Meze Audio Liric Review

The Box, Accessories & Price

Meze Audio is one of those companies that pays attention to the whole package, and they have proven that multiple times already. The Meze Audio Liric is selling for $2000 USD or €2000 Euro and because of that we also expect a complete and high end package.

Unlike the Empyrean and the Elite, the Liric does not come in an aluminum carrying case but in a nice traditional box as you can see in the pictures. Inside the box you will find the Liric and a hard EVA pouch with velvet lining to store the Liric in. You also get two sets of cables: a 1.5m soft TPE cable with 3.5mm jack and a 3m soft TPE cable with 3.5mm jack. As both are terminated with a 3.5mm jack, Meze is also adding a 6.3mm adapter as well as an airplane jack adapter. There also is a nice pouch to store the cables in.

It’s a complete and nice package and the only thing missing here perhaps is a piece of cloth to clean the headphones with and protect the headphone when putting them down to rest on your desk. I use a silicone disc myself as I don’t want to scratch the gorgeous surface of the Liric when I put it on my desk.

Design, Build Quality & Comfort

Design is a personal thing, what one loves the other hates and that will never change. I myself like the simple matte black design of the Liric. In fact, it’s not so simple if you look at it from up close. I – like with the Elite – love the surface structure of the Liric and when you look at the yokes, headband and air vent, the Liric is almost a piece of art. At the same time I do understand why some would describe the design as simple. If you look at the headphone from further away, you only see big black clear ear cups. There however is so much more to it.

“cutting-edge technology embodied into an artful, almost sculptural frame”

If you’ve ever seen the Empyrean and Elite headphones, you will see that the yokes look familiar. Liric’s headband is made out of spring steel and it’s covered in real leather and soft cushiony padding. The headband cushions are symmetrically placed in a “+” shape to allow proper air flow, and lowers the heat and humidity buildup. According to Meze, the headband is perfectly tuned for optimal pressure distribution – it follows the structure of the head, creating firm and even contact.

The copper looking rods connecting the headband to the earcups are aluminum and they’re absolutely gorgeous. The earcups itself are magnesium with a leather fabric finish on the outside. Meze Audio: “The choice of an angled ovoid ear cup shape was perfect for surrounding your ears closely without adding unnecessary pressure or weight, at the same time offering a deeper sound and a better passive sound isolation.”

“A lightweight magnesium skeleton ensures the headphone stays flexible, shock resistant and oxidation free, while maintaining an ideal fit for long listening sessions.”

If you’ve ever had the pleasure to listen to the Empyrean or Elite, you will know how incredibly comfortable they are, even for really long listening sessions. For me the Liric, even though the headband is different, is also very comfortable. Compared to Empyrean and Elite, the Liric exercises a bit more pressure on the sides of the head, but I actually welcome the added pressure. This of course depends on the size of your head.

I have to admit that I after multiple hours of listening do feel the need to take a listening rest. It feels like my ears need to breed and feel the open air. I don’t know how to explain this feeling, but I also do have it with other closed back headphones such as the LCD-XC and HE-R10P, though in a lesser degree. Extra points however go to the headband cushioning however. Could this be the best headband padding ever?

My wife described Liric as comfortable yet heavy, but she’s not used to wearing headphones. The Liric weighs 391g, which isn’t light but I have gotten completely used to heavier headphones and I have no issue at all with the weight. The earpads are circumaural and deep, but your ears will touch the soft pads. It however does not annoy in any way, but be aware of this if you’re sensitive to that.

Build quality-wise there is very little to say. I mean that in the most positive way though, as Meze always delivers top quality. Liric, like all of Meze’s other products, have a top notch build quality and there’s really nothing to worry about.

Sound – Intro

The Meze Audio Liric with its 30 Ω impedance and 100dB nominal SPL is fairly easy to drive and I have used it from DAPs, desktop amplifiers and DAPs. Don’t forget that the Liric was developed as a high end headphone for on the go, so it’s supposed to be easy to drive as you don’t have a desktop sized amplifier available everywhere you go to.

We will get into more detail on the portability and driveability in one of the later chapters in this article, but all of the above sources were used to form the description of Liric’s sound.

Sound – General

The Meze Audio Liric overall has a more neutral tuning, though there is some warmth and smoothness to be found in the delivery. In regards to the Empyrean and the Elite, it puts them right in between both headphones when it comes to that. The musicality is high with this one (as we’re used to from Meze)

The Liric at all times is a thicker and very full sounding headphone, with strong bass and mid body. In that regard it is a balanced headphone as the body is equally present everywhere. Sound stage width wise the Liric scores well, certainly for a closed headphone, but it’s not really like listening to an open back headphone. The closed headphone that comes closest to that is the TOTL Hifiman, but it’s 3 times as expensive as well. So I would still say the Liric has that typical intimacy of closed back headphones. What the Liric does really well though is the spaciousness and airiness from top to bottom and that certainly helps with giving the impression of a wide sound stage. I do feel the Liric scores better in depth than in width and the layering here is very impressive at times.

Looking at the imaging and positioning, I really like the way Liric performs. There is an excellent left-right positioning and stereo image. Pinpointing positions is fairly easy. The detail retrieval, precisness and note extension of the Rinaro drivers is excellent and that’s something we of course knew already. The smooth mid texture is a pleasure to the ear and the overall presentation comes over to me as natural, especially the mids. But  it’s not only the mids ass the Liric from top to bottom has a really lovely and pleasing timbre.

Even though there’s some smoothness and warmth in the delivery, the Rinaro drivers inside the Liric show great clarity, top level separation and excellent cleanness. The only thing I have mixed feelings about is the speed. Liric can be really snappy and fast with good attack, but sometimes (and then mostly in the lower regions) it performs a bit slower.

Also important to mention with closed back headphones is the level of Isolation. When compared to the previously mentioned closed back headphones, the level of isolation here is a little less, and then I’m mostly talking about sound leaking in. My TV in example didn’t really have to play loud in order to hear the snooker commentary while I was listening to Finneas.

The article continues on the next page. Click here or use the jumps below

Page 1: Meze Audio, Liric, Specifications

Page 2: Box, Accessories, Price, Design, Build Quality, Comfort, Sound Pt 1

Page 3: Sound Pt 2, Sources & Amplification

Page 4: Comparisons, Conclusion