Meze Audio ALBA - A Light in The Shape of Sound

[Nkam]

I’ve never heard the 1990. I‘ve had the DT 1770 Pro but even then I think the comparison is so „strange“ and let’s call it „unsuitable“ in general that I wouldn’t even like to try it, honestly

Try the Alba, if you can! That’s the best advice I can give you in this case.

Yeah I’ll have to give them a whirl.

I did put my Beyer soul Byrd tips on the Kato and they are way better.
One thing I have to say is that for all the chifi IEMs the tips are really bad. Bad fit and cheap

Thanks man

 

[Deceneu808]

OG ALBA owner here, I've used them extensively since launch and I have not had any problems with the paint finish that some have encountered, what did bother me though was the stock included tips. I could not get a proper seal on my left ear no matter what I tried. They kept falling out and I constantly had to adjust them. This morning I received the AZLA Crystal tips and they are a perfect tight fit in the iem and excellent seal in ear. Now I can finally move my jaw, walk around, eat etc while wearing them. On top of that, they also sound better. Little bit of a bass boost but so much bigger sounding than stock. Highly recommend them. For reference I went with the smallest SS size on them matching the stock M size. I measured the stock M tips to be 10mm at the widest point and these are 10.4mm. Guess I needed something in between M and L.
My only concern is that the tips come in a package of two pairs, does that mean I have to get another pair of ALBAs ? Probably

 

[mikaik]

My only concern is that the tips come in a package of two pairs, does that mean I have to get another pair of ALBAs ? Probably

Nah, don't be silly, you need to get the Advar

 

[Nkam]

How is the sound Sig compared to chifi IEMs on the whole?

Any or none?

Thanks!

 

[kb5757]

Meze is very consistent in my book. Anything Meze is an excellent product. Can't wait to try the latest cans, the Elite.

 

[FactoryDefaults]

Damn, for $159 i might give these a shot

 

[Nkam]

Interested to see how they sound. Mine arrived today.

Will report back later tonight.
I hope the tips aren’t garbage like most chifi brands.
They are super soft and never hold their shape to form a good seal in your ear

 

[Nkam]

So far the Alba has a better Timbre than the Kato.
The Kato along with other chifi has this very open treble that tends to be harsh and grainy, and sensitive to the source you use. But lends to a very open soundstage.

But so far the Meze Alba sounds much better in timbre and punch ( and attack ). It’s a faster driver.

I think that maybe chifi focuses on vocals a lot more and thinks this tuning adds air to vocals which they like. It does, but it ruins everything else , especially the timbre and solidity of instruments.
It kinda makes sense as I’m pretty sure Chinese and Asian music is very vocal-centric. They do listen to classical as well and perform it. But I think it is more vocal and ethereal vocal as well. I may be wrong but who knows. I would make sense on the tuning.
It does as I stated make instruments feel less solid however .

Again just initial impressions. Maybe I’m wrong. I need to test it more

I do have some new tips coming in since the Chinese ones are horrible. The Meze has good tips.

 

[BigZ12]

I've found my preferred combo for using the Albas with my iPhone 15 Pro Max.
Narrow bore Sony tips (I think they are the EP-EX11L), and the Moondrop Free DSP cable.
The Free DSP gave me the inline mic-/remote-/volume adjust-feature that I wanted (works perfectly with my iPhone), and I also think it adds a little "oomph" to the low register.
The Sony tips also help a little with the bass, and limit a little "harshness" in the treble.

PS: The Moondrop app on iOS does not support the Free DSP, so I have to find myself an Android phone if I want to play a little bit with the EQ. But I don't think I need it, because I'm very happy with how this sounds now!

 

[vsg28]

My review is published now for those interested:
https://www.techpowerup.com/review/meze-audio-alba-in-ear-monitors/

 

[mikaik]

 

[zilax002]

I've found my preferred combo for using the Albas with my iPhone 15 Pro Max.
Narrow bore Sony tips (I think they are the EP-EX11L), and the Moondrop Free DSP cable.
The Free DSP gave me the inline mic-/remote-/volume adjust-feature that I wanted (works perfectly with my iPhone), and I also think it adds a little "oomph" to the low register.
The Sony tips also help a little with the bass, and limit a little "harshness" in the treble.

PS: The Moondrop app on iOS does not support the Free DSP, so I have to find myself an Android phone if I want to play a little bit with the EQ. But I don't think I need it, because I'm very happy with how this sounds now!

Have the playback issues with the DSP cable been fixed?

 

[BigZ12]

Have the playback issues with the DSP cable been fixed?

I haven't heard of any playback issues.
Can't say I've had any problem at all so far.
If there is an issue, and they have fixed it, is it done by a firmware update then?
I haven't tried it with an Android device yet, with a working app, so I'm still on default setting and haven't updated anything.

 

[masterpfa]

Pentacon Coreir Brass / AI Alloy. The best so far (for me).

+1

 

[bencherian]

This maybe irrelevant post but significant one. If you see the housing of iem , one of my reasons to get loose iem was wrongly set iem