Meze ADVAR in-ear monitors

All Meze Audio products are staggeringly beautiful, none more than the ADVAR. This beauty extends from the ‘supercar’ of the brand, The Elite, to the RAI PENTA IEMs all the way to the

Meze 99 Neo headphones (still a great sound and exceptional value for money). These Meze ADVAR bridge the price gap between the RAI PENTA and the RAI SOLO (that seem to have fallen off the product list with Meze) making them a discerning choice for those with a bit more budget to stretch with equipment to match.

Antonio Meze, Lead Designer & Founder Meze Audio says of the Meze ADVAR In-ear monitors:

When we developed ADVAR, our goal was to create something meaningful. A piece of audio that’s artful, spiritual, and timeless. I think the result we achieved reflects the spirit of Meze Audio so well

There’s nothing to add here, job done.

Design

The Meze ADVAR house a 10.2mm diameter full range single driver. The driver is housed in a ‘shell-shaped’ solid stainless-steel chassis that is beautifully finished with a high gloss chrome plating. There is a depression in the rear of the shell, like a funnel, that hints at rearward sound pressure from the driver being released, allowing the driver to breathe.
The claimed frequency range of the Meze ADVAR In-ear monitors is 30kHz – 10Hz, and at 31 Ohms, they feel easy to drive.

Quality

Out of the Box

The unboxing experience is one of those luxury moments, there is a sense of success (see the Instagram post here).

The shell-shaped monitors feel heavy and there is a ‘red on the right’ indicator blob, both on the monitor itself and in the cable. The feel exudes luxury, and the gloss finish is a delight. The shell itself is very smooth with a heavily polished feel.

The stock cable is a braided 4 wire conductor made of SPC (silver plated copper) custom wires ending in gold plated 3.5mm jack with an MMCX plug on the IEM side, there is a lovely Meze branded tool for removing the MMCX plug. The IEM end of the cable has a preformed ear hook that is both classy and affords real comfort. There are five pairs of type-E tips that are manufactured by the Japanese firm Final Audio.

In the box, for the record, there is a hard case pouch, an MMCX removal tool, and a cleaning brush-type tool. There are 5 pairs (SS, S, M, L, LL sizes) of Final Audio Type-E ear tips. There is a lovely slick user manual booklet and the 1.25m MMCX to 3.5mm cable.

The ADVAR are priced at £649 in the UK and 699 Euros in Europe.

Performance

Review Equipment

I’ve been using the ADVAR mainly with the Chord Hugo 2 for critical listening and with the iFi GO Blu on the move.

Physically

These in-ears have an open back feel to them, there is some ambient noise leaking in. I personally have no issue at all with this as I walk a lot so really, I need my wits about me. The hollow in the bud affords pushing in the in-ear with a clean fit, there is clearly no ear pressure exerted which is great for keeping your eardrums in the right place. I’m finding a good solid fit is essential to hearing most of what you want to in a critical listening sense.

I find the Final Audio E-tip buds very comfortable indeed and they’re providing the right level of fit for me with the medium tip.

Meze ADVAR with iFi GO Blu

I’ve had the car in the garage which means walks into town along the Oxford canal path are needed and for this portable rucksack style listening the iFi GO Blu is perfect. The Go Blu has LDAC Bluetooth Codec which means it claims to support 24bit 96kHz files, although we know CD quality (16 bit, 44.1kHz) is absolutely fine, particularly on the move. My really annoying new Google Pixel 6 Pro smartphone has proved to be really buggy, however, a dig into the Developer Options in Settings has yielded LDAC Codec output to the iFi GO Blu (which is therefore offering 24-bit and 96kHz resolution). I have a series of Hi Resolution LDAC music files downloaded on the Pixel from Qobuz.

Performance wise, on the move with these ADVAR, they are just great headphones, there is a powerful delivery here, a great sound, with obvious detail and they are very easy to wear with comfort (detail in the next section).

Hugo 2

This is peak ADVAR, simply beautiful. It is just time to settle in with your favourite album and chill. This is where the Hugo 2/2Go combination is so good around the house/office.

The ADVAR sound is particularly crisp and snappy in my view. Kasabian’s L.S.F. (Qobuz 24 bit, 44.1kHz) for example is fast and sharp. So too, Song for Bob Dylan (Qobuz 24 bit, 96kHz) by Bowie, the guitar resolution in the right ear takes me back a bit. Finally, Miles Kane’s epic Don’t Forget Who You Are (Qobuz 16 bit, 44.1kHz) crackles and spits, gloriously as you click your fingers wildly, like Mick Jagger.

Overall, I find the soundstage to be very centred, middle of the head and very atmospheric. The quieter moments in the songs are beautiful. In their 60th Anniversary year I listen to the Stones’ live version of Little Red Rooster (Qobuz 24 bit, 96kHz) from El Mocambo (1977), it is absolutely epic and the Blues style staging in the room comes across wonderfully.

Tonally the bass is well controlled, not excessive but it is there when it is called on. So, for example in the opening of Coldplay’s Everglow (Qobuz 24 bit, 192kHz), the bass rollout is subtle but effective, you feel it, but it is not excessive.

There is plenty of space in these ADVAR which says much for their organisation and engineering. My go-to tracks, Calexico’s What Heaven’s Left (Qobuz 24 bit, 96kHz) and Fleet Foxes’ Helplessness Blues (Qobuz 24 bit, 96kHz) perform rhythmically and easily in the headstage. Even the grisly but necessary Nickleback track Burn it to the Ground (Qobuz 16bit, 44.1kHz) sounds foot-tappingly decent in these in-ear monitors!

I’ve already noted there is plenty of space here but there is also atmosphere, the quiet transient moments (harmonics I mean really) are here and subtle, for example, most piano tracks I’ve listened to (try the fizzing Some (Qobuz 24 bit, 96kHz) by Nils Frahm) offer that resonance from the instrument that can be so elusive at times in flatter presentations, not here though.

Thoughts

You are unlikely to regret these Meze ADVAR as a purchase, at this price.

I really like the tailored sounds of the Grell TWS/1, I use Lindy LTS-50s daily for podcasts and gardening and the Cyrus Soundbuds 2 that I received at the North West Show are now frequent dog

walking companions but I am finding the iFi Go Blu absolutely brilliant with these Meze ADVAR and it is really nice to go to passive in-ears with no touch buttons getting in the way. Knowing I’m LDAC and feeling I’m getting a full experience is really satisfying.

If the scoundrel Tom Ripley, the Talented one of Patricia Highsmith’s books, were to buy a pair of in-ear monitors, he may choose these ADVARs. Ripley eschews Greenleaf’s palaces in Venice but prefers to avoid the basic pensions (a small European hotel or boarding house) in favour of the higher quality hotels where he can be observed as a discerning but reserved individual. And so, whilst the Meze Pentas are nothing but the most exquisite ‘palatial’ high-end in-ear choice, and the Meze Solos are superb value for money, these ADVARs represent the ‘push the boat out for something I’m going to live with forever’ type purchase. You are unlikely to regret these Meze ADVAR as a purchase, at this price.

Overall

It is hard to think of anything as exciting at this price point and these in-ear monitors have been the highlight of the year probably. I’d sum them up as crispy and snappy, tonally neutral, with good bass control. There is an excellent soundstage here and they feel particularly easy to drive.

Specification

Full details are on the company’s site.