Meze Audio Liric is a blend of high build quality, excellent comfort, and a life-like, immersive sound, LIRIC is the first closed-back headphone powered by Rinaro’s Isodynamic Hybrid Array Driver, re-engineered for portable use.
“In our folklore, lyricism is found in the smallest of details, from odes to poems, from flute songs to the melismatic tunes of the “doina” (a style of voice singing specific to Romania). Our first closed-back isodynamic headphone was born out of love for music, poetry, and the indisputable attachment we have to our country’s culture.
We’ve been wanting to do a portable planar for a while, and following two successful collaborations with Rinaro, it was a natural next step. Naming it LIRIC was not a game of chance. It was an ideal metaphor to paint the authentic, vivid and poetic sound disguised behind its ethereal silhouette.”
Antonio Meze,
Lead Designer and Founder of Meze Audio
We wanted it to express the very thing that makes us Meze Audio – cutting-edge technology embodied into an artful, almost sculptural frame. While different than anything we’ve done before, LIRIC preserves the same design language characteristic to us, with new additions in terms of materials and ergonomic approach.
Designed for high-fidelity listening on the go, LIRIC delivers high build quality and excellent comfort, and a life-like, immersive listening experience.
Time flies when you’re having fun! Together with Rinaro Isodynamics, we are adding a third model in our collaborative lineup. LIRIC raised a true challenge for both companies: how can we create a planar closed-back headphone that will change all standards in the audiophile world. Fusing Meze Audio’s industrial design capabilities with Rinaro’s technological development, LIRIC brings a new flavor for all the active audiophiles that like to take their music on the go.
Meze Audio
For the past 10 years, Meze Audio has been developing audiophile headphones and earphones renowned for their timeless design, pure comfort and engaging, vivid sound. From looks to technology, Meze Audio products are designed to surpass all short-living trends and become heirlooms, rather than just headphones. Today, founder Antonio Meze and his skilled team design and develop their products in Baia Mare, Romania, in the spirit of their original ‘no-compromise’ vision.
Rinaro Isodynamics
Rinaro originated in the USSR (today’s Ukraine) during the Cold War, as part of a state-funded acoustic technology research program. With government backing and access to advanced testing facilities, the team was able to focus all of its efforts on planar magnetics. A field they have continued to innovate in for the last 30 years, since the collapse of the USSR. In the last decade, Rinaro have expanded their capabilities and capacity with the development of state-of-the-art R&D and manufacturing facilities in Ukraine and Poland. The new facilities have been a driving force in the creation of the revolutionary Isodynamic Hybrid Array technology found in Meze Audio EMPYREAN, ELITE and LIRIC headphones.
LIRIC features the state-of-the-art technology developed by Rinaro, re-engineered for day-to-day use. The MZ4 Isodynamic Hybrid Array driver was scaled down and tuned to deliver an audio experience in-line with it’s larger counterparts found in Empyrean and Elite.
Combined with the closed-back design, it helps preserve the original clarity and emotion of your favorite music through enhanced sound and minimized external noise. Each driver is entirely hand assembled and tested in Rinaro’s industrial facility in Ukraine.
SCALED FLAGSHIP ISODYNAMIC HYBRID ARRAY TECHNOLOGY
One of the most sophisticated and advanced planar magnetic technologies in the world has been scaled down for portable use.
Patented in US, EU, China and other countries.
An innovation to the MZ4 driver is the Phase-X™ system created by Rinaro as a way to minimize phase distortion issues, typically found in closed-back headphone designs. This patent-pending technology helps deliver an immersive spatial sound imaging.
The Phase-X™ system improves the accuracy of spatial imaging, in-line with its open back counterparts, especially noticeable on binaural recordings.
New for the Liric is the introduction of an Earpad Air Flow (EAF) system, developed by Rinaro, which reduces the weight and size of the Liric headphone by optimizing it’s acoustic volume.
Precision cut air vents that run from the Liric ear cup chamber into the ear pads allow the MZ4 driver to utilise acoustic volume from the earpads as well as the ear cup chamber.
This significantly reduces the required size of the ear cup chamber allowing Liric to keep a compact and truly portable closed-back headphone profile without compromising on the acoustic performance.
A lightweight magnesium skeleton ensures the headphones stay flexible, shock-resistant and oxidation free while maintaining an ideal fit for long listening sessions.
Padded headband cushions are symmetrically placed in a “+” shape to allow proper airflow, and lower the heat and humidity buildup. Covered in genuine leather, the headband is perfectly tuned for optimal pressure distribution – it follows the structure of the head, creating firm and even contact.
Just like all Meze Audio headphones, LIRIC is easily adjustable for a sturdy, yet comfortable feel that fits most head shapes.
A precisely tuned air vent hole can make a world of difference in how you perceive the sound around you, that is why we’ve learned and adapted from our previous experiences and decided to add our Pressure Equalization System in LIRIC’s ear cups as well. The result: better-controlled airflow, improved ear cup chamber pressure, and a sound that is airy, transparent, detailed and flows naturally, enveloping you into a whole new world of music.
No detail is left to chance when creating a multisensory experience. With the LIRIC, each texture was carefully selected to complete the other, creating a tactile spectacle distinguishable at first contact. Referencing the textures found on magnesium parts of professional photo cameras, this headphone preserves the same softness to the touch, while demonstrating an outstanding wear resistance.
Achieving the highly-refined finish was definitely a challenging process. The union of black leather, gloss-matte spatters on magnesium, and metallic copper accents were the perfect addition to this contemporary aesthetic, completing its portable personality.
OVERVIEW | MZ4 DRIVER SPECIFICATIONS | ||
Driver Type | Rinaro Isodynamic Hybrid Array® MZ4 | Geometrical Shape | Ovoid |
Operating Principle | Closed | Size | 92mm x 63mm |
Ear Coupling | Circumaural | Driver Weight | 71 g |
Frequency Response | 4-92,000 Hz | Casing | Fibreglass reinforced polymer |
Impedance | 30 Ohm | Diaphragm Type | Rinaro Isoplanar® MZ4 |
Nominal SPL | 100 dB (1 mW / 1 kHz) | Active Area | 3507 mm2 |
Maximum SPL | > 130 dB | Diaphragm Weight | 0.08 g |
Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) | <0.15% | Acoustic Mass | 6.5 kg/m4 |
Weight | 391 g | Lower Frequency Limit | 4 Hz |
Upper-Frequency Limit | 92,000 Hz |
Included:
• Case: Hard EVA pouch with velvet lining
• Two cables included:
– 1.5m soft TPE cable with 3.5mm jack
– 3m soft TPE cable with 3.5mm jack
• Adapters:
– 6.3mm jack adapter
– Airplane jack adapter
• Cables pouch
– Warranty period: 2 years