Meze Astru Review – Headfonia

In this article, we take a closer look at the Meze Astru, the brand’s new flagship single dynamic driver IEM, currently selling for $899 USD / €899 EUR.

Disclaimer: the Meze Astru was sent to us, free of charge, for the sole purpose of this review. 

Meze Audio

Founded in 2009, it took less than two decades for Meze Audio to rise from outsider to industry reference, now standing shoulder to shoulder with established names like Sennheiser, Beyerdynamic, or even Bang & Olufsen. A journey that started out of pure frustration, when Antonio Meze – the brand’s founder – couldn’t find a headphone capable of matching the emotional pull of his Fender Stratocaster, ultimately pushing him to design and build his own.

After some early experiments and OEM collaborations, the small Romanian team struck gold with the Meze 99 Classics, a headphone that quickly became a benchmark for closed-back designs. Crafted from wood, steel, and synthetic leather, the 99 Classics embodied everything Meze stood for: timeless aesthetics, musical tuning, and full serviceability, with every part screwed in rather than glued. Still a go-to option – especially now that the new, improve V2 is out – for listeners seeking a portable, elegant, and emotionally engaging closed-back headphone.

Meze Strada Review

Since then, the brand significantly expanded its range, Meze consistently pushing its design language and acoustic ambitions further; from accessible open-back models like the 105 Silva and 105 AER, to statement pieces such as the Empyrean II or Elite, and portable closed-back options like the Strada we recently reviewed.

And, same happen when it came to in-ear monitors, with a lineup that has been completely revamped, over the past few years. At the bottom, there’s the Alba at $159 – a compact, approachable single dynamic driver IEM – aimed at entry-level audiophiles, and one that we found thoroughly enjoyable for the price. Above, the ADVAR a beefier model, selling at $699, that earned praise for its warm, rich tuning and striking purple-tinted chassis. A compelling duo, yet one that left room for something more ambitious, much like the Rai Penta when it came out, years ago.

Enter the Meze Astru. Their whole new flagship IEM, still packing a sole dynamic driver – that Meze positions as nothing less than “the only single dynamic driver IEM you will ever need” – but in a new titanium chassis – still available for less than a thousand dollars/euros.

Enough to compete in the ever evolving sea of premium universal IEMs? Time to find out.

Meze Astru

Design

There’s a particular kind of confidence that comes with simplicity, and the Astru wears it well.

Where many IEM brands chase driver count as a spec-sheet arms race – six BAs here, a tribrid configuration there – Meze doubled down on a single 10mm dynamic driver housed inside a full titanium chassis. No gimmicks, no complexity, juste austerity in its pure form. And, it looks amazing.

The shape itself follows the ergonomic foundations set by the ADVAR and the Alba. A small body with one single hole punched on the faceplate, nestled within a crevice, like the entrance to an antlion’s den, with Meze claiming the geometry has been refined even further for this model. Every curve rounded off, every surface polished to remove potential hotspots, delivering a beautiful satin finish that feels genuinely pleasant ni hand – not slippery, not sticky, just smooth.

And if the Alba and Advar pushed some color – respectively white and purple – the Astru ditches all of it for a beautiful, but I admit a bit bland, soft grey. Still, tat electroplated titanium has a subtle warmth to it, almost champagne-like, that distinguishes it from the colder tones of brushed stainless steel. I like it.

Once again, the shells are CNC-machined from a single block. The material? Pure titanium – not titanium-coated steel, not titanium-alloy, but the real deal. According to Meze, each matched pair requires up to seven days of processing, which includes the machining itself and a multi-stage electroplating finish that gives the shell its smooth satin texture.

Pick one up, and the first thing you’ll notice is how unexpectedly light it feels for a metal IEM: at just 13.4 grams total (both pieces), the Astru doesn’t carry the heft you’d associate with something like the stainless steel ADVAR, or even FiiO. It feels dense, yes, but refined – like holding a piece of jewelry rather than an audio tool.

The nozzle follows the same titanium construction, topped with an electroplated nickel wax guard that Meze etched specifically for this model. It’s a small detail, but speaks to the level of care involved here: even the wax guard is designed to complement the nozzle aesthetically while protecting the acoustic filter underneath. An attention to detail that we’re now getting use to for the team behind the Empyrean!

Build Quality

As usual with the brand, the build quality is absolutely flawless. But, at $899 you’d expect nothing less.

The one-piece titanium construction means there are no visible seams on the shell, no misaligned joints, no uneven finishes. Everything feels monolithic, purpose-built, and incredibly solid despite the featherweight construction: from the top of the nozzle, to the 2-pin socket, firmly recessed into the shell. Bonus point for that cable connection which made cable connection secure, without requiring excessive force. No wobble, no play whatsoever.

Head to head against the ADVAR, the Astru felt like going from the MacBook Pro, to the MacBook Air. The ADVAR’s stainless steel, while beautifully finished, always carried a certain weight and cold-to-the-touch feel that, over time, could become noticeable during extended sessions. The Astru sidesteps that entirely: titanium is lighter, stronger, and more biocompatible, making it an ideal material for something you’re pressing into your ear canal for hours on end.

Not a massive upgrade in my own eyes, but one that, in ears, justifies part of the price increase on its own.

That said, as with any premium IEM at this price point, the Astru demands careful handling. The satin finish, while gorgeous, will likely show micro-scratches over time if you’re careless with storage. Meze includes a carrying case for that reason, but I’d still recommend treating these with the same care you’d give a fine watch.

And, I want to put our focus on the cable which, itself, deserves more than a passing mention. Featuring 161 individual conductors per strand in a dual-strand configuration, insulated in SoftFlex PVC, and the silver-plated conductors catch the light beautifully.

The CNC-anodized aluminum housings for the left/right channel splitter and the 4.4mm balanced jack are perfectly finished, lending the whole assembly a premium feel that matches the IEMs themselves. Supple without being flimsy, it won’t tangle as easily as some cheaper alternatives, and the overall construction feels built to last. For a stock cable? This is about as good as it gets.

Last but not least, let’s talk about an interesting choice from Meze here: the move to 2-pin instead of the MMCX connectors used on the ADVAR. Something that somehow goes against the current market trend, where MMCX remains the more popular standard among IEM manufacturers.

That said, 2-pin offers a more secure mechanical connection with less rotation, which arguably makes more sense for a flagship product where long-term reliability matters. A bold decision, but one I can get behind.

So far so good, so let’s check what’s under the hood.

Inside the box

Like the ADVAR before it, the Astru comes with a solid package that reflects the asking price without going overboard.

But, the real flex here came the packing itself, with the box opening with two panels folding outward, like a jewelry case, revealing the Astru and its cable perfectly arranged inside. A small touch, but one that sets the tone immediately – you’re unwrapping something precious.

In the box you get:

• the Meze Astru IEMs
• a 1.2m dual-strand cable with silver-plated LC-OFC conductors, terminated in 4.4mm balanced
• a 4.4mm female to 3.5mm male adapter
• five pairs of custom liquid silicone ear tips (XS, S, M, L, XL)
• a hard carrying pouch
• a PU leather envelope pouch
• some documentation

So yeah, no USB-C dongle this time, but two carrying solutions, a balanced cable with 4.4mm termination out of the box (Hurray!), and an adapter for 3.5mm sources. No need to shell out an extra $149 for a balanced cable like you had to with the ADVAR – a welcome change that, at $899, should frankly be the norm.

As for the ear tips, this time, Meze moved away from the Final Audio Type E tips included with the ADVAR and opted for their own custom liquid silicone tips. The brand explicitly stating that using alternative tips may alter the intended tuning suggesting the acoustic design was fine-tuned specifically around these tips. Something to keep in mind if you’re a serial tip-roller.

Sound

For this review, my main source were the Fosi ZH3, a desktop DAC/amp that I’ve been using extensively as a daily driver for the past months; FiiO M33 R2R, an geeky device pushing the Resistor Ladder back in the front row; and last but not least, the HiBy M500 Hatsune Miku (concert incoming).

Files were played from either Apple Music (Hi-Res when available) / Spotify Lossless or my own local library via Plex. Some tracks will be highlighted, just so you can try them at home too!

Overall signature

So, how does the Meze Astru actually performs? In a word: balanced. And I mean genuinely, impressively balanced.

I’ll be upfront – I expected good, but the Astru delivered something beyond that. Not in the flashy, “instant wow” way that some aggressively tuned IEMs manage on the first track, but in the slow-burn, album-after-album way that keeps revealing strengths the longer you listen. There’s no exaggerated bass shelf, no forward treble peak, no scooped mids trying to fake a wider stage.

Just a coherent, well-controlled, and musically engaging presentation that lets the music speak for itself. A very, very good surprise.

And frankly, that’s a big deal for a single dynamic driver. Where multi-BA configurations sometimes trade coherence for raw resolution, and hybrids can occasionally sound disjointed between driver types, the Astru’s solo 10mm driver delivered a remarkably unified sound – one that never felt stitched together across the frequency range.

That multilayer diaphragm technology (gold over titanium over PEEK) proving to be more than just marketing fluff, it seems: detail retrieval was genuinely impressive throughout, particularly in the highs and upper midrange, where the gold-coated dome appeared to do exactly what Meze promised – smooth extension without sacrificing micro-detail.

The first track that confirmed this impression was Ray Volpe’s – Game Over – a piece of hyper-saturated electronic track that tends to expose every flaw in the upper registers. Thrown at the Astru, it came through with all the energy and edge intact, but without a single moment of harshness or fatigue. Not a hint of sibilance, which, for an IEM at any price, feels noteworthy. For a single dynamic driver? Genuinely impressive.

From there, switching to Lucien Kimono’s – SP2500 painted a clearer picture of the Astru’s timbral capabilities. Hi-hats, cymbals, and snare drums were perfectly articulated – each hit cleanly separated, cleanly decayed, with a density and texture that came very, very close to what I’d expect from a planar headphone.

Not quite at that level, let’s keep things in perspective – the resolution and separation of an Elite remaining in a different league – but for an in-ear monitor at this price point, the Astru sets a high bar.

Same goes for the soundstage. Width was the star here – instruments spread convincingly across the left-right axis without sounding artificial or processed. Depth, however, was more modest, and the overall stage didn’t quite reach the three-dimensional layering you’d get from some higher end multi-BA. But that’s an unfair comparison, and within the world of in-ear monitors at this price, the Astru holds its own comfortably.

More impressive was the attack management. Complex passages – dense orchestral builds, aggressive electronic drops, fast drum patterns – never felt congested or saturated. The Astru maintained composure even when the music got genuinely chaotic, separating individual elements cleanly without smearing transients. A level of control that speaks to the quality of the diaphragm engineering underneath.

Compared to the ADVAR, the improvement is immediately apparent. Resolution, separation, and transient control are all meaningfully improved, and the overall balance feels more mature and confident. The ADVAR was warm and engaging; the Astru feels leaner, still engaging, but technically accomplished. Almost a different class entirely.

And that goes even more so when looking further back in Meze’s IEM history: against the aging Rai Penta, the improvement is night and day. As for the Alba at $159? Different universe, but that never was the point.

That said, and I need to be honest here, the Astru isn’t the kind of IEM that’ll give you that instant visceral “wow” moment. There’s no aggressive tuning trick, no dramatic bass boost or treble sparkle designed to impress in the first thirty seconds of a store demo. What you get instead is a presentation that reveals its strengths over time – track after track, album after album.

For long listening sessions, that’s arguably the better approach. For in-store A/B comparisons against more aggressively tuned competitors? Maybe less so, but give it a few minute and I’m convinced that the Astru will win many hearts.

So yeah, a genuine surprise. And one that makes me think the Romanian team finally cracked the IEM code – because with the Astru, Meze isn’t just catching up with the competition, they’re genuinely competing with the Chinese brands that have been dominating the $500-1000 IEM bracket for years.

Bravo!

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