Meze Audio Advar Review

Today we’re checking out the very new $699 USD Meze Audio Advar single dynamic IEM.

 

Disclaimer: The Meze Audio Advar was sent to us directly from Meze Audio. The review reflects my honest opinion.

Meze Audio

Meze Audio has become famous and big over the last few years, They have top quality sound, great build quality and budget-friendly gear for the majority. If you haven’t heard about them then you can read their “About us” on their website, right here.

The Meze Audio units have won awards all over the world and that doesn’t come as any surprise, as a lot of people seem to love the Meze creations. On top of that, the Meze team is always friendly, they know what they’re talking about and they’re just really nice people to communicate with. It’s one of the nicest companies in audio for sure.

We have reviewed many of Meze’s products here on Headfonia, and you can find all of those reviews here. We had the worldwide scoop of their ELITE headphone, and you can also find that review here:

Meze Audio Advar

The new Meze Audio Advar is a single dynamic driver IEM, and it’s aimed to sound relaxing, smooth, rich, detailed and balanced. The driver has a 10.2mm diameter with a 31 Ω impedance. Advar is made from stainless steel chassis finished in black aluminium and copper.

“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.”

Packaging

The new Meze creation arrives in a square box with a gorgeous geometric symbol on top. This represents the Romanian heritage, symbolizing the people together and united, just like the planets around the sun.

Inside you’re greeted with both earpieces, and under that, you have your beautiful carrying case, ear tips and accessories. I also liked that cleaning tool, particularly its long plastic tip which should make the cleaning process a bit easier. Meze could’ve included some foam tips inside, although it’s not a huge absence.

Advar arrives with an MMCX silver-plated copper cable terminated with a 3.5mm jack. You can upgrade this option for an additional $149 for balanced cables. Yet I think the customers should get an option to terminate their stock cables either with 2.5mm or 4.4mm.

Design & Build Quality

It’s very hard to nitpick about build or design when it comes to Meze Audio products. Their headphone creations are simply fantastic and their IEMs surely have an authentic and classy design language. The new Advar is not an exception here.

Advar combinates copper, steel and aluminium beautifully with impressive harmony. The design overall is a bit minimalistic but elegant and premium as well. It has a rounded rather low profile shape which fits inside the ear comfortably.

The build with the new Advar is excellent. The earpieces have great robustness and the overall assembly is just seamless and perfect. The MMCX cable connectors are sturdy and the male sockets of the cable sit very tightly. This is a proper MMCX connection.

The nozzle area is assembled perfectly as well, and the wax filter on the tip is also very high quality. Overall the material quality is fantastic, just like the previous products we’ve experienced from Meze.

Fit

As I mentioned just above, the Advar has a low-profile chassis. So when your wear it the IEM almost disappears from your ear, You can legitimately take a nap with this IEM without any issues. It’s very comfortable to wear.

Meze Audio supplies Final Audio Type B tips with the Advar, and it’s worthy for a premium IEM. These tips are among my favourites regarding silicone ones, and I think the shape and the length of these Final tips are perfect for the Advar’s shape and design.

While the fit is very comfortable, the isolation is not on par with some conventional monitors. The nozzles are not too long, and the chassis is small, so it’s not a very very flush fitting IEM. When you add the ventilation port on the faceplate area for the dynamic driver into this mix, then it’s normal to experience not much more than fairly good isolation.

Page 2: Sound Quality
Page 3: Technical Performance, Comparisons, Conclusion
4.5/5 - (55 votes)
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A keen audiophile and hobby photographer, Berkhan is after absolute perfection. Whether it is a full-frame camera or a custom in-ear, his standpoint persists. He tries to keep his photography enthusiasm at the same level as audio. Sometimes photography wins, sometimes his love for music takes over and he puts that camera aside. Simplistic expressions of sound in his reviews are the way to go for him. He enjoys a fine single malt along with his favourite Jazz recordings.

5 Comments

  • Reply April 21, 2022

    Scott Leslie

    Can you compare the Advar to the Sennheiser IE600?

    • Reply April 21, 2022

      Lieven

      The units are on different continents, sorry

  • Reply June 28, 2022

    Darren Barwick

    Advar are my first IEMs, first headphones actually. Have always listened to home systems. Recent life change doesn’t allow me to listen to the home system like I used to. After lots of research and reviews I chose the Advar. Your review was the one I kept coming back to. The comparison to what just happened to be all my finalist was what sold me on them. I couldn’t be happier. Paired with an iFi Gryphon I am now able to listen to my music whenever I like. Honestly surprise at how much I enjoy them. Did not think it would compare to the feel of my my mid range audiophile home setup, but it does, even exceeds it in some ways. So thank you and all the other writers here at Headfonia for helping me along in my new audio quest.

    • Reply June 28, 2022

      Lieven

      Thank you, Darren. Enjoy the Advar!

  • Reply July 31, 2022

    Andrea

    Bought one yesterday on the spot at Canjam London. Had no intention to buy another IEM since I acquired recently an IE600 and listed the Advar by fluke, just killing time in line to listen the Lyric. Well, God bless CANJAM, I have never heard such good mids even in a headphone… And the bass is just perfect, never boomy but solid and enveloping. After listening to these the Lyric failed to impress, great comfort but too much bass for the acoustic music I listen. These compare well to the Elite. The IE600 are being packed and returned to Sennheiser: if you like the sub_bassy Monarch 2 you will like them probably just as much, but they do not have the warmth of the Advar.

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