It was only yesterday that we were waxing internally about how much we love the Meze Audio Empyrean headphones. If you’ve never had the opportunity to listen to these magnificent headphones, I would enthusiastically recommend that you do. If we were to list the top 10 products in the personal audio category — they would be my personal pick as the “best” right now. Who had the Meze Audio ELITE on their 2021 Bingo card?
The Empyrean have been joined by a new member of the family and the Head-Fi community is about to lose its collective headbands with the news that Antonio Meze has come up with something even better.
At least 3 of us here listen with Meze Audio headphones and the Empyrean have always been our benchmark for sound quality when it comes to high-end headphones.
The news this morning from Baia Mare is both unexpected and rather intriguing.
Meze Audio, a high-end audio company based in Romania, continues its collaboration with Rinaro Isodynamics for the release of the new ELITE Isodynamic Hybrid Array headphone, their most advanced planar magnetic headphone to date.
A blend of innovative technology and acoustic engineering with outstanding mechanical design and ergonomics, ELITE is the result of 3 years of research and development which opened the path for creating a powerful, lifelike sound experience.
“With Elite we’ve created something that transcends all barriers of headphone design and engineering and moves to a new, artistic, graceful level. Following in the footsteps of a successful partnership with Rinaro Isodynamics, we managed to exceed our expectations once again and create something for the ages. This is not mass production; it’s the craftsmanship that sparks the magic and wonder in Elite, what makes it exciting, and these are values that we choose over any shortcuts”, said Antonio Meze, Lead Designer and Founder of Meze Audio.
Powering the Elite is the custom-developed MZ3SE Isodynamic Hybrid Array driver created by Rinaro, which sees a combination of individual switchback and spiral shaped voice coils in the one driver to target soundwaves with more accuracy around the natural form of the ear.
The driver features Rinaro Parus®, a new, high performing diaphragm material that has been developed specifically for the ELITE. The innovative low mass acoustic diaphragm is produced with bespoke sequential biaxial lengthening technology, a process that involves stretching the material in transverse directions at elevated temperatures to improve structural performance.
“Rinaro Parus® is the result of 3 years of exploration into material sciences by the team at Rinaro. The semi-crystalline micro structure exhibits remarkable strength, stiffness, and stability, combined with an extremely low acoustic mass. This brings a new level of performance to Isodynamic Hybrid Array drivers”, said Pavlo Shymanovych, Founder of Rinaro Isodynamics.
On the outside, the alien-like chassis combines aluminum, carbon fiber and leather to ensure maximum comfort and long-term durability. Another new addition developed especially for ELITE, the 25mm deep HYBRID ear cushions, which perfectly balances the qualities of Alcantara and leather into a single design. Besides the high wearing comfort, this unique combo lowers the bass pressure and delivers an airy sound signature, in which sound waves appear to transcend the space around to create an immersive experience.
Taking long-term sustainability to a new level, Elite is also fully serviceable: from the replaceable earpads to the high-performance materials used, every part on the headphone chassis is available to be easily disassembled and serviced.
ELITE is now available for pre-order worldwide, retailing for $4,000 / £3,699 / €4,000 – available at Apos.Audio & Audio46 in the US & CA, MezeAudio in Europe, and other select US and UK retailers.
Read more: Best Headphones 2021
