Yesterday Linus uploaded his unboxing of the Meze 88 Classics, ana wow did those comments go rampent with accusations. Countless individuals were stating that the Meze 88 Classics were just a rebrand of the E-Smooth ES-880-EB headphones, and that the difference of listed tech specs were only due to Meze attempting to scam its customers. I just want to hear your, or any other forum members, opinions on the quality of the Meze 88 Classics vs the ES-880EB. Thanks
They are essentially the same headphone. The wood quality/finish seems to be different between the two, but the headband is identical. According to Meze, the internals are also different, but it seems as though they are lying.
From all accounts, the sound signature is very similar if not identical. It has been proven that Meze emplyees have gone around on the forums writing fake review for the Meze set of headphones, saying it is vastly superior to the E-Smooth ones, so watch out for those fake reviews. So yeah, it is a bit of a scam.
Only thing is that its almost impossible to find the E-Smooth ones at the moment apart from a couple of semi-legitimate ebay sellers. (E-Smooth have stopped selling direct to the public.) So that is one reason why they can charge so much for the Mezes.
But don;t buy them, as much as a matter of principle than that they sound bad (which they apparently dont, its just that the $50 ones sound just as good).