Meze Liric Review (Closed Back Headphone)

[Firefly00]

I love my liric.
It's the best closed over-ear I've ever heard.
It sounds incredibly dynamic, rich in detail, and at the same time relaxed.
The imaging can actually be described as 3D. This is unique. The comfort is divine.
The build quality as well.
2000 € are extremely failr!


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My settings
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nice! I love Meze’s build quality. Also, they’re easy to drive unlike some other good closed backs

 

[Bow_Wazoo]

A concerted effort to review the item

Meze Audio Liric review

A planar magnetic headphone for portable use? Count us in

www.whathifi.com

Soundwise the summary is 'As good as the Liric are, we’re not fully convinced by their dynamic ability. The subtleties are handled well but there’s a notable lack of punch, particularly at low frequencies.'

And this is what someone writes, who says the Stellia has a strong bass and punch.
I see that quite differently.
The bass is by far the Stellia's biggest weakness, as it is super soft, and devoid of energy
(you might think you have a DCA on your head).
I think the bass of the Liric is much better.

 

[Snoopy]

I love my liric.
It's the best closed over-ear I've ever heard.
It sounds incredibly dynamic, rich in detail, and at the same time relaxed.
The imaging can actually be described as 3D. This is unique. The comfort is divine.
The build quality as well.
2000 € are extremely failr!


View attachment 175337

My settings
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Didn't you go from the Focal Elegia that where pretty close to more expensive focal headphones, to Audeze in-ears and now to the liric?

 

[jhaider]

There is a solid difference though: Stealth doesn't need EQ so you can use it with wide range of apps. I especially like that when I listen to Youtube in the browser which has no EQ capability.

That’s a strong argument for putting EQ in the correct place in the signal chain - i.e. just before conversion to analog - rather than misplacing it in a single source and degrading the rest of one's listening experience.

 

[Bow_Wazoo]

Didn't you go from the Focal Elegia that where pretty close to more expensive focal headphones, to Audeze in-ears and now to the liric?

That's the story of my life:
Buying, and selling headphones

 

[Bow_Wazoo]

'Punch' is in the exact area where the response is lacking (150Hz area) so that conclusion is not that weird.

see my 'tonal character chart' below.

In contrast to Crin, Resolve's measurement shows no lack around 150hz either.

 

[solderdude]

It looks like you are ignoring the 5dB suckout between 200Hz and 300Hz ?
This is also shown in Amirs plot.

For $2k one would at least expect a palpable SQ. After all looks and comfort are not the only important aspects.
It is true though that there are but very few headphones that do not need EQ to sound decent this makes this designers headphone more than just usable. EQ can make just about any headphone sound good.

 

[amirm]

In contrast to Crin, Resolve's measurement shows no lack around 150hz either.

These graphs are misleading to compare as the reference "0 dB" is not the same. Mine uses 425 Hz. Looks like that one does too. But Crin's was 700 Hz. This reference point is arbitrary and doesn't change the measurement but a human looking at them, can wind up with different conclusions.

 

[Bow_Wazoo]

For $2k one would at least expect a palpable SQ. After all looks and comfort are not the only important aspects.
It is true though that there are but very few headphones that do not need EQ to sound decent this makes this designers headphone more than just usable. EQ can make just about any headphone sound good.

Just a marginal question: have you ever heard the Liric yourself, or are you actually allowing yourself to judge based on what you have read through these headphones ?!

In my opinion, the intervention with an EQ is not absolutely necessary with the Liric.

 

[solderdude]

No haven't heard it. It has a price tag above what I am willing to spend (but can afford).
It is also very possible some/many will like the sound signature as is.
I mean there are lots of people listening to not EQ'ed headphones and totally enjoying it. The Liric is no exception. There are quite a few headphones that do not necessarily need EQ to sound pleasant.
These can be found in all price classes.
It is a nice looking/built but expensive 'luxury oozing' headphone.
I would enjoy it if I were you and not care about what others have to say about it.

My 'impression' of the Liric is based on multiple FR measurements of headphones and the relevance of measurements to sound which has a high correlation. Let's just say this is one of those headphones with a luxury price tag that one has to listen to (and wear for a while) before buying it.

 

[Bow_Wazoo]

FR measurements can be deceptive.
The bass, for example, as I perceive it, hardly matches the measurements.

 

[Bow_Wazoo]

It looks like you are ignoring the 5dB suckout between 200Hz and 300Hz ?
This is also shown in Amirs plot.

For $2k one would at least expect a palpable SQ. After all looks and comfort are not the only important aspects.
It is true though that there are but very few headphones that do not need EQ to sound decent this makes this designers headphone more than just usable. EQ can make just about any headphone sound good.

Wouldn't this picture be more appropriate?
I can't see anything of the "punch hole"

 

[solderdude]

Amir already explained this.
I will make it more graphic for you.
Same plot, less Harman boost and not referenced at 400Hz. Can you see it now ?

 

[frix]

So those are two different ways of looking at the same measurement. One looks like a dip @300hz. The other like a boost @100hz and @1khz. So what is the right conclusion? Does it sound sucked out or boosted?

 

[Bow_Wazoo]

No i don't understand.
But it works well to take the juice out at 100hz and add it at 150-200hz

 

[solderdude]

So those are two different ways of looking at the same measurement. One looks like a dip @300hz. The other like a boost @100hz and @1khz. So what is the right conclusion? Does it sound sucked out or boosted?

It sounds bassy and clear (boosted bass and boosted midrange) and treble is subdued so reduced clarity (2-4kHz region) which some find is a 'relaxed/smooth sound'.
Others may rather perceive it as lacking in clarity and fullness of the mids.

So both are right.

Then we have seal issues that can affect the perceived tonal balance as well (not tested so cannot predict).
Many people do love boosted bass and a suckout in the 100-300Hz region makes the bass sound 'well separated' as in not 'bloomy or boomy'.
Many people love forward mids that 'pop out' and sound dynamic (a peak in the 800Hz-1.5kHz range) like Grado's and some AKG's.
Most younger people prefer lowered (but not missing) upper mids/treble as this makes the sound 'lush'. As long as there aren't peaks in the 5-10kHz range this works well. A broad 'plateau' in that area not peaking above 300Hz-3kHz range can make the treble sound present yet smooth.

So what can be suck-outs to sound engineers or people that prefer 'flat' can be a blessing and preferred tonality to those that look for said tonality and rather have that than 'sterile' or 'cold/lifeless/flat' sound.

 

[sbsj]

You are... Read a bit about how the curve came up.
A good place to start:

Harman Target Curve Explained - Audiosolace

The Harman curve is one of the gold standards in industry frequency responses for headphones. This allows a buyer appreciate a device's frequency response

audiosolace.com

And one of the first paper:

https://seanolive.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-relationship-between-perception-and.html.

Peace

Thanks for the informative link. I am no expert , just an ordinary person who enjoys music. Many thoughts going through my mind.
- I am asking myself, shouldn't the aim be a neutral headphone ? Just like we aim for a neutral amp or dac that would present to you the music as it was recorded, unaltered. If there is that much subbasss, bass, midrange, treble in a recording , it should be what comes out of the headphone or close to it.
- The Harman curve is not flat. Am i right to say that a headphone following that curve is not presenting the music the way it was recorded? Or is my newbie understanding of a neutral dac / amp / headphone wrong ?
- Or is it because the human ear / brain is not built "neutral" and thus certain frequencies of a headphone need to be boosted (Harman curve) to sound pleasing ? But then i tell myself, i thought the recording engineer is reponsilble for making sure the recorded music sounds good. Using his ears, he would have already made all the adjustments needed during recording.
- My apologies if what i have written do not make sense.

 

[frix]

If you measure sound from a flat sounding speaker it won't be flat once it reaches your eardrums. The outer ear changes/amplifies certain frequencies. So headphones lack this outer ear interaction to some degree and need to compensate for it.

 

[solderdude]

- I am asking myself, shouldn't the aim be a neutral headphone ? Just like we aim for a neutral amp or dac that would present to you the music as it was recorded, unaltered.

Not everyone prefers 'neutral' as in the incoming sound at ear drum level recorded and processed/mixed at 80-85dB SPL with perfect hearing/acoustics/transducers that should be reproduced at the exact same level for all frequencies.

Consider that even when the best and flattest loudspeaker in an non-echoic room would play perfectly flat (which none do) would register perfectly flat at a certain distance (say 1m) is placed in any room and at various distances and positions of the speaker it would not measure anything remotely close to the electrical signal it was fed.
So... no transducer will ever accurately reproduce what was recorded. It is amazing that our hearing accepts the incredibly changed signal it receives as 'real' when using good transducers in a living room anyway.

- since the Harman curve is not flat, am i right to say that a headphone following the Harman curve is not presenting the music as transparently ? Or is my newbie understanding of a neutral dac / amp / headphone wrong ?

I made this tile that says it all.

- was there ever a headphone whose target was a flat line ?

No, and there will never be one either, but some come quite close but won't sound exactly the same, nor universally preferred, because of various conditions around the usage of headphones.

 

[staticV3]

The Audeze LCD-4 comes pretty darn close to a flat (not perceived flat) response on a GRAS system:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1362282888947920897