Meze 109 PRO Open-Back Headphone Review

Romanian headphone manufacturer Meze may not be at the tip of everyone’s tongue when the subject turns to headphones. But if you are in any way passionate about cans you are very much aware of Meze, and both the technical and design innovations they have brought to the headphone market through their various products. The recently introduced Meze 109 PRO fit roughly in the middle of the company’s nine headphone (and earphone) model line, yet they are anything but a middle-of-the-road pair of cans.

Meze, as a company, has developed into a very unique headphone manufacturer. In terms of portfolio, their product line is a very focused one. Nine models in all and each distinctly different from the other. Aesthetically speaking the design sense is very European, marrying the attention to detail that is typically associated with the German mindset yet with a design flair that sits somewhere between French and Italian. I can’t help but think that if artist Alphonse Mucha were still around, he would find much to admire about the look of Meze’s head and earphones. They don’t look or feel like your average commodity items. The Meze 109 PRO in particular is a recent addition to the line that sits above the company’s longstanding and popular 99 Classics model. It is also the brand’s first open-back dynamic driver headphone, coming a year after the release of their closed-back planar dynamic Liric headphone. The $800-buck headphone SKU is becoming a busier and busier place these days, with compelling headphones (in both open and closed-back designs) to choose from. While the Meze 109 PRO certainly has the looks to stand out from the crowd, does it have the sound quality to match?

The Meze 109 PRO is a refreshingly unique-looking pair of cans. The subframe is made of a zinc-manganese steel alloy for both lightness and durability. The subframe’s dual arms converge to a single point on either end where the earcups connect via a circular pivot point. The padded leather headband is elastically attached to a pair of copper-colored frame cross-members thus making the headphones self-adjusting. Meze claims the 109 PROs will easily accommodate most any noggin size.

The exterior of the earcups are made from a sustainability-harvested Black Walnut wood. A large back opening is covered with a black mesh to protect the rear of the drivers yet allow air movement and sound to pass through. A set of radial fins connect the earcup to the pivot point at the subframe. The earpads are comprised of a velour-covered foam and are designed to be soft and breathable.

The Meze 109 PRO uses an in-house designed and tuned 50 mm dynamic driver. According to Meze, while the driver uses custom components that are sourced from other countries, all the design, engineering, final assembly, and QC are done at Meze HQ in Baia Mare, Romania.

This custom driver uses a diaphragm made from two different composites. The main dome has a W-shaped cross-section and is composed of a carbon fiber-reinforced cellulose composite that is said to be especially good at minimizing resonances and reproduction of fine detail. The dome is attached to a torus (or surround for lack of a better term) that is made from a Beryllium-coated semi-crystalline polymer for low weight, increased stiffness, and fast transient response. A copper-zinc alloy stabilizer ring is employed around the diaphragm to absorb any stray vibrations thus keeping distortion in check. The entire diaphragm assembly is housed in a CNC- machined aluminum frame and uses a Neodymium magnet structure. The driver is finished with an elegant copper-colored grille with the words
“Made in Romania” laser-etched on its surrounding edge.

There are two included cable sets. One measures 1.5 meters while the other is double that length. Both come with a single-ended 3.5mm stereo headset jack on the source end and two 3.5mm jacks on the other end, one marked Left and the other Right, that conveniently plugs into the earcups. A ¼” phono plug adapter is included. Meze offers custom braided premium cables in both single-ended and balanced terminations as extra-cost options. A hard-shell travel case is also included.

I tried the Meze 109 PRO headphones with a few different equipment combinations for mobile listening. When using my iPhone 12 Pro MAX, while the standard Apple lightning-to-headphone dongle worked fine in a pinch providing just enough juice to the headphones for adequate volume, I preferred to use Periodic Audio’s Rhodium DAC or the THX Onyx dongle DAC/Amp for added power. If I was feeling particularly fancy, I would use the OPPO HA-2SE DAC/Headphone Amp for extended listening sessions. Otherwise, I would use my Shanling M0 Digital Audio Player combined with either the OPPO HA-2SE or the iFi Audio xDSD DAC/Amp.

When listening at home, I used either the Topping DX7PRO+ DAC/AMP or the Geshelli Labs J2 DAC and Archel 2.5XL headphone amp combination with my Surface 3 PRO tablet in a docking station that runs my digital music library via ROON. Occasionally my Benchmark Media Systems stack would enter the mix as well.

I think the Meze 109 PRO are only the second open-back headphones with dynamic drivers that I’ve officially reviewed. The $1,100 Spirit Torino Mistral Bluetooth headphones were the first. All the other open-back headphones that I’ve sampled here at SECRETS have had planar magnetic drivers. So, in that sense, I was curious to see what I would think of Meze 109 PRO after some long-term listening. Would they still have the same sort of punch that I expect from dynamic drivers and, because they are an open-back design, would they be lacking in that 100 Hz to 300 Hz “power band” region where much of the rhythm and drive resides for rock and jazz? The brief listen I got at CanJAM NYC last year suggested answers of Yes to the former and No to the latter, but that was with 10 minutes of listening at best.

Well, I need not have worried because the Meze 109 PRO turned out to be a winner on all counts. Starting with comfort, these Meze headphones excelled at feeling almost non-existent after about 10 minutes of wear. While very lightweight, the clamping force they applied was just enough to ensure a tight seal but did not induce any temple or neck fatigue after wearing for multiple-hour stints. The self-adjusting headband set the headphones perfectly on my oversize melon and kept them consistently stationary, no muss-no fuss.
The Meze 109 PRO legitimately ranks as some of the most comfortable headphones I’ve ever worn.

From a sound quality standpoint, the Meze 109 PRO didn’t disappoint either. They have a sonic signature that is very reminiscent of the Beyerdynamic T5p Gen 3 ($899) in that the Meze shares an excellent balance from the deep bass up through to the midrange bands. The Meze doesn’t quite have the extra bit of upper bass/lower midrange warmth that the Beyers do but it’s not to their detriment. That more linear balance combined with the open-back design, helps the 109 PRO’s treble balance sound smoothly spacious and airy without getting overbearing like in some other open-back planar magnetic headphones out there. While the Beyerdynamic T5p Gen 3 is a closed-back design they angle their drivers in the earcups to help create a more spacious sound. When compared back-to-back, the Meze 109 PRO consistently sounded more natural and not quite as “thick sounding” as the Beyers. Switching over to the Spirit Torino Mistral Bluetooth (listening wired) I found an even closer similarity in sound between these two pairs of cans. The Bass was equally deep and impactful with no bloat in the upper bass/lower midrange region. If anything, I thought the Mistral had a slightly brighter sound overall with a touch less focus in the mids and treble. In fact, with all the different music I listened to, I was struggling to find fault with the Meze 109 PRO. I even had a chance to spend a little time comparing the 109 PROs with their more expensive sister model, the Meze Liric ($2,000) that SECRETS reviewer Mel Martin seriously enjoyed a short while back. And while I found the Lyric headphones suitably outstanding and an altogether different beast at over twice the price of the headphones I’m reviewing, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t keep coming back to the 109 PRO as the more enjoyable headphone to listen to for my tastes. You might feel differently but this fact alone spoke volumes to me.

You can pay more money if you really WANT to for a set of exceptional headphones, but the Meze 109 PRO makes a very compelling case that you don’t necessarily NEED to.

The Meze 109 PRO are some of the most comfortable and best-sounding open-back headphones that I have ever come across, full stop. They are constructed to a standard of finish that quite frankly shames some other more expensive brands out there. They are also tuned in such a way that they will flatter almost any music you see fit to listen to through them. They also look fantastic and are fairly easy to drive to boot. They have shockingly few weaknesses and I can think of few better ways to burn an $800 hole in my pocketbook. I could easily see having a pair of Meze 109 PRO and a pair of Dan Clark Aeon2 Noire and that would completely cover my open and closed-back headphone needs. The Meze 109 PRO is a superb pair of headphones and I intend to nominate them to our Recommended Gear list for 2023. They have my highest recommendation.