarily for music (and movie) lovers, in our quite subjective opinion, as it gets to the heart of the music, but with a transparency that nicely defines the venue whether intimate jazz club, symphony, arena rock concert, etc. AMPING power need is just non benificial with this 26ohm headphone, they are extremely easy to drive wich is a very welcome aspect and underline the fact that Meze make the Neo for portable use. In the bass light tracks they sound nice and good with good low end presence but when the bass heavy tracks starts playing the bass tends to gets muffled and bloated due to excessive mid bass compared to the sub bass. The box is a slip on package and after opening a big carry case is placed and inside that the headphone is present.We use cookies to personalise content and ads, to provide social media features and to analyse our traffic. I know that Meze create the 99 Neo for portable use, thinking about phone surely, but to give them full respect, I think they deserve better. The accessories are simple enough; there is, after all, not much you can do with a set of headphones. Though, as mentioned often across reviews and on the About Us and Modus Operandi tabs, AudioKey’s reviews cater to the music lover or those for whom music is transportive.

The Neo is more U shape even if far from mid centric, with perfectly clear source like X20 the soundstage feel more airy and instrument separation are more natural. And so it is here with the Meze 99 Classics and its kith and kin the Meze Empyrean Product of the Year 2020. Since this is only rated as 26ohms and having higher sensitivity it is very easy to drive via the smart phone.We are in a warm, musical, permissive world with the Meze, everything is quite balanced with the exception of bass kick. With a slightly darker tone, the 99 Neo’s aren’t the clearest sounding headphone though they don’t lack clarity per say. Despite the odd break for hot ears, I found no fatigue from clamping pressure or the self-adjusting headband's compression.

Speed in the low end is good for such a big driver, and distortion is almost negligible in this frequency; it remains composed even on challenging and complicated compositions. High notes were missing that last bit of air and openness that the P7’s provided though treble notes sounded less rolled off than both the PM3 and MM-400’s.The box is pretty big with the image of the headphone printed on the front with the specs mentioned on the back.

Up first, Giggs’ Whippin Excursion (Landlord, SN1 Records) check, unblown and on point beat for beat, no boom. BASS is there Alot, its muscular, weighty and very punchy with just the right hint of textured needed to have good grip in soundstage. Even bassy tracks like ‘’Evensong’’ from Bola sound perfect, as the bass is less emphased but sure still enough punchy.People who are prone to sensitive highs will definitely love this headphone since it’s relaxed and smooth. If there any colouration in treble, it will be to push some micro details just a hing fowards, wich will help with instrument separation. Here, its a dynamic approach, energic and well layered sound with a fast tigh presentation that help 99 Neo being even more agile and have extra tigh bass. There is, however, slight evidence of the wood lacquer being worn on the bottom edge of the ear cups by the end of our time testing them – something you should perhaps expect to happen over time if they’re constantly placed on a desk. However, it is always fun due to its powerful punch and it can also present finer passages without too much exuberance.