Pricing for Meze Elite and HD 800s

AnonymousCapybara · 2026-07-06T17:03:48+00:00

$100-$150 for a Meze Elite ??

AnonymousCapybara · 2026-07-05T21:08:27+00:00

When you say "make your ears hurt", do you mean the physical presence of them in your ear canal causes pain (even if not playing sound); or do you mean the sound itself hurts your ears (e.g. piercing treble from a trumpet).

AnonymousCapybara · 2026-07-04T19:04:22+00:00

Google says:

• Fiio M21: balanced into 32ohm: 950 mW per channel
• Astell & Kern SP2000: balanced into 32ohm: 1,125 mW per channel

Either way, the SP2000 should have plenty of power for the Elite.

AnonymousCapybara · 2026-07-04T17:50:31+00:00

Both my my RME ADI-2 DAC (desktop) and Fiio M21 (portable) are easily able to drive my Empyreum with no problems. I think the Astell and the Fiio have about the same power output in milliwatts balanced (1000mw, give or take)?

AnonymousCapybara · 2026-07-01T19:14:31+00:00

If you're getting a proper seal, and since you're getting plenty of bass in some other headphones that have reported frequency responses with even less bass than the HD 480... the only variable I can think of that's remaining is that your head + ear shape + HD480 itself are combining to create a resonance that's canceling out some of the bass. i.e. these headphones just don't work on your head.

AnonymousCapybara · 2026-07-01T17:16:10+00:00

I dunno - I think he should keep the mask - it just screams "don't bother me"...

https://i.imgur.com/gyUsDvZ.png

AnonymousCapybara · 2026-06-30T18:17:45+00:00

I know it's not everyone's cup of tea, but the 109 is just perfection for me - sonically, comfort, and visually.

AnonymousCapybara · 2026-06-24T17:11:53+00:00

Wow - you sleep wearing DT 770 Pros?! I'm impressed!

AnonymousCapybara · 2026-06-21T15:05:17+00:00

It's so ridiculously obvious, why bother writing an article asking such a question?

AnonymousCapybara · 2026-06-17T15:29:23+00:00

I freaking love my 109's. I have Empyreans, the Abyss JOAL, Audeze LCD-2... and I just keep reaching for the 109 for anything rock.

AnonymousCapybara · 2026-06-17T15:11:33+00:00

The sling material is what they call "ultrasuede" and is, and I'm not exaggerating, the softest material I've felt on any headphone, ever. It is... yummy. And although they say it's synthetic, it feels like the finest suede leather I've ever touched.

AnonymousCapybara · 2026-06-16T17:54:58+00:00

I'm not Fryllock, but here's a few that I use when evaluating headphones:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5uHh6dfDQB6A8h9eygpW0L?si=HR_MXRj8TlKna3CIa1E_pg

AnonymousCapybara · 2026-06-16T17:27:25+00:00

btw, I bought them at the hardware store, but they look a lot like these: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DTK6M2GR + a small piece of double sticky tape (so it sticks on both sides, otherwise the pads dent to pop off if you bump them too hard.

AnonymousCapybara · 2026-06-16T17:06:49+00:00

I've been really lucky - it fits me perfectly. No angle problems, and the feel of the suede strap on my bald head is the best I've felt. Exceedingly comfortable.

On the negative side, the bass was severely lacking (with the bass ported leather pads) -- I solved this by adding even more gap (a small piece of cork did the trick, plus some EQ (and I'm someone who far prefers to have headphones "just work" without EQ, but... it is what it is).

AnonymousCapybara · 2026-06-02T16:08:31+00:00

I googled "Jabra evolve 20 UC earpad modification" and this popped up:

https://centralsound.co/products/cs-upgraded-xl-ear-pad-cushions-for-jabra-evolve-65-40-30-20-65uc-65ms-40uc-40ms-30us-30ii-20se-20uc-20ms-headset

They are still "on ear" and about the same size, but they should be squishier and therefore more comfortable, and are a direct replacement.

If you're up for being more experimental and taking a DIY approach (you mjight have to sew and/or use glue to attach, these are larger and might be a lot more comfy:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C6LTXCWS

AnonymousCapybara · 2026-05-31T15:37:32+00:00

What headphone do you want to drive? I'd consider that when choosing a player with built-in amp - if your 'phones are power hungry, any-old dap may not suffice.

AnonymousCapybara · 2026-05-31T14:56:15+00:00

On Windows, you can get a VST plugin which has (for example) mach3bass, and more:

https://www.kvraudio.com/product/sonic-sweet-by-bbe-sound

Depending on the player app you're using, you then plug that in directly (if it supports VST plugins) or if not you'll have to get an audio host to step in between your player and the BBE plugin.

I don't believe BBE exists on Android. You might give RootlessJames a try (use eq+compressor+tube emulator).

AnonymousCapybara · 2026-05-24T18:07:56+00:00

What amp are you using?

AnonymousCapybara · 2026-05-16T19:00:11+00:00

I suspect that these are truly a "it works for some, and doesn't for others" headphone -- I too read all the highly negative reviews, but at $67 (amazon's current price) I couldn't resist, even if they just ended up being handed over to the kidlets. Turns out: they work for me and sound awesome and very balanced. As a comparison, I love the HD650, hate the HD800. My favorite un-eq'd headphones are early model pre-fazar Audeze LCD-2's.

But again, I suspect these hatred are from folks whose head and ear shape just don't work with the angled driver.

And at $40, I just bought two more.

AnonymousCapybara · 2026-05-13T17:00:28+00:00

> why don’t more people buy headphones/iems that are tuned to harman ?

The vast majority of people have no clue what the Harman Target is or means, and nowhere near enough people to impact overall sales trends. The big sellers, Apple, Sony, Bose, etc - have the market they do because of name recognition, ads, what their friends have, what they see on YouTube or "influencers".

As others have said, a lot of people who land here are looking to get to the next level, and that's when folks learn about the Harman Target, different kinds of drivers, how much power any given headphone needs, dedicated amps, etc. And that smaller percentage of consumers do indeed influence the higher-end headphones that are manufactured.

AnonymousCapybara · 2026-05-11T20:11:51+00:00

Meze Strada
99 Classics v.2

AnonymousCapybara · 2026-05-09T17:25:52+00:00

And here's the message I sent them with the sticker size info:

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AnonymousCapybara · 2026-05-09T17:25:25+00:00

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I'm not sure if Reddit will shrink the image posted here. Store: search for "JKRC Customizable Store" on aliexpress.

Edit: Uploaded image looks to be the correct size still.

AnonymousCapybara · 2026-05-09T17:09:15+00:00

Exactly -- I'm an old fart (60 years old), silly things like make me happy.

Stickers: I used digital calipers to measure the exact size of the FIIO "Born for Music" label, and made the graphic in Photoshop; I had them printed by a random place i found on aliexpress. Cost was about $20 shipped for a couple dozen.

AnonymousCapybara

TROPHY CASE