Although I will be naming this The Silver Cable, actually it is also an Oxygen-Free Copper Silver Plated Cable, not a pure silver one.

Meze 99 Classics Review - Over Ear Headphones - Audiophile ON Meze 99 Classics Review - Over Ear Headphones - Audiophile ON

What stroke me when I opened the box for the first time was that the earcups are made of real wood. Each cup is made from a single solid piece of walnut wood carved to size and shape, and therefore each cup has unique colours and grain. It gives the design a certain warmth that, coupled with the gold accents, make the Meze 99 Classics look like a timeless headphone. It has to be noted that another edition with silvery accents is available. Mids: extremely clear, like I never heard some of my music, even with my reference HP, the sony MDR-Z1R, hearing instrumental cues I never heard before with such a crystal clarity like a Cembalo continuo line in Albinonis Concertos Op. 10 [I solisti Venetia|Claudio scimone|Albinoni, Tomaso: Concertos Op. 10|ERATO], voixes and strings sounded sweet. Almost all of the songs on it are showing the most important elements already at the first 30 seconds, so it is easy to go through when multiple HPs are involved in test.This is the less expensive option, and it is based on the normal Meze 99 Classics cable in terms of overall aesthetics. It comes with a 2.5mm ending, and it is a silver plated, high-purity copper cable. In perspective, this is an interesting choice for materials, as they should provide both the warmth of copper and the sparkle in the treble that Silver tends to add. The grain is excellent but you can ignore the rather weird dark knot feature at the center of the cup in the main picture, this is a class B unit so you won’t get that on retail units, they simply will not pass the QC. Each cup is crafted initially on a CNC machine and then finished and polished hand with Meze claiming each set takes approximately 45 hours to complete. We listened to more songs than those named in this playlist, but those are excellent for identifying a sonic signature. PRaT, Texturization, Detail, Resolution, Dynamics, Impact, and overall tonality are all revealed by those songs. We recommend trying most of the songs from this playlist, especially if you’re searching for new music! Another very interesting thing is the material the diagram is made of. It’s a custom-developed thermally stabilized polymer with a conductive layer. Thanks to this unique processing method, the diagram is rigid and very light as well. The driver has an active area of 3507mm2 and the diagram weighs only 0.08g. Bass - There is good depth here and acceptable impact ("slam"), although this is certainly not amongst the hardest-hitting Closed cans. Bassheads will be yearning for more, but the bass never gets in the way here.

Meze Audio - Sound. Comfort. Design. True high-end. All | Meze Audio - Sound. Comfort. Design. True high-end.

When you look at everything dismantled in the picture below it is a surprisingly simple but effective build. After a while I played around with EQ (for most people this might not be necessary or even out of question), since I was not 100% happy with the presentation of the vocals of the Liric, they were present and not subdued, but sounded somehow slightly distorted like using old radios with limited dynamics (might be only a personal perception). Warm fundamental range transition into the upper fundamentals; therefore warm, lush lower mids without becoming overly muddy or muffled sounding. I’ve had these headphones for well over a year and they may have played music for over 300 or 400 hours now. I tested them with various sources throughout time; for the purpose of this review, I used an Aune M1s, a Topping DX7 with its own amplifier or in conjunction with a Head ‘n’ Hifi Objective2 amplifier and a Little Dot MKIII SE. Meze 99 Classics

Packaging & Accessories

There is not a hint of crappy plastics on these cans as far as I can see and looking into their design information and this does seem to be confirmed.

DT770 or 99 Neo - Headphone Discussion / Help - HifiGuides Forums DT770 or 99 Neo - Headphone Discussion / Help - HifiGuides Forums

Although headphones such as the 99 Classics are meant to be used indoors (who would wear them on the subway?!), their isolation is actually pretty good. They can isolate you enough so that music will cover outside noise even at moderate listening volume. The microphone is decent enough to handle calls in relatively quiet environments, though it won’t be able to handle situations with lots of noise. Sound & Specs The wooden cups are a small circumaural or maybe a big supra-aural depending on your ear size. Certainly, for me, they are a small circumaural meaning there is some adjusting to do. MDR-Z2R with Kimber axios Cu: less clarity in mids and highs than the LIRIC, more bass impact, more soundstage.There is, however, slight evidence of the wood lacquer being worn on the bottom edge of the ear cups by the end of our time testing them – something you should perhaps expect to happen over time if they’re constantly placed on a desk. I also casually game and there I also like Beyer’s more. More accurate and more information. Probably because they give me more detail and are maybe more designed for a correct presentation in stead of a smooth one. Link to my review and measurement index thread where one can also find a full review overview, more information about myself as well as my general-ish audio and review manifesto: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/956208/ With this warm signature, the Meze 99 Classics do not let focus on the highs slip away. Treble has in fact good extensions and sufficient presence; it’s able to show itself effortlessly and to lend air and clarity to the scene as a whole. Though it’s always clearly audible in the mix, it’s never piercing or harsh; on the contrary, it’s easy on the ears. Although I usually like bright headphones, the 99 Classics did not disappoint me in delivering highs that I can clearly hear in the mix. In the tour set a beautifully braided balanced spc cable was included, originally designed for the Meze Audio 99. It emphasized the brightness, which is not my preference, therefore it did not get the listening time what the aesthetic would have required.