Meze Audio Rai Penta Review
Meze Audio Rai Penta
$1099
Pros
- Fantastic Build and Shells Design Quality
- Organic natural coherent sound signature
- Non fatiguing immersive listening sessions
Cons
- MMCX connection, some people don't like this type of connector
- Some Genres better aligned than others
Sound signature
Before we can do our sound analysis we need to get a good fit. Wearing these feels very comfortable and due to their relative light physical weight, the Rai Penta earphones are a dream to wear.
Much like the sound signature, there is a feel of luxury as the Penta’s merge into your being effortlessly. As expected, this results in closer connected audio experience to get immersed with.
The Meze Audio Rai Penta’s focus on a music first approach, these are designed for a more open flowing sound, so don’t expect an airtight seal, no matter what tips you select the sound will remain slightly open and intimate.
When outside, ambient sounds are present but this is non impacting on the listening experience.
Surprisingly for a top tier earphone, the Rai Penta’s are forgiving on non-high-resolution recordings, shaping the sound for musicality.
However, to get the full experience, higher resolution recordings will show off the expert micro detail tuning present, relaying all the delicate nuances, bringing new perspectives on well known tracks.
The design, length and composition of the nozzles have been created in a specific way to eliminate unwanted noise artifacts.
Being a Hybrid earphone, the bore holes are carefully aligned to the drivers positioning, the large hole for the Dynamic Driver and the smaller lower hole for the four Customized Balanced Armature drivers.
This certainly seems to help with the cohesion of sound signature and fluidity of air flow.
There have been polarised views of these earphones due to the preconception of certain expectations, especially as some musical styles/genres (techno, dance, trap) may not be as impactful as some listeners are used to, especially with those who are heavily attracted to hard tight bass thumps.
I personally find this a welcome change and much prefer a well textured lower end tuning rather than one designed to impress without real substance.
The Rai Penta’s are refined and still retain a style of clean bass essence, with sub level sizable rumbles present, not dominating the spectrum or bleeding beyond their expected ranges, but expanding just the right amount, to bring rich body and texture.
What is interesting about these earphones is the way they grow on you.
As the tuning is not overemphasised or coloured, you do not get the initial ‘Wow factor’ that some other earphones have on you (Solaris) but what happens is, in a very short space of time you begin to appreciate the uniform balance and sheen class of tuning.
As you get accustomed to the textured blend of layering and clean non-clinical audio purity of signature, the immersion sends you deep into the ocean of sonic musicality, where you will lose yourself in the frequencies.
You begin to lose track of time, as your neural pathways revisit well know soundscapes carving new enhanced routes and associations.
The musical immersions is relayed with a more intimate nature on live well mastered recordings, especially where passionate vocal performers in the throws of their soulful artistry.
Getting you all the closer to that emotional experience of realism that we are all looking for.
There is little to no colouring at all, but that doesn’t mean these are dull sounding quite the opposite, delivering a unified bold experience of music and intimacy.
Treble stays true to the targeted frequency tuning, shining where needed but not cutting or separating you from the music, but adding to the experience.
Never fatiguing or harsh, even on complex higher frequency dominated tracks. Always textured and harmonised, I suspect this is due to the Pressure Equalisation System (PES) carefully researched and implemented.
What is interesting, is that in the rich tapestry of organic musicality, the Rai Penta earphones have an energetic pace of transition that is effortless while remaining harmonised throughout.
Meze Audio have created a very engaging earphone that is capable of delivering natural vivid soundscapes.
Due to the ease of non-fatiguing listening sessions, it is easy to see why you might pick these as your go-to universal earphone.
It is never struggling to keep up but always an open comfortable laidback flowing musical experience.
The entire signature is well blended, maintaining complexity and delivering a natural slightly warm feeling at times.
Certainly, these are not clinical in their delivery but that’s not to say they are not technically strong.
Micro detail and precise resolution is abundant, this is especially more apparent when coupled with the instrument positioning in the staging range.
A wide realistic staging size is present, adding to the immersive character of the Rai Penta’s.
Notes and instruments hold their own specific unique instrument-true characteristics, with a sense of space and positioning around them, seeming to pan out in the 3-D space while retaining realism.
Currently the Meze Audio Rai Penta earphones are amongst one of the preferred of all the flagship earphones we at earphonia.com have experienced in recent times.
The journey that Antonio Meze and his team has embarked upon over the years, driven from a passionate vision and drive, certainly shows in the refined tuning of the awesome Rai Penta earphones, coupled with the attentive futuristic design of their flagship universal earphones.
The earphonia.com team are very impressed and are looking forward to seeing where this audio quest takes the Meze Audio team.
