£3,749, mezeaudio.com
It’s not typically {that a} pair of headphones comes alongside costing greater than your first automobile. However within the rarefied world of high-end planar fashions, extortionate costs are commonplace. In truth the £3,749 that Meze Audio asks for its new, flagship Elites is one thing of a candy spot for different producers together with Audeze, Focal, HiFiMan and Ultimate Audio. As you would possibly count on, these usually are not your run-of-the-mill headphones. They’re a critical funding for anybody who values cutting-edge constancy — and has an enormous funds. So what does this almost-£4,000 actually get you?
Meze Audio’s Elites are hand-built with top-class parts. The body is customary both from aluminium or tungsten (each on the similar worth), the scarf is leather-based and the cups are joined by a versatile strip that distributes their weight evenly whereas offering a cosy but remarkably snug match. Two units of leather-based ear pads are supplied, one barely thinner to decrease bass stress a average quantity if that’s extra to your style. The cups additionally slide up or down a bit to regulate to your head however the mechanism is agency sufficient that when in place they received’t transfer round by themselves. Their weight is simply 420g, regardless of feeling comparatively massive.
There’s no wi-fi tech right here — these are a wired-only mannequin. Every cup has a proprietary mini XLR socket to which you join the high-quality braided cable. 5 terminator sorts can be found; 4-pin XLR, 6.3mm, 4.4mm, 3.5mm and a couple of.5mm, and also you order the one you need on buying, or additional ones individually. An XLR cable can be appropriate for a mixing desk or a higher-end headphone amplifier unit, whereas the extra frequent 6.3mm and three.5mm cables will hook up with a a lot wider vary of substances like hi-fi separates, iOS gadgets and computer systems. The mini XLRs on the cup finish match very comfortably and have catches to disconnect them.
Given the dearth of bells and whistles, you received’t be stunned to be taught that Meze Audio has directed all its efforts into simply two issues. The construct — which, as we’ve already famous, is superlative — and the sound. Whereas most headphones use a dynamic design, these are planar magnetic headphones; a system employed extra typically in higher-end fashions reminiscent of these. They use a skinny, flat diaphragm with a magnet suspended subsequent to it and an electromagnetic sign working by way of wires turns the diaphragm on and off. Planar magnetic drivers are usually extra delicate and exact than dynamic fashions but in addition bigger and typically require extra juice to drive them, although fortunately, that isn’t the case right here with a comparatively low 32 Ohms resistance.
Meze has collaborated with acoustic specialists Rinaro Isodynamics in growing the brand new Elite Isodynamic Array used within the headphones. You may learn in-depth about how this works on the web site however at its coronary heart is a twin driver system the place a coil within the higher space emphasises low-frequency sounds and a smaller coil decrease down focuses on mid and excessive ranges. This apparently eliminates small time delays when sound enters the ear canals. There’s much more element concerning the science behind the system however, truthfully, you don’t actually have to know it to benefit from the sound it produces.
And revel in it you’ll, as a result of the Elites sound phenomenal. The open-backed circumaural design means they envelop your ears however don’t field in any bass; as a substitute they launch a good quantity of sound within the type of leakage however that’s true of any open-backed mannequin. The frequency response is a jaw-dropping 3 Hz to 112 kHz, making them able to reproducing a far wider vary of sounds than most cans with their normal 20 Hz to twenty kHz vary. Whereas higher numbers don’t all the time imply higher efficiency, with the Elites it’s unarguably true that they do.
The soundstage is beautiful, with flawless separation and stereo placement throughout a variety of genres. In sonic phrases they’re extraordinarily properly balanced, providing candy, detailed and wealthy copy in each frequency vary. One factor they do, which is a characteristic of high-end open-backed fashions, is reveal the massive variation in loudness and mixing remedies between totally different tracks and albums. Music that has been mastered to a decrease stage, or blended extra to the centre than utilizing panned parts, may be very noticeable on the Elites when listened to subsequent to punchier or extra dynamic mixes. That is after all a great factor, because it’s revealing what the mixes actually sound like fairly than artificially creating extra bass and thus making tracks all sound extra alike. There are many less expensive cans round if that’s what you’re after.
Whereas the Elites carry out to the very best normal with all genres, it’s enjoyable to revisit significantly detailed or dynamic tracks as a result of these headphones reveal nuances that you’ve got in all probability by no means heard earlier than. A few of our favourites, in no explicit order embody John Martyn’s Strong Air, Spiritualized’s Let It Circulation, or most something by Sigur Rós. Electronica is simply as rewarding, with Large Assault’s Mezzanine sounding much more dense, lush and layered than ordinary. At this stage of engineering it’s all the time preferable to make use of a top quality supply to take care of the absolute best constancy all the way in which from a turntable and converters for instance to the headphones, although even simply taking part in a music library from a Mac the expertise was nonetheless an actual eye-opener.
These are actually spectacular headphones that you might simply combine and grasp on, assured within the information that you simply’re listening to a real illustration of your music. For audiophiles, the listening expertise is spectacular with any model of music. Value goes to be a problem and sure place them out of attain of many individuals, even some who’re working professionally in music manufacturing. You might be paying a premium for positive but it surely does elevate issues to a stage that can make you discover actual pleasure in listening in a method that, after experiencing the Elites, makes different headphones appear fairly boring.
Key options
- Open-backed, circumaural design
- Magnetic planar system
- Rinaro Isodynamic Hybrid Array drivers
- Mini XLR plugs with a number of connector choices
- 3 Hz – 112 kHz frequency vary
- Customized and constructed
- Max SPL: >130dB
- Impedance: 32 Ohms
- Aluminium and tungsten body choices
- Weight: 420g
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