Article: Mini Review: Meze Elite Angled Alcantara Ear Pads

[austinpop]

View full article

[The Computer Audiophile]

Thanks for the mini review @austinpop. I'm always a fan of a $199 upgrade!

[Confused]

Thanks for the mini review Rajiv, it is appreciated. This is interesting for me as I have Meze Empyrean headphones, until I read this I had no idea that angled Alcantara ear pads were a thing.

 

Would I benefit from the angled Alcantara ear pads? Impossible to say I think, after all we all hear differently. In my case, I actually prefer the Empyrean to the Elite. (I tried both, amongst many other options, and bought the Empyrean)

 

Still interesting though, I shall investigate further.

 

 

[austinpop]

4 hours ago, Confused said:

Thanks for the mini review Rajiv, it is appreciated. This is interesting for me as I have Meze Empyrean headphones, until I read this I had no idea that angled Alcantara ear pads were a thing.

 

Would I benefit from the angled Alcantara ear pads? Impossible to say I think, after all we all hear differently. In my case, I actually prefer the Empyrean to the Elite. (I tried both, amongst many other options, and bought the Empyrean)

 

Still interesting though, I shall investigate further.

 

I wish I had a definitive answer, but my Empyrean has been gone for a while now. My best guess is you would hear similar differences, but hard to say if that would sound better to you. I would certainly be tempted to try them as an Empyrean owner!

[baconbrain]

On 7/20/2023 at 2:41 PM, Confused said:

Thanks for the mini review Rajiv, it is appreciated. This is interesting for me as I have Meze Empyrean headphones, until I read this I had no idea that angled Alcantara ear pads were a thing.

 

Would I benefit from the angled Alcantara ear pads? Impossible to say I think, after all we all hear differently. In my case, I actually prefer the Empyrean to the Elite. (I tried both, amongst many other options, and bought the Empyrean)

 

Still interesting though, I shall investigate further.

 

 

 

Hi Confused,

 

Meze has recently released a ear pad upgrade for Empryrean owners as well, but I couldn't tell you if they are angled or not.

 

BB

[Confused]

On 7/22/2023 at 2:34 PM, baconbrain said:

 

Hi Confused,

 

Meze has recently released a ear pad upgrade for Empryrean owners as well, but I couldn't tell you if they are angled or not.

 

BB

According to what little information is available on line, it looks like the same earpads are available for both the Empyrean and the Elite.

 

https://mezeaudio.com/products/angled-alcantara-ear-pads

 

https://www.scvdistribution.co.uk/home-audio/meze-audio/empyrean-earpad-set?v=1000

 

 

 

[Confused]

On 7/20/2023 at 5:52 PM, austinpop said:

 

I wish I had a definitive answer, but my Empyrean has been gone for a while now. My best guess is you would hear similar differences, but hard to say if that would sound better to you. I would certainly be tempted to try them as an Empyrean owner!

I agree, a definitive answer in this situation is impossible. I do note that we have one thing in common, I too am not keen on the original Alcantara ear pads. To my hearing, they take the tonal qualities of the headphones one step away from listening to music, and one step towards listening to headphones. This is not a good step for me. 

 

I am tempted by the angled pads, but I think I'll wait until there is a little more information available. Or better still, until I have a chance to listen to myself. There are some Meze dealers not too far from where I live, and some audio shows coming up, which I might visit. Meanwhile I am very happy with what I have, so no need to rush with this one.

[austinpop]

5 hours ago, Confused said:

There are some Meze dealers not too far from where I live, and some audio shows coming up, which I might visit.

That would be ideal.

[mriguy]

Hi Everyone...  Well, when austinpop speaks, I've learned to always listen closely! Such was the case with his post here. I have a pair of Emperyians that I've really loved. That said, I had noticed their warm, just slightly too warm, character, along with the midbass hump. After reading this post, I decided to give it a try. So happy I did. Here's what I discovered:

 

As hoped, the treble became clearer and more extended. Exactly what I needed. The mid bass hump became controlled, as hoped, though an interesting thing happened. I sort of missed it. I guess, I'd gotten used to the foundation that it could bring. So I decided to try a bit of EQ. Up to this point, I had rejected this, as it seemed I could alway hear it and it bugged me. I'll come back to this in a bit.

 

But the absolute killer in the new earpads turned out not to be frequency control or resoltion, but soundstaging! It's absolutely killer now. You don't know, until you know. It's so enjoyable. 

 

Back to EQ. So, I added acouple of db with a shelf filter arount 60 hertz, with a gentle Q factor. Maybe it was just because it was a low frequency filter, but I really can't hear it. It feels like getting your cake and eating it too. So satisfying at a ridiculously low price. Plus, you get to keep the comfort of the Emperyian. Thanks Rajiv, et all... yet again!

[austinpop]

@mriguy

 

So glad to hear that you found my descriptions of the angled alcantara earpads useful! In fact, since I wrote the article, I am finding myself using them almost exclusively, irrespective of the music genre. These pads are definitely a giant step forward for both the Empyrean and Elite headphones.

 

Have fun!