MEE audio MX4 Pro Review

Introduction:

MEE Audio is established in the USA and is specialized in crafting of headphones and earphones since 2005.

Website: https://pro.meeaudio.com/

The MEE audio MX4 Pro is the flagship model of the MX Pro series and features a Quad Driver Hybrid Combination of 3 Balanced Armature Drivers + 1 Dynamic Driver.

The MX PRO In-Ear Monitors blur the line between universal and custom in-ears with a fully modular design that allows all parts, customizations, and accessories to be changed or upgraded independently.

Disclaimer:

I would like to thank MEE audio for providing me the MX4 Pro for review purposes. I am not affiliated with MEE audio beyond this review and these words reflect my true and unaltered opinions about the product.

Price:

The actual price for the MEE audio MX4 Pro is 199,00 USD and can be purchased under the following link.

Purchase Link: https://pro.meeaudio.com/products/in-ear-monitors/mx-pro.html

 Package and Accessories:

The MEE audio MX4 Pro came in a fairly small box, which was wrapped with a cardboard box that shows some product brandings and information’s.

This box is containing the following items;

• 1 pair x MEE audio In-Ear Monitors
• 1 pcs x detachable cable
• 1 pcs x detachable cable with headset
• 4 pairs x Silicone ear tips
• 1 pair x Comply Foam ear tips
• 1 pcs x Carrying Case
• 1 pcs x Carabiner
• 1 pcs x ¼” (6.3mm) adapter
• 2 pcs x Shirt Clip (pre-installed)
• 1 pcs x Cleaning/Faceplate replacing tool
• 1 pcs x User Manual/Warranty Card

Design and Build Quality:

The MEE audio MX Pro has a monitor shell made of plastic which feature a sweat-resistant (IXP5 Standard) design. The monitor housing is available in two colors which are in transparent (clear) and grey (smoke).

The general build quality of the MX4 Pro is pretty good without any quality issues such as burrs, openings, etc.

On the front of the monitor housing is the so called faceplate that you can personalize for additional +10,00 USD with engraved metal faceplates. You have the option to choose from MEE audios existing artwork options or submit your own custom design.

Faceplate customization link: https://pro.meeaudio.com/design-your-own/faceplates.html

On the inner surface of the monitor shell is a MX4 logo and the left (L) and right (R) indicators near the detachable female connector.

The sound has a slightly angled profile and sports a filter on the top to prevent the driver form dust and earwax.

On the Top of each monitor is a MEE audio custom connector which reminds me to those of the Sennheiser IE400 Pro.

The Cable:

The MEE audio MX4 Pro comes with two detachable, replaceable cables. One cable is with and one without headset functionality which is a nice addition.

The cable of the MX4 Pro features a soft plastic coating and shows a low amount of microphonic effect.

The male connectors have protective plastic housings in black color , where you can find the left and right markings.

The cable of the MX4 Pro utilizes flexible over-the-ear memory wires, which are helping to archive a more comfortable wearing experience.

This cable has a Y splitter and a chin slider which are made of a soft plastic material in black color.

The 3.5mm unbalanced (3 pole) headphone jack has an L-Profiled plastic housing.

Fit and Isolation:

The MEE audio MX4 Pro is a quite comfortable to wear In-Ear Monitor which is ideal for long listening periods. The isolation is on a moderate level and pretty ideal for the use in the public.

Technical Specifications:

• Driver Type    : Quad Driver Hybrid Configuration with 3 BA’s + 1 Dynamic Driver
• Impedance     : 12 Ω @ 1 kHz
• Sensitivity       : 103±3 dB (1 mW @ 1 kHz)
• Freq. Resp.     : 20 Hz – 20 kHz
• Max Input       : 30 mW
• Connectors     : 2-pin 0.78mm
• Plug                : 3.5mm (TRS) Unbalanced
• Cable length   : 1.3m
• Water Resist.  : IXP5 Standard

Drivability:

The MEE audio MX4 Pro is an In-Ear Monitor with an impedance of 12ohm and sensitivity of 103dB. It can be driven with relative weak sources like Smartphone’s, Tablets and smaller sized DAP’s, but shows its true potential if you pair it with more powerful sources like a Portable Amplifiers or powerful Players like the QA361 or DX220.

Equipment’s used for this review:

• IEM’s                          : MEE audio MX4 Pro, Oriolus Finschi, iBasso IT01S
• DAP/DAC/AMP         : Cayin N5II, QLS QA361, xDuuo XD10 Poke

Albums & tracks used for this review:

• Gogo Penguin – Raven (Flac 24bit/192kHz)
• Otto Liebert& Luna Negra – The River (DSF) – Binaural Recording
• Vivaldi – Le QuarttroStagioni “The Four Season” (Wav 24bit/88kHz)
• Michael Jackson – Billie Jean (Flac 24bit/96kHz)
• Elton John – Your Song (Flac 24bit/192kHz)
• David Bowie – Black Star (Flac 24bit/96kHz)
• Dave Gahan – Kingdom (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
• Eric Clapton – Unplugged Album (Flac 24bit/96kHz)
• B.B. King – Riding With The King (Flac 24bit/96kHz)
• First Aid Kit – My Silver Lining (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
• London Grammar – Interlude (Live) (Flac 24bit/88kHz)
• Aretha Franklin – I Say a Little Prayer (Wav 16bit/44.1kHz)
• Diana Krall – So Wonderful (DSF)
• Laura Pergolizzi – Lost On You “Live at Harvard and Stone” (Wav 16bit/44.1kHz)
• No Doubt – Hella Gut (Spotify)
• Rush’s – Leave That Thing Alone (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
• Liquid Tension Experiment 2 – Acid Rain (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
• Twerl – Lishu (Spotify)
• U2 – Sunday Bloody Sunday (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
• Opeth – Windowpane (Wav 16bit/44kHz)
• Metallica – Sad but True (Flac 24bit/96kHz)
• Megadeth – Sweating Bullets (Flac 24bit/96kHz)
• Slayer – Angel of Death (Flac 24bit/96kHz)
• Armin Van Buuren – Vini Vici (Spotify)
• Lorde – Royal (Flac 24bit/48kHz)
• Photek – The Hidden Camera (Spotify)
• Tom Player – Resonace Theory (16bit/44.1kHz)
• Massive Attack – Angel (Flac 24bit/192kHz)
• Portishead – The Hidden Camera (MP3 320kHz)

The Sound:

The MEE audio MX4 Pro has a close to neutral and fairly balanced presentation. The subbass is slightly pronounced, the midbass are linear, the midrange is close to the listener and pretty transparent, while the upper midrange and treble region is emphasized but controlled. The main focus of the MX4 Pro is especially the midrange and treble region.

Bass:

The MEE audio MX4 Pro has in general a mildly pronounced, fast and controlled character.

The subbass region shows slightly more intensity and quantity compared to the midbass region, which has more linear tuning.

The MX4 Pro has thanks to its dynamic driver a warmish but fairly clean subbass presentation, which has moderate depth and extension, while the quantity is pretty enough for most genres. A remarkable ability of the MX4 Pro is the control of the subbass area that doesn’t affect the soundstage performance of the MX4 Pro.

The midbass of the MEE audio MX4 Pro is less emphasized compared to the subbass and have a moderate level of quantity and intensity with good impact that should be enough for most listeners with exception of bass-heads.

The bass shows a pretty high level of resolution and speed, while the quantity and intensity is mildly pronounced and linear. This bass character is suitable for genres like jazz, classical, metal, rock, acoustic music.

The bass performance of the MX4 Pro will satisfy you in terms of technical abilities, speed and level of detail, from natural instruments (drums, contrabass, bass guitar, etc.) up to synthetic bass notes.

Midrange:

The MEE audio MX4 Pro has a close to neutral, balanced, clear and a bit upfront midrange presentation. Midrange is pretty close to the listener, while the transparency and spaciousness is on a high level.

Male vocals are slightly thick, clear, fretless and quite lively and doesn’t show any negative situations like mixings or muddiness. The lower midrange has an average intensity and isn’t as dominant as the upper midrange. The tonality is warmish but is not very bold/thick in tonality.

The upper midrange is more pronounced and shows better extension than the lower midrange. This makes female vocals more detailed, musical and transparent compared to male vocals, without to show any remarkable sibilance or harshness. The clarity and transparency level of female vocals is well above average.

The MEE audio MX4 Pro has a good vocal and instrument separation, while the tonality is very clear and fairly bright. Instruments like violins have good extension and brightness, while guitars and pianos are successful in terms of speed. The neutral air and space between the instruments are making the MX4Pro to a quite airy and spacious sounding In-Ear Monitor.

Upper Midrange and Treble:

The MEE audio MX4 Pro has a strongly pronounced upper midrange tuning with a pretty neutral and transparent character. The upper midrange transitions are a bit sharp while listening to metal music. Other genres like pop, rock, acoustic, classic music, etc. are in general soft and fairly controlled.

The MEE audio MX4 Pro sounds controlled and have good extension in moments where the pianos are playing fast and with high distortion. The MX4 Pro doesn’t show any additional sharpness or brightness in the upper midrange region.

The MX4 Pro has a natural, neutral and soft treble presentation. Treble is neither sharp nor too aggressive and sounds quite natural as it should be.

The lower treble range is well pronounced, which is increasing the definition and extension of instruments like hi-hats. The lower treble area shows more quantity and intensity than the upper treble, while the emphasis from the lower treble to upper treble is decreasing in a controlled manner.

Soundstage:

The MEE audio MX4 Pro is an In-Ear Monitor with good instrument separation and positioning. The soundstage of the MX4 Pro has a good width, while the depth of the stage is on an average level compared to the width.

Comparisons:

MEE audio MX4 Pro versus Oriolus Finschi

The Oriolus Finschi is slightly superior in terms of subbass quantity and depth.

The MEE audio MX4 Pro has the upper hand in terms of subbass depth and quantity, while the midbass character of both IEM’s is pretty similar. The MX4 Pro is superior in terms of bass speed and tightness.

The midrange of the MEE audio MX4 Pro sounds more airy and transparent compared to the Oriolus Finschi and shows also a more upfront presentation. The lower midrange tuning and male vocal presentation of both IEM’s are pretty similar and are successful in terms of clarity and detail. The female vocals of the MX4 Pro have better clarity and detail retrieval compared to the Oriolus Finschi. The female vocals of the Oriolus Finschi are warmer and slightly more veiled.

The treble range of the Oriolus Finschi has the upper hand in terms of extension and quantity, while the MEE audio MX4 Pro is superior in terms of control.

The soundstage of the Oriolus Finschi has an average width and depth, while the MEE audio MX4 Pro sounds more spacious and airy.

MEE audio MX4 Pro versus iBasso IT01S:

The iBasso IT01s is a pretty balanced sounding In-Ear Monitor with a slightly warmer than neutral tonality, while the sound signature depends highly to the used source and can vary from slightly V shaped to a wide U shaped or flat signature.

The MEE audio MX4 Pro and the iBasso IT01s have an average subbass depth, quantity and extension, while the bass of both IEM’s is pretty fast. The general midbass intensity of the MX4 Pro is slightly higher.

The midrange of the MEE audio MX4 Pro is more forward in its presentation compared to the iBasso IT01s. The male vocals of both IEM’s are slightly behind the female vocals, while the female vocals are more detailed. The upper midrange of the IT01s sound slightly more detailed compared to the MX4 Pro, while the MX4 Pro has the upper hand in terms of male vocals.

Both the MX4 Pro and the IT01s have a treble airy and well extending treble presentation. The treble range of the IT01s is more energetic and shows higher intensity.

When it comes to the soundstage performance I can say that the MEE audio MX4 Pro has a slightly wider stage, while the difference in terms of soundstage depth is very low.

Conclusion:

The MEE audio offers with its Multi Driver Hybrid IEM a well balanced and close to neutral sound character. The fast and controlled bass, the clear and detailed midrange and well controlled/extended treble tuning of the MX4 Pro will surprise you at this price point, while the customizable faceplate option is a nice addition.

Pros and Cons:

• + Bass Speed and Control
• + Upper Midrange Tonality and Detail
• + Customizable Faceplate Option
• + Rich Accessory Package

• – Midbass Extension
• – Upper treble Roll-Off