Fit and Comfort

Seen above is the right channel of the Meze Alba placed into an artificial ear mold with the included size L ear tip installed. I have average-sized ears, and the ear mold above represents my own experiences well enough as a proxy. Size M silicone tips are my go-to for testing, since foam tips are not included by some brands, as is the case here. I also mentioned before how I found the stock ear tips to run smaller than size to where I ended up using size L tips instead. Your mileage may vary though, and ultimately the goal is to get a deep and secure fit. I'd say overall the Alba does well in this regard, with the smaller shells and the soft curves throughout helping place them in my concha and getting the nozzle in my ear canals. There is enough room to angle the nozzle in at a more amenable angle too, and plenty of contact points throughout to support the weight. These IEMs weigh ~7 g per side, and feel dense compared to others without being heavy. It makes for a more solid feeling instead, and the cable also provides additional support with the ear hooks and the cinch—provided the ear hooks work for you out of the box. The end result is a well isolating set without any driver flex and minimal pressure built-up in the ears despite the deep fit achieved. This is as close as it gets to achieving a similar level of comfort from universal fit IEMs that Meze provides with its headphones too.

Audio Performance

Audio Hardware

Contrary to Meze's headphones, where we tend to get detailed descriptions of the drivers and associated engineering technologies used, there is woefully little information provided about the Alba. All we know is it uses a single dynamic driver per side, which in turn is 10.8 mm in diameter. This does not help stop any speculation of the Alba using some OEM dynamic drivers from China, but ultimately what matters more is what you do with the drivers. Meze says the Alba is tuned to sound neutral with a touch of warmth, and the rated specifications—32 Ω impedance and 109 dB/mW sensitivity (interestingly, the pamphlet in the box mentions 109 dB/V which is clearly a typo) make it easy enough to drive off just about anything. The provided dongle adapter is completely neutral and does not have any DSP functionality. We again know nothing about the DAC chip used inside nor its rated performance and power output, but suffice to say that it does the job easily in powering the Alba cleanly and without any audible distortion at even very loud listening volumes. If you go for the 4.4 mm cable, then you can use any decent portable DAC/amp and still find a lot of headroom at your disposal.

Frequency Measurement and Listening

I will mention that I have a general preference for a warm-neutral signature with a slightly elevated bass, smooth treble range, detailed mids, and good tonal separation. I also generally prefer instrumental music over vocals, with favored genres including jazz and classical music.


Our reproducible testing methodology begins with a calibrated IEC711 audio coupler/artificial ear that IEMs can feed into enough for decent isolation. The audio coupler feeds into a USB sound card, which in turn goes to a laptop that has ARTA and REW running and the earphones connected to the laptop through a capable and transparent DAC/amp—I used the Questyle M15 here, but also used the provided dongle adapter which performed identically. I begin with an impulse measurement to test for signal fidelity, calibrate the sound card and channel output, account for floor noise, and finally test the frequency response of each channel separately. Octave smoothing is at the 1/12th setting, which nets a good balance of detail and noise not being identified as useful data. Also, the default tuning was used for testing, and no app-based settings were chosen unless specifically mentioned. Each sample of interest is tested thrice with separate mounts to account for any fit issues, and an average is taken of the three individual measurements for statistical accuracy. For IEMs, I am also using the appropriate ear mold fitted to the audio coupler for a separate test to compare how the IEMs fare when installed in a pinna geometry instead of just the audio coupler. The raw data is then exported from REW and plotted in OriginPro for easier comparison.


The IEC711 is such that you can't really compare these results with most other test setups, especially those using a head and torso simulator (HATS). The raw dB numbers are also quite contingent on the set volume, gain levels, and sensitivity of the system. What is more useful information is how the left and right channels work across the rated frequency response in the Meze Alba. The left channel was separately tested from the right one, and colored differently for contrast. I did my best to ensure an identical fit for both inside the IEC711 orifice, so note how the two channels are quite similar across the entire useful 20 Hz to 20 kHz range! Keep in mind that this is a randomly chosen retail unit and this is all the more encouraging that all retail units will be similarly impressive. Measurements taken after 50 hours of testing, which included these playing a mix of various songs as well as white or pink noise and sine sweeps, showed no difference. There was no perceived burn-in effect thus, and none was measurable, either. The response with the anthropomorphic pinna in place matched the ideal scenario in the coupler quite well, and here too I need to point out the insertion depth can change how the resonance peak (matched at 8 kHz) and frequency response thereafter behaves, even with the fact that these couplers aren't the most accurate in this range.



Here is the average frequency response for both channels of the Meze Alba plotted against my personal target taken from VSG.squig.link, which also gives you an idea of my personal preferences to better correlate any possible biases. The tuning of a set of headphones or earphones does not have to match my target as long as it is tuned with some direction, makes sense, and is executed well. After all, no one set will appeal to everyone, and having different options is what makes this hobby so interesting and hard to quantify. This is in addition to a second graph using a newer target that's based on a more scientific methodology involving a -10 dB tilt (-1 dB/octave) applied to the diffuse field target for the newer, more reliable B&K 5128 but then compensated for my exact 711 coupler instead. Do scroll down to the targets in my database linked above and see the new 5128 section to the left where you can click on the yellow question mark for a brief primer. The bottom line is this target is closer to what many people are likely to prefer out of IEMs and headphones alike. I have chosen to plot this graph with the frequency response normalized/compensated to the target to make it easier to see how the Meze Alba is tuned—U-shaped with good extension on both sides.

The first thing I noted is how the Alba does not sound like a typical single DD set, and by this I mean the decay in the treble with sharp peaks at regular intervals going down in energy. It's a specific ringing sound with instruments such as cymbal hits that makes it easy to identify a typical single DD set, and here Meze has clearly tuned the Alba to be more elevated but controlled. On the other side, the Alba has a very punchy mid-bass with a noticeable bump around 150-200 Hz—it's not that obvious with the measurements above, likely with the smoothing used, but you will certainly notice it in the ears. Sub-bass extension is also quite good and reaches deep, albeit I wouldn't say the Alba is particularly impactful. The dynamic range is fairly average for this market segment, as is detail retrieval, which is complemented by the overall sound signature being very coherent. I will also credit Meze for being able to do this without the mids being overly recessed, helping instruments get their dues and allowing for precise imaging in a fairly wide cone in front of your head. Vocals also come off forward-facing without being shouty or hollow sounding, and there's no sibilance felt either. Soundstage could be wider and taller though, a lot of tracks felt they were playing inside my ears only. Some of this could be from the treble playback missing some higher order harmonics, although we see some air added that makes for a sparkly sound for piano keys and strings too. Overall, I'd say the Alba is safe listen for most people and will work as a good all-rounder for many, especially those who want a warm sound with punchy bass.


We are in a weird position with the Alba, as single DD IEMs are either way less expensive (think $20, even) or much more, even going over a thousand dollars. There used to be a lot of ~$180-200 single DD IEMs just a couple of years ago, but they seem to have gone out of fashion as hybrid IEMs have come to dominate this market. MOONDROP has a new set coming up which might well be a contender, but otherwise you will notice the other contenders here are all hybrid sets from new Chinese audio brands. Truthear, for example, has had a very successful time with all its IEMs, and its latest offering is a 1 DD/4 BA set that targets the Harman 2019 v2 in-ear target. I am not a fan of this tuning, but others clearly are. I will also mention that the NOVA is larger and less comfortable than the Alba to where I personally would choose the Meze offering. Binary Acoustics, with the collab Chopin, tries to address the leaner mids of the Harman tuning style with some more mid-bass, but again comes off too shouty to my ears. It also costs more to where I don't really see people talking about the Chopin at all. The tougher competition comes from AFUL with its massive hit, the Performer 5. It can be found often for just a bit more than what the Alba goes for, competes favorably on looks and comfort, and has some very cool engineering tech inside. I'd say the Performer 5 is also the closest in tuning to the Alba of the various options seen here, but comes off slightly more mid-forward while having a similarly cramped soundstage. You could also look at single DD/planar sets at a lower price range as the Alba too, and probably get real close to the Alba's sound signature admittedly. What you won't get there is the improved quality control and customer service, as well as arguably the looks, finish, and comfort here.