[Podster]

My Rai Solo pair just arrived today. I agree with everyone that they're a very solid set of IEMs--they feel like I could drop them without a worry, though being me I'll treat them like they're made of fine china.

Unboxing:


I like how the box has a window that shows off these beautiful buds. But that's not why I bought them.

I noticed that my Comply 400 ear tips didn't fit like they should have. Took a lot of force to get them onto the nozzles even though Comply said they should have fit the Penta (and thus I'd assume these). Maybe Meze can comment on whether the Rai Penta has a different size nozzle? Once I finally got the tips on, I gave them a listen.

I know from other Head-Fi-ers that these take some serious burn-in time, so I put Frost*'s "Falling Satellites" on infinite repeat for a few hours to give them a head start. Falling Satellites, in addition to being one of my favorite albums, has a good range of instrumentation and is well-mixed, so I figured if I picked these up at anytime during burn-in I'd at least have something to enjoy other than pink noise.

[Incidentally, Falling Satellites has on it "Towerblock," which is my soundstage testing song. With a good pair of headphones, it becomes unclear if the building demolition noises the song starts with are coming from across the room or from the headphones (the first time I heard this, it made me jump because I thought something had come crashing down in another room in my house)]

That said, let's throw Towerblock on and see how these handle it. ... Okay, not the best soundstage I've heard, but these are IEMs, not an open set of over-ears. The crash at about 10 seconds in is still reasonably far off to the right. When the song explodes at about 1:35, I can really start hearing some of the nice 3D sound that Jem Godfrey wrote into the mix. The treble spikes I heard earlier today are already fading as I've let these burn in, which is nice because I have awful high-pitched tinnitus. I also notice that the bass is starting to shine a bit more.

Not to mention that with memory foam tips these things are COMFORTABLE! I generally hate IEMs because they irritate my ears badly within a few minutes. I can't deal with silicone ear tips to any extent, and I have gotten rid of numerous pairs of IEMs just because of discomfort. These, I can barely feel once the stainless steel casing warms up a bit. Hopefully I can find a set of memory foam tips that will be easier to put on these.

My one complaint? The cable. It looks and feels ... well, flimsy. It's also dreadfully microphonic, so I'm thinking I'll be using the wonders of the internet to find a good replacement cable.

Overall, I feel like I got my money's worth without even fully burning these in. Capital work, Meze. You've invented the first pair of IEMs that I won't be returning!

Flimsy cable eh! So here's the link on AliEx to Xiaofan cables specifically these cloth covered ones. I have the double braid 8 cores for $38 and don't find them too heavy at all over ear but for $9 less they also have it in 4 core

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000165943464.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.27424c4d4gt8p2

Good luck on whatever your cable choice is

THX at @MezeTeam , I'm holding off on a dedicated tube headphone amp until they stick me in an old folks home

 

[Lurk650]

My Rai Solo pair just arrived today. I agree with everyone that they're a very solid set of IEMs--they feel like I could drop them without a worry, though being me I'll treat them like they're made of fine china.

Unboxing:


I like how the box has a window that shows off these beautiful buds. But that's not why I bought them.

I noticed that my Comply 400 ear tips didn't fit like they should have. Took a lot of force to get them onto the nozzles even though Comply said they should have fit the Penta (and thus I'd assume these). Maybe Meze can comment on whether the Rai Penta has a different size nozzle? Once I finally got the tips on, I gave them a listen.

I know from other Head-Fi-ers that these take some serious burn-in time, so I put Frost*'s "Falling Satellites" on infinite repeat for a few hours to give them a head start. Falling Satellites, in addition to being one of my favorite albums, has a good range of instrumentation and is well-mixed, so I figured if I picked these up at anytime during burn-in I'd at least have something to enjoy other than pink noise.

[Incidentally, Falling Satellites has on it "Towerblock," which is my soundstage testing song. With a good pair of headphones, it becomes unclear if the building demolition noises the song starts with are coming from across the room or from the headphones (the first time I heard this, it made me jump because I thought something had come crashing down in another room in my house)]

That said, let's throw Towerblock on and see how these handle it. ... Okay, not the best soundstage I've heard, but these are IEMs, not an open set of over-ears. The crash at about 10 seconds in is still reasonably far off to the right. When the song explodes at about 1:35, I can really start hearing some of the nice 3D sound that Jem Godfrey wrote into the mix. The treble spikes I heard earlier today are already fading as I've let these burn in, which is nice because I have awful high-pitched tinnitus. I also notice that the bass is starting to shine a bit more.

Not to mention that with memory foam tips these things are COMFORTABLE! I generally hate IEMs because they irritate my ears badly within a few minutes. I can't deal with silicone ear tips to any extent, and I have gotten rid of numerous pairs of IEMs just because of discomfort. These, I can barely feel once the stainless steel casing warms up a bit. Hopefully I can find a set of memory foam tips that will be easier to put on these.

My one complaint? The cable. It looks and feels ... well, flimsy. It's also dreadfully microphonic, so I'm thinking I'll be using the wonders of the internet to find a good replacement cable.

Overall, I feel like I got my money's worth without even fully burning these in. Capital work, Meze. You've invented the first pair of IEMs that I won't be returning!

I personally use cheap ChiFi cables for $25-30, esp bc I run balanced.

Dekoni Bulletz have been my favorite foamies

 

[Podster]

I personally use cheap ChiFi cables for $25-30, esp bc I run balanced.

Dekoni Bulletz have been my favorite foamies

Cheap maybe but also very good, the NICEHCK 16 core is another good one Crazy thing is (of course I realize its because of the cloth outer sheath) but the 16 core NICE is actually smaller than the 8 core Xiaofan however the Xiaofan is not that much heavier

 

[Lurk650]

Ah yes, Pod, cheap price wise . I've bought a near $200 cable and have had to had it repaired twice and it still had issues unfortunately. Also wasn't flexible like ChiFi cables.

 

[HirkEukvic]

I ended up ordering an ISN H16 from Penon because I didn't have the link for the Xiaofan one when I was ordering. Too bad, because I like the colors on the Xiaofan.

Incidentally, I've been using these with an Advanced Accessport Air DAC while I save up for a Dragonfly Cobalt. In other words, between Bluetooth and a cheap DAC I'm probably not getting the full punch from my Rai. They still sound great but I wonder what I'm missing yet.

 

[willywill]

I ended up ordering an ISN H16 from Penon because I didn't have the link for the Xiaofan one when I was ordering. Too bad, because I like the colors on the Xiaofan.

Incidentally, I've been using these with an Advanced Accessport Air DAC while I save up for a Dragonfly Cobalt. In other words, between Bluetooth and a cheap DAC I'm probably not getting the full punch from my Rai. They still sound great but I wonder what I'm missing yet.

What is wrong with the stock cable from Meze, I know it will oxide in a few years but your not going balanced.
Enjoy your headphone and save your money for something else

 

[Podster]

What is wrong with the stock cable from Meze, I know it will oxide in a few years but your not going balanced.
Enjoy your headphone and save your money for something else

I believe his words were flimsy and I tend to agree. Not that you don't have good merit but with the quality of cables being released today (not to mention looks) I think a nice iem can reasonably have a cable a quarter of the iem's price. As mentioned by another user and depending on what you are wearing the Meze cable can be a little micro-phonic Here's a very nice supple 16 core balanced cable that cost less than $17 and I know you mentioned saving coin for something else but for a $250 iem $17 seems quite reasonable for a return of killing micro-phonics and maybe even a little beauty enhancement Alternatives! Variety is the spice O'Life U know

 

[HirkEukvic]

Thanks Podster, you said it better than I could.

 

[peterinvan]

I believe his words were flimsy and I tend to agree. Not that you don't have good merit but with the quality of cables being released today (not to mention looks) I think a nice iem can reasonably have a cable a quarter of the iem's price. As mentioned by another user and depending on what you are wearing the Meze cable can be a little micro-phonic Here's a very nice supple 16 core balanced cable that cost less than $17 and I know you mentioned saving coin for something else but for a $250 iem $17 seems quite reasonable for a return of killing micro-phonics and maybe even a little beauty enhancement Alternatives! Variety is the spice O'Life U know

Please provide a link to that cool cable. Thanks.

 

[MezeTeam]

Message deleted.

 

[Podster]

Please provide a link to that cool cable. Thanks.

This is the blue cable (also in red) of which I have both in the 8 core:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/400...8889a02346928436-1584111108869-00477-VnYZvQVf

and this is the gray 16 core and a tremendous bargain for $10!:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/33025713825.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.27424c4dbGrXQk

I do want to comment that for many the supplied Meze cable may be fine and I don't want to knock it as being a bad cable at all, was just not my cup of tea! As Andy mentioned this hobby is very subjective and each have their own preferences, if your happy with the supplied cable for sure spend those funds on something else you might enjoy

 

[MezeTeam]

This is the blue cable (also in red) of which I have both in the 8 core:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000165943464.html?af=240682&utm_campaign=240682&aff_platform=aaf&utm_medium=cpa&afref=https://www.head-fi.org/threads/meze-rai-solo-wire-free-upm-dynamic-driver-with-metal-injection-sintered-steel-body.917749/page-9&dp=4b5498862c95394c4557b638750aebea&spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.27424c4d4gt8p2&hpx=short1&cv=47843&mall_affr=pr3&sk=VnYZvQVf&aff_trace_key=3b87ef4f9a9546918889a02346928436-1584111108869-00477-VnYZvQVf&tmLog=new_Detail_6220&terminal_id=f9c6204860d549db83814b7d2a2c0da5&utm_source=admitad&utm_content=47843&aff_request_id=3b87ef4f9a9546918889a02346928436-1584111108869-00477-VnYZvQVf

and this is the gray 16 core and a tremendous bargain for $10!:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/33025713825.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.27424c4dbGrXQk

I do want to comment that for many the supplied Meze cable may be fine and I don't want to knock it as being a bad cable at all, was just not my cup of tea! As Andy mentioned this hobby is very subjective and each have their own preferences, if your happy with the supplied cable for sure spend those funds on something else you might enjoy

I truncated the last part of the link for you, this is easier to pass around on net.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000165943464.html?af=240682

When we pick a stock cable for IEM product, we have to consider both audio performance and form factors at the same time. Generally speaking a low profile cable will work better, but we definitely will look into the comments regarding the memory wire and microphonic issue and enhance our cable down the road.

 

[rantng]

@MezeTeam has the Rai Solo tour been cancelled?

 

[MezeTeam]

@MezeTeam has the Rai Solo tour been cancelled?

We received enormous response on Rai Solo and we decided to postpone the tour until next production batch. Sorry for the inconvenience caused, will keep the forum updated when we have a firm date again.

 

[audio123]

Meze Rai Solo Review. A very nice single DD IEM from @MezeTeam
Enjoy & Happy Listening, as always! Most importantly, take care during this global pandemic and stay safe!