Meze 99 Classics Walnut Silver Headphones (Silver & Black)

Product Information

When you pick them up for the first time, I bet you will be surprised at how little these headphones weigh.

You get what you pay for, and the Meze 99 Classics is a gorgeous pair of headphones with good sound to match.Inside you get a semi-stiffened contoured zipper case for carrying the headphones as well as a little NAD-inspired zipper round bag inside for holding your accessories between the headphones when on the go. The remaining three sides—top, bottom, back—are matte black in color and only the back panel is spot printed in gold, with a raised line drawing of the 99 Classics, that surrounds the print. The 99 Classics have, via the Cayin N6II, conjured a musicality and romanticism evocative of Cézanne’s Still Life or Frederic Leighton's Flaming June or Monet’s Water Lillies .

With the ov21, bass will sound more pronounced than it appears in the chart above due to a steep under-emphasis in the mids. inputs on the bottom of each ear cup are also accented in gold, which helps you locate them easily and you’ll be happy for them if you’re trying to do this in the dark.

They then state that in 2015 they designed and released the Meze 99 Classics, an over-the-ear flagship audiophile headphone , and that nowadays, ALL of their products are designed in-house. The rest of the midrange’s spectrum is quite flat and neutral, presenting a very universal representation of the sound. I like the foam used underneath as its memory quality holds shape around the ear very well and feels great over long listening sessions. I have seen lots of comments to that effect and these headphones are in need of some pad swapping, in my view.

Still, there is lots of depth and clarity, and that overtone of warmth really makes them great for rock and acoustic listening. Thus if you are into energetic upper mids and leaner lower mids (will sound perceptively cleaner but tonality might suffer. Many Barry White songs will sound like the instruments were pretty much an afterthought even though they’re quite important to the piece. And so it is here with the Meze 99 Classics and its kith and kin the Meze Empyrean Product of the Year 2020. But, like all other headphones, I wanted to hear them on my own gear and with my own tunes, before making any final conclusions.Positioning, layering, and separation are very good and will together provide many “you are there moments. However, everything in between should be followed closely as a starting point for your own EQ profile! Personally, I am not a huge fan of gold accenting on my gear so the silver looks excellent to me and I do like that slightly lighter tone of walnut that comes with the 99 Class silver.