HeadphoneOverreview

Meze Audio 109 Pro

Everyone admires how it's made and nearly everyone finds it comfortable — then the arguments start: sparkle or sibilance, wide or modest, resolving or merely pleasant, bargain or boutique tax.

44 sourcesUpdated
$799Typical US price

Score aggregates reviewer opinions across topics.

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Meze Audio 109 Pro

The short version

What to know.

A warm-leaning, lively open-back that nine measurement rigs describe the same way: sub-bass that reaches 5–9 dB deeper than an HD 600 (still a little under the Harman shelf), a small mid-bass lift, a 4–6 dB dip at 1.5–2.5 kHz, and a top end with narrow peaks around 7 and 10 kHz and a 12–16 kHz lift whose height varies by rig. Sources agree on the build and looks, on comfort for most heads, on rich, textured bass with more body than most open-backs, on full, natural mids, on engaging dynamics and good imaging, and that it plays loud from a dongle. Four things split them. Treble: most reviewers hear air and sparkle that never turns harsh, but a third of the weight — Resolve, SoundGuys, ASR and a steady stream of owners — hears gritty or sibilant peaks, enough that returns over the treble recur for three years; a small minority even finds it relaxed. Soundstage: wide and out-of-head to most, modest and intimate to others. Detail: resolving for the price in the press, 'not the most technical at this price' among owners who compare it with planars. Value: a complete package at $799 to most, a design premium to a minority who point at the Edition XS. Build praise also carries a caveat the launch reviews missed — a spring-steel headband that can creak, and a scattering of early channel failures and cosmetic flaws.

About this product

The 2022 Meze 109 Pro — an open-back over-ear dynamic (custom 50 mm driver, 40 Ω, 112 dB SPL/mW, 375 g) with black walnut cups, a metal frame and a self-adjusting strap; $799. Not the closed 99 Classics or Strada (which shares the driver but not the tuning), the cheaper 105 AER/105 Silva, or the planar Liric, Empyrean and Elite.

The Meze 109 Pro is the Romanian maker's first open-back dynamic headphone, launched in September 2022 at $799 between the closed 99 Classics and the planar Liric, Empyrean and Elite. It pairs a custom 50 mm driver — a cellulose and carbon-fibre dome ringed by a beryllium-coated surround — with black walnut cups, a spring-steel frame and a self-adjusting strap, and at 40 Ω and 112 dB it plays loud from almost anything.

Launch-season reviews made it the default sub-$1,000 recommendation, and three years on it still has a devoted following. It has an equally persistent counter-current: owners who return it over its treble, who find it less technical than the hype, or who hear the headband creak. This rebuild weighs 42 sources — nine measurement rigs, eleven outlets, two video reviewers, every Head-Fi review and a full sweep of the 306-page Head-Fi thread, ASR, six Reddit threads and Amazon's owners.

A good fit for

  • Listeners who want a warm-leaning, lively open-back with real bass, and who like some sparkle up top
  • Long sessions: most people find it one of the most comfortable headphones they've worn
  • Anyone who values design, materials and repairability as part of what they're paying for
  • Desk listening from modest gear, since a dongle drives it loud

Think twice if

  • You're treble-sensitive or listen mostly to bright rock/metal. The 7–10 kHz peaks are the most common reason owners return it, so buy where you can return
  • You want the most detail and the widest stage per dollar, where the Edition XS and Arya-class planars are the usual alternatives
  • You move around a lot while listening, since some units' headbands creak
  • You need a neutral reference for mixing, or any isolation

The reviewer consensus

Agreement &
disagreement.

4 / 12topics divide opinion
isolationtonalitybassmidsimagingdynamicscomfortbuildtreblesoundstagedetailvalue
1 Strong agreement7 Mostly agree4 Divided opinions

Common ground7

  • Beautifully designed and finished, with walnut cups, a metal frame and user-replaceable parts.
  • Very comfortable for most heads, with soft velour pads and a self-adjusting strap (clamp bothers a few).
  • Rich, textured bass with more reach and body than most open-backs, measured 5–9 dB deeper than an HD 600 at 20 Hz.

Points of contention5

  • Treble: airy sparkle that never turns harsh (61 %) versus gritty or sibilant peaks that drive returns (32 %), with a few hearing it relaxed. The peaks are narrow, so they catch some ears and recordings and miss others.
  • Soundstage: open and wide for a dynamic (70 %) versus modest and intimate next to planars (30 %).
  • Detail: clear and resolving for the price in the press (74 %) versus 'not the most technical at $799' among owners comparing it with planars (26 %).

A closer listen.

12 topics · 4 divided
Left: criticalRight: positiveTighter lines: more agreement

Treble

Leans positiveDivided opinions
Reviewer sentiment37 supporting sources
CriticalNeutralPositive

Band: opinion spread · Dot: weighted average

Sources split on the same measured top end. The larger camp — most editorial reviewers and many owners — hears a lifted, airy, sparkling treble that stays clean and non-fatiguing. A third of the weight hears it as gritty, sharp or sibilant: Resolve, SoundGuys, ASR members and a run of owners who returned or sold it over the treble, often citing rock and metal or poor recordings. A small third camp (SoundStage!'s Brent Butterworth, one Head-Fi owner) hears it as relaxed. The split tracks listener sensitivity, music and source, not unit variation: the peaks are narrow, so they catch some ears and recordings and miss others.

Measured

Nine rigs agree on the shape: against an HD 600/6XX on the same rig the 109 Pro has a narrow notch near 6 kHz, a peak around 7 kHz (+2 to +7.5 dB) and a 12–16 kHz lift that ranges from +5 dB (oratory1990's GRAS) to +17 dB (Super* Review's seatings); soundnews measures ~8 dB at ~8.5 kHz on EARS. Against the Edition XS it carries 2–7 dB less 2–8 kHz energy on every rig with both. SoundGuys says it 'emphasizes treble frequencies more than our headphone preference curve'; Brent Butterworth's GRAS graph looks 'pretty typical for an open-back'. Owners tame it with EQ, AKG K240 foam discs in the pads (Super* Review measures −6.4 dB at 8 kHz) or thicker third-party pads.

vs. listeners — The peaks are real but narrow and high, which is why the same unit reads as 'sparkle' to one listener and 'sibilance' to another. Owners on both sides report younger or treble-sensitive listeners, rock/metal and hot recordings, and bright sources as the trigger; claims that it 'settles' after 50–100 hours come from owners, and ASR members dispute them.

Where it splits
Lifted but clean — extra air and sparkle that never turns harsh61%

“While some treble enhancement is present, it never gets harsh or sibilant.”

Pragmatic Audio
Gritty, sharp or sibilant — fatiguing for treble-sensitive ears, and a recurring reason for returns32%

“Some uneven and gritty treble presentation but also reasonably incisive”

Resolve (headphones.com ranking list)
If anything relaxed — a touch less treble than neutral7%

“I definitely felt like the treble was dialed down a decibel or two overall”

SoundStage! Solo (Brent Butterworth)
Link to this topic

The hardware

Specifications.

Checked

Design

Type
Open-back over-ear
Drivers
1 × 50 mm dynamic (carbon fiber-reinforced cellulose W-shaped dome, beryllium-coated polymer torus)
Housing
Black walnut wood

Electrical

Impedance
40 Ω
Sensitivity
112 dB/mW≈ 126 dB/V
Frequency response
5 Hz – 30 kHz

Connection

Cable
Detachable, dual-entry
Connector
3.5 mm (recessed)community-sourced: socket depth
Plugs supplied
3.5 mm

Physical

Weight
375 g

Manufacturer-published figures, not measurements · from mezeaudio.com, headphones.com. Socket depth not published by the maker — community-sourced from hands-on reviews: ear-fidelity.com, daemonxar.com.

Follow the evidence

Sources 44

1–6 of 44 sources

Read with context

Limitations & method.

As of

What to keep in mind 7

  1. A read of where reviews and owners land as of September 2026. Newer rivals, including Meze's own 105 AER and 105 Silva, keep shifting the comparison.

  2. How the treble lands depends on the listener. The same narrow peaks read as sparkle to some ears and as sibilance to others, especially on bright rock, metal or hot recordings, so demo it or buy somewhere with an easy return.

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