Meze Audio Poet Review: Exceptional Sound Depth in Premium Headphones

Experience exceptional sound depth and design excellence with Meze Audio Poet, a premium headphone crafted for audiophiles.

Introduction: A Luxurious Listening Experience

Meze Audio Poet truly lives up to its luxurious reputation. When you invest in headphones priced at this level, you expect nothing less than luxury—and Poet delivers that in spades. From its impressive build quality to breathtaking sound, every detail, like magnetic ear cushions and an ergonomic adjustment mechanism, shows the care that went into its design. These are some of the finest wired headphones you can find today.

However, a somewhat narrow soundstage and listening fatigue over longer sessions slightly dim the shine on these premium headphones. They could easily compete for the title of best full-size headphones on the market, but the price sets a very high bar. For those with the budget and desire, the Poet is a headphone that's hard to pass up.

Meze Audio Poet: Price and Release Date

• Released on February 20, 2025
• Approximate price: $1,900 USD

Meze Audio is a relatively young headphone brand, especially when compared to the long-standing heavyweights dominating similar categories. Yet, in a short time, this "underdog" has earned notable consumer trust and enthusiasm, thanks to its expanding range of unique and affordable headphones.

The Meze Audio Poet recently joined their lineup of high-end audiophile headphones. They continue Meze's tradition of luxurious designs, combining innovative driver technology with sophisticated aesthetics, making them a delight to both see and hear.

Although the Poet isn't the most expensive model in Meze’s audiophile range, it's certainly not cheap. So, how do they perform sonically?

Meze Audio Poet: Key Features

• Modern planar magnetic drivers
• Elegant acoustically musical design
• Easily detachable ear cushions

The Meze Audio Poet is a serious audio device. This is partly evident through the total absence of typical "consumer-level features." If you're new to audiophile gear expecting wireless connectivity, active noise cancellation, or aggressive digital bass boosts, you'll be out of luck here.

What sets the Poet apart are features that make the listening experience truly worth it—starting with its drivers.

The Poet employs planar magnetic drivers specially designed and manufactured by Rinaro for Meze. This longstanding partnership has resulted in a unique diaphragm design found in other Meze audiophile models like the Elite and Empyrean, alongside the new MZ6 driver. This driver offers unparalleled precision and compactness. Planar drivers excel in many ways, including delivering exceptional detail and smoothness in the upper frequency range—you get the best possible sound.

Meze also licensed the patented Acoustic Metamaterial Tuning System (AMTS) from Dan Clark Audio. This sophisticated physical frequency suppression system helps tame harsh high frequencies. Since the headphones reproduce frequencies up to 96 kHz, the superior control is genuinely noticeable.

From a practical perspective, a relatively new feature is that the ear cushions can be fully removed and replaced effortlessly. Held in place magnetically, these cushions can be taken off for cleaning or swapping without the destructive fiddling that other headphones often require.

This modularity signals confidence—the company expects you to use these headphones for a long time and wants you to care for them properly, ensuring the best listening quality. Such expectations are minimal for headphones in this price range, but in today's world of questionable design choices from other brands, this is a win.

Feature rating: 5 / 5

Meze Audio Poet: Sound Quality

• Outstanding sound depth
• Vocals, woodwinds, and percussion shine
• Soundstage is a bit narrow

Though the Meze Audio Poet is an open-back headphone, it provides an interesting form of isolation due to its tightly fitting ear cushions. These soft, deep cushions create a sort of gate around your face, allowing you to hear a quieter but still clear external world while your ears feel like they’re in a completely different space.

Listening to a digital copy of the brilliant album Pile All Fiction, I was amazed by the headphones' rendering—one of the most compelling interpretations I've ever heard. It felt like Rick Maguire was angrily plucking guitar strings right next to my ear.

The soundstage isn't the most expansive I've encountered, but the depth and separation between instruments deserve high praise. For instance, in Blood by Pile, the supporting string instruments reach an emotional peak. Normally, I hear them as a single block, but the Poet reveals numerous strings vibrating independently and intercrossing.

Alabaster DePlume’s work became especially vivid with these headphones. His track "Even Not Crying" from Come With Fierce Grace is a sparse elegy that fills the surroundings with endless rises and falls between saxophone, voices, violins, and bass—all seeming to swell around your ears like flames singing around a fire. The Poet captures this brilliantly.

“Poet beautifully captures the interplay of instruments, highlighting the space between performances, musicians, and overdubs.”

The power of the Meze Audio Poet lies in how it skillfully blends disparate instruments within an arrangement, emphasizing the spatial imagery between them. Lower-quality headphones tend to glue or smear sounds, often unnoticed by listeners, turning the background into an oil painting rather than a relief.

The delicate piano tone at the start of Andy Shauf's "I Don’t Sleep" from The Bearer of Bad News sealed it for me. The clear, tangible representation of space and time offered a fresh perspective on what felt truly special.

The Poet handles transient sounds excellently—everything sounds sharp and responsive. This is especially true for dead drums and piercing electric piano in Demon Fuzz’s Afreaka! or the gentle, uncertain textures in The Lemon of Pink by The Books.

Vocals tend to take center stage with the Poet, which can be both a strength and a weakness. A dominance of upper mids over lower mids may feel unbalanced but is a bonus for vocal-heavy albums like Dirty Projectors or Björk’s When The World Comes to an End from the phenomenal Mount Wittenberg Orca vocal mini-album.

The open-back design limits the soundstage’s width compared to other headphones, and many albums sounded “closer” than expected on various setups. However, the low frequencies come through rich, soft, and full-bodied—unlike the muddy bass typical in many closed-back headphones.

I imagined heavy tracks like Songs For The Deaf by Queens of the Stone Age might sound dull due to the narrower stage and V-shaped frequency response. I was wrong. The vocals blur a bit, but the gritty, muted guitar base is exactly what you want, and the bass feels silky, enjoying newfound precision and focus. Ultimately, these headphones are a pure pleasure.

Sound quality rating: 4.5 / 5

Meze Audio Poet: Design

• Impeccably crafted
• Practical and satisfying design
• Sturdy build that inspires confidence

It’s no surprise the Meze Audio Poet exudes immaculate design befitting a premium model. Starting with the carrying case—a hard ABS plastic shell lined with foam and a neat leather hinge—it’s not the most luxurious box in the world, but opening it feels like unwrapping a gift, especially with the thoughtfully designed latch.

The headphones themselves are a true work of art. The machined back panels with a modern Art Deco pattern mesmerize by reflecting light and feel incredibly solid in hand.

Regarding connectivity, thankfully, the cables don’t exit directly from the ear cushions. Each ear cushion socket connects with a TS plug, giving a reassuring click. I’m confident that if you accidentally snag the Poet’s cable on something, the cable—not your headphones—will come away.

What I love about the Poet’s design is the blend of simple solutions with striking technology. The ear cushion adjustment isn’t a sealed, dismantlable ratchet system but a simple friction-based push-fit mechanism that slides smoothly up and down while rotating freely. It’s extremely straightforward and excellently executed.

However, this simplicity comes with funny quirks. Titanium rods holding the ear cups resonate and transmit gong-like sounds to your ears at the slightest tap. Meanwhile, the headband’s single-piece suede offers a light fit on your wrist but doesn’t pair well with headphone stands.

Despite minor gripes, these headphones show clear meticulous design and respect for people spending their hard-earned money. I’m a fan!

Design rating: 5 / 5

Meze Audio Poet: Value

• Price is competitive among audiophile headphones
• Largely justifies cost...
• ...but small flaws become more noticeable

With luxury headphones like these, two big issues arise.

First, they reveal flaws in nearly any sound source you feed them. Second, these headphones’ own minor flaws become more obvious due to the sharp scrutiny that comes with a high price.

It’s easy to fall into the trap of expecting perfection at this level of quality and price. Keep in mind, the Poet still sits at the lower end of the audiophile price range, where the higher end beckons with even more tens of thousands in costs. I appreciate such gear, but the threshold for unequivocal recommendation increases exponentially with price, while returns usually diminish.

With this perspective, I can say the Meze Audio Poet offers excellent value, but aspects like a narrower-than-expected soundstage and some listening fatigue don’t fully justify the cost. Your money pays for cutting-edge planar drivers, beautifully designed ear cushions, thoughtful ergonomics, and premium materials—they also deliver an experience exceeding the sum of their parts, with a few caveats.

Value rating: 4 / 5

Meze Audio Poet: Should You Buy Them?

Meze Audio Poet: Alternatives

• FiiO FT5: Revolutionary on-ear headphones by FiiO, who quickly brought planar magnetic tech to the mid-tier. Are they better than Meze Poet? No. Are they a quarter of the price and genuinely very good? Absolutely.
• Edifier Stax Spirit S5: If you crave the tech features the Poet lacks, check out these wireless planar magnetic headphones with app connectivity at a reasonable price.

Testing Methodology

• Tested over five weeks
• Used primarily for home listening
• Mainly with digital music sources via computer and audio interface

I also listened to vinyl on a Victrola Stream Sapphire connected to a Cambridge Audio amplifier.

As a writer, audiophile, and freelance musician, headphones are my constant companion, whether for isolating myself or for recording and mixing. My varied headphone experience allows me to appreciate Meze Audio Poet as my go-to home headphones, alternating between my living room and attic studio.

In the attic, I used the Poet for digital vinyl copies streamed via a Universal Audio Volt 4 audio interface. In the living room, I connected them to a Cambridge Audio Azur 540r receiver playing vinyl via the Victrola Stream Sapphire turntable fitted with an Ortofon 2M Blue cartridge.

Radiotehnika Start — vinyl classic in a new format

An established company with a century of history offers a quality vinyl player with balanced design, wide functionality, rich features, attractive design, excellent sound, and the best price-to-quality ratio on the market.

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• What type of drivers do Meze Audio Poet headphones use?
  Their drivers are modern planar magnetic drivers specially developed by Rinaro for Meze, offering precise and smooth sound reproduction.
• Are the ear cushions replaceable?
  Yes, the ear pads are magnetically attached and can be easily removed and replaced for cleaning or swapping.
• Do Meze Audio Poet headphones support wireless or noise cancellation?
  No, these headphones focus purely on delivering high-fidelity wired audio without wireless connectivity or active noise cancellation.
• How do the Meze Audio Poet headphones handle bass frequencies?
  They deliver bass in a soft, rich, and well-defined manner, avoiding the muddiness common in many closed-back headphones.
• What is the price range for the Meze Audio Poet headphones?
  They are priced around $1,900, positioning them in the premium audiophile category but still affordable compared to higher-end models.