Meze 11 Classics Earphones just an overpriced rebranded Chinese product

[zoltan]

I saw Linus' video on the Meze 11 earphones.

 

Linus mentions he did research on these earphones, but I seriously doubt that, because then he would certainly have noticed the Scandal about Meze on the internet. This looks like the inverse of the Armaggeddon incident lol...

 

This is a representation of my understanding of what alledgedly happened at headfi.org:

 

Some time ago, Antonio Meze was banned from headfi.org because of misuse of fora to promote his products with misleading information, alledgedly because:

 

- the entire Meze product range is nothing but the rebranded eSmooth OEM product range, available for a third to a fifth of the Meze price on eBay and Amazon, and even cheaper from the Chinese manufacturer himself.

 

- there was absolutely no part of any Meze product designed by Antonio Meze, it's all rebranded OEMware.

 

- the only value added by Meze is the marketing.

 

- Meze doesn't manufacture anything, it's a reseller based in Romania without any real company organisation or support infrastructure, it's basically one guy, Antonio Meze, with a computer and an internet connection.

 

- the eSmooth earphones are pretty good in reviews, the products are probably fine, just not worth the high price Meze charges.

 

- when Antonio Meze was confronted with this, he denied that his products were rebranded eSmooth headphones, but later eSmooth confirmed that they are OEM for Meze. Headfi.org didn't take Meze's lies lightly, and saw that he had made several different accounts to praise his products on the forum all from the same IP address, and banned him.

 

 

Source for all of this: several threads on headfi.org

 

I don't have anything against chinese made cheap products, it's just that consumers should be well-informed about where these products come from, and who designs and manufactures the products, and what their real retail value is, if I see what happened over at headfi.org, I don't really feel like spending money on a no-value-added reseller that alledgedly lied to one of the most influential headphone review organizations on the internet, but of course, that's just my interpretation of the several threads on this at headfi.org, everyone has to make up his own mind.

 

 

Edit: it was also on overclock.net: http://www.overclock.net/t/1396063/meze-88-classics

 

On E-Bay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Esmooth-ES-220-Ebony-Wood-In-Ear-Headphones-iPod-iPhone-HTC-Samsung-Blackberry-/400478358639?pt=US_Headphones&hash=item5d3e5ecc6f

[Guest]

Thank you for raising this. I have sent this through to Linus & Slick. I will lock this until there has been a reply from them to prevent flame wars etc starting. 

[LinusTech]

Honestly the extent of the research I did was to read some user reviews (turns out they were not the fabricated ones on head-fi) and watch Logan's video. Not exhaustive by any stretch of the imagination, but even googling specifically looking for this scandal it required some pretty specfiic search terms to find any details.

 

As for the scandal itself, this isn't the first time a company has branded an OEM design and marked it up to cover their own profit margin, packaging, website design/hosting, and marketing (including things like sending samples to reviewers). If they were counterfeit esmooth headphones, then that would be a serious problem, but esmooth has come right out and said they are manufacturing the headphones for Meze, so at this point things look pretty transparent.

 

In fact, this is extremely common practice. If you think for a second BFG ever actually manufactured a graphics card... think again. They bought oem cards, put stickers on them and marketed them.

 

With all of that said, Antonio Meze should have never misrepresented himself or his company on head-fi, and guerrilla marketing tactics like fake user accounts and reviews are not tolerated here on LinusTechTips forum or anywhere else...

[zoltan]

I see that the thread is unlocked again, good call thing to lock the thread to keep the peace.

 

Earlier on the manufacturer's site was offline, but it's online again now. Maybe it's interesting to check out the OEM page: http://www.woodheadphones.com/oemodm

This page clearly states that the 8mm drivers are developed by Esmooth, and there are other resellers mentioned, like Jivo and Zagg. I found Jivo products in online stores, the same in-ear headphones are available there for about 35 USD, which is what the Esmooth branded models usually cost in retail. The Esmooth headphones rebranded by Meze that Linus reviewed are available in Germany since 2010 for about 35 USD equivalent through a German electronics and accessories importer that also provides the guarantee for the products. Again, these products are relatively well regarded in terms of sound quality for the price, for the lower non-Meze price that is...

 

There is also a pic of all the parts esmooth sells, and the Meze parts are clearly visible in the picture.

[zoltan]

Honestly the extent of the research I did was to read some user reviews (turns out they were not the fabricated ones on head-fi) and watch Logan's video. Not exhaustive by any stretch of the imagination, but even googling specifically looking for this scandal it required some pretty specfiic search terms to find any details.

 

As for the scandal itself, this isn't the first time a company has branded an OEM design and marked it up to cover their own profit margin, packaging, website design/hosting, and marketing (including things like sending samples to reviewers). If they were counterfeit esmooth headphones, then that would be a serious problem, but esmooth has come right out and said they are manufacturing the headphones for Meze, so at this point things look pretty transparent.

 

In fact, this is extremely common practice. If you think for a second BFG ever actually manufactured a graphics card... think again. They bought oem cards, put stickers on them and marketed them.

 

With all of that said, Antonio Meze should have never misrepresented himself or his company on head-fi, and guerrilla marketing tactics like fake user accounts and reviews are not tolerated here on LinusTechTips forum or anywhere else...

 

Oops my second post crossed yours...

 

Yes you're absolutely right, and the product being relatively good quality, there is no real problem with it, it's just that the majority of the resellers of the rebranded Esmooth stuff sells for much lower prices than Meze. I thought that was pretty relevant info. When Logan posted his review, I mentioned the same on the teksyndicate site.

[Aphexx]

oh damn. I was browsing around the esmooth stuff a while back window shopping and I thought that meze looked familiar. 

 

thank you for bringing this up. 

 

-1 for supporting a douchebag company. 

[h264]

People re-brand Chinese-designed products and re-sell them for double the price?

 

Beats and Fanny Wang come to mind.  The original beats sound engineer hated the original so much he made his own and won the lawsuit Monster brought against him.

 

http://www.audioholics.com/news/industry-news/monster-sues-fanny-wang-headphones

 

Linus is right though, this is not a counterfeit product, just an overpriced one. 

 

However, if you're a Head-Fi sponsor and you get banned, you had to screw up big time, as the bar is pretty low.

[vanwazltoff]

interesting, there is a pair on the eSmooth website that looks exactly like Audio Technica ATH-AD700s but with wood instead, is Audio Technica doing the same exact thing?

 

http://www.woodheadphones.com/product/es-880eb-ebony-wood-around-ear-headphones

[t0wer]

audio technica are known to have fakes, thats why you buy from a certified seller.

and the a700 is the closed back version. ad700 is open.

[h264]

interesting, there is a pair on the eSmooth website that looks exactly like Audio Technica ATH-AD700s but with wood instead, is Audio Technica doing the same exact thing?

 

http://www.woodheadphones.com/product/es-880eb-ebony-wood-around-ear-headphones

 

 

nah, that one just has the same styled headband.  The cups look more like an ultrasone earcup than anything.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Ultrasone-HFI-580-Surround-Professional-Headphones/dp/B00101UHS8/ref=pd_rhf_ee_s_cp_5_ESRH?ie=UTF8&refRID=1GRV4ZEHG4K2TRXJESRH

[Gorgatron]

audio technica are known to have fakes, thats why you buy from a certified seller.

and the a700 is the closed back version. ad700 is open.

Do any AT counterfeits have the AT logo as well? If I heard of this issue I certainly have forgotten all about it.

[Aphexx]

Do any AT counterfeits have the AT logo as well? If I heard of this issue I certainly have forgotten all about it.

some of the fake m50's had the AT logo on them facing eachother

 

either way bump for this thread and hopefully keeping more linus parrots from recommending the meze to others. 

[BCMods]

Bumping this thread for Linus' new video.

[ShearMe]

Should be stickied, but w/e

[eoso]

Should be stickied, but w/e

 

I second this. Honestly, I think everything Meze sells is easily beaten by numerous cheaper headphones. the V-moda m100's come to mind...  :rolleyes:

[ShearMe]

Should be noted that I don't dislike Esmooth products, just Meze as a company.

[Icradin]

I really like the idea of wooden headphones. But I value sound quality WAY more than looks. I would wear a dead rabbit on my head if it sounded better than my current headphones. 

 

As for the branding BS. There are LOADS of companies that do this. I recently got myself a Blade Aluminum bumper for my iphone 5 for 2 cents on ebay. Same bumper, branded differently

and sold in the larger electronic goods stores here in the Netherlands went for 150 euros.

That doesn't make it right but it explains a lot of stuff. 

 

My advice: Go for a brand that values quality of sound over looks. You can never go wrong with a pair of Sennheiser, Bayerdynamic or AKG. You'll look a bit silly but who cares when you have wonderful music to listen to ;)

[ShearMe]

Well, it's not so much the fact that Meze re-brands OEM headphones that I despise, but their guerrilla marketing tactics combined with flat out lies just aint cool bro.

[Icradin]

True it is horrible.

 

But then again. It's up to the consumer to just boycot them and not throw away their money at a product inferior to anything that *insert high end headphone brand name here* has to offer.

[genetic]

I agree that this is horrible - even if it is commonplace to rebrand things and mark them up to make profit, I really disagree with what this scumbag and what his entire company stands for. Imagine all the people that saw Linus' video and went and hit the order button on amazon right away. I think it's wrong that Linus represented this guy and helped trick many people into spending much more money than the product is actually worth. I know this wasn't your intention Linus but I think the video description should atleast point over here to let people know whats up and that if they really want a pair that they can get them for 35$ USD. Theres a difference between rebranding cheap OEM stuff and making a bit of money and ripping people off (outright scamming people with fake reviews and outright lying to everyone when you're caught red handed).

 

Shame on you Meze.

[mr moose]

I have a problem with rebranding, mainly because if a company cannot produce something of better quality then taking a product that costs x and charging more simply because their brand is on it is BS. I will pay more for better quality, not a brand or logo.  IF the $29 Marley earbuds from jb hifi are basically the same then being told that the Meze at $60+ are better is a con. plain and simple.

[Hyydrah]

I have a problem with rebranding, mainly because if a company cannot produce something of better quality then taking a product that costs x and charging more simply because their brand is on it is BS. I will pay more for better quality, not a brand or logo.  IF the $29 Marley earbuds from jb hifi are basically the same then being told that the Meze at $60+ are better is a con. plain and simple.

I guess it really depends on how much of the product is rebranded. I'd imagine that most products of any kind contain some sort of rebranded part, but if you mean that it's completely rebranded save for a sticker, etc., I agree.