Meze Audio Liric

Meze Audio's first portable planar magnetic headphones certainly aren't short of charm or talent

Headphones - ₹1,59,999

The current explosion of wireless noise-cancelling headphones makes it easy to overlook the more traditional cabled alternatives for portable use. But doing so would be a mistake – if absolute performance is your goal. If you have got a generous budget, something like Meze Audio’s new Liric headphones could well be exactly what you are looking for.

The Lirics make a great first impression from their suitably elaborate packaging to the understated but classy appearance. Meze Audio hasn’t skimped on the build. Magnesium is used for the earcup structure with a combination of aluminium and steel in the headband, all wrapped in soft-feel leather. These headphones feel luxurious and well-engineered. There’s no denying the attention to detail here, even the padding on the wide headband is shaped to promote airflow, so reducing heat build-up over long listening sessions.

As impressive as the construction is, the real highlight here is the 92 x 63mm ovoid MZ4 isodynamic hybrid array driver. This is a planar magnetic unit which has been designed to work with portable devices that need headphones that are easy to drive as well as sensitive. We certainly don’t have any issues driving the Liric directly with our Apple MacBook laptop or, moving up in ability, Audioquest’s Cobalt DAC or Chord’s Hugo 2.

Comfort and weight