Review - Meze Audio Alba

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TLDR version on YouTube: TDLR - Meze Audio Alba

The Meze Alba have been loaned to me by DeCine, the official distributor for Meze Audio in Spain. DeCine have not made any requests and have in fact been quite patient as I have been inundated with work lately, so the review has taken longer than I expected. I will, of course, do my very best to be as unbiased as humanly possible in my review.

As DeCine does not sell direct, here is the link to the official page of the Meze Alba: https://mezeaudio.com/products/alba

As always, this is a non-affiliate link.

To avoid being repetitive in my reviews, you can find all the info about how I create the reviews, equipment used, how I receive the products and how to interpret my reviews by visiting: About my reviews

Intro…

Meze Audio are a brand that I have a lot of respect for. I can’t say that I have loved the tuning of all their products but I also cannot say that I have been able to complain about them. They make elegant, well built, high quality headphones and IEMs. However, except on rare occasions, they also come with a price tag that is a reflection of that quality and elegance.

In the case of the Alba, I believe that this is their most budget friendly set of IEMs to date, coming in at around 159€ here in Spain. Now that is obviously not an “ultra-budget” price, something that I consider under 50€ IEMs to be, but it is a very interesting price for those who are interested in picking up their first set from the Romanian brand.

So, for what can be considered the entry price to Meze, what are we actually getting in the Alba and is it worth the price of admission?

Presentation…

I would have been surprised if the packaging and presentation of the Alba was not well thought out and elegant… I wasn’t surprised.

While the actual contents are pretty basic, the packaging is elegant and gives the feeling of having purchased a high-end product. The box is white, with a silver design on the top and the logo of Meze underneath, with nothing much else other than Alba written on one side.

Opening the box reveals an interior that follows the same white and silver colour scheme, with the IEMs sitting at the top and a small, oval storage case sitting underneath. Opening the case we find the included cable and tips, once again matching the white and silver theme. As far as tips, we only get 4 sizes of white silicone tips but I found them more than enough to use them for this review.

Apart from the main box, we also receive a Meze Audio dongle, at least I did. As far as I can tell from all the listings online, this dongle DAC is included with all the purchases but please forgive me if I am wrong on this.

In general, I find the presentation of the Alba to be simple and elegant. It may not seem to be the most extensive as far as contents but we do get everything that is needed, plus the dongle DAC, so I can’t find anything to complain about, especially when we move into the build and aesthetics of the contents.

Build and aesthetics…

As soon as I see the name Meze, I automatically think it is going to be well built and look good. Obviously beauty is in the eye of the beholder but in my eye, they once again look great. The design of the IEMs is basically the same as that of the Advar although this time the colour combination is white and silver, rather than the black and copper of the Advar.

My first impression (apart from “these look great”) was that they seem smaller than I remember the Advar being. However, looking at photos online (as I no longer have the Advar), they seem to be the same size, so I guess I am just remembering wrong.

The quality of construction and finish of the IEMs is identical to that of the Advar, which is to say a 10 out of 10. They are no doubt a well built product and there is the same attention to detail as with all Meze products.

As far as comfort, another very personal thing, these are a shape that I find extremely comfortable. They are such a small size and the shape just fits my ear perfectly, making them disappear when I wear them.

The included cable is a little on the thin side but it is not a bad cable at all. It uses metal hardware except for the connectors to the IEMs, which are transparent, but in this case, the Alba opts for 2 pin connectors instead of the MMCX found on the Advar. This is going to be a positive for some and a negative for others but I personally prefer 2 pin over MMCX.

The transport/storage case is small but is large enough to hold the IEMs and the supplied dongle and has a nice soft interior. The colour of the storage case matches the IEMs, white with silver logo, which has the benefit of looking great but the drawback of not staying white for long if you use it to transport the IEMs.

I have to say that, as usual, it's Meze. I have nothing but praise for the build, comfort and aesthetics.

Sound…

All tracks mentioned are clickable links that allow you to open the reference track in the streaming service of your choice (YouTube, Tidal, Qobuz, Spotify, etc.)

I think that the vast majority will agree on what I have said about Meze products so far but where there is division is in the sound department, as is to be expected. In the case of the Alba, I am sure that there will also be those who like the sound signature and those that don’t. I personally fall into the first category.

Before getting on with my subjective impressions, here is the graph of the Alba in comparison to my usual preference target for reference:

Ok, so starting off in the subbass zone and using the usual “Chameleon” torture test, the Alba holds up pretty well. There is a slight emphasis on the subbass over the midbass which is nice and it helps keep the low end from becoming overloaded with this track. Now, I can’t say that the subbass is overly detailed (I’ll comment more on detail shortly) but it manages to hold it’s own. It is neither overpowering nor under delivering in the low end, at least for my personal tastes.

With something a little less dramatic, such as “No Sanctuary Here”, the low end does seem cleaner, with a nice thump to the midbass along with a smooth rumble in the subbass. Again, not overpowering but plenty for my tastes, although I do still get the sensation that the bass ranges are not the most detailed, they are more of a smooth and enjoyable sensation than an impressive boosted low end. I don’t think that bass heads would choose this model, yet those who look for a nicely balanced low end should find the Alba enjoyable in this regard.

With my fatigue test for midbass, “Crazy”, I find that there is a lovely sensation of reverb without it ever becoming the dominant factor in these ranges. It is not boomy, nor is it excessive, it performs at a level that I find nicely balanced, filling in that low end without taking anything away from the rest of the track.

With “Elephants On Ice Skates”, I find that the bass plucks lack a little excitement yet they are once again very well balanced with the rest of the track, making for a very musical presentation rather than a “wow” presentation.

Focusing on vocals, “These Bones” has a very smooth balance to it, without the deep vocals becoming the centre of attention of the acapella track in general and allowing the harmonizing vocals to fill out the soundstage and sound very natural. Once again I find that the focus is more on the overall presentation than showing off any detail.

With female vocals, I found that some vocals could seem to be a little too smooth, such as Sara K. in “All Your Love (Turned To Passion)”, yet this same smoothness works very well for other female vocals such as the voice of Raelee Nikole in “Dreamin’”.

When listening to The Civil Wars in “Billie Jean”, where there are both male and female vocals, I find that the male voice seems better presented when on his own in comparison to the female vocal, however, when they are both singing together, the balance is very good between them.

Moving to Dominique Fils-Aimé in “Strange Fruit”, I like the way the vocals harmonize but I do feel that there is a lack of detail in her vocals. Not enough to be detrimental to the track but, after listening to this song thousands of times, I feel that there is a bit of excitement missing.

Moving into the upper mids, I find that the slight delay in presence does make for a smoother presentation but also adds that slight “lack of excitement” in vocals that I have mentioned. This is a positive in the fact that nothing becomes harsh in these ranges yet it does make vocals sound a little strange on occasions, especially female vocals.

There is no sensation of sibilance in the usual culprits, such as Patricia Barber in “Code Cool”, where I would actually place her sibilance around a -2 on my non-scientific -12 to +12 scale. The same can be said with Paul Simon in “Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes”, where he voice has the sibilance reduced slightly in comparison to many other sets, with the brass section also being a lot tamer than on many other presentations.

Soundstage is decent enough. It is not groundbreaking but enough to give a nice sensation of surrounding you in “La Luna”, although the slight lack of detail can make things seem to be slightly more blended together than on other more detailed sets.

And on the subject of detail, it is not that these IEMs are totally lacking detail, it is just not one of the strong points of the Alba. When listening to things like the small details in the background of “Strange Fruit” (that bird through the open window at the beginning) or the decay of the body strikes on the guitar in “All Your Love (Turned To Passion)”, then the details are there, you just need to focus more to hear them and they also roll off quite a bit faster than on other sets that are more detail focused.

Conclusion…

The Meze Alba are a set of very well built, very good looking and very comfortable set of IEMs by a brand that is known for high end products. As far as sound, I would say that they are basically an “all rounder” that focuses much more on a comprehensive overall presentation of music than excelling in any particular way.

If you are someone who is in the world of audiophilia and knows what they want specifically, then I really don’t think that these IEMs are for you. I don't think that they excel at anything in particular (except build of course) and actually come across to me as missing some excitement in the vocal and detail department.

However, they are also a set of IEMs that will do well with whatever you want to listen to, meaning that those who aren’t sure exactly what they want, or just want a general all round set, will get a set that they will be very happy with.

In fact, if someone wants a set of good IEMs from a very respectable company at a price that won’t break the bank and don’t know where to start, I think that the Alba would be a very good choice.

I wouldn’t choose to add them to my own personal collection, as I have already covered the specifics and am crazy enough to use a different set for different genres and moods, but I would not hesitate to recommend them to all the “normal” people around me that just want a good set of IEMs to listen to music.