What Liric II sounds like depends on what drives it. Not being a rambling headfi man, I own no ne-plus-ultra DAP à la AK & Bros. I don't know how large of a gap separates their lot from my budget Shanling M3 Ultra. But in stationary mode I know just the gap which exists between my modest FiiO R7 and full-bore Singxer ⇒ Denafrips ⇒ Vinnie Rossi ⇒ Kinki combo. Whether that translates into the full delta within portable audio players I couldn't predict. On the FiiO, Liric II behaved like most though not all planars of my acquaintance: texturally generous so warm and soft around the edges. Inside that signature the bass was slightly shelved up and extended fully into the sub bass. In the midrange I noted slight restraint to produce extra spaciousness. The upper presence and treble elevated again, the brilliance region even more. On certain big bass beats at stout SPL, I occasionally heard a resonance effect like a standing wave. The tuning of the upper mids and treble injected freshness into the mellower thicker core signature. My model year 1962 ears heard no undue forwardness. Younger ears might disagree. On dynamic differentiation the FiiO/Meze combo played it quite homogenized. Between transients drawn by softer rounder tip to compressed microdynamic nuance to textural density from a more resonant milieu, Liric II was rich, pleasant and fun if not very resolved or separated. The well-developed bass counterbalanced the HF lift like a minor smiley face and gave the midband depth.

Bolted connections enable easy replacements. Lower right, the offset attachment between headband and cup means the band wants to sit slightly back on your had to have the pads sit right.

In my best/favourite context below, reins tightened, resonance and its fuzz diminished, transparency increased, transients gained articulation and dynamic differentiation woke up. This made for far more adroit, separated-out and resolved readings. They categorically overwrote so put paid to the prior paragraph. Which version will you hear? That depends on your ancillaries and likely the kind of current your amp can swing. I don't for a moment assume that the average Liric II shopper will use anything like my most extreme context. But a €2K ask rather suggests that they will certainly eclipse my FiiO level to settle somewhere in between.

To work from that middle, I benched Enleum's AMP-23R too for disproportionate expense. I focussed on iFi's iDSD Pro Signature. At €3'249 for its combined DAC/headfi functionality, it's the stationary equivalent of an elite DAP. And to me, Liric II's accessories suggest that Meze regard a top portable player as its target audience. So back onto the desktop with the premium 4.4mm cable it was for the remainder. Regardless, I didn't get on fully with Liric II's geometry. How Meze moved the mounting posts behind the headband, the cups wanted to rotate forward and detach the pads' rear edge from my head. The pad/skull pressure was perfect in the front but too light in the back. For my head at least, that uneven pressure was suboptimal. I couldn't tuck my chin to look down without the cups starting to detach at the back.

Over the FiiO, the iFi firmed up edging to more cleanly define image outlines but didn't yet achieve the same transient speed as the big rig with its direct-coupled grounded-grid power triodes. Bass defined with better stoppage. Overall blur-derived 'warmth' evaporated yet tone remained fleshy, rich and sonorous. Cymbal and triangle pings performed real rocket rises to convey oscillating energy and flashy flare. Dirty flageolet where a violin string breaks up deliberately into scintillating overtones tracked clearly. Dynamic gradation too was much better if not on par with superior dynamics. We might say that Liric II morphed from pretty but polite, from warm if woolly into higher fidelity. It still wasn't a racetrack tuning of ultra resolution like a Susvara or SR-1a trained for technical transparency but had clearly stepped out of the humid cocoon I first encountered it wrapped up in coming off the FiiO. It simply wanted stouter drive to come into its own. Liric II was special fun on big rollicking fare like Jamshied Sharifi's quasi soundtrack One, Hans Zimmer's Dune Sketchbook and Indialucía's brilliant Acatao. With Thorsten Loesch in the driver's seat who was still involved with the iDSD Pro Signature design, I was surprised by how little Liric II betrayed its sealed loading. Whilst I could hear some 'front wall' as I do with speakers not sufficiently far away from it for the sound to detach, that effect wasn't pronounced. Phase-X™ in action? I had my Meze marketing contact chase answers on what that buzzword means and how it works but didn't hear back. Now let's compare my first-edition Audeze LCD-XC for a reference point of another sealed planar.

1st-gen Audeze LCD-XC with Forza AudioWorks cable.

In a nutshell, my Audeze had more of a bluish tinge and minor bite like a 3rd-harmonic dominant circuit. To that the Meze played 2nd-harmonic creamier counterpoint. Just so, Liric II's treble was the more refined and filigreed. I found it quite the trick how Rinaro and Meze embed what technically must be an uplifted HF response into a mellower 'triode' not 'pentode' profile. While neither design did airiness per se—both belong into the materialistic chunky camp—Liric II still did more spaciousness so felt less boxed in. On comfort, the LCD-CX headband was far harder, its weight greater and its general feel clunkier and (cough) older. Clearly time has moved on as have presumably more current Audeze efforts. I preferred the Meze on all three counts of sonics, wear comfort and size despite my remaining small niggle about the oddly set-back attachment between headband and posts.

How about a smattering of staged sibling rivalry? With a 109 Pro and €799 on hand, shoppers could wonder. What all goes on the chopper's block when we imbibe a less than half-sized heap of cashish? Weight, size and drive requirements all shrink. Less posh for less dosh factors, too. Then dynamic brother plays it noticeable louder off identical output voltage. It's more sensitive. Emo boy. It's also the microdynamically keener so more nuanced, more teased out, separated and airy. Call it the nimbler fresher lightweight boxer. With the planar we get more shove, weight, textural fill, related softness and from this mix of qualities, a slightly darker overall milieu. More emphasis is on body and the macro than resolution and the micro. Though business experts could find it ridiculous that spending more than twice nets no demonstrable step up but rather, a different flavour or personality—like deciding whether to vacation in Turkey or Fiji—that's certainly how I heard this cookie crumble. Despite being a full century old so perceptionally challenged as passé, the dynamic driver's ongoing ubiquity means that its manufacture is far more cost effective. It also doesn't look at our ear drum through a prison-bar window of shutter magnets. That equals more direct less reflected sound so less resonance and phase shift. A smaller investment climbs just as high on the sonic ladder. It just lands us in a different building. Which décor and style you prefer is purely a matter of taste. For mine, the 109 Pro won on even pad pressure and portraying breath, litheness and insight. Being open-backed helps on that score, too.

The wrap. Where high style and premium build matter, Meze guarantee deliverance. That's built into their DNA. The new Liric II is for those who to that shopping list add planar tech and sealed loading to keep noise out and music in. Though I wouldn't wear €2'000 of on-ear candy on the go, Meze clearly get out more often to know better. It's why despite balanced drive's greater thickness from requiring magnets on both sides of the thin-film membrane, Liric II is surprisingly compact. It's the roomy ear pads which double its bulge without becoming lateral protuberances. You won't feel like an antennae-spouting alien swaggering down Main Street with your premium Astell&Kern blinging out of your jeans pocket. Rather, you'll look totally with it. GQ approved. Never having heard Liric I, I couldn't track updates. What I heard from Liric II pretty much fell in line with my expectations for a sealed isodynamic though what went beyond was the fresher more incisive treble which nicely counterbalanced the sub-bass reach and shone light into the thickness of textural density. To hear Liric II at its best does require greater current swing so factor on that when assembling your ancillaries. Over and out.