The new Meze Poet is the latest offering from Meze Audio, a Romanian company renowned for its high-quality headphones.
Launched in 2025, these open-back planar-magnetic headphones are designed to deliver exceptional sound quality in a more compact and affordable package compared to Meze’s top-tier models like the Empyrean II and Elite. Priced at €2,000, the Poet positions itself as a relatively accessible option in the audiophile planar-magnetic market.
Key Features and Specifications
- The Poet is equipped with the Rinaro MZ6 Isodynamic Hybrid Array driver, developed exclusively for Meze Audio by Rinaro Isodynamics, a Ukrainian firm boasting over 30 years of expertise in planar-magnetic technology. This innovative driver represents a successful fusion of the MZ4 (from the Liric II) and the MZ3SE (from the Elite), modified here for a more compact design. It features an ultralight Rinaro Parus diaphragm (weighing just 0.06 grams) and a hybrid magnetic array, providing low distortion (<0.05% THD) and high-resolution audio ranging from 4 Hz to 96 kHz.
- The ear cups are crafted from magnesium, while the protective grille is made of steel with a copper-toned finish. The headband bridge is constructed from a titanium alloy, and the support is genuine leather. This combination guarantees lightness (350 grams without earpads, 410-412 grams with them) and comfort for extended listening sessions. The Poet also features a magnetic earpad system, inspired by the second-generation Liric, which makes replacement and maintenance effortless.
- The Poet comes equipped with a hand-braided, high-quality copper cable terminated with a 6.35 mm (1/4-inch) plug, although users can swap it for other Meze cables (e.g., balanced options) for added flexibility.
- • The Poet features the AMTS acoustic tuning system, patented by Dan Clark Audio, which reduces ear fatigue caused by excessive high frequencies without compromising clarity.
• The Poet comes equipped with a hand-braided, high-quality copper cable terminated with a 6.35 mm (1/4-inch) plug, although users can swap it for other Meze cables (e.g., balanced options) for added flexibility.
Build and Comfort
Meze has played with its family DNA: there are traces of the Liric in the compact silhouette and hints of the Elite in the refined grille design, but the Poet has a personality all its own. And what a personality! Everything here is detachable, replaceable, and durable—a quest for repairability in a throwaway world. The magnetic earpads, inherited from the second-generation Liric, can be swapped out in the blink of an eye.
They borrow the filigree pattern and copper hue of the grilles from the Empyrean and Elite. In size, they align with the Liric II, retaining the smaller ovoid cups, a magnesium frame, and copper-coated aluminium headband adjustment rods, which ensure excellent clamping force distribution.
The soft, replaceable earpads are ideal for extended listening sessions. Meze Audio aimed to create headphones that deliver top-tier planar-magnetic performance in a smaller, more practical form factor, bridging the gap between the closed-back, portable Liric and the open-back high-end models like the Elite. With an impedance of 55Ω and sensitivity of 101 dB, they are relatively easy to drive with desktop DACs and amplifiers, as well as portable DAC/amps.
Note: I tested the Poet with the iFi Diablo 2 and Chord Hugo 2 DAC/Amps, the dedicated Austrian Full Score all-analog amplifier, and the portable iFi GO Kensei DAC.
When I removed them from their carrying case, I immediately noticed that Meze Audio spared no effort in the build quality and design. The Poet feels like a smaller, lighter Elite—or a Liric II with the acoustic advantage of an open-back design, perfect for those who wish to wear them at home for hours. The closed-back Liric II, by contrast, is better suited for private listening at home or outdoor enjoyment on the go.
Indeed, the sound is also of a feminine temperament: smooth and soft, delicately avoiding overwhelming bass or sharp highs, and accompanied by an intimate and enveloping soundstage.
Everything about the Poet evokes femininity: its beauty, size, weight, durability, and… repairability!
Feminine temperament
When I put them on, I could tell they were lighter than the top-tier models I’m used to. However, the earpad diameter is borderline for accommodating my ears, which aren’t particularly large. Some users might find the pads pressing against their ears, potentially affecting sound reproduction.
I would even suggest that the Poet was designed with women's smaller, more delicate ears in mind. Everything about the Poet evokes femininity: its beauty, size, weight, durability, and… repairability!
Indeed, the sound is also of a feminine temperament: smooth and soft, delicately avoiding overwhelming bass or sharp highs, and accompanied by an intimate and enveloping soundstage. It is no coincidence that women recognise themselves in the faithful reproduction of female voices, and men will admire them for their sensual, almost provocative quality.
That said, while the first impression is one of softness, don’t mistake it for weakness: I would describe it as intimacy, akin to the sense of closeness experienced at a chamber music concert, so near the performers.
The bass has weight and texture but doesn’t swagger in like a brute tattooed rockstar—it’s polite, articulated, almost narrative in its definition. The mids are full and organic, with well-timbred voices. The highs are subtle in their presence, never crossing into harsh territory.
However, if you prefer a customized equalization while the automatic EQ for the Poet is not yet available in Roon, here is a suggestion that you can modify to your liking in Roon's parametric equalizer.
Roon Parametric EQ suggestion by JVH.
These headphones are for those who wish to listen to music, not just analyse it.
The Meze Poet are open-back types, so even your dog will hear and enjoy your music.
Verdict
The Meze Poet combines advanced planar-magnetic technology, exceptional build quality, and a refined sound signature into a compact, repairable package. They are an excellent choice for audiophiles seeking high-fidelity audio without the size, weight, and cost of Meze’s top-tier models.
At €2,000, the Meze Poet isn’t cheap, nor does it aspire to be. It competes in a league with Audeze, HiFiMAN, and Dan Clark Audio, and it holds its own with class and dignity. While it doesn’t deliver the visceral punch of an LCD-5 or the expansive soundstage of a Susvara, it offers something few can: a balance of technique, emotion, and quality. These headphones are for those who wish to listen to music, not just analyse it.
• The Poet is equipped with the Rinaro MZ6 Isodynamic Hybrid Array driver, developed exclusively for Meze Audio by Rinaro Isodynamics.
Hopelessly in love
I closed my long listening session with “Perdidamente” from Trovante’s Terra Firme album (which I ended up playing in full—oh, the nostalgia!). The song is based on Florbela Espanca’s poem “To be a Poet” and ends like this:
(To be a poet) is to love you, thus, hopelessly...
To have you as soul, and blood, and life in me,
And sing it out to all the world!
During the testing period, I listened to this song dozens of times with the Meze Poet—hopelessly in love! And all I wanted was to write it out to the world.
For further information, contact JLM Group