Meze Classics 66 Headphones - Gloss Finish

Let me admit from the start that I have become something of a headphones junkie. Without consciously planning to do a headphone collection, that is pretty much what I've ended up doing. I started with a Beyerdynamic DT 990, then V-Moda Crossfade, then Brainwavz HM5 (w really nice carrying case included), then AKG Q701s (Green! ... plus a really long cord), then Audio-Technica ATH M-50 (Red!), then Koss Pro3AAAT, then SOMiC MH463 (about 50 bucks from Pacific Rim shopping), then LyxPro, then Sennheiser 598, .... and now, the Meze 66 Classic in Ebony.Shipping and travel time were Amazon Prime, so the headphone arrived fast enough. I was looking for a rather large shipping box, since in the Amazon pictures and the description, the headphones appear to be on the larger rather than the smaller side. However, my expectations proved off. The Meze 66s are actually quite petite, light weight, and should accurately be described as 'on ear' instead of 'around ear.'The ebony wood finish looks as good up close for real, as it looks in the Amazon pictures. Two cords also came in the box. One has a mic and iPhone type controls, and the other is just a headset connecting cable without controls. Plugging the cable(s) in to each of the right/left headphone cups was easily done. The cable is quite light weight, and the cup end snaps nicely into each side. I rummaged around and found a plug adapter so that I could plus the new Meze cans into My tube hybrid HIFIMan EF2A DAC/amp, running off my desktop computer via a USB connection.First up were some tracks from the Japan edition of Chris Botti's sweet and mellow disc, When I Fall In Love. The first surprise on hearing the first track involved how spacious and airy the sound stage seemed. Width and depth did seem to vary a bit, depending on how a particular track had been orchestrated/mixed. On some tracks the depth/width of airy presentation was far more than I would have predicted from either (a) closed cans and/or (b) smaller, on ear cans. Botti's trumpet came through beautifully, and was beautifully surrounded by each of the slightly varied ensembles/mixes for each succeeding music track. The string bass was clearly coming through as the bottom, without detracting from the drum set, the mixed in strings, and the occasional discreet touches of background brass instruments. All in all, this little Meze 66 unit was doing a better than good job with Chris Botti. I enjoyed the sound so much that I played the disc right to the last (extra) Japanese pressing track.However pleasant Chris Botti's album was, I wanted to see if I could challenge these cans with classical music that reflected a variety of instruments, sizes of ensembles, vocals and so forth. So next up came Antal Dorati conducting the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in Aaron Copland's Appalachian Spring Suite. The opening slowly gathers solo instruments from the various orchestra departments together, as the shorter motifs are extended into longer and longer lyrical lines, everybody expertly sketching that open air harmony that often shows up in Copland's major Americana.Then, abruptly, my desktop flashed a message that my security software had just finished updating something and needed to restart the computer. I've learned the hard way that security software gets priority, so I shut down the music player and browser windows, and let the program reboot my desktop. What to do, meanwhile?I pulled down my mp3 player (Fiio X1) down from the near shelf. Unplugging the Koss headphones that I have been happily using with it, I decided to test the Meze cans with another source. First up in the music listings is a rip of a 2-disc set of British composer Benjamin Britten's choral music, sung by a variety of United Kingdom youth choirs. Now I am really impressed. Yes!The airy sound stage that I had already noted held true, even when faced with choral writing and organ accompaniments which had deep stops. One very good thing about these cans is their seeming ability to present all that is happening musically, without one layer getting in the way of other music going on. The choirs were consistently given a spacious acoustic, nevertheless remaining vivid enough to hear at least some of the texts being sung, while the organ also kept coming through from top to bottom. Then a track came along that was childrens' voices with piano accompaniment. The Meze cans shifted gear effortlessly, letting the children come through with that by now characteristic airy, open sonic atmosphere, while the piano seemed nearer, just off to the left side. I realized that I needed to explore the can's way with solo instruments like violin, piano, woodwinds and brass; but for the moment, I was again charmed by this collection of Britten's inventive, expressive choral writing. Among the familiar treasures which the cans conveyed, transparently yet vividly, were Britten's Hymn to the Virgin, sung beautifully, a capella. Of course I hung out with Britten for a while, working my way through the Ceremony of Carols (some harp notes are notice-ably clearer and more hear-able on these Meze cans, though the choir continues to be un-hindered and/or un-blurred. Soloists seem particularly characterful and vivid, too. Layering effects from Britten pitting one section of the choir against or over another choir section [This Little Babe?], come through with clarity and tone and energy.) Then, Rejoice in the Lamb, and other works. My absolute favorite, Britten's Hymn to St. Cecilia, came through as fine as I have ever heard it, either on the big rig home speakers (Def Tech BP-10s & BP-20's) or on any headphones I've been able to try out so far.Okay! Now I am getting hooked on these Meze 66 Classic Ebony cans for portable player listening! The Koss cans (Pro4S) I have been using were quite good, but these Meze cans do as well or better with the various mp3 tracks I've heard from my Fiio X1 so far. (Also. Please note for the commentary record, how these Meze cans continue to be very light and comfortable, even though I usually don't tolerate on the ear cans very well for very long, because of the on ear pressure. So far, no problems, actually.) Caught up in admiration, I put these cans through more musical paces. The sound remains airy with a grateful sense of most recording venues, depending on how the CD was engineered and depending on the music at hand.Tonal presence, for example, continued to be way more than good enough. Ivan Fischer conducting the Budapest Festival Orchestra (SACD) opted to use a natural horn to play the famous opening melody. The Meze cans have do difficulty in distinguishing the difference between open and stopped notes, without being so extreme in resolution that the sense of musicality is lost. Indeed, that is one of the most appealing feature about the sound these cans offer up, i. e., the airiness and sound stage, enhanced by consistent tonal accuracy/presence, along with more than average resolution of detail.This extra ability to render detail, as often happens in speakers including headphones, can cut both ways, positive and negative. On the positive side, if a recording captured singers/players at the top of their musical game, the extra detail will have listeners reveling in the excitement that such a high level of performance wants to convey. On the more negative side, if a particular CD was poorly recorded or was captured in a less than controlled setting, a listener on these cans will more likely hear the downside, than not. Some discs I pulled off the shelves sounded worse than I remember them, just because of this extra dollop of being able to reveal musical detail. With mp3 files, you may hear the audio compression going on, at least sometimes. This distraction varies. Some tracks or discs will be so much worse that you may decided you won't use these headphones for that music. Some tracks or discs will only convey the extra sense of being outside the recording studio, and to that extent, may have an enhanced sense of particular musical occasions. I am a Mahaliah Jackson fan, but these cans really show how at times her producer/engineer(s) made poor judgments, adding echo or otherwise fiddling around with her and her musicians in ways that clearly detract from the music she made, though as a fan I am not about to throw out even the less than ideal recordings. Her live version of the song, How I Got Over, comes from a European concert tour which left just the great singer and her faithful piano accompanist, Mildred Falls, and the entire concert disc is just that much more wonderful, than not, thanks to Meze. While nearly any worthwhile speakers/headphones will reveal Mahaliah Jackson's caramel to dark brown contralto voice, the Meze cans also let a listener revel in those moments when the gospel singer is sounding a certain, forceful gospel trumpet. The pre-stereo music tracks that were laid down by Mahaliah Jackson before she hit the gospel music big time will indeed sound boxy in a typical mono sort of way, but this downside is often more than compensated by the extra sense of ensemble and vocal glory plus finesse that is revealed. Heard on these Meze cans, Mahaliah Jackson truly comes across as one of her media banner lines: The World's Greatest Gospel Singer. O my, indeed!!!I guess one could summarize by saying that these Meze 66 Classic cans are not all that forgiving. The better the performance and the better the engineering on specific discs, the more a listener will be more strongly lured into what is going on musically and sonically. Given how well these 66 Classics perform, one cannot help but wonder if the upper tiers of the Meze line are as good or better? If you can, get a listen to the entire available line: 66 Classics ($149.00), 73 Classics ($249.00), and 88 Classics ($309.00). Dare I paraphrase Britten's text in Ceremony of Carols: If thou will fight thy foes with joy then flit not from these heavenly Meze 66 Classic ebony cans ??? !!!!

These are very aesthetically appealing, which was one of the reasons it caught my attention. The sound is excellent and comfortable for its size. I did regret not buying the bigger version, since I'm used to bigger headphones.However, they were quite fragile and didn't last too long. I only wore these indoors and never abused them. It broke when it got coiled around a door handle and the wire came loose. Again, I wore these at my house only, so if a person were to wear them outdoors, they could easily be damaged. I had to revert by to my previous set of headphones, which are more durable and still working up to this day. Quite sad I had to throw these away after not even lasting a year.

Arrived in excellent condition and product was as described. Quick and helpful responses via email. Much appreciated. Only negative is no adapter for headphones to system. Very inexpensive actually and should be included by Mezza.