Meze Audio STRADA

Sources split, though not evenly. Most call the low end the headphone's strongest suit — deep, physical and unusually well controlled for a closed-back, with the emphasis kept in the sub-bass so it never bleeds upward. A minority hears the opposite: bass that is light for a closed-back, or a hollowed-out step between the bass and the mids. The measurements back both: the sub-bass shelf is no bigger than a FiiO FT1's, but a 150 Hz tuck 3–6 dB below the FT1, 109 PRO and Liric 2 is what the second camp is hearing as missing punch. Seal matters more than usual (the vent is doing real work), and two owner 'no bass' threads turned out to be the 3.5 mm plugs not pushed in to the click.

Sources split down the middle. One half hears a clean, open, well-layered midrange with vocals present but never pushed; the other hears lean, recessed or thin vocals that lack chest and body, and several call the region incoherent because of how it hands off from the bass. Female voices fare better than male on almost every account, and a number of listeners flag a 'shouty' edge on the upper mids. The rigs show why: ear gain is recessed through 2–3.5 kHz next to an HD 600 and then peaks sharply at 4 kHz — the delayed, spiky pinna gain Twister6 describes.

Sources split: a slim majority hears a smooth, well-controlled top end — several call it dark, or wish it had a little more sparkle — while the rest hear peaks at 4 kHz and in the upper treble that range from 'draws attention to itself' to outright fatiguing within an hour. Almost every source in the second camp adds that a warmer source or a small EQ cut tames it. The rigs show a 4 kHz peak and a narrow 13.5–14 kHz spike sitting between dips, and the spike moves up to 7 dB with how the cups seat — which is why listeners with different ears report different headphones.

Sources split on the whole balance, not just its parts. The larger camp describes a warm, musical, gently V- or W-shaped tuning that is mature by Meze standards and easy to live with; the smaller camp — which includes the two most detailed measurement-led reviews — hears a sharp U-shape whose bass, mids and treble never quite join up, and says it needs surgical EQ rather than a broad tilt. The vocabulary is the tell: the same headphone is warm and 'fairly dark' to one reviewer and 'brighter, leaner, more forward' to another.

One of the most-praised things about it: nearly every source calls the stage wide, open and 'not closed-back-like', several placing it nearer a semi-open design. The dissent is small but real — a purchased-unit reviewer found it neither wide nor deep, one video reviewer called it wide but shallow, and Currawong felt the precise imaging made it read as slightly more closed-in than the 109 PRO. Nobody claims it matches an open-back.

“The soundstage extends well beyond what is typical for a closed-back design, creating a convincing sense of width and openness that allows instruments room to breathe.”

Animagus, Twister6

“For a closed-back headphone, the space is surprisingly wide and well organized.”

Tomasz Karasiński, StereoLife

“The soundstage on the Strada isn’t particularly wide or deep”

daemonxar

Consistently called precise, with clean separation and strong front-to-back layering; the sub-bass-over-mid-bass tuning is credited for keeping the picture uncluttered. The one dissent calls it slightly diffuse. GadgetryTech measured near-identical left and right channels on his unit and ties the imaging to that.

“Instruments occupy clearly defined, pinpoint positions within the stage, making it easy to track individual elements within complex arrangements.”

Animagus, Twister6

“Front-to-back layering is particularly impressive, giving instruments clear positional cues.”

Durwood, audioreviews.org

Mostly praised as a clear step up from the 99 Classics — higher resolution, cleaner separation, textures easy to hear — with a recurring caveat that some of that clarity is the 4 kHz and upper-treble lift spotlighting detail rather than the driver resolving it. A few sources call it merely fine, and the two most critical reviewers say it trails the 109 PRO and the Liric II.

“Resolution is higher, separation cleaner, and dynamics more convincing across the board.”

NanoTechnos, Headfonia

“Small nuances within recordings are readily apparent, and the driver demonstrates strong fundamental resolving ability.”

Animagus, Twister6

“Overall, the detail and resolution of the Strada is subjectively fine”

daemonxar

Fast transients and clean attack are widely noted, and the low end is credited with real physical impact. The spread comes from kick and slam: Ear Fidelity finds the kick drum on the soft side, daemonxar wants more micro-dynamic punch than the 109 PRO delivers, and Headfonics notes slight compression when a bass line thickens — a closed-back's usual caveat.

“Dynamics are excellent, with fast attack and decay that keep complex passages from smearing together.”

Durwood, audioreviews.org

“Kickbass is on the softer side.”

Bruno Paprocki, Ear Fidelity

Nearly unanimous praise: at 330 g it is light for a premium closed-back, the clamp is gentler than the 99 Classics or Liric, the pads are deep and ear-shaped, and most reviewers say it disappears over long sessions. The caveat is fit range rather than comfort as such. Two owners with large heads could not get it to sit — the headband extension runs out and there is no clamp adjustment — a reviewer's small-headed partner could not get a good fit at the smallest setting, and a few find the ear openings on the small side or the pleather pads warm.

“Comfort is one of its strongest attributes.”

Resolve, Headphones.com

“the Meze Strada easily takes the crown as one of the most comfortable closed-back headphones I’ve tried in recent months.”

NanoTechnos, Headfonia

“I simply could not find a comfortable position to fit the Strada’s.”

owner comment (XL-helmet head), Future Audiophile

The most settled aspect: painted magnesium, Macassar ebony, copper-toned rods, magnetic pads, two Kevlar-wrapped cables and a hard case, all screwed rather than glued so every part can be replaced. Nitpicks recur rather than complaints — the friction sliders have no detents and can slip, the cups rotate so freely that putting it on one-handed is awkward, the cloth cable holds kinks, and one Head-Fi owner's pair arrived with small scratches in the wood. The one practical gotcha: the dual 3.5 mm plugs need a firm push until they click, and two owner 'faulty unit' threads were exactly that.

“A complete accessory set, attention to detail, consistent build quality, and a service-oriented construction make it difficult to treat the Strada as a seasonal gadget.”

Tomasz Karasiński, StereoLife

“the size adjustment lacks enough friction to reliably stay in the chosen position”

Bruno Paprocki, Ear Fidelity

“They have a pronounced "click" when they are seated fully.”

Mardrommar, r/Mezeaudio

Strong agreement that the passive isolation is very good — better than the 99 Classics and, on most accounts, the FiiO FT1: enough for offices, trains and gaming with a microphone, with little leakage out. The spread is only about degree: Ear Fidelity calls it almost ridiculously good and better than many ANC headphones, while Twister6 and daemonxar put it behind the most sealed studio closed-backs.

“The passive isolation is simply excellent.”

Bruno Paprocki, Ear Fidelity

“Definitely sounds more open than you'd think it would and the passive isolation is excellent.”

javertim, Head-Fi

“these aren’t the most sound-blocking closed backs I own”

daemonxar

Sources split. The larger camp calls it one of the best closed-backs under $1,000 — a dealer's reviewer says it delivers most of what the $2,000 Liric II does, one video reviewer would pick it over the Liric II outright, and StereoLife thinks it could cost more. The smaller camp — Resolve, daemonxar, the returners on Reddit and Head-Fi — says the tuning makes it hard to recommend at $799 when an FT1, Aeon X Closed or Azurys is safer, and Ear Fidelity notes it costs more than the 109 PRO whose driver it shares.