Miss wired headphones? These are the best I've tested all year

We've already seen the headphone jack slip into obscurity. Your smartphone doesn’t have one anymore, and your tablet has lost it. But many laptops still have one. The audio jack is, unfortunately, a dying rarity. If you have any appreciation for top-quality audio, it’s a bit of a tragedy because it makes using headphones like the Meze 105 AER just that bit more of a pain.

Thankfully, there are ways to hook headphones like these up to different outputs. A DAC, an adapter, etc etc. You should connect them as well, given that for the price, you’re unlikely to find something that sounds anywhere near as good as these immaculately well-put-together and impeccably sonically judged headphones. Of course, a pair of wired headphones isn’t for everyone, so let’s take a deep dive and find out if they’re the cans for you — and whether they’re some of the best audiophile headphones around.

Meze 105 AER review: Cheat sheet

• What is it? Wired audiophile headphones that you can take wherever you like and listen to stunning audio.
• Who is it for? Audiophiles, or listeners who want a pair of stunning listening cans that don’t break the bank.
• What does it cost? £369/$399/AU$799
• What we like: Lightweight design, great comfort and their sublime sound
• What we don’t like: There’s some sound leakage, and plugging the cable in and out might become worrisome if you do it a lot

Meze 105 AER Specs

• Price: £369/$399/AU$799
• Connectivity: 3.5mm jack
• Colors Black
• Compatibility iOS, Android, macOS, Windows
• Frequency response 5 Hz - 30 kHz
• Weight: 12oz

Meze 105 AER review: Price and availability

Considering they’re a wired pair of headphones, which in some circles means "geriatric," you might think that $399 is a high price. In the world of audiophile headphones, which almost exclusively feature wires, $399 is akin to pocket change.

Headphones like the Sennheiser HD800s — my chosen reference headphones — cost $1,400, and even they’re not considered the most expensive. The Sennheiser Orpheus will set you back the same as a decently specced BMW, and the Focal Utopia costs more than a second-hand Porsche.

Considering the package, from their incredibly well-crafted frames and earcups to their hard case that rivals those found with even the most expensive wireless headphones, $399 feels almost like a bargain. Yes, it’s still a lot of money, but given the value on offer, it doesn’t feel like they’re asking too much of your wallet. If that’s a little too much for you, Meze does have some cheaper options, like the 99 for $309.

Meze 105 AER review: Design and build

• Sleek, stylish design
• Immaculate build
• Comfortable, lightweight fit

From the top of their almost wire-thin support band to the floating, leather headband, the Meze 105 AER feel and look incredible. They’re tasteful, but they still look luxurious, and, I’d argue, more expensive than they actually are. They’re delicate, so they don’t look as brutish as some audiophile headphones do, so you won’t feel too bad about people spotting them if you keep them on a stand near your listening space.

The earcups feature a kind of webbed design on their outer panel, and they look interesting without being too in your face. It also leaves those open-backs more open than some of the competition, so your audio is going to be good and spacious. All of this lightweight design doesn’t just make them look good, mind you, it also makes them feel incredibly comfortable on your head. The audio hardware inside doesn’t weigh all that much, and thanks to the lack of wireless circuits and antennas, the weight can be kept down.

Combine that light weight with the firm but comfortable clamping force, and you’ve got a pair of headphones that feel comfortable to wear for long listening sessions. It’s topped off with some Alcantara-covered earpads for a lovely fit around your ears. That floating leather band sits perfectly on the top of your head, spring-loaded with the perfect elasticity so that it doesn’t press on the top of your head.

Now, while these aren’t headphones you might want to wear on your long-haul flight or commuting on the bus, you will almost certainly want to listen to them in hotel rooms. Meze has made it easy for them to travel as well, thanks to the inclusion of a really solid hard case. There’s space inside for the headphones themselves and the cables, wrapped up in their own little bag. It’s not small, but it does make it far more confidence-inspiring should you want to take them out and about.

Meze 105 AER review: Features

• Detachable cable
• Included 6.53mm adapter
• Open-back

These are wired headphones, so you can’t expect there to be anywhere near as many features as something like the Focal Bathys or the Dali IO-8. You do get everything you could want out of a pair of wired headphones, however. The cable is detachable and attaches (and detaches) with ease. It’s supple, and obedient, so wrapping it up to put in its dedicated bag is simple. It terminates in a 3.5mm jack connection, but if you want to plug it into a different device you can opt to use the included 6.35mm adapter that clips on for a secure fit.

The Meze 105 AER-7 are open back, which does come with a couple of caveats. Your traditional headphones are closed back, which means there’s no way for air inside to escape. These have no covering for the drivers inside (or at least very little), which allows them to breathe more. That means 1. You can hear the outside world and 2. Everyone else can hear your music as well. In exchange, you get a much wider, airier sound stage for a more immersive audio experience. Either way, these aren’t a pair of headphones for use in noisy environments, or when you’re on the bus.

Meze 105 AER review: Sound quality

• Stunning soundscape
• Effortless, clear bass
• Clear highs and defined mids

If you want to get the very best audio possible, then it’s going to be with a pair of wired headphones like this. To really give them the best chance possible, I connected them to my Chord Mojo 2, a dedicated DAC and amp, which goes into my MacBook Pro’s USB-C port. I played a mixture of my own FLAC collection and music streamed from Tidal — when you’ve got dedicated listening headphones, it’s important to be detailed and thorough while testing the audio they can play.

The thing you notice first and foremost with the 105 AER is the soundstage. It’s incredibly wide, immersive, and imminently engaging. Then you’ll notice their energy, despite an underlying warmness that makes them a great experience, whether you want to do some relaxed listening or more critical analytical listening.

Detail is top-notch, with plenty to be found up top and around the mid-range. Bass impact is impressive for a pair of open ears, and you’ll never find yourself wanting for low-end. Bass drums are a highlight, with plenty of hit and presence — it’s fast bass too, with plenty of get-up and go. Guitar solos soar in rock, vocals in all genres are clear and precise, while the low range rumbles. It’s loads and loads of fun, and made all the better by the immersion offered by the open-backed soundstage.

In Flames’ acoustic album opener, The Beginning Of All Things That Will End, there's immense clarity in the plucked guitar strings, each note crystal clear. There’s detail too — the sliding of fingers on the fretboard, the subtle orchestral notes in the background. The strings are well-rounded and perfectly formed. You’re surrounded by the ensemble throughout the short track as well, and while there are closed-back headphones that produce an out-and-out bassier performance, this one is a whole lot more engaging, precise and spacious.

The ever-threatening, pounding synth of Carpenter Brut is at its most unnerving in Blood Machines Theme, and there is loads to enjoy in the 105 AER. It’s a track that is traditionally fairly restricted in its soundstage, but the Meze do an incredible job of immersing you in its horrifying, organ-like synth lines and jarring digital stabs. It’s almost ethereal at points, although it relies on the tight and controlled low-end of the headphones. It’s moody, scary and perfectly judged.

Pink Floyd rounds us out with Comfortably Numb, if not only for Dave Gilmour’s genre-defining guitar solo. Crank the volume, get comfortable and get ready for 2:04 and what might be the best-known first note in the history of rock. Dave’s fingers dance on the fretboard, and you soon forget that you’re sitting in a chair in your living room as the headphones take you away to… wherever the band is. The 4:31 comes along, and it happens all over again. The 105 AER show remarkable restraint in the low end, as the bass guitar is easily locatable and pin-sharp precise. The build of the music shows dynamism in the headphones too, with the quiet parts quiet and the loudest parts loud.

Let me just briefly touch on the last point there for a second, before we wrap things up. Dynamics are a hard thing for headphones to nail down, particularly when they’re wireless and feature their own built-in DACs. If you listen to well-mixed music, you want to make sure that the quiet parts are actually quiet, and not just ‘this bit has less things in it so it’s quieter’ and you want the loud parts to be loud. ANC headphones tend to level out the sound — they’re all effectively the same volume. This is where a pair of wired headphones and a dedicated DAC can do a great job of actually giving you a musical experience — one that the Meze 105 AER deliver with aplomb.

Meze 105 AER review: Verdict

Let’s get one thing out of the way — if you want a pair of wireless headphones that you can use to block out crying children and angry people on the bus, you’re looking at the wrong set of cans. If you want great sound and ANC, then you should think about the Dali IO-8, Focal Bathys or the Noble Fokus Apollo. The 105 AER are for a different purpose. They are dedicated listening headphones for use in a home office, living room, dedicated listening room or in bed. They are portable by virtue of being headphones, but they are not "headphones to use anywhere and everywhere."

Once you remember that — and that excellent materials, design and hardware come at a price — their $399 tag doesn’t seem so bad. They are immensely comfortable, look amazing hanging on a headphone stand wherever you might put them, and then you put them on, and they make other similarly priced headphones you might have used sound like toys. Make no bones about it, this is a luxury purchase — but it’s one that I’d willingly make, and I’ll make a bet that once you’ve tried them out, you will too.

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