Meze 99 Neo Over-Ear Headphones & Boom Mic
design
First impressions are important, particularly for brands aiming for a slice of the more luxury market and Meze has done a good job of that initial experience with the 99 Neo headphones. The unboxing experience feels premium and I was delighted to find the headphones supplied with a high quality hard case. It’s such an impactful inclusion compared to other brands who opt for just a soft pouch or even nothing at all.
The Meze 99 Neo headphones themselves ride a nice line between being uniquely styled while remaining traditional and reserved. Unlike the more expensive 99 Classics and its wooden earcup backs, the Meze 99 Neo sticks with a plain black plastic build. Material and finish quality is strong though and fitting of the price point. It’s also fully serviceable too, a detail you don’t often see on headsets and a welcome assurance that the Meze Neo 99 headphones should hold up well over time.
The suspended headband offers the 99 Neo headphones plenty of stretch, adjustment and give though this style isn’t my favourite. It’s fine but from a purely aesthetic standpoint I prefer a more simple band like the one on the RODE NTH-100 headphones.
Each cup is compact with a pleasing and subtle conical shape. I’m a fan of the little flashes of silver zinc alloy around the edge and cable port, they lift the design and feel like a premium touch. The ear pads themselves are medium density foam with a PU leather covering. These are good size and comfortable enough, though I found they were prone to making an almost plasticky crackling sound when they moved against your head. This did seem to fade slightly over time so may just be down to them being brand new and needing time to break in but it was noticeable when wearing them and not playing music.
Each Meze 99 Neo cup welcomes its own 3.5mm cable connection, though unlike the RODE NTH-100 this isn’t a choice of which side you’d like to run the cable, but rather a split two pronged cable that needs to be connected on both sides at once. The cable itself was the weakest point of the 99 Neo experience, the control block feels cheap and I found the cable had a load of position memory and wasn’t slack and flexible. RODE’s included cable with the NTH-100 is far nicer and feels high-end and almost luxurious, Meze’s cable on the other hand feels generic and more of an afterthought.
I’ve also been testing the Meze Boom Mic, a €79 optional extra that’ll likely catch the eye of anyone looking to the 99 Neo as a gaming or workspace option. Build quality of the mic itself is impressive and it’s a neat and compact size, however it carries the same underwhelming cable quality. This was more impactful here however, as the Boom Mic arm is directly attached to the cable and not secured to the ear cup it was prone to being spun out of position when the cable was turned or twisted. It meant often needing to reposition the microphone while playing, something I’d rather not have to worry about with footsteps coming down the corridor.
performance
I’m no audiophile and I’m the first to admit that, so don’t expect any deeply nuanced audio analysis from me. I review headphones as an everyday user, a member of the general public that’s just looking for the most pleasant experience possible across a range of standard uses. With that in mind however, I enjoyed my time with the Meze 99 Neo headphones.
For day to day music listening the 99 Neo delivered quality, detailed sound with a really clean overall feel. Songs were noticeably punchy on bass, even in tracks without a really commanding baseline so something to bear in mind depending on your listening habits. This also gave each song I listened to a rich, warm feel, more so than listening to the same track on my Apple AirPods Pro 2 – something I enjoyed personally but those with a keener ear may find overbearing.
They’re not designed as a pair of gaming headphones but the Meze 99 Neo performed surprisingly well here too. While I wouldn’t necessarily suggest them as a go-to option, for gamers looking for a mixed-use headset they’re more than qualified. The thumping bass is a real advantage here, it’s immersive in FPS games with each blast packing a real punch. There’s also enough clarity and room in the soundscape to make sure voice calls weren’t lost in the mix either. Good stuff.
Streamers should see good value from the Meze 99 Neo, particularly with the Boom Mic add-on. I’ll never recommend a tiny headset mic like this over some of the best standalone microphone, but that said I was amazed at the vocal performance of this little thing. My voice stayed surprisingly full bodied and rich, a far cry from the reputation of a headset boom like this carries. I switched to using the Meze Boom Mic mid-stream and asked my viewers what they thought. Consensus was unanimous that while it was a slight step back from my regular Shure MV7+, they’d have happily listened to a whole stream using it.
In testing I found the Meze 99 Neo was particularly prone to plosives and general audio interference but this is to be expected. There’s no windsock or really any notable pop filter protection here, and sitting so close to your mouth at all times there’s nowhere for it to hide. This is only really a problem for streamers and podcasters however, I don’t anticipate friends complaining over voice chat.
summed up
There’s a lot to like about the Meze 99 Neo, across a range of different use cases these are headphones that get the job done and get the job done well. For listening to music it’s a full-bodied, bass heavy experience but one I rather like and it translates nicely to gaming and general productivity work as a result too.
It may be Meze’s cheapest set of headphones but with a strong build quality and performance worthy of the brand they’re well worth considering. £200 is still far from cheap and it’s possible to find comparable performance for less, but those who do choose to invest will likely be happy with their purchase.
