[REVIEW] MEElectronics A151
Jan 10, 2012 at 9:56 AM Thread Starter Post #1 of 26

ItsMeHere

100+ Head-Fier
Joined
Jan 9, 2012
Posts
327
Likes
57
 ​
 ​
The A151 hides in its housings Balanced Armature drivers, which are known for their ability to reproduce a precise sound, nearest to the way the recording is supposed to be heard. 
The A151's specifications:
Driver: Single micro balanced armature​
Housing: High impact deco housing with angled fit​
Frequency Response: 15Hz – 20KHz​
Sensitivity: 111 dB​
Impedance: 27 ohms​
Maximum Power Input: 25 Mw​
 
Building Quality: All of the A151's parts are greatly built. The earphones' housings feel really solid, although they're made of plastic. In the picture below, you can see the cable, which is a twisted cable. The cable feels really durable and strong, it isn't one of these cables which will get cut quickly. Most of the times, twisted cables are included only with more expensive earphones, and because of that, I think that we should thank MEE for including it with the A151s. The 3.5 Millimeter plug is gold plated, and feels strong and resistant. Because all of the reasons which I wrote, I'll give the A151's build quality 10/10
 
 ​
 
 
 
The A151's design is nice in my eyes, especially the chrome parts in the driver housings, but you can see that it isn't the range which the focus is on with these earphones. 8/10
 
 ​
 
The earphones come with the following accessories:
A small clamshell case:​
 ​
 ​
 ​
And five tips:​
 ​
 ​
Honestly, there's nothing more than this items which I would think In Ear earphones should come with. 10/10
Comfortability: Because of the fact that there are 5 tips which come with the A151s, there's almost no way that there will be someone who won't find at least one tip which will be comfortable for him.  It's really important to try all of the tips that come with in ear earphones to get the best comfortability and sound, because when you don't get a proper seal, you won't get proper bass too. Even though the A151 is supposed to be worn over the ear, it can also be worn straight down in the same comfortability as when worn over the ear. When worn over the ear, the earphones won't fall out of the ears. The twisted cable is so soft and lightweight that you won't feel it when worn over the ear. In conclusion, the A151s are very comfortable. 9/10
Because these are In Ear earphones, I'll also check their Microphonics.  Because of the twisted cable and the over the ear wearing style, there is almost no microphonics at all. 8/10
Isolation: In the package, there are 5 tips sets. Some of the tips isolate well and some not, but it's personal, maybe something that didn't isolate well for me will isolate well for you. I got a pretty good isolation with the small olive tips (which I found the most comfortable). When there was no music playing, I heard only loud outside noises, but when you'll press play and the music will start playing, you'll hear almost no outside noises. Because of its great isolation, the A151 will be good for people who use their earphones while riding the bus or the train. In this parameter I'll give the A151 8.5/10.
The Sound:  The A151 provide clear and noticeable Bass, but not too much of it, exactly in the amount that is needed. A lot of headphones/earphones manufacturers choose to modify the drivers so they will produce "extra bass" and make the sound "fun", but in the A151's case, it looks that MEElectronics chose to be faithful to the real sound, and not "bomb" it with a lot of extra bass. I don't really like it when the bass is overshadowing the other sound frequencies, and because of that, I pretty liked these earphone's bass. The mids are excellent and they give the sound a big feeling. This frequency is really detailed you can hear every little detail, the sound isn't smeared. The treble is a little bit gritty, but is very clean and detailed, alike the other frequencies.  The soundstage is good, feels big and airy, like you're in a big hall. I found their reaction to equalizer very good. The A151 don't need an amplifier, my iPod Touch drives them very well. Their sound is very good: It's clear; it's balanced, fun and detailed. In conclusion, I'll give their sound 9/10 (the sound is rated in ratio to their price).
 
These earphones are wonderful in all of the aspects which I've checked, and in ration to their price, they're even more awesome. In integration of all of the aspects, I'll give these 9/10 as my final conclusion.
The Earphones' price is around 50$ and they can be bought from MEE's site: MEElec.com or from Amazon , and from all the other authorized MEElectronics dealers, which are listed in MEE's website.
I would like to thank Mike from MEElectronics for giving me the sample that was used for this review.
 
 
I know I'm quite late with this review lol, but I got these not too long ago and I really wanted to post here my review.
Replies/Feedbacks would be really appreciated :)
This review has also been posted in my new headphones blog,
click here to enter it.
 
 
 
Jan 10, 2012 at 11:09 AM Post #2 of 26
What is the size of the tips? Would Comply T400 fit on this? What do you mean by gritty treble? How would you compare the sound quality with that of the Sony V6 headphone? i consider that my standard for sound quality. It isn't the best headphone I have, however it is very well known, and the frequency response is rather flat.
 
Jan 10, 2012 at 11:16 AM Post #3 of 26


Quote:
What is the size of the tips? Would Comply T400 fit on this? What do you mean by gritty treble? How would you compare the sound quality with that of the Sony V6 headphone? i consider that my standard for sound quality. It isn't the best headphone I have, however it is very well known, and the frequency response is rather flat.



 here are 3 olive tips (small, medium and large) and one bi flange and one triple flange.
Comply's site says that only the T100, TS-100 And TX-100 fit it.
Gritty treble as it "rolls". I haven't heard the V6, so I can't give a refrence to it, but their sound quality is a lot better than the AKG K518 in my opinion.
 
Jan 10, 2012 at 11:20 AM Post #4 of 26
the meelec is quite dark/warm sounding, with rolled off highs. I find the highs lacking. Shure foam tips fit if you moisten the plastic shaft on the IEM itself.

And i wouldnt agree with the better than AKG K518, i still prefer my AKG's
but that is my opinion
 
Jan 10, 2012 at 11:24 AM Post #5 of 26
 
Quote:
the meelec is quite dark/warm sounding, with rolled off highs. I find the highs lacking. Shure foam tips fit if you moisten the plastic shaft on the IEM itself.
And i wouldnt agree with the better than AKG K518, i still prefer my AKG's
but that is my opinion



 Yeah, the K518 is really great, but I feel it is too bassy.
 
Jan 10, 2012 at 11:30 AM Post #6 of 26
I haven't heard the AKG  K518. When you say warm, do you mean the sound signature is somewhat like the Sennheiser PX100? I guess I could live with that, although I would prefer something more neutral.
 
Jan 10, 2012 at 11:32 AM Post #7 of 26


Quote:
I haven't heard the AKG  K518. When you say warm, do you mean the sound signature is somewhat like the Sennheiser PX100? I guess I could live with that, although I would prefer something more neutral.


 
It is pretty neutral, it's a BA after all, although it doesn't lack bass as most of the BAs.
 
 
 
Jan 10, 2012 at 11:36 AM Post #8 of 26
yes it is quite similar to PX100 actually, but with better control, balance, not as warm mids. I do like the A151 but i prefer soundmagic E30 or PL50, they have a more airy balanced sound.
The A151 doesnt have your typical BA sound actually

Regards
 
Jan 10, 2012 at 1:39 PM Post #9 of 26
The Soundmagic E30 seems interesting, however the imo the E10 looks much better and looks more sturdy. I guess the E10 has extra bass though, and the E30 is more neutral? I wonder if Soundmagic will develop an iem that looks similar to the E10 but with more neutral sound.
 
 
 
Jan 10, 2012 at 2:18 PM Post #10 of 26
read my E30 review. But E30 is neatral with nice lows mids and highs. I really liked them. Shame they were only loaned for review.
 
Feb 9, 2012 at 4:58 PM Post #11 of 26
I ordered and auditioned the A151 directly against the MEelectronics CC51 this holiday season, which are a ceramic dynamic driver. They were briefly slashed to $25/$40 during holiday sales so if you have the patience you might wait for that sort of clearance-level pricing.  For the record I very much liked the sound both, and would have kept them both if not for the fact that I resolved beforehand to give one away to a good friend as a gift.
 
That said -  I ultimately made the call due to comfort.  I'm cursed with (presumably unusually) small ear canals - and of all the options sent with the A151 only one is comfortable for extended periods - it's not the small olive!  It's the tri-flange inserted about halfway.  For me this actually produces a very serviceable seal, though the housings protrude from my ears more than I'd like - it affects how well I can wrap the cord around my ears and looks funny.  Would very much like to find some smaller tips.  The CC51's by contrast sounded beautiful in their own right, but there was pretty much no getting around the fact that the driver (though small) actually ends up in your ear canal - and it's diameter was too big for my comfort - the smallest flanges produced a burning pain after 1 or 2 tracks.
 
I haven't the broader experience of others, but as my first BA I found the A151's to be quite neutral.  More than one here have described it as "dark" "warm" and similar, but I have to agree with ItsMeHere above.  Perhaps they specifically mean "dark, relative to other BA's."  I can only speculate.
 
If your taste in music is relatively broad and you like IEM's - I think the best answer is honestly to have a pair of nice quality dynamic and BA-based inner ear buds.  They both fundamentally excel at different things - now that I've come to experience and appreciate BA sound for what it is, certain favorite tracks now just sound "wrong" with dynamic buds - because the BA inherently is better at reproducing details and distinguishing voices (Nickel Creek - Smoothie Song).  At the same time, certain tracks will probably never will have the same impact in BA as they did with the dynamic driver sounds (Bear McCreary - Something Dark is Coming).
 
A broad generalization to answer the broader question:  Irrespective of sound signature preferences, for a certain lower budget range (very roughly, $0-75), you will normally find better quality materials and sound for your dollar if erring for dynamic drivers.  They enjoy economies of scale/history that BA's currently can't compete with (outside of great sales) in that price range.  That said per above you can find A151 and nicer BA's well inside that range if you have the patience/persistence to watch for a good deal.
 
Feb 9, 2012 at 5:13 PM Post #12 of 26
I really admire the A151 for doing what nothing else has done. Braided cable, balanced armature, great fit up or down, and cheap.
 
That said, I didn't care for the sound. It sounded too gloomy to me. Like there was a mask over the music, taking a hit on clarity.
 
Feb 9, 2012 at 5:21 PM Post #13 of 26
A151 must be EQd. More Highs = better overall sound. I was EQing them with a different portable players and was having all time good results.
Just more Highs guys and girls:) But sometimes more bass, you will have better sub bass:wink:
 
Feb 10, 2012 at 11:06 AM Post #14 of 26
treble booster on the ipod makes them a lot better! i mean a lot!
 
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top