Meze - LIRIC

Meze Audio Liric is the company’s first portable planar-magnetic headphone developed in collaboration with Rinaro Isodynamics. These headphones were born from their mutual love for music, poetry and the attachment of their home country’s culture. Following the two successful collaborations with Rinaro, it was a natural next step to develop a portable planar headphone. Naming the headphone LIRIC was not a game of chance. It was an ideal metaphor to paint the authentic, vivid and poetic sound disguised behind its ethereal silhouette.

Meze Audio Liric is the first closed-back headphone to be powered by Rinaro’s Isodynamic Hybrid Array driver. Created exclusively for Meze Audio, the MZ4 driver offers the same dual shaped voice coil array seen in Meze Audio Empyrean. Over 30 years of R&D have gone into developing this technology, resulting in one of the lightest and most advanced planner magnetic drivers on the market. This combined with the closed-back design, helps preserve the original clarity and emotion of your favourite music through enhanced sound and minimised external noise. Each driver is entirely hand-assembled and tested in Rinaro's industrial facility in Ukraine.

Meze Audio Liric is a perfect blend of timeless aesthetics and the best in audio engineering from Rinaro Isodynamics. Liric comes equipped with an Isoplanar Diaphragm which is manufactured from a custom developed isotropic thermally stabilised polymer with a conductive layer. Through the unique processing methods, an ultralight yet rigid diaphragm is achieved that weighs only 0.08g with a large active area of 3507mm2. With the addition of the Phase-X system, Liric achieves a more linear phase response and a faster transient response decay. This allows for a more faithful reproduction of transient sounds and improves ambience and spatial imaging for the listener, taking them closer to the environment of the source recording.

Original Source Recording: Source recordings usually have an Absolute Linear Phase and this offers the listener the actual audio image of the recordings. This includes audio information not just from the instruments but the recording environment too.

Nonlinear Phasing: Contrary to Absolute Linear Phase that can be heard in original recordings, NonLinear Phasing is typically found in closed-back headphones due to Phase distortion. This noticeably affects the accuracy of the spatial image of the original recording.

Phase-X™ System : With the addition of the Phase-X™ system, Liric presents the correct phase and a faster transient response decay. This allows for a more faithful reproduction of transient sounds and improves ambience and spatial imaging for the listener, taking them closer to the environment of the source recording.

Meze Audio Liric introduces an Earpad Air Flow (EAF) system, developed by Rinaro, which reduces the weight and size of the Liric headphone by optimising its acoustic volume. Precision cut air vents that run from the Liric ear cup chamber into the ear pads allow the MZ4 driver to utilise acoustic volume from the earpads as well as the ear cup chamber. This significantly reduces the required size of the ear cup chamber allowing Liric to keep a compact and truly portable closed-back headphone profile without compromising on the acoustic performance.

The MZ4 driver featured on the Meze Audio Liric combines individual switchback and spiral-shaped voice coils within the same diaphragm, allowing sound to be targeted with more accuracy around the natural form of the ear, for a more selective acoustic performance. Using this combination allows the headphone to achieve an increased exposure of direct sound wave frequencies over the 10kHz range, as well as improved imaging and localisation, by decreasing the impact of short-wave time delays caused by diffused field reflections. Liric also features symmetrically placed neodymium magnets on either side of the diaphragm. They are arranged into a Hybrid Array to create a 0.3 Tesla Isodynamic magnetic field required for a uniform activation across the whole diaphragm surface.

At frequencies above 10kHz, where the sound wavelength is smaller than the ear cushions inner cavity, the sound field becomes diffused with an amount of the direct and reflected sound waves within the ear canal. A significant increase of direct sound waves is achieved by positioning the most efficient part of the diaphragm in mid-high frequencies directly over the ear canal in the Meze Audio Liric, resulting in improved 3D imaging and spatial localisation. Liric also offers Absolute linear phasing to the listener where the original spatial image remains as it was recorded. This includes information from the instrumentation as well as the recording environment itself. Liric also corrects Nonlinearities in phase response that noticeably affect the reproduction of the spatial image of the original recording.

Meze Audio Liric features padded headband cushions that are symmetrically placed in a “+” shape to allow proper airflow and lower the heat and humidity buildup. Covered in genuine leather, the headband is perfectly tuned for optimal pressure distribution and it follows the structure of the head, creating firm and even contact. A precisely tuned air vent hole can make a world of difference in how you perceive the sound around you, that is why the team at Meze Audio decided to add a Pressure Equalisation System in Liric’s ear cups. The result is better-controlled airflow, improved ear cup chamber pressure, and a sound that is airy, transparent, detailed and flows naturally, enveloping you into a whole new world of music.

Meze Audio Liric showcases an actual harmony of form and function meant to set a new benchmark in high-end portable audio. Designed for high fidelity listening on the go, Liric delivers high build quality, excellent comfort and a life-like, immersive listening experience. The angled ovoid ear cups featured on Liric are perfect for surrounding your ears closely without adding unnecessary pressure or weight while offering a deeper sound and better passive sound isolation. A lightweight magnesium skeleton ensures the headphone stays flexible, shock-resistant and oxidation free while maintaining an ideal fit for long listening sessions. Reinforced polymer housing is designed to withstand the demanding 10,7N load generated by the Hybrid Magnet Array. The union of black leather, gloss-matte spatters on magnesium, and metallic copper accents were the perfect addition to this contemporary aesthetic, completing the portable personality of the headphone.