Meze Audio Liric REVIEW
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- Опубликовано: 5 авг 2024
- What's it take to get to the top? Will two thousand bucks do it? I've spent a month with the Meze Liric, comparing with some other high-end closed back headphones to find out.
00:00 Intro & Pricing
02:50 What's in the box
04:40 Meze upgrade cable
07:05 Build quality
09:40 Fit & comfort
11:25 Power requirements
12:55 Sound signature
15:05 Sound: What I like
17:05 Sound: What I don't
19:30 vs. Celestee, Noire, & 99 Classics
31:15 Conclusion & rating
Check out the Meze Liric on their website: bit.ly/39jEYK5
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Disclosure: This video is NOT sponsored, but Meze did send these headphones to me free for review. Check them out at bit.ly/39jEYK5
Music by Birocratic. Check him out on Soundcloud: / birocratic
#MezeAudio #MezeLiric #SuperReview
Audience Q&A goes here 👉 ruclips.net/video/0MMb9iLLpFw/видео.html
Was juuust about to ping you. 😁
Thanks for the review Mark!
Cheers Ye , thanks for watching ✌️
What I like about Meze is that - most of their headphones are built with portability in mind.
Hence, they are incredibly efficient and can be run via your phone as well.
Definitely.
Another quality review! The Lyric really is a looker.
Great review!
Thanks 🤙
Nice video buddy - what is the best blue tooth audiphile closed back headphone in the market? Much appreciated
Haven't used any Bluetooth headphones that I've liked even a little. There's one coming out in October-ish time that looks interesting.
@@SuperReview I have great things about Mark Levinson 5909
Are the Aeon Noires hard to drive like the Aeon 2? I got the Aeon 2 mainly for travel and was disappointed to find they need a more power then they claim to sound right. I think the Headphone show review covered this as well. From what I understand it is a common issue with some of Dan Clark's headphones, which is odd because they are supposed to be designed for travel/on the move use.
Of the four I tested here, the Noires do have the highest power requirements. For my listening levels, I ran them fine on my laptop, but I didn't test sources extensively with them.
They're planar bro...and planar always need power
@@DJ_BROBOT I have other Planars that perform fine without tons of power, even on daps
Just wondering with the 99 classics, what pads did you swap it with?
Brainwavz oval micro suedes: www.brainwavzaudio.com/collections/oval-memory-foam-earpds/products/headphone-memory-foam-earpads-oval-micro-suede
I've tried a ton of different pads, that's the best on the 99C.
Love the focal Celeste
Just got my first headphones recently, the Focal Elegia. I've only been using IEMs until now
What're your thoughts on the differences?
@@SuperReview It's definitely a "bigger"/more immersive sound from the big drivers being used instead of something smaller in my ear (the Blessing 2, S12, and IER-M9 are the IEMs I rotate between). Comfort wise, I have no problems with headphones or IEMs. I haven't listened enough to compare the technicalities of Elegia to my IEMs yet. The sound is mid-focused though which I like.
The Elegia was designed to be a closed-back Focal Clear which sounded intriguing since I needed a closed back and the Clear is highly regarded. I really wanted an open back but I just wouldn't be able to use it where I live. A downside is that the headphones are quite large so I would not travel with them. I've seen people say that they need a little EQing or a pad swap, but I quite like the sound stock. However, AutoEQ can "fix" certain parts of the tuning with a couple clicks. One important thing I was looking for is easy drivability as I didn't want to spend more on an amp, so Elegia checks all my boxes. Overall, IEMs will still be my choice though because of their ease of use and portability.
For $2K I'd need to be blown away Mark. There are so many great IEM's for sub $800. The reviews of the Liric just seem to prove to me, that there are far cheaper IEM's that can do a much better job of presenting music and its details for a hell of a lot less. I appreciate the music isn't presented in exactly the same way via IEM's, but that doesn't mean they're not as enjoyable though.
Well balanced review and good comparisons. I heard all of the mentioned heasphones and I can completly relate to your impressions
Given you've heard them all for yourself, how would you rank them? What are each's relative strengths? Cheers!
Oh, so y'all got headphones now I see. Meze has the right idea imo, build something you want to keep wearing long enough to stumble onto the music that suits it. The Noire is great, ironically named though, but it's a hard headphone to recommend to people that want a sense of punch/kick, dynamic contrast, uncompressed sonics, whatever tf you want to call it. Hard to drive too, also ironic given its portable design. But the Noire definitely makes for some smooth listening once you get the sources figured out.
I haven't heard the Celestee but I've owned the Elegia, the Stellia, and now own the Radiance (for the bling). Focal is probably the choice for the detail-oriented folks, the upper-mid emphasis gives you a lot of texture in voices at the cost of a drier sound. The radiance doesn't have the wonky tonality of the Elegia, assuming Focal corrected that with the Celestee as well but I would still recommend swapping to Dekoni pads. While Focal's leather is pretty immaculate they just don't put enough actual material in the pads. You can address a bit of their narrowness and balance out the mid-upper treble as well with some pad swaps. The pads aren't cheap though so maybe consider buying used Focals especially since they're built like tanks.
Meze is a good time, I strongly considered the Liric but figured I'd rather have an Empyrean. I think the Liric was also tuned with Romania vocalists/genres in mind thus the honk factor. If anything I appreciate Meze tried something different with a closed-back design.
In your experience, did the dekoni pads fix the wonky tonality of elegia? If so what material?
@@akarinch Nothing is gonna fix the wonk of the Elegia but.. the Dekoni Hybrid pads did (imo) even out the leanness of the low end. It didn't make it warm by any stretch, but it gave a more body in the sub and midbass region. I have a Mojo 2 now and it'd of interesting to fiddle with the Elegia with the Mojo's EQ but I moved on from it before I got the chance. The stock pads on the Elegia are the worst I've encountered from Focal, I think really chonky suede pads, even if you need to glue them, would be the ticket to calm down the Elegia. Maybe the Xenon pads for the new t50/60 Argons.
How does the meze balanced cable affect the sound? Thanks
It does not.
Love the strict rating system.
2000$? Wow, thats some asking price. I am curious how they compete against the Sennheiser HD820 and Sony MDR-Z1R, especially the latter.
I hope there will be some Demo Unit around here
You know I wasn't too interested in hearing the HD820 given its reputation, but having spent more time with closed backs for myself, I am more interested.
@@SuperReview I finally went to a store and tested the Meze Liric but i was very disappointed. At least with the Music i have, its not able to listen to it with this Headphone. I started with the very first Song i always use which is "Let it die" from ReoNa and i already noticed in the very beginning that the cymbals sounded strange, but the second she starts singing, its just very painful. Every "S" she sings, feels like a razor in my ear.
I tested other Meze and the Elite had the exact same issue however, the Empyrean did not have this issue. The opposite, they sounded very very good.
It is 1000€ more expensive here in germany (3000 vs 2000) but other than that, it was better in every single aspect.
But, however, the MDR-Z1R did sound better. Especially in terms of Soundstage and authenticity i liked the MDR-Z1R much more.
The Empyrean sounded faster and more detailed so technically better than the Z1R, but it also sounded much more like an recording and less live.
With Studio Recordings, thats okay for me, especially with modern music. But as soon i played something more acoustic like solo guitars or some Jazz stuff, it just started to sound off/wrong.
The HD820 kinda sits in the middle between the Z1R and the Empyrean. They have a much bigger Soundstage and sound more authentic than the Empyrean, but still over than very detailed and analytic sound.
So i'd personally say, the MDR-Z1R and HD820 both sounds better than the Empyrean. Not technically and not in measurements, but in terms of "Does my Music sound good" which is highly subjective and depends on the music collection.
So the Meze Empyrean is rather different than better/worse, but the Meze Liric, for me, absolutely no. If i play a song and feel actual pain, its a no go for me.
After the song finished, i heard that ringing in my ears, like this short-term tinnitus.
I know, the Song "Let it Die" from ReoNa is very intense in terms of 'S' and harsh sounds, but if i buy something for more than 250, i has to sound good with every single track i have.
All Earphone (Final E5000, Acoustune HS1300, Sony XBA-Z5, Sony IER-M9, Sony IER-Z1R) and Headphone (HD820, Z1R) i own and/or owned, could play this song without any pain.
Also the Meze Empyrean (or the LCD-2C or the LCD-X or the Final D8000 which i also tested) could play this song just fine.
So im blaming the Liric and not the Song.
@@Vamp898 Interesting. -
Sounds like something in the high end of the lyric isn't getting along well with your ears. That is exactly what explains the completely different impressions of whichever headphones and what many do not want to understand. Add to that personal preferences in terms of sound signature and personal musical material and it's as subjective as it gets. Finally, the age, which in particular affects height perception and the personal form of the day. Far too many factors to be able to bring it even halfway into a justifiable objective basis.
Back to the Lyric, I couldn't notice any sharpness in the highs that bothered me. It's lively / with flavor, yes, but I like that. Empyrean is great too, but sometimes sounds a bit veiled / muted in the highs and too thick around the bottom end with not enough definition, at least for 3000 EUR. Not a problem of the lyric with its more sub bass focused tuning.
HD820 and Z1r were not my cup of tea at all. Strange tunings (especially HD820), bloated bass (ZR1) and not clean enough.
These are great, and are probably the best fitting headphones, but wait until you hear the 109s 🤩
Very interested in the 109s.
for 2k like you said besides a great build it should deliver "wow" factor in sound
Subjective. Trust Your Ears. In other words, give them a personal listen, opinions vary human to human. They did it for me, I wish I had the money to own these as well as my beloved Empyrean, but alas, c'est la vie. Enjoy the Music =)
I also find the Lyric to be a nice addition to the Empyrean acoustically. The warm and lush tone of the Empyrean meets a Lyric tuning more in line with the Elite, although not at the same level of detail. But that's not always a bad thing, depending on the source and music. Noise insulation is really good and with a low and comfortable profile it works well as a portable headphone. Right now I'm conflicted on which one to keep similar to you. Not an easy choice, both sound excellent, are comfortable, and have excellent workmanship. Due to the closed nature, the lyric is more versatile at the end though.I was able to buy the Lyric for 1200 EUR like new, so I'm currently more inclined to keep the lyric.
I feel Meze is like Kinera aka style over substance.
Have the Meze Rai Solo and it's not that great, pretty odd v-shape tuning with a midrange peak with very poor treble extension
I reckon 2 grand can get you far more than what the lyric offers. (I'm think the HD800s or the Focal.)
Open back, definitely. Closed back, still not sure.
@@SuperReview Its own set of pros that no openback can replace, if that falls under your priorities. They fit mine perfectly, I'm just short about 2 grand.
Focal Celestee can be had for $500 or Focal Radiance for $750 would be my go to choices for closed backs.. perhaps a DC Noire...
Focal is marmite, it’s amazingly fast and slam hard, great for EDM if you can overcome timbre. For me this is more comparable to Stellia than Celeste or Radiance.
I haven’t tried Noire but familiar with DC house sound as I own Ether C. Great headphones and amazing folding mechanism for on the go but they could be little flat whereas Liric with right power is amazingly fun. I pair them with Mojo2 and synergy is divine. They do scale really well, with something like TT2 they will just get even better.
nice prices you got there if I could find celestee for 500 thats a buy even if Idont need it lol
@@soulfulfool I strongly suspect that he is talking about a used or returned item. Nothing wrong with that, indeed I'm always looking for those (audio) items because you save a ton of cash and If the worst comes to the worst, you can sell it again with almost no loss.I can't imagine these prices being for new items.
AT's WP900 at $600 betters the Liric imo and the AWAS at $1.3K just runs circles around the Liric.
Haven't heard that one or much about it. What's it strongest at?
Sony MDR 1r is the best closed back headphones.
You've heard them all?
@@SuperReview I’ve heard most, but not all. It’s always super subjective but the Sony MDR 1r doesn’t even sound as a close back due to their wide sound stage. I have the Meze Elites and Sony MDR’s and the MDR’s sound like the closed back version of the Elites. The Meze Elites are AMAZING btw!
Thank you for your review. I have the same impression. The Liric is really overpriced in Price/Performance ratio. It's a shame because the comfort is perfect for me. If you compare the Meze liric with the Focal Stellia the difference is night and day and you can get in Europe the Stellia brandnew for 2000€ as sale price. The Stellia is technically much better and has a better punch and deep bass, clarity..... I think soundwise 500-700€ would be ok and with the build quality/comfort max 1000€.
King of closed is a bit like king of industrial burgers. It's uh, yeah.
There are some pretty good burgers.
Verite closed are quite wonderful.
$2K American Dollars……nope.
And they're not even the most expensive closed backs out there.