Hifiman Sundara vs Meze 99 Classics

This is a planar magnetic over-ear open back headphone that comes in right at around $350. So let's take a look. This review unit was sourced through ...

But other than the gold, I approve of everything these headphones do. They're comfortable. They're light. They sound like X hundreds, but with less ba...

Seriously? For me, however, the dealbreaker was comfort. The housings on these things are very large and the clamping force is substantial. No matter how much I adjusted them, the pads on the housings pressed hard on the back of my ears and the bottom rear of my jaw, and I found that I could wear them for much more than thirty minutes before I have to take them off. This may have to do with the fact that the ear cup housings do not rotate at all, they are fixed perpendicular to the headband, and thus there's no compensation for pressure differences from the front to the back of the ear cups against your head/ears

They are oval shaped instead of being more tall than wide like the shape of your ear. They are padded well but IMO not thick enough as you'll feel the driver against your ear. The head band is pretty comfortable and didn't bother me at all over 2 hours. These definitely are not uncomfortable headphones, but if you have large ears or are sensitive to pressure on your ears these may not be the best headphones for you

Also these are some of the most open headphones ever. If you can hear your music someone 10 feet away can as well. As far as comfort goes they aren't the worst for me. Their pads are scratchy and slightly small, while the headband is just fine

I experienced no ear or head fatigue after 2 hours of continuous listening at high levels. They are surprisingly easy to drive. I like my music loud, and even running them straight from my Galaxy S8 without any external amp or DAC, I can get surprisingly loud, clean levels. The headphones are the most comfortable pair I own, out of a large collection, exceeding even the cozy AKG K701

I’ve had no issues with “build quality” at all. Nothing has loosened and there are no “glued on” parts falling off. The non-swiveling cans are a non-issue to me. I’m using these to listen to music without waking someone down the hall or next door, not to be a DJ in a club somewhere

A slightly early roll off leads to a smoothness and sophistication not often heard with many other headphones I have heard recently. Isolation – Due to the easy fit and soft leather pads, the Meze 99 Classics can form quite a nice seal. That seal in return leads to a really nice isolating headphone. I just had my friend try these out a few minute ago while I was writing this, he was really impress how well these headphones block off noise