Meze Audio RAI Solo in-ear monitors

REVIEW
Simon Lucas
Nov 02, 2021

The Meze Audio aren’t, perhaps, the last word in rhythmic expression – they’re no wallflowers, not by any stretch of the imagination, but the lack just a touch of the dancefloor certainty that their best rivals can muster. Unless you exist on a diet of 120bpm floor-fillers, though, you’ll find the RAI Solo more than capable of cutting the occasional rug.

For all of their clever specification, their unarguably painstaking construction and, most importantly of all, their exemplary performance at the price, though, it’s just slightly difficult to know who exactly the Meze Audio RAI Solo are for. No one wears in-ear monitors in the home, do they? Certainly not IEMs on a 1.3m cable. At this sort of money, mainstream punters are going to want wireless earbuds, if for no other reason than their smartphones don’t have physical headphone connections. And those music-lovers judicious (and well-heeled) enough to have invested in dedicated music players will be wanting something a little more upmarket, like (for instance) the Meze Audio RAI Penta. I’m not sure what that leaves these capable, good-looking and well-made headphones. Solo?

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Type: In-ear monitor
Drivers: 9.2mm UPM (unified pistonic motion) dynamic driver
Frequency Response: 18Hz–22kHz
Impedance: 16 Ohms
Noise cancellation: none
Distortion: < 1% at 1mW/1kHz
Accessories: protective hard case; 3 pairs soft silicone eartips (S, M, L); 3 pairs double-flanged eartips (S, M, L); 2 pairs deep insertion double-flanged eartips (M, L)
Weight: 20g
Price: £229