Closer Examination: Headphones

We finally get to the Meze Audio Liric itself! As with just about any other set of headphones from Meze Audio, a clear sense of luxury oozes out of the Liric. This is especially felt closer up, and this page will go through the various parts in more detail. But note that the Liric is meant to be a more portable solution, yet is among the largest portable headphones I have ever used. It even weighs a relatively whopping 391 g without the cable, but Meze has done a very good job in making the Liric feel almost weightless when properly worn. Much of this can be attributed to the wide leather headband with a spring steel band inside to make for the curve and associated clamping force. The headband has "Liric" embossed on top, and padded cushions on the underside for comfort. Note how the cushions are oriented with a plus-shaped (+) gap in the center for airflow through either direction and to prevent what is colloquially referred to as "headphone hair," while also lowering any heat and humidity build-up on the top of the head. As expected, the stitching is excellent, and on either end, the headband terminates in a very unique magnesium connector with three screws on the inside and an extension. This close-up also shows the textured semi-matte finish provided to the magnesium skeleton akin to a DSLR, allowing for a soft-touch finish while still being resistant to wear and quite durable in use.


Those connectors are housings for the aluminium yokes, which are in turn given a copper-colored finish to keep the black/copper aesthetic going. The connectors also provide real estate for credits given to Meze and its Romanian background, and we see more branding with the Meze logo on the stem of the yokes towards the bottom, similar to what we saw on the 99 Neo, but with no plastic and looking better without the glossy steel yokes there. The Rinaro collaboration is called out on the sides by the ear cups, and the yokes are screwed into place in the magnesium skeleton, with the serial number on the inner side and the headphones simply sliding up and down via a friction fit (rotate and pull) for size adjustments. There is a hard stop on either end and enough room for these to be used with small and large heads alike. I do wish it were simpler to align both sides though, and I am not sure how this design will fare over time given there is no physical hold akin to a notch.


The left and right ear cups are not the most obvious, and the L/R markings found on the swivel points holding the ear cups may go unnoticed by many. More branding here, but it's subtle enough to where I have zero issues with it. The nature of the aluminium yokes being cylindrical and there being two pivot points means the ear cups can freely rotate not only within the horizontal plane, but also around the plane of the yoke connection to the magnesium skeleton—360° again, but off-centered from the vertical. This provides for plenty of movement both horizontally and vertically, with the ear cups naturally always following the contour of the ears on the head.


The Meze Audio Liric is a closed-back set of headphones, which is made obvious by the ear cups having been cut off from the ambient environment. Much to my chagrin, I can't recall if the ear cups actually had a leather exterior or just a soft-touch finish to plastic—another reason I am not going to do reviews for short-term loaner items anymore. But that is not as important as the copper-colored dimpled button looking so inviting as to be pressed in the concave center. Resist your urges and do not press inward as it is key to a novel, integrated pressure equalization system in the Meze Liric. There is a carefully controlled air vent inside to prevent uncomfortable pressure build-up with a steady release once past a certain point, but also help keep a closed chamber at other times to build up the bass shelf associated with closed-back headphones. The inner side is where we see ear pads that come glued by default, which means replacement is less than trivial unfortunately. Given the loaner nature here, I also did not take the ear pads off for a closer examination of the isodynamic planar magnetic drivers, though we get a good glimpse at them even through the screen protecting the voice coil traces from contaminants. The ear pads themselves are ovoid shaped but on the smaller side of average for full-size headphones, so those with larger ears might find it a struggle to keep these over-ear as opposed to on-ear. These are otherwise hybrid pads with a leather contact surface and alcantara sides.


On the bottom of the ear cups, angled towards the front, is where we find small cutouts for the cable connectors from before. These have the cable plugs connect easily enough, which naturally directs the cables away from your body and comfortably sets them down at the splitter on your chest, or a desk when sitting down. The Meze Liric has dual 3.5 mm TS connectors on the ear cups to increase compatibility with aftermarket cables, which is handy if you don't like the stock cable as mentioned before. With the two cables meeting centrally at the splitter and moving to the source, weight balance is still centrally placed as it then heads to the source. The various assortment of cables—either as stock or optional upgrade—make for different length options and connector types to choose from even before the airline adapter and 1/4" adapter enter the picture.


A lot of my testing was done sitting down, with the Meze Liric connected to my trusty JDS Labs Element II; however, I did find the shorter stock cable worked well enough with many portable DAC/amps, including my favored Qudelix-5K. That said, , the main benefit of going with the balanced cable is that there won't be a worry about portable sources being a bottleneck, and the iFi GO blu was a good example of this. If you do want to go all out with portability in mind, I found the iFi micro iDSD Signature (review coming soon) an excellent pairing with the Meze Liric.