Meze Audio Rai Penta in-ear headphones

Well-constructed in-ears with specially designed drivers There's a lot going on under the hood of the Meze Audio Rai Penta in-ear monitors - especially for such a compact set of headphones. I could tell these IEMs were special just by holding the lighweight milled aluminum earbud housings. And inside each earbud, Meze packed four specially tuned balanced armature drivers along with a dedicated bass dynamic driver. They also constructed a special airflow system that lowers resonance and helps maintain sonic accuracy. The result is a wide-open soundstage that you might not expect from headphones that fit inside your ears. That, and the highly detailed, well-balanced sound signature that has made Meze a rising star in the world of personal audio. Listening impressions I primarily auditioned these IEMs with the iFi Audio xDSD headphone amp/DAC . The Rai Pentas boast a spacious, outside the head sound with very precise imaging. But when I drove them with the xDSD, I got a better sense of dynamics - the soft and loud stuff in music. I also noticed tighter, stronger bass response that provided a nice foundation for the soaring highs. And the combination was just as versatile when it comes to music sources. On Spotify, I fired up the hip-hop album Brighter Daze by Murs & 9th Wonder. 9th's soulful beats came through with more punch and clarity, while Murs' deep, sing-songy vocals flowed gracefully into the mix. Switching over to the high-resolution streaming music service Qobuz, I noticed even more detail on some tracks. The trippy dance track "Plantas Falsas" by Bruxas extended the soundstage of the Meze in-ears well outside of my head - I heard bongo drums way off to my left, and behind me. A look inside at the intricately designed driver array by Antonio Meze and crew. The most comfortable in-ear monitors I've tried Here's something I probably shouldn't admit as a high-end headphone enthusiast: I don't always like how IEMs fit and feel. I know, shameful right? I sh