Meze 99 Classics Over Ear Headphones (Walnut Gold)

The 99 Classics have an eye-catchy refined style about them. I had the Walnut Gold finish, though I like the both the Walnut and maple silver finishes more. The premium cable looks wonderful and complements the headphone design. These are a “good size” headphone provided with a nice hard pouch. There are two sets of detachable cables provided one for more mobile/smartphone use and the other for at-home listening.My large head and not-so-small ears made the fit a little off, though the self-adjusting leather headband sat comfortably on my head. I felt that the earpads applied a little more pressure on the upper part of my ears.The bass is catchy, pushed a bit forward and slightly loose or boomy (but I am of the opinion that’s the “woody” character). Soundstage is very good for a closed headphone with appreciable dimensionality. Good treble presence with enough liveliness without getting into the “bright” territory. The mids are clean and clear and presented in a very neutral style (though I was expecting a mid-forward presentation) and lack “magic”, which can be translated as slightly recessed. There are times when I felt that the bass got in the way of the music but these instances were far and few, sufficient to say that suitable source matching would make this headphone perform better but improper ones don’t pull down the enjoyment factor much.The Meze 99 Classics are worthy of being considered as a good choice for the discerning music listener. They traverse the border of clarity and a fun sound in a very adept manner.That said, the competition is as well pretty stiff! The Beoplay H6, Black Leather by B&O Play (Bang & Olufsen) is available at competitive prices (now that the MKII version is out) and provides equally good sound with a comparatively conservative styling. The older Sennheiser Momentum Headphone - Brown are once again available at a competitive price (thanks to the newer Sennheiser Momentum 2.0 Lifestyle M2-AEI Around-Ear Headphones for iOS (Black)), not the same sound signature (Momentum is more mellow and smoother sounding) but not bad either for the price. My full review is available at [...]