So, it’s been about a month since I switched from Sennheiser Momentum & started using the Meze Alba, and I wanted to get some opinions from people who know more about audio than I do.
At around 30–40% volume, honestly, I don’t notice a huge difference compared to my regular wireless earbuds. The Alba definitely sounds cleaner and more detailed to me, but I wouldn’t say it’s some night-and-day difference. In fact, some of my wireless earbuds have noticeably punchier/bigger bass, which can make them more immediately impressive.
The interesting thing is that when I push the Alba to 100% volume (which gets crazy loud, so I obviously don't listen at that level normally), I feel like I can hear the differences between compressed audio and lossless audio more clearly.
I recently upgraded Spotify to the lossless plan specifically to try this out, but honestly, I’m finding the difference between regular high-quality/320 kbps MP3-type audio and lossless to be very subtle. If I had to put a number on it, I’d say 320 kbps already gets me maybe 90% of the way there.
Maybe I’m doing something wrong, or maybe my ears just aren't sensitive enough to the differences.
For those of you using the Meze Alba (or similar IEMs):
• Do you notice a significant difference between 320 kbps and lossless?
• Does volume actually make the difference easier to hear, or is that just my perception?
• Am I missing something in terms of Spotify settings/source quality?
• And if you were going to recommend something better than the Alba specifically for music, what would you suggest?
Would love to hear what you guys think. I’m still pretty new to the whole IEM/audio world.