Meze Audio - Alba

If your looking for under 200 I suggest the Meze alba. If you’re looking for under 100 I suggest the moon drop chu 2 under 30 or the blo3 blon by Linsoul. If you wanna ball out get the Fatfreq hbb deuce.

Buy the alba i got it couple months age for the same need and it is crazy good in every term especially for movies

Coming back to you, I got the Alba, and the comfort is exquisite. They are super light, and I don't really feel them being in my ear like the S08 do. The cable seems maybe a bit cheap and thin, but they include an USB-C dongle, which I think is a fair trade at this price. Got it for 120 euros, and while I'm only sensitive to bad IEMs/headphones, they are at least on par with my FH5s, so I'm extremely happy with the purchase. Seems like the S08 will become "that backup pair" and I'm glad I didn't pay more for it.

NiceHCK F1 Pro, ARTTI T10, Aful Explorer, and at just above that range at $159, Meze Alba (I found an open box set for $99).

I have small ear canal syndrome, so I can relate. My fave for size is the Meze Alba. They are $159 but do come with an excellent cable and a decent usb c to dongle dac adapter. It's worth saving up for in my opinion.

Adding my experience here. They are really good, imho. They have punchy bass just the right amount, drum pedals and bass guitars sound full. Mids sound natural. They then have energy up top that make plucks sound crisp but shy of any sibilance. As comparison, my Moondrop S8 are way more resolving, but they lack a tad bit of mid bass and impact that makes the Alba great fun.

Try the Meze Alba … I really like the sound profile and comfort of these. The build quality also seems quite premium. Not that it should influence your decision, but you also get a usb-c dac dongle with it. I found it to be a nice addition.

I'd say the meze alba they have one of the most unique designs I saw on an iem with the bicolor scheme of Ecru and grey

I found that the Meze Alba in ears work great with my iPod 5.5 Gen, when using the "Loudness" EQ setting. I have used many in ears and bigger headphones but I came across this combination and for my ears this works brilliantly.

Meze Alba IEMs. They pair surprisingly well, especially with the Loudness EQ setting turned on.

I have small ears and the most comfortable have been the ie200 and meze alba.

I second this, they are the most comfortable pair I've ever worn. They come with a free usb c dongle aswell

Thieaudio Hype 4--believe the hype! Endgame for me. Picked up a pair of Meze Albas also--darn good for the money. I can keep the Hype 4s for when I'm critically listening or listening wired, and then use the Albas when I'm on the go wireless (with FiiO UTWS5 2025 adapters).

Meze Alba fits the bill. Fission too.

Sounds like Meze Alba would be perfect for you. I bought them because they are THE most comfortable iems. Their tuning is a tasteful V-Shape, sounds like you would love them

The shape just disappears into your ear!

I love my Meze Alba but they are useless to me when using NYC public transit or on a plane. For those situations, I need the ANC of my AirPods Pro 2.

Meze Alba (when on sale) with QoA Rum cables QoA Aviatons (when on sale) with QoA Whiskey cable Tin T2 with FiiO LC-RC cables and AZLA Mithryl ear tips

If we assume that all differences in sound are due to frequency response, then any hobbyist with the right information would be able to recreate the frequency response of any iem. Is that a correct statement? If true, then the reason I'd purchase a Thieaudio Monarch MK4 to replace my Meze Alba is because I wanted the sound signature of the MK4 (because that is the sound signature that I liked) but was unable to replicate it via the tools available to me and the eq grit/knowledge necessary to work hard to get to that point. I'd spend more to make up for the shortfall in the tools I had and the eq knowledge I lacked - I'm paying a tax for not having those abilities. Is that a reasonable statement, or am I wrong?

If you believe you'll like the sound signature of the Hexa, you'll be happy. You can get the Meze Alba for the cost of your iem/hardware, it sounds good (and has many competitors that also sound good) and you will get a dongle/dac with the Alba. Or as many readers have pointed out, you can get many great iems for the combined cost of your choices and you only have to spend another $10 for the apple dongle. The advantage of the dac/amp you chose is that it does have a few eq settings to enhance your sound. Other readers are trying to point out that better iems will sound improved enough to override the gains in the eq settings on the iFi product.

I have the HD550 to complement my FT1. I've owned more expensive iems, I am currently enjoying my Meze Alba along with PEQ from my DAP or Q5K. The Alba eqs nicely, giving me many different sound profiles to enjoy.

I own the Alba - I sold my Hype 4 which costs a lot more and sounds better simply because the Alba was so comfortable. I'm listening to my Sennheiser HD 550 right now, an open backed headphone that I could wear for a half day comfortably, likely longer. They sound great to my ears.

Oh yeah, hard to beat IE200 or final E4000 for comfort. Meze Albas is another one known for comfort. Apart from that look single driver iems like S08. For cheaper ones Chu II's are fantastic. P.S - most iems you find will already be smaller than mp145, I find them too big (helps the Soundstage though), for ex: Nicehck f1 pro has the same driver in a much smaller shell.

Meze Audio Alba... Pretty sure the set I was demoing was likely broken. First time hearing a set of broken DD IEMs. Someone told me the set has issues with power, that it loses bass the more power you give it. Not sure if that's true but it sounds like there was something wrong.

Meze Alba, Sennheiser IEX00, Moondrop Chu/Chu2, etc. There are also plenty of hybrid/tribrid IEMs that are not tiny, but still very appropriately sized. I find DUSK to be pretty comfortable despite being a 6-driver tribrid.

I recommend checking The Honest Audiophile on youtube. His detailed reviews & tierlist helped me to find IEM's for orchestral music. I went for Meze Alba! 👍

I don’t think there Will be any better iem for you than meze alba and i don’t understand why people aren’t talking about it. Looks like they are outdated.

I own some of those $1200 IEMs, and I use none of them for gaming. Many of them make poor gaming sets, with a few exceptions. The IEMs I have used most often are the Simgot EM6L, Supermix 4, Crinicle Zero Blue/Blue 2, Thieaudio Hype 4, Xenns Tea and Top Pro, Meze Alba, and Letshuoer S08 & S12 Anniversary. The one I recommend most is the EM6L. It has consistently been my go-to for competitive gaming most of the time. Coincidentally, it's one of the cheapest sets in my rotation. Unfortunately, recency bias often often plays a major role in what is recommended in the community, which is why you don't see it as often in these types of recommendation threads, but a good tuning remains good forever -- which means many budget sets may be getting more attention recently, but they haven't necessarily dethroned the EM6L. The most critical areas of the frequency range for gaming is the upper mids and treble. The EM6L excels in these areas, offering great detail and clarity, with enough bass extension and emphasis to round out the tuning, but without losing detail in the mids. Imaging and soundstage is solid for an IEM, and they're comfortable enough for long periods of time, with the exception that the nozzle can be challenging for users with smaller ear canals. The other sets I often fall back on for immersive/single-player gaming is the Letshuoer S08. Up from there, the Hype 4; both are warm and fun, with the Hype 4 providing stronger bass performance, albeit typical Thieaudio "rounded" bass, and not as incisive as the S08's faster, more immediate planar slam. On the higher-priced midfi side, as mentioned above, the Hype 4 is one of my go-tos for immersive games, and the Top Pro is my competitive set of choice. It is like the Tea Pro, but with more controlled lower frequencies, and better detail and clarity. The Tea Pro is often recommended for gaming, the Top Pro improves on that tuning. It doesn't quite hit Volur-levels of "holographic" soundstage and imaging, but it is an exceptional set for its price. TL;DR: do not spend more than $500-$600 on a gaming IEM, and to be honest I wouldn't even recommend spending that much. I have dozens of IEMs in my collection, and my favorite gaming sets are on the budget side. Do I still use the Top Pro and Hype 4? Yes, but not as often as the EM6L and S08, and you could get by using the former for every use case -- I just like the S08 enough that I enjoy weaving it into my day-to-day as much as possible.

Very different tunings; the MKIV in its default mode is similar to the MKII, and in its "rumble" mode it is similar to the MKIII, but with a bit more roundness in the mid bass. It's a little less incisive. However, I would not recommend the MKIV for gaming. Besides the fact that emphasized lower frequencies narrow stage (might not be an issue for you in immersive/single-player titles), the MKIV is bulky, with an extended nozzle. Fit/comfort issues are pretty common with the MKIV; I'd consider myself to have larger ear canals than most (I have to use XL tips or large barrel tips like the S&S), and it can be fatiguing, even for me. Sort of hard to see in [these](https://imgur.com/a/mkiv-size-comparison-DrsdZ3G) side-by-sides, but the MKIV definitely suffers from Grand Maestro syndrome. Those odd resonances you're associating with BA timbre, can still be an issue with ESTs and planars. They all have their idiosyncrasies, which is why tuning is much more important than the driver technology. When BA's are pushed to emphasize clarity and detail, as they reach those peaks in the upper mids and treble, that's where you encounter those BA qualities that some people are more sensitive to -- the myth is that a better BA driver doesn't have those qualities, and I don't know that I agree. The irony is, that's why you probably feel it's near perfect; if it were less clear and detailed, you'd likely not hear that BA timbre, but then you'd be missing the clarity and detail. Personally, my favorite gaming IEMs are mostly budget/midif IEMs; the Meze Alba, Simgot EM6L, the Hype 4, and Mega5est Bass+ edition. I run the Hype 4 and Mega5est most often for single-player titles. The Mega5est is probably my favorite for that use case; the slightly bass-boosted JM1 tuning just works really well as an all 'rounder, with that typical meta cleanliness, but with some extra sub bass energy you'd want for immersive games. I can also wear both the Hype 4 and Mega5est all day with no issues. I love the MKIV; it's Thieaudio's best iteration of the Monarch, but definitely wouldn't be my first pick for gaming.

If you want an all ‘rounder, the Mangird Tea Pro is the best option in your price range. That said, even with dozens of IEMs, from budget to summit-fi sets, I run the EM6L 90% of the time. The Tea Pro is markedly better when it comes to media consumption, but the EM6L is no slouch there either, being somewhat mid-forward, but with excellent bass and treble and very strong imaging for a budget set. Whatever you choose, it’s best to avoid sets with emphasized lower frequencies as it will narrow staging and impact the clarity of your mids. Upper mids and treble are where most gaming cues live and is thus the most important area of the frequency range for gaming — hence why the EM6L is such a good option at its price. Other sets I’ve run for games that I’ve also thoroughly enjoyed; Thieaudio Hype 4, Crinicle Dusk, Xenns Top Pro, Meze Alba, Truthear Blue and Blue 2, Letshuoer S08 and S12 2024.

>But as soon as you get in range of the price of the Fiio FT1, I haven't heard an iem that can compete with it for under $500. Full disclaimer, I love and recommend the FT1s often. I agree they're one of the best budget headphones the hobby has ever seen and it's unlikely to be unseated for a very long time. I've posted this [image](https://imgur.com/a/bokeh-ft1-duGXiR5) a few times, because I've often had to back up the claim that I'm running the FT1 alongside much more expensive closed back sets, like the ZMF Bokeh, Focal Radiance and Azurys, etc. I've even started recommending it as a budget production/mixing headphone over options like the MDR-M1. The FT1 takes EQ surprisingly well and makes a great budget option for beginning engineers. But, I would argue the premise that IEMs provide better bang for your buck hasn't changed. The FT1 has subverted expectations where the headphone market is concerned, but it hasn't disrupted the budget IEM segment, not by a long shot. The Letshuoer S08, for instance, doesn't just compete with but outperforms the FT1; it presents the same neutral/slightly warm-tilted tuning, but with superior technical performance and much more overhead for EQ. The Simgot EM6L, not as popular now as its been outshined by recency bias, is still a phenomenal value for its price. And IEMs in a similar price range to the FT1, like the Meze Alba, Performer 5+2, or Ziigaat Odyssey, are more competent than the FT1 out of the box and align well with the "all 'rounder" tuning that has made the FT1 so popular. And under $500? The recent Xenns Top Pro is $499, and walks circles around the FT1, being one of the best midfi IEMs the market has seen in years and easily Xenns best release, competing with some of my kilobuck sets, both in tuning and technical performance. The FT1 is a fantastic budget headphone, without question. It has disrupted the budget market and is the easy recommendation for someone looking to spend $300 or less for an over ear set. However, I'd still recommend several IEMs over the FT1 if format didn't matter and someone was looking to get the best bang for their buck.

EM6L for competitive gaming; depending on budget, the S08 or the new S12 Ultra for single-player/competitive titles. Alba is a good contender for middle ground between both. All of the IEMs will provide better passive noise isolation than the FT1, so less ambient noise. The Alba is the exception here, with a more open-style design that lets in more room noise.

Little out of your budget but the most comfortable small iem I've ever tried is the meze alba. One of my friends who can't do iems at all could wear them comfortably and loved them. The stock tips are pretty good, but I personally prefer spinfit W1 or divinus velvet tips for it.

I don't remember what material the alba uses but I'm pretty sure it's a lighter metal because it's quite light.

I second the alba.

Meze Alba = confort + design Nimic mai mult, și la suprapreț 

I second this, have them and they sound great, easy to wear long periods too.