Today, we will discuss Meze Audio’s newest open-back headphones, POET! We will discuss their build quality, design, and sound quality paired with several headphone amplifiers and DACS, such as the Ferrum WANDLA, ORR, HYPSOS stack, Ferrum ERCO, Chord Hugo 2, and the Woo Audio WA22 and McIntosh MHA200 headphone tube amplifiers.

 

I will also make brief sound comparisons between the Meze Elite and Meze Empyrean II for those wondering which Meze headphones might best fit you!So, let’s jump right in and discuss the POET’s build quality, design, and look and feel. It is no secret that Meze Audio builds some of the world’s most beautiful, well-designed headphones.

 

The POET is no different. It uses luxurious materials and superb ergonomics, with a spectacular magnesium chassis that looks like a gunmetal finish with copper and black accents that are visually breathtaking.

 

The copper-colored steel grill is gorgeous, and the headphones are comfortable. They have a soft suede leather headrest and flexible titanium alloy headband, which distributes the reasonable weight of around 350 grams exceptionally well.

 

The soft, plush magnetic earpad system found on Meze’s second-generation LIRIC can be easily swapped out. The pads fit my medium-sized ears quite well. However, if you have larger ears and are bothered by your ears touching the pads, you may want to consider the Meze Elite or Empyrean II, as those pads have larger openings.

 

POET uses Meze Audio’s top-of-the-line driver diaphragm technology, also found in their Elite model, one of my favorite Meze headphones. However, POET is more compact and portable than the Elite, and the Parus diaphragm weighs just .06 grams.

 

The new design features the RINARO MZ6 Isodynamic Hybrid Array driver, a synthesis of the MZ4 and MZ3SE drivers featured in the award-winning LIRIC and ELITE headphones. It focuses on delivering a more compact yet high-performance design and sound quality, similar to Meze’s flagship ELITE.

 

The MZ6 casing has a reinforced polymer housing designed to withstand the demanding load generated by the Hybrid Magnet Array. The Diaphragm is a biaxially oriented semi-crystalline polymer film with an extremely low weight of .06 grams and an expansive active area of 3507 mm².

 

The Hybrid Magnet array is symmetrically placed on either side of the diaphragm using neodymium magnets arranged into a hybrid array. The MZ6 Hybrid array is capable of uniform activation across the entire diaphragm surface.

 

The MZ6 is made by RINARO exclusively for Meze Audio. It is the result of more than eight years of extensive R&D, making it one of the most advanced lightweight full-size planar magnetic drivers in the world!

 

The POET has extremely low THD, measuring under .05% throughout the entire frequency range. Its high-resolution design allows it to reproduce from 96,000 kHz on the top end down to 4 Hz on the low end.

 

It does all this with a spectacular sensitivity of 101 dB SPL and a 55 Ohm impedance.  Like all of Meze’s headphones, the POET is fully serviceable, allowing every part of the headphones to be disassembled and replaced.

 

New to Meze Audio and the POET is the use of Dan Clark Audio’s AMTS, or Acoustic Metamaterial Tuning System. This system uses a precision-crafted metal component that strategically covers select openings in the driver frame to effectively attenuate high-frequency peaks, making the listening experience less fatiguing.

 

The headphones include a PC-ABS headphone hard case, a beautiful premium 2.5m braided Furukawa PCUHD copper cable with dual 3.5mm mono TS jacks to 6.3mm or ¼” jack termination, and a PU leather cable pouch.

 

The headphones’ durable yet luxurious build quality and visual design will surely be loved by many head-fi listeners and music lovers for generations to come.

 

The POET is one of my favorite pairs of headphones in this price range. It is priced at $2000 and is available for purchase now. The headphones are pure emotion when listening to music. They produce beautiful vocals free from harshness, not sounding thin or too forward. 

 

They do this while presenting superb, full-sounding bass from the POET’s switchback coils, which dig deep and punch with authority yet still sound fast and detailed. Bass guitars from some of my favorite Rock and Metal bands, like TOOL, A Perfect Circle, and Puscifer, sound magnificent, with spectacular rumble and bottom. Listening to AC/DC’s Thunderstruck, the Kick Drum hits and rumbles with authority. 

 

Listening to Yo-Yo Ma and his Cello sounds exquisite, reaching low, sounding rich and warm while still sounding defined and lifelike. Electronic music bass lines from songs like Angel are a slamtastic good time. Meze did an exceptional job with the bass presentation of the POET for my preferences.

 

The Spiral Coils of POET’s drivers create a beautiful, open-sounding mid-range that is equally lovely for stringed instruments and vocals alike. Listening to Dreams from Fleetwood Mac, Stevie’s vocals sound full, well-defined, and reasonably well-balanced with the rest of the mix. The guitar strings have superb definition and timbre that sometimes ask for your attention, but balance reasonably well with the band’s vocals. 

 

The top end of the POET has some flavorful sparkle and emphasis, allowing cymbals to sound authentic; the sizzle from the Hi-Hat is clearly defined, and the kick drum has great attack and snap. Snare drums have a crisp sound quality and good presence on Rumors from Fleetwood Mac.

 

 

Listening to Wakanda from the Wakanda Forever soundtrack, the brass instruments don’t ever sound too bright or overcooked, but there is some extra emphasis up top that balances well with the bass and midrange. 

 

Regarding timbre and tone, the POET is not what I would consider a truly neutral set of headphones. Instead, it combines some of the warmth, emotion, and engaging signature of Meze Audio’s Elite and LIRIC II with some technical prowess and detail retrieval of the Empyrean II.

 This sonic signature creates a slightly warmer than neutral instrument and vocal timbre, which I prefer for pure music enjoyment! However, The Top end isn’t rolled off or dark, and the midrange sounds more neutral than the bass and treble regions.

 

The sound stage performance is very good, with highly well-defined images and layering of instruments and vocals. Songs like Bubbles or Wandering from Yosi Horikawa show off the medium sound stage size of the POET, allowing sounds on the production to be easily localized as they travel left, right, above, and outside of the headphones.

 

Comparing the POET to the Meze Elite was fun because I enjoy both headphones. Listening to Dire Straits Brothers in Arms album, both headphones sound excellent. 

 

The POET sounds a bit less focused in the upper midrange than the Elite, and the treble sounds a touch smoother. The Elite presents Mark’s vocals with more definition and focus than the POET. On the song “So Far Away From Me,” the snare drum and hi-hat have slightly more emphasis from the Elite than they do from the POET.

 

Listening to Money for Nothing from Dire Straits and again the vocals from the POET sound smoother along with the upper mid-range and treble. Undoubtedly, the Elite sounds more resolving and better defined as you would expect from the flagship headphones.

 

Sound stage size and separation are also more impressive when listening to the Elite, but for half the price, the POET has many similarities in sound to the Meze Elite. 

When listening to Saturnine from GoGo Peguin’s Everything is Going to Be Ok album, I immediately notice that the bass sounds a bit tighter and more neutral when listening to the POET when compared to the Elite.

 

Additionally, the piano keys, when struck, ask for more attention on the mix when listening to the Elite, which has a more defined and crisp sound quality. In contrast, the POET presents them a bit rounder in definition. Both headphones sound magnificent, and as with all things in audio, it will depend on your preferences.

 

Comparing the POET with the Empyrean II, listening to Snarky Puppy’s We Like it Hear Album and the first track Shofukan. The POET sounds more intimate when comparing the sound stage to the larger, better-separated stage of the Empyrean II.

 

When listening to the Empyrean II, the brass instruments have more rasp and bite compared to the smoother, less shrill sound of the brass from the POET headphones. When listening to the POET, the Brass instruments display more warmth and sound fuller in presentation, making for a less analytical sound quality than the Empyrean II.

 

Timbre-wise, the POET is closer to the Elite than the Empyrean II.  The Empyrean II sounds neutral and analytical for instrument and vocal timbre compared to the POET’s warmer, more flavorful sound.

 

Like the Elite, the Empyrean II emphasizes the upper midrange more than the POET. Thus, listeners who value a more forward upper midrange will likely still prefer the Elite or Empyrean II. 

 

However, the POET’s lower treble and upper mid-range may offer listeners who may not always listen to perfectly recorded music or are more sensitive in those regions a great option at a more affordable price compared to the other two headphones in this video. 

 

All three headphones are beautifully built and have unique sound signatures that will appeal to many different types of listeners. The best way to determine your preference is to visit our showroom or your local Can Jam to hear them all.

 

I still prefer the Elite over the other two headphones; however, the POET isn’t too far behind, which says a lot since it’s $1000 less expensive than the Empyrean II.

 

The Empyrean II may be the better fit if you primarily listen to classical, jazz, and well-recorded music. However, I would still lean towards the Meze Elite or the Poet if you primarily listen to Rock, Pop, Metal, Alternative, Electronic music, or music that may not always be recorded perfectly. 

 

I would like to hear the Meze Elite and Meze Empyrean II with an AMTS system like the POET. I think AMTS and Meze Audio’s Hybrid Array Dual Driven Voice Coil system are a fantastic match audibly.

 

Thanks to the Team at Meze Audio for sending us the POET headphones to check out. You have another fantastic pair of headphones in your lineup, and I will be very sad when I have to send them back!

 

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Please tell us what you think of these three headphones in the comments. Which do you prefer most, and let us know why? Until next time, friends, remember, let the music be your guide!