Meze 99 Neo – For Gamers With A More Classic Side

Price

Today we are going to take a look at the Meze 99 Neo. Now the 99 Neo is an audiophile headset for you to plug into your phone, and enjoy some very good immersive music. Currently retailing on amazon for around $200 and in south Africa for around R7000

Along with the Neo 99 inside the packaging, you get a very nice hard-shell carry case, a 1.5m threaded Kevlar 3.5mm cable with an inline Mic and you also get a 1/4 inch gold-plated adapter.

Build Quality

Now as for build quality the 99 Neo’s are very well constructed, with a mostly metal frame which adjusts easily based on your head size.The ear cups are made of a textured black composite plastic, with a more classical look with some silver accents all around the design. 

The metal frame does continue all the way through. It’s strong and I don’t believe it will snap easily even if you are a bit more rough, but of course always take care of your headsets. The headsets are light so you don’t really notice wearing them either.

The ear cups can’t tilt or swivel but they do have some maneuverability and do stay in place.

Comfort

For me Comfort is the most important part when it comes to a headset, like you all know by now I’m a bit finicky when it comes to things on or over my ears, and I have to say the neo 99 are very comfortable. The earcups and headbands leatherite memory foam is a tad more firm than I’m used to but it’s still nice and soft to the touch. The inside of the driver wall does have a thin but soft cloth cover, which my ears do scratch against, but I only notice it after wearing them for a while. Now clamping force is just right, it stays comfortable without hurting your ears and won’t easily fall off when walking, except if you go into headbanging mode then it might slide off a bit.

Now on the left side of the cable you do get an in-line mic and a pause/play button. However it would have been nice to have a volume rocker too but that’s not a deal breaker.

Sound Quality

The Neo 99 has a 40mm driver with a frequency response from 15hz to 25khz, which gives you a bit more high end compared to some other commercial headsets.

Volume wise they are pretty loud, so you will be able to cancel out most background sounds,

They do make a good seal around your ears which results in keeping Sound bleed to a minimum on non deafening volume.

Now as for how they sound the highs have smooth treble and a solid amount of details. The Neo 99 has a more prominent low end and a slightly lusher midrange, the combination makes it great for listening to rock or acoustic songs.

They still sound balanced and that’s what most consumer clients want as well. We compared them to the Sennheiser HD598SE. The Sennheiser had less bass but has more range and did sound a little bit more balanced than the Neo 99’s 

For all of the gamers out there If you would want to game with them, they would be just fine, as they still have enough bass to give the explosions some power and nice highs for crackling gunshots, added bonus you would look very posh gaming with these.

Mic

It’s a bi-directional microphone and the voice clarity is good with a somewhat high noise floor, it will be good enough for phone calls or zoom sessions.

Conclusion

So in conclusion the 99 Neo’s do sound really good and are very comfortable, but are just so expensive, Especially here in south Africa. With a lot of audiophile headsets in this price range to choose from it does have some stiff competition. My ears did enjoy their time with the Neo’s though and they are still very good headphones. A Big thanks to MEZE for sending these over and as always please remember to like, share, subscribe and comment.