Romanian company Meze Audio released its first closed planar magnetic headphones, the LIRIC. Intended for portable use.
In fact, Meze has scaled down and tuned the LIRIC Rinaro Isodynamics MZ4. According to the manufacturer, this has created a comparable sound experience to its flagship Empyrean. The LIRIC then, is a headphone intended for portable use and feels at home both indoors and out. Made from materials such as magnesium, aluminum and leather, it should also be comfortable to wear.
Phase
One of the innovations in the Meze LIRIC is the patent pending Phase-XTM system used for the MZ4 driver. This was specially developed by Rinaro Isodynamics – a partner of Meze – with non-linearity of phases in mind. This is one of the problems you have to take into account as a designer of closed headphones. The effect of the Phase-XTM technology is, according to the manufacturer, particularly audible in binaural recordings. The frequency range of the Meze LIRIC runs from an impressive 4 Hz to 92 kHz, at a THD of less than 0.15 percent. An impedance of 32 Ohms makes the headphones easily driveable, even by mobile sources such as media players and smartphones (in case they still have a headphone jack, that is). The Meze LIRIC costs €2000.