Meze Audio 105 AER

The single strongest point of agreement in the entire source set, and the thing nearly every reviewer names first. At 336 g with a self-adjusting suspension headband and deep velour pads, it draws superlatives from measurement-first and subjective reviewers alike. Two caveats recur and they pull in opposite directions: the headband is sized generously, so smaller heads may not get enough adjustment, while the light clamp lets it creep down on some listeners over a long session. The velour also runs warm in a hot room.

“It is so lightweight compared to my everyday headphone. It gets some of my highest marks in this regard.”

amirm, Audio Science Review

“The 105 AER offers the perfect clamping force ensuring no discomfort even after extended listening sessions.”

James, Headfonics

“anyone with a head smaller than ‘quite large’ might find that the self-adjusting headband does not adjust enough”

Simon Lucas, hi-fi+

“The combination of minimal clamping force and a relatively loose tension in the headband means that the headphones tend to slide down slightly over time, requiring occasional readjustment every 30 to 40 minutes.”

Bruno Paprocki, Ear Fidelity

Broad agreement that the fit and finish punch well above the price: PVD-coated cast zinc hardware, a stamped spring-steel headband, textured PC-ABS cups and a hard case, with the whole headphone designed to come apart for repair. The recurring complaints are about what is in the box rather than the headphone: one cable only, no balanced option, and a length that reviewers manage to find both too long and too short. A few note the plastic cups as a step down from the 109 PRO's wood, and one hears the frame creak when handled.

“The overall design looks amazing and the choice of materials evokes a strong sense of premium quality and durability.”

James, Headfonics

“The 105 AER has been designed for easy maintenance. It can be easily taken apart for cleaning and repairs.”

Jürgen Kraus, audioreviews.org

“You may hear occasional crackling from the frame when manipulating the headset, though this does not occur while music is playing.”

Ichos (hxosplus), Head-Fi

The most-praised part of the sound and the reason most reviewers recommend it: warm, full, vocal-forward and unusually rich for an open-back, with acoustic and jazz material singled out repeatedly. The dissent is real but narrow. Kraus hears the elevated upper bass bloom into the lower midrange and take clarity with it, Twister6 measures a wide dip around 1.5 kHz that blunts localisation, and one Head-Fi reviewer finds the whole midrange thin and slightly recessed rather than lush.

“I find the vocals to be quite intimate and full for an open-back design.”

James, Headfonics

“the midrange of the Meze 105 AER is undoubtedly its greatest strength”

Bruno Paprocki, Ear Fidelity

“the bass bleeds somewhat into the lower midrange causing a slight bloom in the voices, which adds richness and volume but also removes some of their sharpness and accentuation”

Jürgen Kraus, audioreviews.org

Sources split hard, and this is the axis to decide before buying. The larger camp hears a deliberately tamed top end — rolled off from around 5 kHz, forgiving of bad recordings, made for long sessions — with the complaint that the headphone named after air does not have much of it. The smaller camp hears the opposite: sparkle, bite, bright cymbals and, for the most critical listener, real sibilance and fatigue. The two independent measurement rigs disagree in exactly the same way, which suggests this is anatomy and cup seating rather than taste.

The second real split. One camp hears a warm, full, mid-bass-forward low end with genuine authority — several call it the reason the headphone sounds fun. The other hears it roll off below the mid-bass and calls the foundation lean, more heard than felt, a dealbreaker for bassheads. The measurements reconcile them: there is mid-bass warmth relative to the recessed lower treble, sitting on top of a genuine droop in the deepest bass, so both descriptions are true of different parts of the same curve.

Most sources land on 'warm of neutral' — lush, fun, forgiving, unmistakably a house sound rather than a reference tuning — and agree it suits long, casual listening across genres. The spread is in how far from neutral they place it: one editorial reviewer calls the balance meticulously neutral, several call it warm-neutral, Kraus calls it an outright 'fun tuning', and the most critical listener calls it bright. Almost nobody dislikes it; they simply do not agree on what it is.

“The Meze 105 AER’s tonality is characterized by an emphasized low end and a slight dip in the lower treble, making for a lush, warm, agreeable “fun” sound without any screechiness or harshness”

Jürgen Kraus, audioreviews.org

“Perhaps most immediately striking is the meticulous neutrality of the tonal balance Meze Audio has achieved.”

Simon Lucas, hi-fi+

“The Meze 105 AER delivers a warm, balanced sound signature, emphasising natural tonality and musicality.”

Animagus, Twister6

The third split, and an unusually wide one for an open-back. Roughly two-thirds of sources hear a spacious, well-layered stage that is generous for the money — a few call it genuinely wide. The rest hear something notably confined: narrow in width, compressed in depth and height, and in one case indistinguishable from a closed-back. Even inside the positive camp the praise is usually for depth and layering rather than width, and Ear Fidelity notes almost nothing happens behind the listener.

Consistent agreement that resolution is good for the price and inconsistent agreement on how much further it goes. Even the harshest critic in the set calls detail retrieval a bright spot, and one editorial reviewer reaches for 'lavish'. Against that, Kraus lists 'not the last word in resolution' as an outright con, and Ichos frames it as deliberate — Meze tuned for engagement rather than monitoring. Nobody claims it competes with analytical headphones, and it is the first thing to soften when the music gets dense.

“At every stage, the level of detail approaches ‘lavish’.”

Simon Lucas, hi-fi+

“Resolution and detail retrieval are genuinely good though, which is a real bright spot.”

setugarg, Head-Fi

“Not the last word in resolution”

Jürgen Kraus, audioreviews.org

Generally rated precise and natural, with instrument placement and separation called out as strengths and the centre image singled out as unusually solid. Two specific limits recur: Twister6 ties the measured 1.5 kHz dip to slightly smudged localisation, and Cinder finds the mid-bass can mask footsteps in competitive shooters even though the headphone images better than his closed-back gaming sets. The most critical listener disagrees wholesale and hears a flat, two-dimensional plane.

“the imaging is precise, with well-defined instrument placement”

Animagus, Twister6

“firing my own weapon, particularly when suppressed, can cause the mid-bass to mask enemy foot-steps”

Cinder, Head-Fi

Reviewers who test with orchestral or well-mastered material praise the swing between quiet and loud, and several call the transient attack quick and natural. The limits show up with density and with slam: Ear Fidelity finds the presentation flattens when the mix gets busy, Ichos rates the dynamics strong but short of the 109 PRO's physical punch, and the most critical listener calls both slam and punch merely medium.

“when the music becomes too layered or dense, the presentation starts to flatten, and some of that engaging dynamism is lost”

Bruno Paprocki, Ear Fidelity

“The build of the music shows dynamism in the headphones too, with the quiet parts quiet and the loudest parts loud.”

Tammy Rogers, Tom's Guide

Open-back, so isolation is not really on offer and no source treats it as a failing — this is a quiet-room headphone. The only disagreement is about how badly it leaks outward: Headfonics finds the leakage minimal for the type, hi-fi+ says it leaks easily, and Tom's Guide lists sound bleed as an outright con. Everyone agrees it is the wrong choice for a shared office, a commute or a flight.

“Although the open design may offer weaker isolation the leakage to the surroundings during playback is minimal”

James, Headfonics

“The open-backed design easily leaks sound”

Simon Lucas, hi-fi+

The subjective press is strongly positive — several sources call it one of the best all-rounders at the price, and it wins on build, comfort and package before the sound is even considered. The dissent comes from the measurement side and from one critical listener: given the response errors and the distortion, ASR would not buy it without EQ, and at $399 the competition around it is unusually strong. Meze's own 25% discount to $299 materially strengthens the positive case, and several of the most enthusiastic verdicts were written at the higher price.