Meze Audio 105 AER

Introduction

There are some reasonably priced headphones in the Meze Audio product line-up, of course – but the company does tend to seem more at home when turning out wildly specified, wildly expensive models instead.

The 105 AER is its latest attempt to demonstrate it understands customers who aren’t independently wealthy just as well as it does those that are – but by doing so it’s lining up against quite a few acknowledged experts. Can Meze Audio move down-market without, you know… moving down-market?

Design

• Self-adjusting headband
• Weighs 336g
• Detachable 1.8m cable with 3.5mm termination and 6.3mm adapter

First things first: for all that the 105 AER are of a very manageable 336g, and for all the comfort of their velour-covered memory foam earpads, they are not for everyone. Specifically, they’re not for anyone who’s blessed with a head that’s any smaller than the adult average.

These are large headphones, and the self-adjusting strip of PU leather that acts as a headband doesn’t adjust itself quite as much as it might.

As is the usual Meze Audio way, though, the design of the 105 AER is generally pretty thoughtful. The slender, stamped magnesium outer headband looks and feels good. The ABS-PC thermoplastic earcups feel good too, and feature an interesting segmented pattern behind which the rear of the driver arrangement is visible.

And the headphones are supplied with a hard travel-case that’s a cut or two above the norm at this sort of money – it even features a little pouch to keep the 1.8m length of cable tidy when it’s not in use.

Each earcup must be , so there are two 3.5mm connections at one end of the cable and a single equivalent at the other. If you fancy a balanced cable, it will cost you around £49 from the Meze Audio online store.

Specification

• 50mm full-range dynamic drivers
• 5Hz – 30kHz frequency response (claimed)
• 112dB sensitivity, 42ohms impedance

Like almost all headphones at fairly realistic money, the 105 AER aren’t overburdened with features. In fact, about the only feature they have worth mentioning is the driver arrangement that does the sonic business.

The drivers here are of a 50mm full-range dynamic design, and are (with a couple of unspecified amendments to the frame and membrane in order to help keep costs down) carried over from some of Meze Audio’s more expensive models.

The ‘W’-shaped dome is made of a carbon-fibre/cellulose composite – the company likes it for its durability and light weight, and suggests it rejects resonance more effectively than any alternative material.

The torus, the ring that surrounds the dome,  is made of semicrystalline polymer – it too is light and responsive, and its impressive damping characteristics keep vibration and resonance to a bare minimum. Finally, there’s a copper/zinc alloy stabiliser around the outside of the membrane to further minimise distortion.

The upshot, according to Meze Audio, is a driver that delivers sensitivity and impedance figures of 112dB and 42 ohms respectively, and a frequency response of 5Hz – 30kHz. All of which make for good reading when it comes to driving these headphones as well as enjoying their sound.

Sound Quality

• Detailed and spacious presentation
• Great tonal balance and smooth frequency response
• Ample dynamic headroom

The open-backed headphone configuration is valued for its ability to facilitate an open, airy sonic presentation – and although it’s far from the only thing that’s enjoyable about the way the 105 AER sound, it’s a very agreeable place to start.

A 24-bit/96kHz FLAC file of Chick Corea’s Return to Forever goes a long way to demonstrating the sort of spaciousness the Meze Audio are capable of. This is a complex and busy recording that is, in terms of dynamics, all over the shop – but the 105 AER create a big, well-defined and carefully organised soundstage on which every individual element gets plenty of space in which to express itself.

The definition of the stage is impressive, and even though layout guarantees plenty of separation the headphones also present the recording as a unified, carefully timed whole. There is such confidence to the overall presentation that it sounds like a performance – the sensation of musicians responding and reacting to each other is almost tangible.

Detail levels are high at every point – the 105 AER expose even the finest details at every point, but are particularly good at describing lots of variation at the bottom of the frequency range. The top end is substantial and informative, sure, and the midrange is articulate too – just listen to Cate Le Bon and Perfume Genius harmonising during the former’s I Think I Knew as a 24-bit/44.1kHz FLAC fle and you’ll understand what I mean.

But it’s the amount of textural and tonal variety revealed at the bottom end, while the headphones maintain straight-edged authority and considerable weight, that’s most startling. Where momentum and rhythmic positivity are concerned, the 105 AER are as good as this money can buy.

The tonal balance is just so, as evidenced by the differences between the two recordings I’ve already mentioned. There’s an organic kind of warmth to the Chick Corea recording that isn’t entirely down to the liberal use of Fender Rhodes throughout, and there’s a kind of slightly lo-fi austerity and immediacy about the Cate Le Bon tune – and the tonal differences are fully expressed by the Meze Audio.

And the ability to run from the bottom of the frequency range to the top in a straight line, with any area understated or given too much emphasis, doesn’t do any harm either.

The 105 AER reveal the dynamics of harmonic variation with just as much confidence and certainty as they do the biggest dynamic shifts in volume or intensity. They present music as an entertainment, first and foremost, rather than as some kind of academic exercise. And they have the sort of candid, unequivocal overall personality that makes every listen into an event and makes every recording seem compelling.   

Should you buy it?

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