Nice pick up. Empy is much better than liric imo.
Enjoy that bass 
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Meze LIRIC Planar Magnetic Closed Back Headphones
My impressions of the Meze LIRIC. Have a great rest of your weekend, friends!
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How well can the Liric handle a huge bass shelf compared to the LCD-XC? Does it get muddy or bleed into the mids at all?
Took the Meze Liric on a hike recently. I think itās one worth revisiting as the tuning is more clever than I think I had given it credit for in the past.
Itās definitely U-shaped with a bass and upper treble emphasis, but it kind of reminds me a bit of the 64 Audio U12t tuning, with a present yet relaxed upper midrange. So, this is one where itās certainly not neutral, but thereās something interesting here nonetheless - tasteful colorations we might call it.
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Just got the Dekoni pads in to test out on the Meze Liric:
Cautionary Note
Removing the pads on the Liric can be destructive to them, and itās a particularly involved process. Meze has a video on how to do it here:
I find these have a wider opening compared to the longer/thinner opening of the default pads, making the Dekoni ones significantly more comfortable for long periods of time if you have large ears (like I do).
They do also change the frequency response, hereās the result I got (trying out some dark mode for graphs!).
So for me this just changes slightly what I EQ. That 9khz peak is there for both, but itās more noticeable on the Dekoni pads I find, just because the rest of the treble is a bit more subdued. In both cases I drop that down by around 6dB with a fairly narrow Q.
As for the rest of the FR, it seems like these pads are fairly similar to the originals, with the exception of adding a deep phase cancellation effect (on this āheadā) around 7khz. Whether thatās audible may depend on the individual.
But something thatās a massive benefit to me personally with these pads is that they seem to do better at sealing around my glasses. With the default pads, the bass boost you see here actually isnāt audible because thereās a slight leak with how it fits for me (and I imagine others who wear glasses). Because the resonance frequency for these drivers is a bit higher up, you really do want that seal, and the Dekoni pads do help with that - for me at least.
In my opinion, while theyāre not perfect, they do alleviate a key issue for me with the Liric, and generally keep the original sound signature intact, which I suppose is a good thing for those who EQ anyway. Without EQ, that 9.5khz peak can get a bit intense.
Hereās my EQ at the moment for those who are trying out the Dekoni pads:
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Bad.
For anyone looking for the G.R.A.S measurements as a comparison they are up here. Meze Audio Liric Closed-Back Planar Magnetic Headphone - #26 by Resolve .
Do you have a graph with the normal pads vs the Dekoni pads on one plot for easy comparisons on the changes they make?
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Did anyone else find the mids kind of odd on this one? I felt like they were really scooped, the tuning was just not for me
Hi to all. I just got a pair of Liric (gen 1) at a killer price, demo, 1000 euros. I bought them without listening to them first as it was a dealer from another country. I gave them some hours of listening and admit I am not impressed. The sounds is ratherā¦ thin, and I need to turn them quite high to perceive more nuances. As I prefer listening at low volumes, did I make a mistake with these? I will still give them more time though
Welcome. What amp and DAC are you using? Are you using EQ?
Hi. Iām using an smsl dl200. I tried without EQ and with the eq settings described in the review of this site (the main site I mean).
Have to admit its my first experience with headphones (good quality I mean, I also have Jabra 85h and Sony wf1000xm3 that I barely used on the metro every now and then).
My dedicated sound system consists of primare i35 + dynaudio special forty, just for reference. And the reason I went for closed back is noise around the house (wife watching TV, also a construction nearby)
Thatās an ultra-measurements product with an ESS chipset. Iād expect it to be lean, thin, and dry. I suggest that you read this recent thread because it addresses how headphones change per total system synergy. And then, try the headphones with a different DAC and amp. Many headphones would likely sound lean or thin on SMSL/ESS hardware.
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Will read it. The smsl is still within the return window. Any quite recs around 200-300 (top 400) euros while I wait to get back home and read the thread? I did some research before buying the smsl and thought it was a good choiceā¦ I actually need an amp / dac with usb and some rca outs as well (for my other desktop speakers)
I bought the first mainstream ultra-measurements headphone amp about 5 years ago: the THX AAA 789. While okay in controlling the issues of low-end headphones and not bad with IEMs, that lean and dry amp now sits in a box unused.
Per the linked thread, I recommend Class A solid state amps. The simple Class A design sounds pure, fuller, and just better to my ears. I personally own the Class A $600 RebelAudio Rebel Amp. However, in daily life I use a nice Decware tube amp most of the time.
If you were US based Iād suggest Schiit products as often warmer and richer. In the EU look at the iFi product line, such as the $200 ZenDAC. Their Burr-Brown chips are a lot easier on my ears than ESS chips.
Iām calling out @SenyorC and @Lothar_Wolf for EU-specific ideas in this price class.
https://www.amazon.de/Cayin-VerstƤrker-tragbare-Kopfhƶrer-R2R-Technologie/dp/B09XB4HWJJ
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Or a second hand Chord Mojo2, paires excellent with the Liric 1 and 2
I really canāt remember the sound of the Liric 1 but I did find that I enjoyed the Liric 2 with iFi, which has plenty of options in Europe. I also really liked them with the Hifiman EF400 which is slightly over your budget but there is also the EF499 and EF500 which also have the R2R Himalaya DAC but I havenāt heard either of them yet.
Usually I would say that changing the DAC/Amp has minimal impact (although noticeable) and that a headphone that you find too bright or thin will benefit a lot more from EQ than a source swap. However, after seeing the difference the source made on the Liric 2 in the upper mids and treble, I am not so sure that the difference may be as minimal as usual.
I also ran the Liric 2 with the Asgard 3 which was ok but I much preferred the EF400, the iFi Gryphon and NEO iDSD and of course the Echo 2 (but that is tube).
As always, YMMV.
I changed my religion to start-from-the-source upon getting the Bifrost 2. Every one of my amps sounded different, and every set of headphones sounded different ā but Iām pretty sensitive to treble versus many people.
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Iām in your church, found out a couple of very interesting pairings lately.
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Bit of an update. Went to an audio store and listened to the liric on one of their amps (violectric hpa v222) through a lumin streamer. They sounded absolutely different in a positive way, it felt totally warmer, so to speak, and more clear even at low volume. So either you guys are right (most likely) or the demo headphones I got are faulty.
Will try taking them to some other store and listen to the them with another amp.
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Still reading the thread while in parallel looking at the used market here. Found one BURSON AUDIO Playmate 2 at a decent price (close to 50%). Read a review here (The Amps: Schiit Jotunheim 2, Burson Playmate 2 and Qudelix 5k Comparison - #32 by Twinguin) which seems pretty positive, and the amp is class A, is Roon tested, seems to tick many boxes. Any opinions on that one?
Also looking at Schiit as suggested, but if I can grab some used stuff itās better as I can get the money back if not happy 