Headphones — Meze Audio ASTRU

The ASTRU from the Romanian company Meze Audio is a universal-fit earphone built around one dynamic driver in a titanium shell. Its public debut came at CanJam NYC 2026, and it went on sale on 20 March 2026 at a list price of USD 899. Meze's earlier ADVAR earphone preceded it.

Key specs that matter

The driver measures 10 mm and covers 5 Hz to 35 kHz. Impedance is 32 ohm and sensitivity is 111 dB SPL per mW at 1 kHz, with distortion quoted under 0.1 percent at the same frequency. Each earpiece weighs 13.4 g. The cable attaches through a standard 2-pin connector, and the bundled lead terminates in a gold-plated 4.4 mm balanced plug.

Engineering and use context

Meze uses a multilayer composite for the moving diaphragm. Its dome carries more than 80 ultra-thin layers of gold, applied in a 48-hour physical vacuum DC magnetron sputtering process, and this gold coating is bonded to titanium and mounted on a PEEK polymer base. Meze describes the aim as a balance of speed, control and weight in the moving part. Each housing is CNC-machined from a solid titanium billet, a metal selected because it is strong for its mass and biocompatible during long wear. A multi-stage electroplating process gives the shells a satin surface, and the full machining and finishing cycle takes up to seven days for one matched pair. The cable hardware is CNC-anodised aluminium. The box also contains a balanced to single-ended adapter, five pairs of ear tips covering XS, S, M, L and XL so that each ear can get a proper fit and seal, a protective hard pouch for daily use and a soft PU leather envelope for travel and storage.

Pairing

Driving it takes little effort, so a phone dongle or portable player reaches normal levels with little power. The balanced termination suits portable players and desktop headphone amplifiers fitted with a Pentaconn socket, and the included adapter covers devices that only have a 3.5 mm single-ended jack. As the 2-pin interface is widely used, third-party leads with other terminations fit without modification, so the earphone can move between a balanced player at home and a basic single-ended output on the move without buying a new lead.

Alternatives

The Meze Audio ALBA is the brand's other universal in-ear monitor, also built around a single dynamic driver.