Meze Audio 105 AER Headphone Review

[ObjectiveSubjectivist]

I'm used to philips headphones when back in the day had 32ohms impedance.
To me it was a standard.
Everything below I consider low and Everything above I consider high.

 

[Robbo99999]

Oh, that is a flaw in the metrics then. I was guessing this was the case as none of the files used in the research have deep bass. That confirms it.

It's not that though is it, your EQ is fairly significantly out between 100-1000Hz:

Or if you were to align the target on your EQ result so that the circled area matched the target, then parts of the treble would be below target (as well as the subbass). So it deviates quite a lot from a pure Harman EQ, but that's not a mandatory offence!

 

[GD Fan]

It looks like that headgear people with braces on their teeth wore back in the '80s.

 

[amirm]

Or if you were to align the target on your EQ result so that the circled area matched the target, then parts of the treble would be below target (as well as the subbass). So it deviates quite a lot from a pure Harman EQ, but that's not a mandatory offence!

I have learned to allow some variation there. It is impossible to know what is a perfect response there.

 

[phoenixdogfan]

As always the deal breaker on this set isn't the FR curve, but rather the distortion. Most of the FR issues can be fixed with EQ, and the set seems like it would be fairly comfortable and relatively easy to drive. Price is not exorbitant either. Probably will sound reasonably good, especially if you don't ever want to crank them. I kind of believe the bass distortion will for the most part be masked as well, but I really don't like those two resonances in the midrange.

Ultimately, however, there are better choices. I, for one, think Aune AR 5000 , or the Sennheiser HD 650's are both preferable for roughly the same money. And the $150 Highwayman HE 400 SE also looks to be a much more of a value pick. How ironic that their entry level phone is also their best headphone, but there it is, and it measures better than the Meze.

Thank you for the fine review, Amir.

 

[phoenixdogfan]

It looks like that headgear people with braces on their teeth wore back in the '80s.

Or maybe something they put on Hannibal Lechter when they took him out for a walk.

 

[Nabooh]

Personally, I had the 105 Aer... And I sent it back ( as for the 109 Pro ). I also had the Meze 99 Classics ( second revision, bass cannon ) which I also sent back because of the catastrophic tone and the much too loud basses. I actually would like to try the third revision of the 99 which seems to fix a lot of muddyness in the bass region, by lowering it quite a bit.

Meze is so close to having near-perfect headphones. Comfort is excellent, ergonomics are excellent, power supply is excellent (low impedance).

But as my intuition led me to believe, and the review confirms, the sound of their headphones is “meh”, or at least it doesn't justify the price of their products. And the issue is, whether with the 105, 99, or 109, that the EQ hardly solves the problem because of distortion.

I hesitated for a long time between my HD650 and the 105 Aer because I really love the ergonomics of the Meze, but in comparison, with and without EQ, from a purely Hifi and sound quality point of view, there's no contest, the HD650 ( and HD6XX and HD600 ) are much better.

 

[Robbo99999]

I have learned to allow some variation there. It is impossible to know what is a perfect response there.

Well, it should be pretty predictable in the middle area between 100Hz to 3000Hz though so your EQ doesn't follow Harman in that relationship over that frequency range (that red circled zone). That should be pretty stable for people if you like Harman. I mean it doesn't matter, you eyeballed it so it's not exact and the filters you devised improved your experience of the headphone - so it's still valid to say that the headphone can be improved with EQ so I can understand you giving it an OK rating. (Indeed I wouldn't expect it to be rated higher than that because of the distortion).

 

[TNT]

offensive, I can't be too harsh on the it anyway.

... one can sense how you struggled with the sentence...

//

 

[DanTheMan]

Personally, I had the 105 Aer... And I sent it back ( as for the 109 Pro ). I also had the Meze 99 Classics ( second revision, bass cannon ) which I also sent back because of the catastrophic tone and the much too loud basses. I actually would like to try the third revision of the 99 which seems to fix a lot of muddyness in the bass region, by lowering it quite a bit.

Meze is so close to having near-perfect headphones. Comfort is excellent, ergonomics are excellent, power supply is excellent (low impedance).

But as my intuition led me to believe, and the review confirms, the sound of their headphones is “meh”, or at least it doesn't justify the price of their products. And the issue is, whether with the 105, 99, or 109, that the EQ hardly solves the problem because of distortion.

I hesitated for a long time between my HD650 and the 105 Aer because I really love the ergonomics of the Meze, but in comparison, with and without EQ, from a purely Hifi and sound quality point of view, there's no contest, the HD650 ( and HD6XX and HD600 ) are much better.

You can put Brainwavs pads on the 99 and get them to be very listenable. They still are not sublime like the 650, but the isolation is much better, they have deeper bass and they can be driven by a dongle to blistering levels.

Massdrop x Meze 99 Noir Review (Headphone)

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Massdrop x Meze 99 Noir closed back headphone. It is on kind loan from a member and costs US $200. I understand it is identical to Meze 99 Classic which the company sells for a lot more money. The 99 Noir has a quirky look that is unique and...

www.audiosciencereview.com

If you "need" a closed back

 

[Nabooh]

You can put Brainwavs pads on the 99 and get them to be very listenable. They still are not sublime like the 650, but the isolation is much better, they have deeper bass and they can be driven by a dongle to blistering levels.

Massdrop x Meze 99 Noir Review (Headphone)

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Massdrop x Meze 99 Noir closed back headphone. It is on kind loan from a member and costs US $200. I understand it is identical to Meze 99 Classic which the company sells for a lot more money. The 99 Noir has a quirky look that is unique and...

www.audiosciencereview.com

If you "need" a closed back

If you look more in depth about the rev2 vs rev3 of the Meze 99:

https://www.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/1155m8u/did_the_meze_99_classics_have_a_silent_update

You can see there is a lot more work for changing the sound, especially with reducing/closing the "bass port", allowing the frequency response to reach an almost Harman like response in the bass.

I believe pads can modify the sound to a certain degree, depending on the breathability of the material used, and the depth of the pads, but I don't think any pads are able to fix the "wonkyness" of the Meze 99 rev2. And believe me, I tried a lot of it, my GF currently has a 99 Classics with the Yaxi pads which are supposed to be very good, but it still sound really bad to me.

I would like to try to close the bass port of the cups, it would probably help fix the tuning way better than just pad swapping...

 

[lewdish]

I dont think its necessarily bad, but certainly better than their past offerings. I think its decent still and comparable to many other open backs