This is a review, listening tests, EQ and detailed measurements of the Meze Audio 105 AER open-back headphone. It was kindly sent to me by a member and costs US $399.
I must say, I don't care for the look of 105 AER. That honeycomb patter and central mounting just doesn't do it for me. However, the comfort more than makes up for it. It is so lightweight compared to my everyday headphone. It gets some of my highest marks in this regard.
If you are not familiar with my headphone measurements, I highly recommend to watch my tutorial on it:
Meze Audio 105 AER Headphone Measurements
As usual, we start with the frequency response measurements on my GRAS 45CA test rig:
We have good compliance with our target from 100 Hz to 1 kHZ. Below that, we have bass droop. Above that, some deficiency in lower treble, followed by what seems like some resonances. The difference between our target and measured frequency response give us the level of correction we potentially need with equalization:
I was disappointed that even at 94 dBSPL, we have a lot of bass distortion together with some in treble:
Group delay shows fair bit of internal reflections, albeit at lower amplitudes:
Sensitivity is quite high which is a good thing:
Combined with low impedance, you should be able to drive the 105s with a lot of sources:
Meze 105 AER Listening Tests and Equalization
Out of box tuning seemed pleasant. As usual, it is not until you make correction for frequency response, that you learn what is wrong:
I first added the bass correction and that nicely brought the impact that was essentially missing. I filled the treble hole with Band 2. That opened the female vocals yet didn't cause brightness due to increased bass response we have now. I have to be honest that Band 3 subjective response was mixed. Adding it reduces the region that provides spatial queues in headphone which I preferred in some tracks. But in others, it removed some of the high frequency exaggeration. I usually don't correct above 10 KHz but here, I added a filter and thought it too smoothed out the highs.
With the package of filters in place, the sound was beautiful and when combined with the comfort of the headphone, provided a very attractive proposition.
Conclusions
The combination of frequency response errors and high distortion in objective tests could easily scratch off the 105 AER from many people's wish list. Fortunately, frequency response correction was highly effective. Combined with the comfort, it kept me from having negative feelings about the headphone. Seeing how without EQ, the sound is not at all offensive, I can't be too harsh on the it anyway.
While I would not run out to buy the Meze Audio 105 AER, I can't say you have made a bad choice if you have. Just make sure you have EQ to correct its response.
------------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.
Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/
I must say, I don't care for the look of 105 AER. That honeycomb patter and central mounting just doesn't do it for me. However, the comfort more than makes up for it. It is so lightweight compared to my everyday headphone. It gets some of my highest marks in this regard.
If you are not familiar with my headphone measurements, I highly recommend to watch my tutorial on it:
Meze Audio 105 AER Headphone Measurements
As usual, we start with the frequency response measurements on my GRAS 45CA test rig:
We have good compliance with our target from 100 Hz to 1 kHZ. Below that, we have bass droop. Above that, some deficiency in lower treble, followed by what seems like some resonances. The difference between our target and measured frequency response give us the level of correction we potentially need with equalization:
I was disappointed that even at 94 dBSPL, we have a lot of bass distortion together with some in treble:
Group delay shows fair bit of internal reflections, albeit at lower amplitudes:
Sensitivity is quite high which is a good thing:
Combined with low impedance, you should be able to drive the 105s with a lot of sources:
Meze 105 AER Listening Tests and Equalization
Out of box tuning seemed pleasant. As usual, it is not until you make correction for frequency response, that you learn what is wrong:
I first added the bass correction and that nicely brought the impact that was essentially missing. I filled the treble hole with Band 2. That opened the female vocals yet didn't cause brightness due to increased bass response we have now. I have to be honest that Band 3 subjective response was mixed. Adding it reduces the region that provides spatial queues in headphone which I preferred in some tracks. But in others, it removed some of the high frequency exaggeration. I usually don't correct above 10 KHz but here, I added a filter and thought it too smoothed out the highs.
With the package of filters in place, the sound was beautiful and when combined with the comfort of the headphone, provided a very attractive proposition.
Conclusions
The combination of frequency response errors and high distortion in objective tests could easily scratch off the 105 AER from many people's wish list. Fortunately, frequency response correction was highly effective. Combined with the comfort, it kept me from having negative feelings about the headphone. Seeing how without EQ, the sound is not at all offensive, I can't be too harsh on the it anyway.
While I would not run out to buy the Meze Audio 105 AER, I can't say you have made a bad choice if you have. Just make sure you have EQ to correct its response.
------------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.
Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/