Meze Audio 105 Silva are the bucolic listening headphones audiophiles will adore the Romanian answer to hygge

Date:
Mon, 13 Oct 2025 21:30:00 +0000

Description:
I tested Meze Audios 105 Silva open-back headphones and all I got was a level oflistening comfort Id never experienced at the level, until now

FULL STORY ======================================================================Meze Audio 105 Silva: Two-minute review

The Meze Audio 105 Silva are open-back headphones that dont act like
open-back headphones and I think Im a fan. Where open-backs usually trade bassy fullness for structure and measure, the 105 Silva do a bang-up job of reinforcing low-end for a gratifyingly pillowy result; this pillow lies beneath some of the best treble performance Ive heard in a mid-range pair of headphones, too, with beautifully-balanced air and a keen-yet-forgiving transient response.

These headphones excel as at-home headphones, and especially so if youve a tranche of remastered jazz records to listen through. The more brick-wall limited a song is, though, the less fun youre likely to have with these, dynamics-hungry as they are.

The 105 Silva are also as gratifyingly comfortable as any of the best wired headphones , with a well-designed self-adjusting headband and some decadent velour-enrobed ear-cushions to slip yourself between. I think Meze Audio have achieved almost precisely that which they aimed to achieve with this
mid-range set, but that the narrow soundstage and fluffy low end could turn some fundamentalist open-back adherents away. More for me, maybe! (Image credit: Future) Meze Audio 105 Silva review: Price and release date Released July 23, 2025 $499 / 469 / AU$999

Meze Audio has been mucking up the hi-fi industry since 2010, and, in my opinion, has done for headphones what Pro-Ject did for turntables back in the 00s just see the much-pricier Meze Audio Poet for reference, at a cool
$2,000 / 1,899 / AU$3,550.

And the 105 Silva are much cheaper than their excellent siblings think high-quality European design, assembled in Europe and sold at a price that makes you go wait what? OK!.

I make no attempt to hide my love for Meze headphones past, be they the 99 Classics that still get use in my studio, or the ultra-high-end Poet that
blew me away not too long ago. The Silva sits between these two, being a mid-range pair of open-back headphones designed exclusively for the cosy, immersive listen.

The Meze Audio 105 Silva are the second pair of headphones in the 105 series, and a clear development on the 105 AER that came before. Gone are the art
deco PC-ABS earcups, replaced with a fetching mid-century walnut-heavy
design; gone is the close, sumptuous tuning of the 50mm dynamic drivers, replaced with a brighter, broader and altogether more fidelitous approach (if I may neologise).

Silva is a Romanian word, meaning forest. Meze Audio wants you to look at those sumptuous walnut ear cups and envision nature; to slip between those outrageously-comfortable ear pads and feel safety; to experience the softness of its sound profile and feel nurtured . Can such bucolic Transylvanian headphones promise such bucolic Transylvanian serenity? (Image credit:
Future) Meze Audio 105 Silva review: Features 5Hz - 30kHz frequency response 42 ohms impedance USB-C DAC adapter

Meze Audios 105 Silva headphones are passive, open-back listening headphones the ideal platform for at-home enjoyment of your eclectic record collection, your esoteric FLAC library or your immersive audiovisual storytelling experience. No schmancy tech gimmicks here; just great sound and you.

The 105 Silva deliver that great sound through some prodigiously-engineered 50mm drivers. A carbon fibre-reinforced cellulose composite dome combines durability with a lightness of weight, making for a considered reproduction
of high-end information and a clever attenuation of unwanted resonances; the dome is encircled by a semicrystalline polymer torus, titanium-coated for
fast attack and precisely grooved for more resonance control.

The result is a pair of headphones that exists in two states simultaneously: tension and relaxation, taut transients and thrumming bass. But more on this shortly. For specs, youll find an impressive frequency range of 5Hz - 30kHz and a 42-ohm impedance; the latters a tiny bit disappointing, if only for the fact that these arent smartphone fare. Theres more potential posed by driving these drivers a little harder from your hi-fi than there is convenience for keeping the impedance low, in my humble and completely subjective opinion.

Being passive headphones, the 105 Silva are of course wired for sound, and
use dual-twisted, Kevlar-wrapped OFC cable to supply said wiring. Each ear
cup hosts a mono TS port, so you can attach and detach with ease for transport; you can also be sure that each channel of audio is robustly connected. Its naked, minimal and minimises points of failure all-round all of which amount to top marks from me.

For those of that use smartphones for all things audio, you can still enjoy the 105 Silva out of the box, too; Meze Audio has lovingly included a custom 3.5mm TRS to USB-C adapter, which includes its own DAC. This is the techiest thing youll find in the box, and a good thing too. Features score: 4 / 5 (Image credit: Future) Meze Audio 105 Silva review: Sound quality High-end response is peerless for the price Nice, airy mid-range Bass surprisingly fulsome

As you would expect from most open-back headphones above a certain budget-price threshold, the Meze Audio 105 Silva are a pair dead-set on tactility. Between some measured soundstaging and delightful transient control, these cans deliver something comfortingly immersive above all else.

World Brains Minute papillon is a lassez-faire melange of syncopated synths, je-ne-cest-quoi ambiance and other such French-transplant turns of Romantic phrase; the 105 Silva resolve its light-stab electric pianos and
dead-straight drums with a playful air. High-end information is delivered
with space and grace, sharp enough to carve out its own place in your ears
but soft enough not to insist upon itself in the process.

Andy Shaufs debut collection of small-folk heartbreakers The Bearer Of Bad News , meanwhile, is a good carrier for both the dynamic potential of the 105 Silva and their incredible stereo imaging; Im Not Falling Asleep is all slurred clarinets and ever-resonating piano before a huge, sparse beat and Shaufs plaintive tone.

Separation between elements is impressive, too. The end section of Im Not Falling Asleep is just voices and clarinets in stereo-spread choral harmony, and Shaufs stacked voices seem as if to coast above the woodwinds like an air-hockey puck would on one of the good machines.

A little later in the record, Wendell Walker brings some excellent resolution of distance; close-strummed guitars and distant piano bass, diametrically opposed but united with a gloriously-staged, wrap-around drumkit that spikes up through the warmth with polish, presence and power. Even with the most maximalist, blown-out feats of electro-pop heft in my library particularly, Normalize by Gelli Haha theres a palpable sense of space behind the sausaged synth-basses and punching-bag-to-the-face kicks.

Well-spaced as these elements are, there is a surprisingly close limit to their spread. These arent the widest headphones Ive tried, sure, but the surprise is that Ive heard wider closed-backs. Indeed, the 105 Silva, to me, exhibit some behaviours more redolent of closed-back designs than others.

This is reinforced by the overall bass response of those carefully-tuned 50mm drivers. Though brighter and airier than 105 drivers prior, here the low end is still suitably springy, and enjoys an unusual bloomy fullness. Open-backs typically dont possess this fulsomeness, as they allow that placeless subby energy to dissipate outwards; here, though, theres a sense of constructive interference usually reserved for closed-back systems. And its kind of glorious.

The 105 Silva do seem to respond better to some sounds than others. The aforementioned Normalize suffers for its brick-walled, low-dynamic clown-pop maximalism, where the Silva seems not quite sure on how to handle the lack of real movement. Listening to high-dynamic live-instrument arrangements, like Billy Valentine And The Universal Truths jazzy re-imagining of We People Who Are Darker Than Blue , feels like finally unlocking the Universal Truth of these headphones; the thing they were designed for.

The 50mm drivers handle bloomy double-bass with active measure, as if an occult hand were manually pushing the fader up for moments of a-ha!
crescendo. The transient response is keen but not sharp, and the breath
behind each saxophonic missive a textural delight. Cosiness seems the
ultimate state these headphones strive for. Sound quality score: 4.5 / 5 (Image credit: Future) Meze Audio 105 Silva review: Design Gorgeous-looking things Gratifyingly simple practical design And deeply comfortable, too

These headphones are an obvious winner in the aesthetics camp; have you seen them?! Everything about the design is tasteful, from the materials and proportionality of the earcups to the highly-satisfying minimalism of the metal bands that connect them. Walnut, pleather and velour present a united front of understatedly decadent luxury an enticing wear if ever you saw
them.

Speaking of wearing them, the 105 Silvas headband is a lightweight and lightly-cushioned self-adjusting affair. Im extremely impressed, again, by
the coincident simplicity and practicality on display here. Theres no aggressive ratcheting or re-adjustment; the 105 Silva simply rests exactly where it needs to, with a softness of touch a far cry from the intrusive
clamp other such headphones deign to visit upon your potentially-sensitive bonce.

Speaking of sensitivity, I have known no headphone more comfortable than a Meze Audio headphone especially with the plush, velour-enrobed ear-cushions provided on the 105 Silva. Similar comfort has been experienced on Sennheiser phones past, but none so gratifyingly smooth about the concha.

The 105 Silva come in a sturdy contoured fabric hardcase, with a reassuring firmness and even more reassuringly weatherproof zip; if you did fancy taking these out and about, this right here is a trustworthy receptacle for such adventures. Theres also a neatly-designed cylindrical soft case within, for your cables and adapters and whatnot so designed to nestle within the Silvas headband, and to not risk any jostle-related damage in transit. Its a simple gesture, but one that sparks a not-inconsiderable amount of joy in me.

In all, theres nothing really to fault the 105 Silva on design-wise. Theres comfort by the spade, eye-candy by the trowel and simplicity at the core of
it all. A serene pair. Design score: 5 / 5 (Image credit: Future) Meze Audio 105 Silva review: Value Incredible comfort in the listening experience but
one you pay a price for Sound profile could be divisive, too

Values always a difficult thing to pin down with audio products, and especially so when the audio product in question isnt all-singing, all-dancing. Its easier to signal that somethings worth the whack when its
got more features than youve got fingers, even if those features exist on products one tenth the price.

So, when it comes to a pair of passive headphones like the Meze Audio 105 Silva, theres a lot of figurative weight in one place: the quality of the listening experience. Im in no position to say that you need to spend this much money in order to have fun with your music collection but, if you like the sound of soft tactility hand-in-hand with thick sonority, maybe it would help.

Bear in mind, too, that this unique listening experience is backed up by a prioritisation of listening comfort , and by attention-to-detail in pursuing the same. Theres balance in that self-adjusting headband, and in those Goldilocks ear-cushions. All this, steeped in minimal mid-century modern aesthetic, as if to say, Romania does hygge too.

Ive had more fun with cheaper headphones before, and Ive had far less fun
with more expensive headphones too. I do think the 105 Silva have a great
deal going for them aesthetically and ergonomically, which goes a long way to justifying their position in the market; the sound, though, is the singular thing about which most decisions ought to pivot and the Silvas unique performance could make this subjective decision either really easy, or really hard, for the prospective buyer. Value score: 4 / 5 (Image credit: Future) Meze Audio 105 Silva review: Should you buy them?

Attributes

Notes

Rating

Features

The inclusion of a custom 3.5mm TRS to USB-C adapter, which has its own DAC, is a classy touch

4 / 5

Sound quality

The 105 Silva excel with respect to high-end reproduction, with all the ear-candy detail you could ask for. The bass is a little more bloomy than you might expect from open-backs, but this is (often, at least) to their credit.

4.5 / 5

Design

These are some singularly fetching headphones, with that tasteful walnut-imbued mid-century earcup design and that minimal-yet-maximal PU leather headband. You wont begrudge having these adorn your desk, to say the least.

5 / 5

Value

The 105 Silva offer incredible comfort, both literally and with respect to sound profile. That bloomy bass could be enough to switch some off, but the rest is Goldilocks-level balance.

4 / 5 (Image credit: Future) Buy them if...

You value comfort
The 105 Silva are astonishingly comfortable listening headphones, both literally and figuratively. They hug your face and they hug your inner ear in near-equal measure, with plush cushioning and plusher bass.

You like jazz
The secret to the 105 Silva is fully revealed with dynamic music and largely-acoustic instrumentation; between a silky mid-range, musical handling of transients and a robust low-end that rises to the occasion, you have a
pair of headphones that buries your face lovingly in jazz arrangements. Don't buy them if...

Youre choosing open-backs for the soundstage
Despite their open-back nature, the Poet do not quite breathe the same as other open-backs this writer has tried and enjoyed. Im reminded more of closed-back headphones by the fit and feel, as well as the dimensionality of sound.

Youre looking for a wide soundstage
The soundstaging is fun, particularly with ticky-tacky high-end flourishes, but ultimately the 105 Silva sit quite close to your ears on the width front. There are wider phones out there! Meze Audio Poet review: Also consider

Meze Audio 105 Silva

Meze Audio 105 AER

Sennheiser HD 505

Type:

Over-ear

Over-ear

Over-ear

Open-back or closed-back:

Open-back

Open-back

Open-back

Driver:

50mm dynamic; bio-cellulose, titanium-coated semicrystalline polymer

50mm dynamic, bio-cellulose, PEEK

38mm dynamic

Frequency range:

5Hz - 30kHz

5Hz - 30kHz

12Hz to 38.5kHz

Impedance:

42 ohms

42 ohms

120 ohms

Connector:

Dual 3.5mm TS output

Dual 3.5mm TS output

Proprietary locking cable output

Weight:

354g

336g

237g

Extras:

Carry case, soft pouch for cables, 3.5mm TRS to dual 3.5mm TS cable, 3.5mm
TRS to USB-C adapter w/ integrated DAC, 3.5mm TRS to 6.35mm TRS adapter

Carry case, soft pouch for cables, 3.5mm TRS to dual 3.5mm TS cable, 3.5mm TRS to USB-C adapter w/ integrated DAC, 3.5mm TRS to 6.35mm TRS adapter



Drawstring pouch, stereo cable with 3.5mm TRS plug, 3.5mm TRS to 6.35mm TRS adapter



Meze Audio 105 AER
Meze Audio's 105 AER are a slightly cheaper member of the same open-back over-ear family, with a darker tuning and hence, a little less width than the Silva. If you like a more intimate headphone experience and don't mind eschewing some tasteful walnut in the process the AER resolves excellently.
Read our Meze Audio 105 AER review for more

Sennheiser HD 505
The Sennheiser HD 505 set of open-back headphones is decidedly cheaper than Mezes 105 Silva and wears that affordability a little more readily on its sleeve, too but doesnt disappoint when it comes to fidelity. If youre
wanting a more accessible introduction to the open-back format, this is a
good starting point.
See our in-depth Sennheiser HD 505 review for more
Meze Audio 105 Silva review: How I tested Tested for 3 week(s) Used as listening headphones, at home Predominantly tested via Edifier MR5 headphone output, through Universal Audio Volt 4 interface

The Meze Audio 105 Silva spent three weeks adorning my fancy new Ikea desk,
in my attic office. There, they were my primary set of headphones for focused listening to my digital library of FLACs and 320kbps MP3s with some
ancillary listening on Spotify via my Volt 4 audio interface and Edifiers
MR5 monitor speakers headphone output. First reviewed: October 2025 Read more about how we test



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