I find that slightly darker tone, more diffuse and sustained bass presence and contrasting treble response to come out better with the likes of Dash Berlin and Major Lazer than Venom and Stone Sour.

The Meze 99 Neo Headphones are made for the budget-conscious audiophile that wants a pair of wired headphones that sounds fantastic, is fully serviceable, and offers an extremely comfortable fit.

ou get many of the great features that you get from the original model, just at a lower price. I know many people will be happy for a similar-sounding headphone as the Classics but with a bit more low-end grunt. I am one of those people.

The Neo at $199 is actually pretty fair (all things considered), although I’d probably shave $50 off that. Other than clearly better comfort, there’s nothing about it that’s any better than an M50x in my opinion.

On the one hand, we absolutely respect the goal here, which is to provide a cheaper, more accessible version of the 99 Classics. At a time when audio gear is getting more and more expensive, budget options of already excellent products are always welcome. We applaud that, and want it to continue. The issue is, for that to work, the budget gear has got to cost significantly less than the original, and that’s just not the case here. The brilliant, extraordinary, mind-blowing 99 Classics cost, at the time of writing, $309, both on Amazon and direct. The 99 Neos cost…$249.