A set of the Meze Angled Alcantara pads was kindly provided free of charge in exchange for an honest review. I didn’t receive monetary or any other kind of compensation and I don’t use affiliate links. The price of the Meze angled Alcantara ear pads is €199 and you can order them directly from Meze.
Meze Angled Alcantara pads for the Elite & Empyrean headphones
These ear pads are designed to enhance the acoustic personality of the Elite and Empyrean headphones, revealing new and exciting sound nuances. The angled shape creates more space inside the earpad, which translates to an airier sound signature, with cleaner bass and improved presence in the mid-range frequency.
Physical parameters
Made of soft foam coated with Alcantara, and a fine protective mesh on the grill, the Meze Angled Alcantara ear pads also provide increased wearing comfort for most ear shapes.
The outer dimensions are 125mm height x 95mm width x 25 to 33mm depth and the inner dimensions are 80mm height x 52mm width x 26 to 32mm depth, so the wide side is the same dimensions as the original Alcantara pads and the narrow as the hybrid pads.
The wide side is positioned at the back of your head and the narrow at the front of your face. If you are an owner of the Elite or the Empyrean then you already know that pad swapping is a very easy task because they are magnetically attached to the headphone frame.
Comfort and quality
All the Elite/Empyrean ear pads are super comfortable but the new angled ones are the most comfortable of them. They accommodate the whole ear which doesn’t touch the inner mesh, there is plenty of space around and air circulating inside while they don’t feel as thick as the regular Alcantara.
There is a chance though that you might prefer the feeling of the outer leather surface of the hybrid or the leather pads which feel cooler and better suited for listening in hot weather, that is if you are fond of their sound signature.
Build quality is really excellent, the pads are well made and carefully stitched. They look pretty durable and wear resistant as long as you treat them with some care.
Listening Methodology
The magnetic attaching system allows for easy pad swapping on the fly. You can place the headphone and the various pads in a desk, at the front of you, and with a little practice you can manage to swap pads really fast while your acoustic memory is still fresh.
During the listening evaluation and in order to keep things as simple and straight as possible, I only used three audio tracks. (track 1 track 2 track 3)
I have also limited the listening gear to two sources, the Violectric V380² and FiiO M17, known for their fidelity and excellent transparency. The cable used was the Lavricables Grand which is one of the most transparent cables in the market.
Of course, after the initial evaluation I listened to a lot of music, leisurely alternating pads both with the Elite and the Empyrean.
The Meze Elite with the stock pads
The Elite is a very balanced sounding headphone with great sub-bass extension, relatively neutral bass without much mid-bass emphasis, crystal clear and natural mid-range, and a well extended, airy and energetic treble that albeit is smooth and non fatiguing.
The owners of the Elite can fine tune the overall frequency response thanks to the two different types of ear pads that come as a standard with the headphone. (Prior the release of the Meze Angled Alcantara pads the headphone was sold with a set of the regular Alcantara and a set of the hybrid pads)
If we consider the sound with the regular Alcantara pads as the reference tuning then using the hybrid pads will result in a sound signature with a relatively more extended sub-bass, some extra mid-bass emphasis while the upper mid-range and presence areas get a touch of attenuation.
In this regard, the hybrid pads are smoother, warmer and thicker sounding, giving to the Elite a more casual and fun than critical or reference character.
There is a takeaway though that the bass becomes a bit less controlled, detail retrieval is not up to the level of the Alcantara and the soundstage appears as if it is a little less airy and open.
Differences are subtle of course, the overall sound character of the headphone is the same with both pads and you can only use them to fine tune it up to a certain level.
Accordingly, the Meze Angled Alcantara pads offer another sonic flavor for the Elite without altering its basic sonic character. The Angled Alcantara pads sound closer to the original Alcantara rather than the hybrids, so these are going to be the point of reference.
The Meze Elite and Angled Alcantara pads
The first impressions after listening with the Meze Angled Alcantara pads are not that related to frequency response but they have to do more with the technical behavior of the Elite. The headphone now sounds considerably more open and airy, the soundstage gets expanded to all three dimensions, it becomes more holographic and immersive while it gains a lot in positioning accuracy and imaging.
These effects are even more pronounced between the Meze Angled Alcantara pads and the hybrids which in comparison give a more intimate and less airy presentation by positioning the listener closer to the performers.
Then, you can’t fail to notice the enhanced clarity and the instant increase in overall detail retrieval. With the Meze Angled Alcantara pads you can hear every last sound at the depths of the recording, the Elite becomes extremely detailed but by no means analytical. The Elite is not an analytical headphone and it will never become one, it is already detailed enough with the stock or the hybrid pads but the Angled ones have the tendency to enhance this property without distracting the listeners attention from the actual music.
Frequency response games
Leaving technicalities aside, the most notable tuning difference that the Meze Angled Alcantara pads bring to the table is the extra linearity and neutrality in the bass by attenuating a portion of the original mid-bass emphasis. When listening to various acoustic bass instruments you will find that the Elite is now more tonally accurate and realistic sounding than with the other two types of pads. It is not that the stock Elite has too much colored or inaccurate bass but now we are talking about an extremely natural and balanced frequency response.
This is something that gets especially noticed when listening to very demanding classical music, like Mahler’s 2nd symphony where there are instances that multiple bass instruments are playing together in varied dynamics and volume intensities.
The low-end also gets technically improved by gaining extra layers of depth, enhanced definition and clarity, better control and tightens while dynamics remain impressively explosive. There is a penalty though compared to the other two types of ear pads, and especially the hybrids, as the bass becomes less weighty and visceral with a considerably drier and leaner texture.
The most polarizing tuning effect of the Meze Angled Alcantara pads is that they add a bit of extra emphasis at the upper-mid and presence areas. A combined boost that is responsible for the enhanced clarity, the extra transparency and the more energetic character of the Elite with the Angled pads. But there is a cost, the Elite becomes more revealing and less forgiving than it regularly is and it will now ruthlessly expose any possible deficiencies of the recording and your chain.
Back to the technicalities
This is why the Meze Angled Alcantara pads are the most transparent and reference sounding of all, the apex of fidelity and the perfect tool for serious critical listening.
If you own the Elite and you have been thinking that it is slightly lacking in technicalities for a flagship headphone, then the Meze Angled Alcantara pads will definitely make you change your mind.
On the other hand, there is a chance that some of you will not sympathize with this uber technical performance and the more critical mood of the Elite and you will eventually find yourself sticking with the stock pads.
The Meze Empyrean and the Angled Alcantara pads
If the Meze Angled Alcantara pads mostly affect the technical performance and to a lesser extent the frequency response of the Elite then it is exactly the opposite with the Empyrean. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the Empyrean becomes a completely different sounding headphone by just switching to the Meze Angled Alcantara pads. The effect is so strongly noticeable that you might think that you have bought a new headphone.
The Meze Angled Alcantara pads greatly affect the frequency response of the Empyrean, especially in the low-end, where it retains its excellent sub-bass extension while attenuating the whole range from the bass to the lower mid-range. In this regard the tuning gets closer to that of the Elite (with the hybrid pads). The Empyrean is now more tonally accurate in the low range, less colored and not that bleeding into the mids. Still warmer and with more bass quantity than the Elite but now the gap gets bridged and the Empyrean becomes an excellent partner for listening to acoustic and classical music with a more realistic tonality but still more fun sounding and less austere than the Elite.
The Meze Angled Alcantara pads also help a lot with the low end technical performance which is now considerably cleaner sounding and better defined with improved layering and control while retaining its excellent dynamics and visceral texture that we all love.
Gone is also the mild upper mid-range emphasis that bothered a lot of people and added a touch of glaring harshness to the sound of the Empyrean, sometimes causing an unexpected listener fatigue that was contradicting the overall smooth nature of the headphone.
The pads also add a touch of extra presence and brilliance, making the Empyrean sound slightly more alive and energetic with a crispier and more resonant treble. The headphone resolves better and the sound is more articulated and refined while the pads act beneficially to the soundstage which gains an extra sense of openness and improved imaging.
The Elite is still the undisputed king of technicalities but the Meze Angled pads help a lot with the technical performance of the Empyrean, mitigating the differences between the two headphones.
In the end
It is always nice to have options and when it comes to the Elite and the Empyrean there are three for fine tuning them. The Meze Angled Alcantara pads don’t only add an interesting variation to the tuning of both headphones but they also greatly enhance their technical performance and they are the most comfortable of the bunch. This is why Meze has decided to include them in the new production batches instead of the regular Alcantara pads.
For owners of the headphones with the older pads, I strongly recommend adding the Meze Angled Alcantara pads to your collection. They are dirt cheap for what they offer, a cost effective way of squeezing out every last bit of technical performance and adding a new sound signature to your beloved headphones.
And if they should be considered as an extra luxury for the Elite owners, they are an absolute must for the Empyrean because their effect is so dramatic as like buying a new headphone. The Meze Angled Alcantara pads made me buy the Empyrean again despite owning the Elite and this is the best conclusion in this lengthy review.
Copyright – Petros Laskis 2023.
+ Greatly improve all technicalities + Add extra layers of clarity and transparency + Enhance soundstage perception and imaging accuracy + The Elite sounds more reference/critical + The Empyrean sounds more balanced and technical + Bridging the gap between the Empyrean and the Elite + Comfortable and breathable + Well made - The Elite becomes very unforgiving - The Empyrean becomes less fun - Bass becomes drier and leaner - Less bass quantity
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