Not a shoot-out, but a comparison of two very different headphones at near the same price. apos.audio/collections/brand-... apos.audio/collections/brand-... teespring.com/stores/the-head...
Thank you for this, as a youngster just starting to research the nuances of audiophile tech this was very informative. Specifically, this was a great contrasting comparison of highs, mids/neutrals, and lows focused phones. I've only really had experience with more neutral closed back headphones and I want to get both the Meze 99, because I do like punchy and deep bass, and on the other hand try something open-backed like the Sendara or the Monolith M1060 for a planar magnetic headphone that gives that surreal feeling to the piano/organ/horns that I like. Trying out opposites seems like a great way to find my own preference in a headphone so thanks again for this information.
Exactly what I was thinking. And I also had both on my radar and I think after ordering the Sandara today I will keep an eye on the 99" . That thing is so cool and could match my liking too on specific areas of application
My 3 favourite headphones: Meze 99 Classics, Sennheiser HD 600, and HiFiMan Sundara (+Momentum wireless 2 for OTG). I culled down about a dozen cans from AKG, Beyerdynamic, Sennheiser, and HiFiMan and don't think I will be upgrading any time soon. 😎
Hello. I was looking for a new headphone and I was considering both of these headphones. This video helped me in deciding what am I gonna get. Well, yesterday I got Meze 99 classics and I am absolutely in love with it. I came back today to thank you for this video.
I think that the Meze fills a niche between fully portable and semi audiophile. I definitely do not mind wearing mine out and about. They have a cool retro look that turns people's heads. I have found that if you give the 99's more voltage as opposed to volume, the bass tightens up nicely. As far as portability goes when paired with the IFI audio iDSD micro black, the extra voltage in the higher gain modes really does the job well and you end up with a headphone that sounds awesome at home and out and about. The Sundara, on the other hand, is an 'at the home only' type of headphone.
Hi ... I own meze 99 neo.. like you said got these as it's easy to drive through mobiles as well...i have access to flacs and tidal as well.. I'm happy with how it sounds !! Will getting a portable dac/amp like BGVP t01 or ibasso dc03 or any other portable dac that's mqa authenticated enhances my audio experience ???
@@VK-oc2bx I got 99 Noire with custom cable, they do really sound better with real amp. But for portable use I will probably swap cable for balanced 2,5mm :) china got them silver coated for just 38$ and they look great as well
Any time you cut off the treble significantly (like the Meze). the bass will automatically seem more prominent due to lack of spectral balance. And of course, when treble is extended, it will seem like the bass is "light" unless boosted.
I bought the Hifiman, but replaced it with the Meze for the following reasons:- - Sundara claims to be easy enough to power but in my experience that wasn't the case. I have a Fiio Q5s TC which was maxed out, but it still wasn't enough for me. - Sundara may have the sound stage and precision, but for me it just wasn't enough fun. I enjoy my music more with the Meze.
Update: I tried the Sundara recently with an ifi dsd signature. It made a world of difference. It was beautiful. In retrospect, the Fiio Q5s just wasn't powerful enough to drive the Sundara's to their full potential, resulting a thin experience. Now with the signature the Sundara's full of body and the Meze become over the top.
@@DavidKnowles thanks for the reply... right now volume level I listen to on meze through my mobile is around 50-70%...volume is loud enough with mobile itself..so No issues with the volume !! I'm more into neutral or balanced soundstage..anything that's artist intended...by "edge" I mean sound quality on lows mids treble bass etc.... like soundstage and instrument separation... To sum it up quality of audio as a whole (my audio source files...lossless audio flacs, tidal masters)
@@VK-oc2bx it's universally agreed that a separate DAC is -in most cases- and improvement in music quality in comparison to most built-in phone DACs. Additionally, most separate amps have more output capacity, resulting in higher volumes and often fuller sound. I never ran the Meze without a separate DAC/AMP.
I am currently using the V-Moda Crossfade M-100 Master which are somewhat neutral apparently, and V-Moda recommended me these over their M-200 which are more of a neutral studio mastering headphone. I do love bass, and these deliver it a lot to a high volume without distortion. V-Moda also has their LP² which has more bass, but more sloppy and a worse mid and high end, so the M-100 feel like a more mature headphone that still have a powerful low end. I really wonder how the Meze 99 Classics sound compared to the M-100 Master, and I think I will go for them to try them out. I was considering the Sundara too, but this comparison made me want to test the 99 Classics first since they seem to be the obvious choice for what I like.
I love my Sundara's open backs will never have the same depth in the sub-bass range, but they can be EQ'd and the mids and highs are beautiful. Paired with a Fiio BTR5 or 7 they get plenty loud and are very portable while being able to stay aware of your surroundings (for better and for worse, I prefer the soundstage of open backs 🤷♂️)
were you doing the comparison with the balanced cable? reviewers have mentioned that the meze balanced cable improves and tightens the sound, and the silver cables do it even better (even though i know you don't believe cables change anything and u did review the meze silver cable already).
I do believe that analog cables can make small changes to the sound. I believe that using the balanced output of a amp that is designed as balanced, can make a larger difference. To answer your question, no I did not have a balanced cable for either at the time I did the review.
@@theheadphoneexperience-wil2250 ok thnx! according to at least 2 reviewers, the meze silver balanced cable improved the 99 classic's sound considerably, more so than the balanced cable. do you believe there are improvements on amps like the thx 789 witgh a balanced cable? the thx 789 is said to sound the same with the only difference being power.
@@tor13128 I have not yet heard the THX 789, so I can't say. Although in most cases I would assume that a balanced amp, would sound best from it's balanced output? That said, I really don't think there is any real advantage to balanced headphone amps. I think a single ended amp can be designed to sound just as good.
I like the treble on the sundara too. The bass is ok not too boosted. Mids are detailed and lush.... thin sounding? i think you have to check the source, i dont find it thin.
I'm looking forward to getting my Meze tomorrow with my ifi hip dac. I hate how so many complain about characteristics like they are a flaw when they are a feature. I've sent back beyerdynamic 1990t and hd660s thinking these would be the best up to £500 predominantly for rock and metal. Can see why people like them, but i like something that's in your face like I'm watching a live performance right infront of me and even with EQ I just couldn't get the sound I wanted. With these headphones as I'm starting to discover with openback that they are designed for hearing everything and seemed to be neutral. The more and more reviews I have read on here I was starting to think closed back suited my sound. Only headphones I've had are sony XM3 which for travel and noise cancelling are brilliant and have the bass(bit too much at times) which made me look at some wired home based headphones and the meze seemed to be the ones which fit the bill(thank god for Amazon returns). Like anything sometimes your assumption is spend more get better quality when its just not, I'm learning its just about put as many on your head as possible and let your ears decide.
Hi Christopher. Can I ask you a feedback of Meze 99 + Hip Dac? I also have the hip dac and I'm looking for headphones that I can use with 4.4mm balance cable. Since I mostly listen to metal and rock like you, maybe your feedback could be very helpful. My doubts arw between Meze 99 (I prefer the neo just for the aesthetic), HD6XX and Sundara. Thank you!
@@0xOmnius Sorry I never saw this until the below answer came through just now. The classics do have a lot of bass which for metal sounds great. If you listen to a variety of music other than metal then sometimes the bass does muddy the mids and lows. With all headphones I can't listen to any of them flat, I always need to use an equaliser. I've just trialled audirvana with a plug in and honestly this has enhanced the sound such, made more of a difference than using a free one. So yeah basically if metal is your primary music then the meze were great, could of sounded greater if I'd used the sound setup I use now. I did find the semi open sound of the nighthawks which I kept gave that sparkle and happy medium between both metal and rock. But again the equalizer and the hip dac play big parts in getting the sound I wanted.
Nice comparison, just like you said in the video, when I was younger I also was a basshead and when I first heard an openback detailed but bass light headphone from a friend I hated the sound. Now that I'm in my early 30s and have heard real high fidelity headphones, I can't stand the boomy bassy sound anymore. So I think depending on the age demographic, people have very opposing opinions about them.
I guess we all was like that at young age :) I own Meze 99 Noire to have something nice for the go since I dislike IEM's, they are not that bad it depend on recording.
The sundaras EQ like a champ...they have crazy bass/sub bass if you want them to...With EQ you would be hard pressed to find better sounding headphones under 500
J’ai essayé les Sundara il n’y a pas tres longtemps. Et la j’ai les 99 Classics en home loan. Pas la même classe. Sundara vraiment très bon. Ensuite c’est un casque ouvert. Les gens autour de toi profite de ta musique. Je n’ai pas gardé les Sundara à cause de ca. Ma femme n’en voulait pas. Honnêtement c’est le meilleur rapport qualité prix. Tu trouveras pas mieux. Je les ecouté avec un DAC externe portable (Dragonfly blue).
Is there a headphone out there that is a combination of the two? I mainly listen to edm and rock (double bass drum, thrash, and tool) so i want that instrumentsl bass from rock and also the punchiness from edm. Used to be a rap bass head when i was younger which im assuming the 99s do well
What pads do your Meze 99 Classics have, new or original? They both have 2 very different and distinct sound, with the latter being incredibly neutral bass (akin to the Sundara) and liquid smooth mids with the perfect amount of crisp treble. Edit: I can tell from looking at them, you have the 3rd gen pads, which is unfortunate.
@@Chasing835 Comfort wise for those with larger ears, they are great! However the larger pads make the 99 Classics lose their magic. They make the cans into a bass-head's dream, while diminishing the quality of the mids and taking away the crispness from the treble. They go from an HD 600 to an M-50.
@@MrKeech666 that's disappointing to hear... When did il they update with these new pads? I keep seeing really good reviews about these headphones, even from this year.
@@Chasing835 They actually switched pads maybe 1 - 1 1/2 years after the initial release, essentially the same time the 99 Neos were released (with the larger pads). I hear they now include both like the Nior, which is great. At the very least you can buy the original pads.
@@MrKeech666 I see, thanks. Hopefully I get a recent version that includes both sets of earpads. If not, I'll just get the original small pads on their website.
0:21 no shit ? Sundara is 350 and meze Classics is ... wtf are the Meze's still going for 300 ? They came out in like 2014/2013 ?! edit: first iteration came out in 2015
I don't think "thin-sounding" can be the right way to describe it or the issue. Because nearly all headphones are far too "thin"-sounding, instrument or voice-wise, regardless of bass emphasis, whereas to get some real voluminous representation of instruments etc. (not just pushed forward, like HD600) one has to get speakers or higher-tier headphones (500€$+). And in one sample, with comparison to a Beyerdynamic 1990 (me listening through a 880), I noticed a clear distinction of the Sundara in that regard, of being more voluminous-sounding, or even "three-dimensional" in a way, which ultimately decided it as being received more positively, both in the test and in the sample. Every headphone I had or had tried, be it warm (Sennheiser Hd600) or bass-boosted (Philips), was thin as heck. But no-one EVER fomments on this aspect. Even when they are bright (AKG, Beyerdynamic), everyone is obsessed about it being "bright", but no one even UNDERSTANDS that they are obviously and more literally thin-sounding (when I mention it as a criticism). Therefore I would say these are different issues or references... With the "thinness" actaully being a fundamental property of nearly all neadphones that no-one cares about, and which higher-tier headphones -or speakers - address as their special qualification (again with no-one being explicit...)
So, I purchased the Meze from Amazon and immediately found the sound to be horrible. Very low-fi. It sounded harsh, sibilant, with a ridiculously booming bass. And then I burned them in for 12 hours-- but nothing changed. I actually wondered why anyone would like these except for kids who only care about bass. Then I bought the Sundara's and loved them. Pinpoint imaging with great separation, realistic and inviting midrange and treble, and a solid and defined bass. My other favorites are the Aeon Flow opens, 1st generation. These are definitely colored sounding, with a warm and thicker presentation, but very wonderful sound that some call almost euphoric. Now I find myself reaching for either one of these headphones depending mostly on my mood and what quality of music I'm listening to.
Good to hear you found what you were looking for. My local retailer warned me that the Meze needed 100 hours burn before the sound settled and matured. His demo pair had just the fun qualities I was looking for. All the best.
sundara = boring 99's = fun, warm, great times ULTIMATELY trying to get someone to explain a sound is like trying to get them to explain how something tastes. you'll never know until you try
