Meze Audio Liric Review

Meze Audio Liric

Sound – Classics (Short)

 

Bass

Liric certainly isn’t shy when it comes to bass. Bass is present at all times with good body, an impressive punch and serious impact. I don’t want to say the bass is like the typical bass of a lot of closed back designs, but it is. Bass reaches low and all the way down to the sub bass levels and it has impressive rumble there. Bass detail is good and the layering is very nice on top of that. In general Liric’s bass is tight but the sub bass isn’t always the most controlled. Lower frequencies perfectly connect to the mids, and there is no bass bleed to be found at all.

Mids

Like the bass, the mids are full at all times. At the same time the mids sound realistic and they have a lovely timber. The separation here is excellent as is the spaciousness and airiness. The mid texture for me is very very nice. You do have to take a bit of vocal forwardness with the tuning though. I actually feel it works well here and I never felt it was too forward, energetic of focused. The tuning here just works and I myself like this characteristic in combination with the fulness of the bass and mids.

Treble

The treble section is fresh and carries a good level of energy. Treble is exciting and it perfectly helps keeping the full bodied tuning lively. Don’t get me wrong, the Liric is not a treble focused headphone, in fact the way it is tuned makes the Liric very easy to listen to. Even with its energy treble it is soft to the ears. Of course this really depends on how you like your treble to sound. For me this tuning works and it matches and blends with the bass and mids. For others it might perhaps be a tad too strong, but again, I wouldn’t worry about it. I actually like it.

Meze Audio Liric

Sources / Amplification

As Liric was developed as a portable closed back headphone with high audio quality for on the go, it shouldn’t require too much power to sound its best. As mentioned I have used it in all possible ways and never found one type of source extremely inferior/superior to the other.

The sources selected for this chapter are transportable, just like the Liric. We have the following DAPs: the Astell&Kern SP2000T, the HiBy Audio R8, the L&P P6 Pro and the Fiio M17. I also really wanted to include the Cayin C9 amplifier in this overview. Let’s find out if the Liric behaves differently depending on the source.

With the Astell&Kern SP2000T, the Liric to me sounds best in Hybrid mode. The volume level has to go up a bit to get to my preferred listening volume, but it’s no problem at all for the AK. The SP2000T and Liric combo sounds very spacious and airy, and the bass – which is a tad lighter in presence – is in perfect control. I also like the energy and clarity of this combination, and then there of course is the high precision the AK units stand for. To me it’s a really good combo for on the go if you want technicalities over bass, body and fun.

With the Luxury & Precision P6 Pro the Liric gets more body and bass compared to the SP2000T. IT does seem easier for the P6 Pro to drive the Liric, and the delivery is somewhat smoother and warmer. It’s a very musical experience, with great dynamics and excellent detail retrieval. Definitely a combo for those who crave musicality as well as a really good technicalities on the go. The P6 Pro has no issues with driving the Liric

The HiBy Music R8 and Liric combo sound-wise is situated between the previous two combos. This means you get a good level of technicalities as well as body, bass and musicality. It’s the perfect all-round source in theory, but it at the same time isn’t as special. The before mentioned DAPs are really excellent in combination with the Liric and it gives it a unique signature, but the R8 is not as exciting as nothing really stands out. It is nice, but it’s not as exciting to my ears. Driveability -wise, there again are no issues.

Meze Audio Liric

With the new Fiio M17 desktop DAP you can listen in normal mode and enhanced mode when powered by the electrical grid (no battery). With this source there’s more power than you’ll ever need for the Liric. The M17 and Liric combo for me comparable to the R8 combo, only here there’s added energy and clarity, and that really helps bring the excitement back. You get a perfect mix of body, bass presence, vocal forwardness and top end extension, clarity and energy. The M17 is in perfect control of the Liric and performs with a high technical but also musical level. A really awesome combo and perhaps the best of the bunch. I have to say the M17 hasn’t disappointed me yet, review soon!

If you do feel the need to use extra amplification (I don’t), I can fully recommend the Cayin C9. I myself feel the Liric sounds best in Low Gain with the Tube Output in AB mode. The sound signature actually reminds me of that of the M17 and Liric combo, but it’s fuller, softer and warmer in the delivery. A very nice and music sounding Liric is what you get here but to say the extra money for the amplification here is worth it compared to a DAP as source directly, well that just isn’t the case.

So all-in all it’s very safe to say that you don’t need anything special to be able to drive the Liric. All of the modern DAPs have more than enough power to make it sound really good. The difference in source do is audible with/in the Liric and that does give you the opportunity to tune it’s sound a little, should you not be happy how it sounds with your actual source.

Meze Audio Liric

Vs the family

The source and amp used here and in the next chapter are the Musician Pegasus and the Niimbus US4+. As the latter has 2 6.3mm outputs, it helps comparing headphones.

The Empyrean and Elite are both open back planar magnetic headphones, so the comparison isn’t really correct or fair but as the Liric driver is a modified Empyrean driver, we just have to compare them. And while they have very obvious differences, you can also easily hear the resemblances. The first 4 things that will strike you most with the Liric when switching from the Empyrean, are the extra spaciousness and airiness, the more vocal forwardness, the added overall body and the extra bass presence. Both headphones have the same velvet delivery and musical presentation however. So yes, the Meze Liric is boomier while the Empyrean has more detail and refinement as well as more energy and a more exciting top end. And of course the Empyrean has that typical lovely openness of an open back headphone. So the Liric is similar but at the same time very different. In short: the biggest differences are in the amount of bass and body, the vocal forwardness and lesser refinement.

Switching to the Elite from the Liric is a bigger shock. The Elite is the more neutral, fast and energetic brother of the Empyrean and as such the difference with the Liric is quite big. The Elite here is far more neutral and precise with a much higher level of technicalities. It has a much lower amount of bass, and lighter body overall. The Elite sounds wider as well and logically more open. The Liric is softer in delivery and that’s mostly audible in the mids, vocals and lower treble. Bass in the Liric has better sub rumble but both reach down very low. Vocals in the Elite are also more to the front like in the Liric, but they are thicker in the open back Elite. The Elite has a higher level of refinement and the micro details and note extension is better. Same goes for the clarity. As you can see the difference between the Elite and the Liric are more important than with the Empyrean, but hats only normal.

In the end you have 3 different sounding high end headphones from Meze Audio and they all have their strengths. That being said, I do feel there is room for improvement in the closed back Liric, to bring it closer to the technical level of the Elite. Next year maybe?

On the next page you find the comparisons with the competition as well as our conclusion. Click here.

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

4.3/5 - (331 votes)
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Lieven is living in Europe and he's the leader of the gang. He's running Headfonia as a side project next to his full time day job in Digital Marketing & Consultancy. He's a big fan of tube amps and custom inear monitors and has published hundreds of product reviews over the years.

2 Comments

  • Reply December 7, 2021

    John

    You don’t say what DAP/DAC you used the C9 with as a source? I’m curious, because that will determine the overall synergy with the Liric.

    • Reply December 7, 2021

      Lieven

      That was the R8 in balanced mode.

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