Overview

Meze Audio is a premium headphone manufacturer founded in 2011 by industrial designer Antonio Meze in Baia Mare, Romania. Operating under the motto “Sound. Comfort. Design. True High-End,” the company produces both open-back and closed-back headphones and IEMs using planar magnetic and dynamic drivers. Their product lineup spans from the flagship Elite (4,000 USD) to mid-range 99 Classics (309 USD) and entry-level Alba IEM (159 USD), covering a wide price range. The company is known for its beautiful walnut wood and metal construction aesthetics, along with a pursuit of comfort for extended listening sessions.

Scientific Validity

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While Meze Audio products show excellent measurement results in some areas, their overall scientific validity remains limited. The flagship Elite claims THD below 0.05% and frequency response of 3-112,000Hz in catalog specifications, but actual measurements fail to achieve transparency levels across all frequency ranges. In particular, distortion rises to approximately 2% in the low frequencies, with strong resonance confirmed around 300Hz and planar magnetic-specific hash visible in the 2.5-5kHz band. The mid-range 99 Classics exhibits maximum THD of 2% with approximately 0.4% distortion in the low frequencies, significantly below transparency levels. The 105 AER suffers from loose sound due to low-frequency distortion, with measurement issues affecting the audible range. All products commonly show deviations beyond ±3dB frequency response range, particularly with low-frequency emphasis and upper-range dips, indicating sound tuning that deviates from faithful source reproduction.

Technology Level

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The technical design standards exceed industry average. The Elite’s IsoPlaner Hybrid Array technology combines a large 102mm×73mm driver with a lightweight 0.11g diaphragm, achieving significant improvements over the previous Empyrean. The 75g lightweight driver design enhances comfort during extended use while increasing sound pressure levels through an active area of 4650mm². The 99 Classics’ 40mm mirror cone driver and 105 AER’s 50mm dynamic driver also feature appropriate design considerations, ensuring basic technical capabilities. The modular design allowing complete disassembly and repairability represents a rational approach for long-term use. However, technology investment contributing to measurement performance improvements, such as frequency response optimization and crosstalk performance enhancement, remains insufficient and has not reached industry-leading standards.

Cost-Performance

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The price-performance ratio is extremely low. Evaluation was conducted using weighted averages of the company’s representative products. The measurement performance equivalent to the Elite (4,000 USD) can be achieved with the HiFiMAN Edition XS (269 USD), resulting in 269 ÷ 4,000 = 0.07. The mid-range 99 Classics (309 USD) performance can be exceeded by the Beyerdynamic DT 990 Pro (179 USD), yielding 179 ÷ 309 = 0.58. For the 105 AER (399 USD), the Philips SHP9500 (75 USD) provides equivalent or superior openness and measurement performance, calculating to 75 ÷ 399 = 0.19. The Alba IEM (159 USD) is outperformed by the Moondrop Chu (20 USD) in frequency response characteristics, resulting in 20 ÷ 159 = 0.13. The weighted average considering main product sales weights is (0.07×0.4 + 0.58×0.3 + 0.19×0.2 + 0.13×0.1) = 0.24, rounded to 0.2 for evaluation. Across all products, equivalent functionality and measurement performance alternatives are available at significantly lower prices, with Meze Audio product pricing being 3-15 times higher than actual acoustic performance justifies.

Reliability & Support

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Product reliability and support structure maintain good standards. The modular design allows all parts to be disassembled and replaced, reflecting a design philosophy that accommodates long-term use. Structures considering daily use durability, such as spring steel headbands and magnetic detachable ear pads, have been adopted. Manufacturing at their own factory in Romania ensures thorough quality control, with serious failure reports remaining limited. Repair support through international sales networks is well-established, with appropriate service responses during warranty periods. However, as pure analog products without electronic circuits requiring firmware updates, long-term value enhancement through functional updates cannot be expected. Continuity of parts supply also faces challenges in ensuring long-term availability of specialized components.

Rationality of Design Philosophy

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The design approach is partially rational. Efforts toward modular design repairability and weight reduction represent rational directions contributing to practical improvements. Progress in IsoPlaner technology and diaphragm weight reduction in the Elite can be evaluated as technology development directly contributing to measurement performance improvements. However, acoustic tuning common across all products shows a tendency to prioritize “enjoyable sound” over faithful source reproduction, which is irrational from a scientific sound quality improvement perspective. Particularly, the pursuit of “warm sound” through low-frequency emphasis and upper-range adjustment hinders achievement of transparency levels in the measurement results standard table. Regarding pricing strategy, maintaining high prices when equivalent performance alternatives exist at lower costs deviates from rational value provision. While the design-focused approach has been commercially successful, its contribution to pure sound quality improvement remains limited.

Advice

Meze Audio products are recommended only for those who prioritize design and comfort over acoustic performance. For those seeking scientific sound quality improvement, alternatives from HiFiMAN, Beyerdynamic, Audio-Technica, and others showing superior measurement results in the same price range are strongly recommended. Particularly for those with Elite-class budgets (4,000 USD), equivalent measurement performance can be achieved with the HiFiMAN Edition XS (269 USD), and constructing a DAC or amplifier system with the remaining budget would provide far superior acoustic experience. In the mid-price range, the combination of Beyerdynamic DT 990 Pro (179 USD) and Schiit Modi/Magni stack instead of 99 Classics provides equivalent comfort and more accurate acoustic characteristics. While Meze Audio’s beautiful appearance and comfortable fit are certainly attractive, the price-performance ratio as audio equipment is remarkably poor. Before purchasing, be sure to conduct direct comparison listening with alternative products and carefully judge whether there is a sound quality difference commensurate with the price difference.

(2025.7.20)