Ant's Review of the Meze 99 Noir

Headphones Headphone Discussion / Help
1

Meze 99 Noir 7.9

I first heard of these headphones on the master switch best of list on the internet. It was on the high end list. Since then they keep popping up. Zeos loved them. Tyll put them on his wall of fame. Finally i see them on the Massdrop website. I got a pair for 160$ I don’t want to oversell them. These are not analytical reference grade headphones. But these headphones sound fantastic.

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SOUND

Ok first the pads. The ones that come default on them I didn’t like. They sound thinner and treble is a little too high. They come with a 2nd set of pads that are a little bigger and deeper and firmer. It’s hard to tell by looking at them. But the bigger pads make a world of difference. Treble is lowered a little and bass is brought up. They go from sounding lame and thin to a valid pair of headphones. Kinda funny how big a change pads can make even when it’s a small change. but they bloat the bass a little i hear. So apparently the bass on these headphones aren’t fully separated. Idk, they sound great to me.

Warm clear bassy well balanced. Great audiophile entry bassy headphones. Bass is great. Extends well but not separated well but goes together well with the sound of this headphone. I love the bass on this headphone. Midrange is great, very good. Vocals sound awesome. Treble is great, good extension and detailed, not sibilant. Great imaging, separation on this headphone is impressive. great dynamics. Soundstage is wide. Natural timber.

Do wood cups vs plastic or metal affect the sound of headphones that much? Idk but these headphones are marked for having very natural timber. Maybe the wood cups are why? These headphones kinda sound the way they look. Classy.

BUILD

These headphones look very stylish. Walnut wood cups have a nice grain and pattern. Metal 2 strip band is a cool shape. Seems solid build don’t think it will break anytime soon. Comes with its own carrying case. Cable is medium length. Has a mic on it for phone use.

COMFORT

They are light and the suspension headband is very comfortable. The cups are a little small. So not sure how that’s gonna be for bigger ears. Mine are medium and fit fine in the cups. But i can feel the driver on my ears.

CONCLUSION

Man, I love these headphones. They sound so good. I’ve been hearing about them for a while and it’s deserved. They look very cool too. I usually don’t allow that to influence me with headphones. For me it’s all about the sound. But they are very stylish. But the important part, the sound, is quite wonderful.

Scoring rating: 20$-300$ 7.0 / 300$-700$ 8.0 / 800-1000$’s 9.0 / 2000$’s and up 10.0

Word description grading: Poor, Mediocre, Fine, Good, Great, Exceptional, Phenomenal

5 Likes
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I also tried these due to the positive reviews. I believe both zeos and dms liked them. I will say I probably didn’t give them enough time as I only tried them for a day, and also did not swap the pads as you suggested. Coming from the 6xx (which I love) i was looking for something a little more bassy and fun. And while I do think the bass aspect was an improvement I felt they fell a little short of the 6xx in every other category and ultimately could not see myself choosing these over my 6xxs in any scenario. Of course the use case is a bit different as the 99s are closed and more easily portable, so not exactly a 1 for 1 comparison. I can understand what people like about the 99s and maybe I should give them another try with a pad swap. Appreciate your thorough analysis of these

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yeah pad swap is a big deal with these headphones. but they are not a upgrade for the 6xx. you may want to try the Sundara or Elex for that

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Yeah at the time I was looking to try something different rather than a pure upgrade, the 6xx were my first and only audiofile cans. Still trying to flesh out what I like best in audio quality. In that regard the 99s helped me compare what I did and didn’t like about the 6xx. 100% agree the 99s would be a good place to start for someone new to hifi

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I know I just posted somewhere about giving fit some time, but these headphones would be an exception to that, unless you swapped the ear pads. these were so uncomfortable as they pressed against my ears that I couldn’t figure out if they sounded good because of the pressure they put on my ears.

that really saddened me as my experience was bad and yet these are known winners as a headphone. :frowning:

6

I think it has something to do with head size? maybe some heads or even builds of the headphone cause the pads to get crushed and your ear is against the driver. maybe some reviewers didnt have their pads getting crushed. the bigger pads are firmer. so they dont get crushed and your ear is not against the driver

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my understanding is that they changed the ear pads and it was for the worse…thinner, so this contact pressure point happened. :frowning:

8

These headphones are great, they are not analytical but instead just fun. The bass and lower midrange are the frequencies that are brought out most in these, they never get fatiguing due to this.

Good writeup @Antpage2.

1 Like
9

I burned-in a set of these 99 Noir’s recently, for the suggested period of time by Meze (they suggest 40 hours of burn-in, I went about 44 hours), and it removed the bass bloat entirely and leveled the sound out a bit.

  • I suggest also only do this to a new set of Noir’s if you are not happy with it.

The burned-in Noir still has plenty of bass, but it’s slightly less pronounced than it was before.

I do NOT suggest anyone does this if they are happy with the sound from their headphones as-is. If you are happy as they sound when delivered, then just leave them at that and be happy!

I thought that people might be interested in my results with the Noir after burning them in.

Here is a video Zeos did on the topic of burn-in. If you are considering doing this, I suggest watching it first.

As-is these make a great gift to pass on to people to get them into the HiFi world. Which is exactly what i’m doing with this current set, they are inexpensive, easy to drive, decent looking to wear in public, fairly light-weight, and have an enjoyable sound signature.

But, they honestly can’t hold a candle to Argon Mk3 or the Argon T60RP in my humble opinion. (I really love my argon’s) BUT the argon’s are much more expensive, require a very capable amp, and they are far heavier than the Meze’s, so you won’t be wearing Argon’s to work out at the gym.

But you ‘might’ be able to wear Meze 99’s - although even Meze’s would look a bit funny wearing while in workout clothing - the Noir’s would be lightweight enough that they could work.