Meze Audio 99 Classics v2

Fernando Alday
Jul 17
6 min read

Meze Audio presents version 2 of its acclaimed 99 Classics headphones. If the first version did not impress you, this one surely will.

The original proposal by Meze Audio with the 99 Classics represented an absolute turning point in industrial design and craftsmanship applied to portable high fidelity. In a global market saturated with injected plastics, planned obsolescence, and cold industrial aesthetics, the Romanian firm led by Antonio Meze demonstrated that headphones could be treated with the same respect and nobility as a stringed musical instrument. That primitive model broke molds by combining solid wood, metal, and a purely mechanical assembly.

With the arrival of the long-awaited Version 2, Meze Audio discreetly updates this icon without altering the sonic and aesthetic essence that elevated it to the altars of residential and portable audio. This evolution focuses on listening to the feedback of the international audiophile community, meticulously polishing critical aspects of comfort, ergonomic stability, and refinement in the finishes. The goal is to consolidate its leading position in the highly competitive segment of high-resolution closed-back headphones, offering a more mature, long-lasting, and luxurious-to-the-touch product.

Construction, Design, and Updates in Version 2

Physically, the architecture of the 99 Classics V2 continues to feature elliptical cups machined from a single block of American walnut wood as its absolute protagonists. The CNC milling process for each individual cup takes nearly eight hours of high precision, followed by a thorough manual sanding and polishing process that extends over weeks. Since it is natural wood sourced sustainably, no two units in the world are identical. Each headphone exhibits a unique grain, tone, and pattern inherent to the material.

Not only that, but the wood grants the cups excellent internal acoustic resonance properties, naturally eliminating the standing waves that often plague traditional plastic cups. In practice, the Mezes stand out for a clear, natural, and balanced sound.

The major upgrade in Version 2 focuses on refinement and addressing the areas of improvement identified by the brand and users over the last 10 years. The company directed its efforts toward 10 key areas:

A more neutral and natural tuning target.
Matched drivers for a more balanced response.
Increased internal volume of the ear cups.
Improved sealing and a rear ventilation port.
Modification of the driver support architecture.
Redesigned ear cup sealing foam.
Redesigned acoustic profile.
Redesigned connection port to accommodate thicker cables.
Redesigned, higher-quality cable.
Inclusion of a USB-C DAC in the bundle.

It is best to address these upgrades together, as dedicating a paragraph to each one would take more time than most of us have to spare these days. Essentially, I will focus on the acoustic improvements, comfort enhancements, and finally, the accessory updates.

The acoustic improvements caught my attention first due to the balance of the overall presentation. Yes, the headphones have gained a lot of detail, but it remains a well-achieved balance, undoubtedly the result of a rigorous testing process that has paid off. Regarding the original 99 Classics, I noted:

"(...) the Mezes paint the complete picture, with good definition and a pleasant tonality."

With the V2, I think that picture has gained a lot of life in its colors, which feel noticeably more vibrant and realistic.

Regarding comfort enhancements, the larger ear cup volume, combined with the updated padding material, maintains excellent weight distribution and fit. These headphones feel very comfortable and secure on the head, with little worry that a sudden movement will send them flying.

My only complaint, though not an aesthetic one, as I like the looks, is that the headband still produces a very distinct sound when adjusting the headphones once they are on. This probably will not bother most users, but it causes me minor annoyance. I do not know if it is possible to isolate it from the assembly, as I have not tried dismantling them. A sleeve made of a dampening material might mitigate it. If these headphones were mine, I would try a couple of options.

As for the accessories, Meze Audio always includes excellent cables with their gear. Every cable I have handled has proven to be premium and highly capable. The one bundled with the 99 Classics V2 is no exception, though I also tested them with the outstanding cables I have on hand from Arachne Audio and Hart Audio Cables. All yielded stellar results. Finally, including the USB-C DAC in the box is a brilliant move. I tested this DAC previously and, as a reminder, it left me highly satisfied.

How It Sounds

The Meze Audio 99 Classics V2 stand out for a sound profile characterized by organic warmth, a full-bodied low end, and a highly fluid presentation that blends musical emotion with great detail, without ever falling into clinical analysis.

The earpad redesign in Version 2 provides a direct, quantifiable acoustic benefit. By improving passive isolation and optimizing the physical distance from the driver to the pinna, the bass response is perceived with slightly better articulation, speed, and control compared to the original version. The slight tendency to bloat or bleed into the midrange during dense orchestral passages has been noticeably reduced. Their low 32-ohm impedance combined with high sensitivity makes them incredibly easy to drive, responding with outstanding dynamics to both pocket-sized portable gear and purist desktop amplifiers. To analyze their timbral behavior, we selected three foundational tracks from our analog library:

Bill Evans Trio, "Waltz for Debby" (Waltz for Debby / Riverside Records): The reproduction of Scott LaFaro's double bass exhibits remarkable weight, richness, and extension in the low frequencies, providing a highly pleasant rhythmic foundation and a full-bodied sustain that settles the track with authority. Evans's own piano is perceived with a creamy, dense texture and a markedly sweet timbre, avoiding any sharp edges or stridency in the highest notes of the scale. The excellent resolution in the midrange captures the atmosphere of the Village Vanguard with surgical precision; the subtle clinking of glasses, the rustle of cutlery on the tables, and the distant murmurs of the audience integrate with astonishing naturalness into the musical fabric, demonstrating that the 99 Classics V2 have a fantastic ability to recreate the atmosphere and three-dimensionality of live recordings.

Nick Drake, "River Man" (Five Leaves Left): Drake's acoustic guitar benefits directly from the noble resonance of the walnut wood cups, delivering a sound with a real, deep wooden body and an analog warmth that blankets the British artist's voice intimately and closely. The string section accompanying the track unfolds with a silky smoothness, floating around the main performance coherently without causing interference or clouding the primary musical message. Version 2 demonstrates an innate maturity in reproducing acoustic genres like folk rock, positioning the vocals on a slightly forward plane and always prioritizing musicality, phase coherence, and harmonic richness over extreme analytical separation.

Martha Argerich, "Chopin: Nocturne No. 4 in F-Sharp Major, Op. 15, No. 2" (Argerich Plays Chopin / Deutsche Grammophon): In this complex piano performance, the attack of the keys is presented with a soft yet firm contour, giving the lower registers of the piano a physical and imposing presence within the scene. Although the soundstage does not possess the massive dimensions of a reference open-back headphone, the space is extremely well resolved for a closed-back design, providing a comforting sense of intimacy highly suitable for chamber works. The decay of the notes in the more paused passages and the silence that separates them fade progressively and linearly, keeping the emotion, lyricism, and dramatic tension of the execution completely intact.

Technical Data

Driver Type: Dynamic
Driver Size: 40 mm
Frequency Range: 15 Hz to 25 kHz
Impedance: 16 Ω
Sensitivity: 103 dB SPL/mW at 1 kHz
Total Harmonic Distortion: <0.1% at 1 kHz
Input Connector: Dual 3.5 mm TS Jack
Ear Cups: Walnut Wood
Weight: 290 g (10.23 oz)

Conclusions

The Meze Audio 99 Classics V2 establish themselves as a smart, respectful, and highly necessary update to a modern classic within the high-fidelity landscape. Their proposition is not about competing in the league of cold studio monitors or clinical monitoring tools that seek to shred micro-details at the cost of listening fatigue. On the contrary, Meze offers a refuge of absolute comfort, lasting natural beauty, and pure musical emotion.

As you can see, this is a series of substantial changes. Yes, on the outside they look very similar, but in action, the V2 are a totally different beast. They improve not only the sensation when putting them on, as the ergonomics have directly benefited, but they also present a host of sound improvements. Although these are apparent from the very first moment, I would have liked to still have the version 1 on hand to compare them directly. Some fortunate user of the brand has surely been able to do so by now and will have experienced not only the excellent sound of the 99 V2, but also the distinctive execution of the upgrades and appreciation for a brand that cares about its followers.

The subtle yet decisive ergonomic improvements introduced in the headband structure and the depth of the earpads in Version 2 remarkably refine the user experience during long listening sessions. At the same time, they achieve a subtly more precise and articulate bass control than in the previous model. It is a highly forgiving headphone that shows benevolence toward mediocre or compressed recordings and rewards well-executed takes with a dense, communicative sound and undeniable aesthetic refinement. For the enthusiast looking to disconnect from technical analysis, forget about frequency response graphs, and focus exclusively on the beauty, body, and soul of the musical performance, Antonio Meze's renewed creation remains one of the most sensible, long-lasting, and rewarding investments that can be firmly recommended in the pages of Et Sona.