Meze 109 Pro Review

 [MSRP $799. Purchased for $799 + tax on Amazon in January 2025.]

[Tl;dr: These are my new favorite headphones, period. They’re not objective-focused; their tune is warm (and buttery, and magic), but if that’s something you’re interested in, I cannot recommend these strongly enough. They’re so good out of the box, in fact, that I’m not even using EQ on them. This is my end-game open-back, at least until I can justify trying out the Meze Empyrean 2.]

Scores:

Cost-agnostic: 10 out of 10 Denalis

Cost-sensitive: 9 out of 10 Denalis [I know. I know.]

Intro.  I’ve owned and loved a pair of the Meze x Drop 99 Noir (the Drop rebrand and recolor of the Meze 99 Classic, a widely beloved entry-level audiophile-grade closed back headphone. Because I’d loved those headphones (still my favorite closed back), but generally prefer open-backs, and because I love Meze’s steampunk-esque aesthetic, I decided to buy myself a pair of open-backed Mezes for Christmas. There are really two choices in my reasonable price range, as much as I would love to try the Empyrean 2s (someday you shall be mine!): the 109 Pro and the 105 AER (for $399). Because I’ve been wanting to try a truly mid-tier audiophile grade headphones, and because I love the dark wood, black leather, and brass fittings, I opted to order a pair of the 109s, figuring if they didn’t impress me or I preferred the Arya Stealth I could use Amazon’s genuinely good return policy.

Spoiler: they’re really damned great. They’re my favorite headphones now. And I will be keeping them and using them on a daily basis. It's worth noting that these are not “objective” focused headphones; they have a distinctly warmer (buttery?) tone that happens to 100% vibe with me and my sonic preferences.

[Review note: I’ve mostly been listening to these balanced via a balanced cable on a Modius/Jotunheim 2 Schiit stack, except where otherwise noted. I’m also using the same $30 Newfantasia XLR-terminated cable as the Arya Stealth review.]

Sound. These are simply my favorite headphones I’ve heard.  Period. [Also, this is mostly a good thing, but like all highly-resolving headphones they punish poorly mastered records.]

I commented in my long-delayed 6XX review a few weeks ago and then again last week in my review of the Arya Stealth that one of those headphones’ surprising strengths is the ability to cleanly and beautifully reproduce silence, and these take that up to 11.5. The bell tones on Massive Attack’s “Angel (Blur Remix)” are beautiful and resonant and cut at precisely the right moment. The attack on the bass notes in “What Did I Do” by Meshelle Ndegeocello are punchy and then immediately get out of the way, especially when they get shorter and more clipped near the end of the song. The interplay on “Garcia Counterpoint” is perfect; complex, lush, and layered exactly how I want them to be.

These are headphones that celebrate and reward quiet and subtle tracks, but also do real justice to bright, brassy, vibrant and complex tracks like Daft Punk’s “Face to Face” or Son Lux’s truly beautiful (and ironically named) “Easy”. The sound on these is so good that I can’t listen to some things while I’m working, because they will distract me and pull me out of it.

The soundstage/stereo separation is good but not particularly remarkable. They’re slightly less separated than the Arya Stealth, with the end result that things like the click track and guitar on Beyonce’s cover of “Blackbird” are clearly off to the sides, but are substantially less distracting than on the Arya. Vocalists generally feel like they’re in your head instead off in front of you, with less of a phantom center effect than some other headphones. The guitar riff at the beginning of DMB’s “So Much to Say” is just off your left ear rather than sitting across the room, and Dave is sitting right between your ears. The guitar at the beginning of “Love Can Damage Your Heath (Laid Mix)” feels like its circling you rather than walking back and forth, which to me translates as a little more forward/backward separation than something like the Arya Stealth, which I appreciate. For whatever reason, this is particularly pronounced running single-ended compared to balanced. (No idea why.)

They’re good enough that sometimes something in the mix will sound like it’s coming from the world around you, which can be a little confusing when you live with a scheming golden retriever. Also it’s the first time I’ve ever noticed the organ on “Calls” by Robert Glasper rapidly panning, left to right.

The dynamics are really, really good. Attacks are clean, crisp, and precise, with a solid thump. The trumpet peals on Brasstrack’s “Intro” have power and punch without being overbearing. “It’s All So Incredibly Loud” by Glass Animals starts off so quietly that you want to turn the volume up, and when it really hits its stride around 3:15 it’s on the edge of being too loud. These do quiet so well that you will find yourself leaning in, and have you reaching for the volume down button when tracks hit their limits.

The bass is incredible: clean and crisp without being overbearing or splattery. The throbbing notes on Andy Stott’s “Violence” and the subterranean vibration on “Limit to your Love” by James Blake feel like they’re not just coming from headphones, but it’s also nimble enough to really excel on the bassline in “Got ‘Til It’s Gone” by Janet Jackson. I’ve also never heard Yo-Yo Ma’s cello vibrations as deeply or clearly on “1B” as I do with these headphones.

[One note: I’m not generally a person who thinks balanced amps and connections add much to the equation, but I swear the bass is richer and more nuanced running balanced than single-ended on this particular pair of headphones. They’re also basically the only headphones where I think I hear a difference between a Vali 2 (an inexpensive tube amp) and a modern Modi. Your mileage may vary.]

Mid-range is really good. Jill Scott’s voice on “Calls” is beautifully and powerfully reproduced, and the end of “You Got Me” from “The Roots Come Alive” genuinely gives me shivers.  I get a little sibilance on Amelia Meath’s voice on Sylan Esso’s eponymous debut album, but not really on any of their more modern stuff; this may just be a recording artifact that I’ve never noticed because I’ve never heard it on a sufficiently resolving system.

Male vocals across both rapping and singing are also really well-reproduced, from Sampha’s “Like the Piano” to Justin Hicks on “What Did I Do” to Eddie Vedder on Pearl Jam’s “River Cross.”

These are the only headphones I’ve heard that really compete with the 6XX on vocals, and they do so without any of the compromises of the 6XX.

Treble is really good as well. Reasonably faithful reproductions of even badly balanced treble, while maybe taking just the tiniest bit off the edge on a track like Vampire Weekend’s “2021.” The muted trumpet on “Will O’ the Wisp” is beautifully reproduced, with a clear contrast between Miles Davis and the rest of the orchestra, without rendering it harsh or discordant. Sylvan Esso’s “Coffee” is perfectly balanced and clear, and the counterpoints throughout “Garcia Counterpoint” are crisply and clearly articulated; distinct without being separated too much.

Gaming. I’ve used these a little for gaming, but not really in any first-person shooters where positioning matters yet. I’m curious to give them a shot in Cyberpunk 2077 over the next few weeks; my sense from music so far is that the soundstage is consistent and well executed, if not overwhelmingly large.

Amplifier compatibility. Like the Aryas, the 109s seem pretty amp-agnostic. They’re 40 ohm, 112 db/mW headphones so they really don’t require very much power to drive, though they do seem really particularly happy running balanced from the Jotunheim 2 (a pretty powerful desktop amp). They’re also perfectly lovely running from a $50 Moondrop Dawn Pro dongle DAC, and they were particularly nice running single-ended from the Bifrost/Asgard 2 stack. As I noted above, I really do think they benefit from running balanced, particularly with regards to bass clarity and punch, so push comes to shove, I’ll probably mostly run these balanced from the Jotunheim stack. (Also I would feel weird walking around with an almost $800 pair of headphones in my bag.)

Noise canceling. Definitely not. Their design isn’t quite as open as the 6XX or Arya Stealth, so you will get a TINY bit of passive isolation (as in I can’t quite hear myself typing on an Apple keyboard while I have music playing, but the moment I pause it I can hear every keystroke).

Spatial audio. Nope!

Controls. None. These are passive open-backed headphones.

Connectivity.  The 109s ship with two standard 3.5 mm to 3.5 mm single ended cables (1.5 m and 3 m) and a 6.5 mm adapter. There’s a whole world of aftermarket cables available as the dual 3.5 mm connection is used by a number of manufacturers (like Hifiman, Focal, etc.), though you will need to check compatibility as the jacks on the ear cups are recessed and some cables will not be able to fit (*cough* Hart Cables thick braided cables *cough*). I personally have two Newfantasia cables for it (XLR-terminated and 4.4 mm balanced terminated) and both seem to work quite well.  

Comfort. Some people find the clamping force uncomfortable, but for me I think they’re just right; tight enough that they don’t slide around on my head when I'm moving around, but loose enough that they don’t pinch even when wearing reading glasses. The pleather headstrap is really nicely designed, spreading the weight out comfortably. The earpads are a really nice velour, though I am curious to see how the comfort changes over years of use.

Construction. These feel like I think a luxury product should. They’re solid without being weighty, and I’m not at all worried about dropping them like I am with some other headphones. One of my few complaints about the 99 Noir is how incredibly microphonic the metal frame is; any contact on the frame translates into pretty loud noise in the ear cups. They really fixed that issue with the 109 Pro; even drumming on the frame doesn’t generate noise beyond the overall vibration on the headphones. They also come with a velvet-lined hard case, and a vegan leather bag to store cables in.

Appearance. Honestly, I really love the steampunk-y aesthetic that Meze favors. Everything from the dark colors they chose to the metal accents to the dark black leather is just my jam. Everyone’s entitled to their own taste, but I think these are genuinely beautiful.

Value/Comparisons. As I wrote last week about the Arya Stealth: “This is mostly a new price category for me, so the only things I really have to compare are the Meze 109 Pro ($799 MSRP) and my dad’s Massdrop x Focal Elex (originally around $1,000, priced down to around $600 before they went out of production).”

Regardless of their original price point, I think these are just better than the Elex. The Elex have been described as a super-6XX and I think that’s accurate; they’re really nice headphones with incredible mids, but I think the 109s blow them away in pretty much every other category. Even with regards to pricing, for $799 you’re getting more with the 109s than the Elex with the exception of an included OEM balanced cable. I’d rather buy these and a $30 XLR cable than the Elex.

With regards to the Arya, here’s me quoting last week me: “[T]he 109 is my new favorite headphone. And as good as the Arya is, it’s not particularly close. The Aryas are a very objective headphone with a focus on faithful reproduction, but the 109s are … magic. They’re tuned more towards my personal preference (warm, buttery, and smooth), and even with substantial EQ applied to the Aryas the 109s just sound better to me. They’re also more clearly a luxury product, with a beautiful dark wood-and-copper steampunk sensibility and incredible build quality, and shipping with a really nice, custom-designed semi-rigid case.  The one place that the Aryas beat the 109 is in terms of the open feeling; because of the design of the 109’s ear cups (and maybe because they feel a lot like the closed-back 99 Noirs I’ve had for a few years), you hear a lot less of the world around you than you do with the Arya. Your mileage may vary about which of those you prefer."

A week later, those things are all still true. I really like the Aryas, but I love the 109s. With the Aryas down to $599 (at least until the trade war really gets going), they’re certainly competitive on a value-adjusted basis. But if you can afford the extra $200, or you’re purely looking for sound quality … to me, the 109s are clearly worth it. The 109s are going to be my stretch recommendation to anyone looking for a great pair of every-day listening headphones for anyone who doesn’t want studio-style objectivity.

Overall. The Meze 109 Pros are fantastic headphones. I love them. You should listen to them. If you can afford them, you should buy them. Now. I mean it. This second.

Seriously though; what a great pair of headphones. There are no obvious flaws, and the base tune is so. Damned. Good. That I’m not particularly even interested in EQ’ing them. If you’re going to spend this much money on a pair of headphones, you want them to be damned near-flawless, and for me, these don’t disappoint.

#reviews #headphones #sennheiser #6XX #anc #spatialaudio #meh #2025 #99noir #meze #109pro #109 #overear #cans #hifiman #arya #stealth