Meze

Meze Audio built their reputation on a single product: the 99 Classics. Launched in 2015, it became one of the most consistently recommended closed-back headphones at its price point—praised for comfort, sound quality, and a wood aesthetic that stood out sharply in a market dominated by plastic and faux-leather. The 99 Neo followed in 2017 as a more affordable alternative sharing the same driver and acoustic platform, but with different materials and a lower price. ...

Meze Audio built their reputation on a single product: the 99 Classics. Launched in 2015, it became one of the most consistently recommended closed-back headphones at its price point—praised for comfort, sound quality, and a wood aesthetic that stood out sharply in a market dominated by plastic and faux-leather. If you’re curious about Meze’s flagship, read our Meze Empyrean III review for a taste of their planar magnetic high-end. The 99 Neo followed in 2017 as a more affordable alternative sharing the same driver and acoustic platform, but with different materials and a lower price. ...

Meze Audio built their reputation on a single product: the 99 Classics. Launched in 2015, it became one of the most consistently recommended closed-back headphones at its price point—praised for comfort, sound quality, and a wood aesthetic that stood out sharply in a market dominated by plastic and faux-leather. The 99 Neo followed in 2017 as a more affordable alternative sharing the same driver and acoustic platform, but with different materials and a lower price. ...

The Meze Empyrean III lands in a crowded segment—statement-level planar magnetic headphones at a price that requires genuine justification. At approximately $3,000–$3,500, it competes with Audeze’s LCD-4 series, HiFiMAN’s Susvara and Edition XS, ZMF’s wood-cupped flagships, and various other products that stake their claims on different combinations of technical performance, luxury materials, and brand identity. What Meze offers with the Empyrean III specifically is their isodynamic hybrid array driver, a material approach to construction that emphasizes genuine luxury over cost-effective premium signaling, and a tuning philosophy that prioritizes long-session musicality over analytical precision. Whether those priorities align with yours determines whether the price is justified. ...