Meze Alba review: Comfortable, great-sounding wired in-ear buds

In-ear buds are small. They have to be — if they were too big, they’d be too big and heavy for your ears, and they’d fall out the moment you moved your head to your favorite pop playlist. The best wireless earbuds have a tricky task on their hands then; they need to pack in audio hardware, batteries, wireless circuitry and often touch controls into something that’s going to sit in your lugholes. Wired earbuds on the other hands have a less tricky task, and that means they can focus on arguably the most important part of their existence: the sound.

The Meze Alba are Romanian luxury headphone maker Meze’s effort to join the IEM space, and they’re a remarkably affordable affair. They look like ammonites, feature stunning sound, and sound better than anything wireless that costs double. But should you consider adding a pair to your backpack, and are they some of the best audiophile headphones that you can buy? Let’s find out.

Meze Alba review: Cheat Sheet

• What is it? Premium in-ear buds with a less off-putting price
• Who is it for? Those looking to take their music further
• What does it cost? $159/£149/AU$249
• What we like: Their sound profile and comfortable fit
• What we don’t like: There are some delicate bits, and a little sibilance

Meze Alba review: Price and Availability

Generally, you might expect something aimed at "audiophiles" would cost a whole lot of money — but thankfully, more impressive IEMs tend to be slightly less expensive than you might expect. The Alba are not an exception to the rule. They cost $159 — so they’re not cheap, but neither do they cost the world.

That puts them below the likes of the Sony WF-1000XM5, the Sennheiser Momentum TW, and the Bose QuietComfort Ultra earbuds. Now, you don’t get the same kind of features as with flagship wireless earbuds, but you do get much better sound quality.

Meze Alba review: Design and Build

• Lovely, simple design
• Excellent, compliant cable
• Some delicate spots to watch out for

Overall, the Alba are built very well. They’re made out of metal, and while light, they feel like they’ll last a long time. They come with a little carrying pouch in the box as well, so you don’t have to worry when you want to take them out and about. There’s only one small issue I found with the buds, and that’s the connection between the buds and the included cable.

The fact you can replace the cable is a good thing, to be clear. It means that you can get a new one if the old one breaks, and you can change it out for a balanced cable should you want to use it with a different output (side note: you can buy a separate balanced cable from Meze). The issue is the connection between earbud and cable. It works fine, and it’s easy to do, but as with many earbuds this size, the tiny little holes that you need to stuff the needle-like connectors into are alarmingly small — and it feels tight and uncomfortable when you need to disconnect and reconnect them. I am worried about bends as well — although I am yet to experience any kind of breakage. One to watch out for, I’d say.

Comfort-wise though the Alba are impeccable. There are plenty of earbuds options in the box, and the cable has a portion that sits over your ear for a secure fit. Their shape makes them fit into your ear well, and I found them very comfortable to wear for long periods of time.

Meze Alba review: Features

• Detachable cable
• 3.5mm headphone jack
• Included USB-C DAC

The Alba, as wired earbuds, don’t have anywhere near as many features as the best wireless earbuds. They have a detachable cable, and a 3.5mm headphone jack to connect them up to your devices. That might leave you wondering how you can connect them to your Android phone or iPhone — thankfully, Meze has thought about that.

You also get a 3.5mm-to-USB-C adaptor, and it houses a little DAC. That means improved audio quality out of your phone, which is a nice bonus. I really like the little guy, and it feels and looks premium. You can also use it to improve the sound of other wired earbuds and headphones as well.

Meze Alba review: Sound Quality

• Excellent top-end representation
• Surprising low end
• A little sibilance sometimes

To test the audio of the Alba, I grabbed some of my finest hardware. First of all, I played Tidal streams through my MacBook Pro attached to my Chord Mojo 2 DAC. That’s got a better-quality amplifier than my MacBook, and a better DAC. Then, I plugged them into my Fiio M15 Digital Audio Player, where I played tracks from my high-quality Flac collection.

Immediately I noticed the more pronounced high-end, something I was expecting from in-ear buds. What I wasn’t expecting was the very solid bass extension as well — as a general rule, thanks to the small size of the drivers in IEMs, the bass is generally not as strong. Somehow, Meze has brought its signature excellent warmth and body to a small pair of earbuds, something extremely impressive. There’s a wide soundstage too, which makes the earbuds feel much bigger sonically than they are physically. It’s an engaging audio experience, and it blows wireless options out of the water.

There is just one sonic niggle I have with the buds, and that’s the slight sibilance you’ll notice when you listen to spoken word content like YouTube videos, podcasts or audiobooks. It’s not a big problem, but it does dull some of the shine.

The strummed electric guitar intro of Katatonia’s Hypnone was a delight, wide and exacting. There’s great accuracy throughout, especially for cymbals and the vocal line. The bass guitar bounces, and the distorted guitars create a solid wall of noise that hits like a freight train. Buds like these make for a great way to listen to your music critically, showing you the minute details that you might miss with wireless options. In this track, for example, it’s easy to miss some of the more subtle bass notes — but that’s to some great clarity in the mid-bass, they’re picked out very nicely by the Alba.

In Hell is Where She Waits For Me from The Black Dhalia Murder presents very well in the Alba, the guitar solos being a particular highlight. There’s great body to the distorted guitar lines as well, and the drums lay down a gloriously solid foundation for the whole ensemble. Instrument separation is a particular highlight here, as nothing blends into anything else — you can pick the two guitarists apart from each other, where sometimes they become an amorphous mass of syncopated guitar rhythms.

Meze Alba review: Verdict

I love in-ear buds, and I think the Meze Alba present a great stepping on point for critical listening to your music. They sound excellent, and thanks to some great top-end detail, you’ll really be able to hear all the little details in your music.

They are perhaps a little delicate, so they won’t stand up to as much punishment as the likes of Sony or Sennheiser, but they still look great and they’re built very well. At $159 they’re not too expensive either, and could be just want you’ve been looking for if you want to see what the audiophile fuss is all about.

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