This is the official thread for the Meze Rai Penta
This thread is for discussion and reviews.
- Type: In Ear
- Amp needed: Yes
Hifiguides Amazon LinkHas anyone triead the Meze Audio Rai Penta yet?
Very few reviews I can find online.
Would love to see impressions vs the Campfire Audio Andromedas.
Found a really good price on these, anyone have any experience with them? I might pull the trigger anyway because it’s a really good price but I want to make sure it doesn’t have any glaring issues
I was also thinking of picking up a pair. It seems reviewers are split trying to place it between the similar priced Campfire Andromeda and more expensive Solaris.
From what most reviewers are saying and what really turned me on to the Meze Rai Penta is a revealing, coherent, and warmer sound without treble end fatigue. So I will be looking for a pair for the office.
Not so sure about use for travel due to the breathing ports. The design looks like it will probably not work as well for airplane travel as my current Westone IEMs.
I did not really enjoy the Andromeda (but I can respect it), and really liked the Solaris when I heard it
I have previously mentioned that I had no interest to get more iems, but at the price I am being offered I should really just take it and resell them for profit if I didn’t like them
It possesses a very similar tonality to the empyrean. It’s a very safe tuning, but to the same effect, the least offensive. If you worship the empyrean, then this would make a great companion piece. Though, interestingly enough, crinacle, someone who hated the empyrean still believed it was more technically capable for its price range than the Penta was in the 1k iem bloodbath.
Interesting, well I decided to pick it up because the price was so good I could just sell it for profit, will see how it is. I wasn’t the biggest fan of the empyrean, but I wonder how I will like these. I’m not really that much into the iem game like headphones, but I will be curious to give it a try and compare to a couple similarly priced iems
If you get the Rai Penta, then please leave your impression. I am really interested in getting them, but need to know more (a lot more!) before spending that much on IEM’s.
Will let you know when I get them 
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Cool, I will be interested in what you think too. I have ordered a pair from Meze with the 4.4 balanced cable. Now to wait for them to arrive.
Ok so, the build is crazy good. It feels great in the hand, super solid, and the cable is nothing to complain about for me. They fit very well in my ear, but don’t isolate as much as some of my iems, but it is still to an acceptable amount. The thing that stands out to me the most is the timbre. It has a very organic sounding timbre that you don’t get much with iems (at least ones that I’ve tried). It’s not the most detailed in the highs imo, but the mid-range is very sweet and nice sounding. Fairly transparent but slightly warm imo. Bass is pretty good and controlled, but subbass is lacking some power and extension for my tastes. Overall relaxed signature with a bit of roll off on each end. I would say natural ish sounding but not neutral. Regarding soundstage and imaging it’s alright, with no problems but not really anything standing out as really good. I am most impressed by the timbre and build of this iem, and will be keeping it for sure. They don’t seem to be super source picky, but they do scale fairly well.
Edit: so I got mine with just the 3.5 mm unbalanced, and now having tried it balanced, the high end gets better (better extension and a tad bit more detail), but the main benefit was now the soundstage, as imo it just now sounds very 3d like (can’t think of right word), and now stands out as being very good. Imaging still good but not great imo
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Nice, thank you for the insight. I should be getting mine in tomorrow.
The Meze Rai Penta with the 4.4mm balanced cable.
The Meze Rai Penta are more sensitive than my Westone UM Pro 30’s that I keep around and the Meze Rai Penta detected a louder hiss from my Monolith 788 Desktop at regular listening volumes between -60.0dB and -55.0dB. Once the music gets going, there is nothing to complain about but something to be aware of.
On the FiiO Q5S with the standard AM3E amp, both IEM are dead quiet. Ignoring the hiss the best that I can, I did prefer the Mo788 with the Rai Penta and couldn’t really tell a difference with the UM Pro 30. Because of the sound the Meze produce, I don’t think it really fills the ‘revealing’ (as in it reveals to you what’s weak in your DAC, AMP, or music), but it does seem to scale and present the strengths of your source.
If anyone is looking for an IEM tuned fairly neutral but with a little bit of warmth and inoffensive highs, then the Meze Rai Penta should be on your list to try. The first burst of right and left handed action of Chopin Etude Op. 25 No. 11 in A minor on Tidal really shows off this tuning well. The piercing highs on most IEMs (UM Pro 30’s included) are taken from 11 and brought down to a reasonable 9 out of 10 volume level while the left hand just makes very authoritative key strikes and gives out meaty notes. The middle octave notes in the midst of the bass are easily heard and each note has a place in space and time.
A problem I had with the UM Pro 30 when listening to music is that I selected it for a leaning in and making sure you know treble was there for competitive gaming. Much like my DT1990’s, I cannot spend all night listening to music with my UM Pro 30’s like I could with my Ether CX. My ears wouldn’t be bleeding, but I know I just wouldn’t enjoy it. The treble fatigue is real for me and I don’t want to listen to an IEM that aggressively sends detail down my ear holes all day long at work (my intended use place). I think I’ve convinced myself that I have a winner.
To be clear, the Rai Penta sound pretty fast and clean while not being aggressive. 2019 Mix of Here Comes The Sun by the Beatles, Speedball by Black Label Socity, and Mountains by Hans Zimmer all have big sounds with sudden changes and/or staccato notes mixed in and the Rai Penta presents them as realistic and quick. I actually like the way the bass is tuned so as not to be overdone. In the midst of the crescendos of Mountains, everything still is presented cohesively with distinct details that are not just waves of bass and sub-bass readily available. The build up in Mountains also does well to highlight something that I like with the Rai Penta. The bass and sub bass that rumbles like thunder is very neatly packaged and controlled.
Shiver by Lucy Rose has a calming, warm, and emotional voice that is presented forward and enhanced by the Rai Penta. As her voice thins out mid phrase against the intensifying guitar, the music really comes across well. I thought this is really the party piece of the Meze Rai Penta until I switched back to the UM Pro 30 only to realize pretty much everything sounded better on the Rai Penta. Goodbye Happiness by Utada Hikaru has a fun pop sound but on the UM Pro 30 the notes plus her voice come across as synthetic sounding and slightly out of place in comparison to the Rai Penta.
Similarly Perfect by Pentatonix cello sounds night and day different as the music swells between the UM Pro 30 and Rai Penta. In every case, the timbre of the Meze Rai Penta has a pleasing, natural, and warm feeling that is the party piece of this IEM.
One area that I wish was better, sound stage. It has dimensions of wide, deep, and tall, but it is fairly controlled. The UM Pro 30 by comparison is even narrower to the point it can be claustrophobic. Imaging is better than just good as the depth allows sounds to have their own place. The Last Dragonborn by DragonForce isn’t wide by any standard, but distinct separation of sounds comes across really well on the Rai Penta.
So, if you are not looking for the end-all, be-all of aggressive detail retrieval but for something neutral-warm and musical and a little relaxed with an impressive timbre that isn’t treble murder, then try out the Meze Rai Penta. I plan on putting them into willing peoples’ ears and ruining them with my handsome looking, good sounding IEM.
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Pretty much similar experience for me lol, I really like how these focus on some stuff other iems don’t
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And quick note on the cables: they are very nice. The 3.5mm SE that comes standard is every bit the build quality of the 4.4mm balanced cable with the balanced being ever so slightly lower gaged wire (thicker). Both cables are supple, soft, straight, and free of microphonics.
They do touch the back of the ears lightly with a tight radius using shaped, soft silicone material that has memory, but it is soft and light enough to not be noticeable. The braiding is nice and tight while flowing with grace and elegance. The connectors in rhodium or gold (2.5 and 3.5 vs 4.4), wire split, and MMXC ends are quality.
The cables are silver plated copper and feel more premium than the typical replacement silver coated copper cables you’d buy from FiiO.
The last bonus in my mind is the length. They are 1.2m (just under 4 feet) which is perfect for mobile setups and sufficient for desktops.
For $150, the Meze wire is worth it for a balanced wire option as the Rai Penta comes with 3.5mm as standard. And for the record, I can fit both wires and the Rai Penta in the carry case, and I really liked the soft touch leather pouch the 4.4mm wire came in.
I just bought a 3.5 mm balanced cable for mine for the xdsd, and already had a 2.5mm bal so I didn’t opt for the 4.4
I have swapped tips for Dekoni The Mercury 4.9mm. Notable, the 4.9 mm tips do not occlude the holes the sounds come from on the Meze Rai Penta and I get a better seal from the Dekoni tips than I did from the best fitting silicone that came with the Rai Penta.
What I made this change for comfort I did gain some minor benefits in differences of the extremes of the frequency response. I can feel more sub bass punch which is nice but it keeps the rest of the bass in check. Treble feels a bit more direct and air easier while still maintaining the neutral-to-warm easy listener.
I will now be keeping the silicone as spare tips in the carrying case and feel quite happy about the first tips being more than what I was looking for.
I personally preferred some good silicone tips, as I felt I got the best bass response from them, but dekoni tips were nice on them as well
Let me know if you have any particular types or bands of silicone tips you’d recommend. I’ve always been a fan of foam and comply tips so I don’t have a lot of experience with silicone tips.
I like spiral dot jvc tips sometimes, the symbio w tips are an excellent hybrid foam silicone, I really like the tips that came with my ibasso it03 so I use those sometimes, some people like spinfit tips, and that’s mainly what I have. Really not into iems that much and mainly just use what came with the iem if it works