Meze Audio ARTA Headphones Review: The $6,000 Flagship Redefining Planar Sound
Read Time: Approx. 10 min.
TL;DR:
- Meze Audio ARTA ($6,000) is a reference planar magnetic over-ear headphone built around Rinaro's new MZ5 HΩ driver — the highest-impedance planar transducer made to date, running high-voltage/low-current for exceptional linearity and ultra-low distortion (<0.05% THD).
- Sound is warm-neutral, rich, and speaker-like, with an expansive 3D soundstage; it excels across genres but especially shines with classical, jazz, acoustic, vocal, and atmospheric electronic material.
- Demands serious desktop amplification — at 225 ohms impedance, it needs real power (500mW+ recommended) to perform, with the iFi Audio Valkyrie called out as one of the few amps up to the task.
- The perfect cable upgrade, our Silver Dragon Premium Headphone Cable enhances top-end resolution with added detail throughout for the most authentic reproduction
- Sculptural Art Nouveau-inspired design in metal, carbon fiber, and leather, fully serviceable/upgradeable construction, and handcrafted in Romania — aimed squarely at advanced-to-expert audiophiles and collectors
Meze's Latest Flagship Model Revealing What Other Headphones Miss
There's a particular kind of quiet that happens right before you put on a truly great pair of high-end headphones. You know something is about to change in the room, even though nothing has moved yet. That feeling doesn't come from just any pair of headphones. That's the feeling Meze Audio built into the ARTA Planar Magnetic Headphones.
Plenty of headphones promise detail. Plenty promise a decently wide soundstage with nice instrument separation and a comfortable fit. But even fewer promise a listening experience rather than sitting between your ears. When developing the ARTA, Meze Audio didn't reinvent the wheel; they set out to build something truly unique. A pair of headphones where nothing stands between the listener and the music. The road wasn't easy, but with the help of Specialist Rinaro Isodynamics, that dream became a reality, and the ARTA was born. The ARTA is the headphone that doesn't quite sound like a headphone anymore.
Let's break down what makes ARTA special, from the engineering under the grille to the art on your head.
PROS
-World-first high-impedance planar driver: the MZ5 HΩ's high-voltage, low-current design delivers exceptionally low distortion, even at demanding volumes.
-Genuine design craftsmanship: precision metals, carbon fiber, and leather assembled by hand in Romania, not just an off-the-shelf shell.
-Amp-agnostic tuning: because of the high-impedance design, ARTA's core character stays consistent across amps, so you're less likely to get a bad pairing.
CONS
- Open-back design: no isolation, so it's not suited for noisy environments or anyone nearby who doesn't want to hear your music too.
-Investment-level pricing: this sits firmly in reference-grade territory, not an impulse buy.
- Not for the casual listener: the sculptural design, open-back build, and price point are aimed squarely at dedicated audiophiles, not someone wanting grab-and-go convenience.
Design
Meze Audio has never treated design as an afterthought, and the ARTA might be the clearest example of that philosophy yet. The ARTA leverages all that Meze's learned over the years with an overall design aesthetic that honors past models like the Empyrean 2, while keeping it unmistakably one-of-a-kind with sleek, smooth silver metal accents. The silver metal accents on the side of the ear cups remind me of the Imperial Stormtrooper helmets in Star Wars: Rogue One. They're bold yet intentional, with curves and cuts that wrap the ear cups beautifully. Meze's logo is placed neatly on the base of the headband's tension rod system, not to draw unnecessary attention away from the headphones.
While it's typical to see subtle tweaks and improvements with each new model release, the ear cup grilles usually stay the same. Rather than taking the easy road, Meze Audio designed an entirely new open-back grille just for the ARTA. The grille is composed of angled acoustic blades that help preserve the headphone's sound quality while providing physical protection to the driver. It works specifically with the Rinaro MZ5 HΩ driver to ensure the enclosure acoustics don't constrain the transducer's performance. The spindle pattern we've seen on past Meze models has been replaced with thick angled lines, and I have to say I love it. I feel it adds another dimension to these headphones.
The ARTA is incredibly comfortable with a pleasantly tight clamping force that makes the headphones feel snug and secure on your head. The tension rod is stiff right out of the box, which is a good thing so you don't have to worry about any unwanted micro-adjustments, but I imagine the more use they get, the looser they'll become. The ARTA is available with two distinct ear pad options, duo angled and slim Alcantara, each shaping the sound in its own way.
The duo angled ear pads are composed of a blend of perforated lambskin leather and Alcantara, angled for a richer, more impactful sonic presentation. The slim Alcantara pads use two types of Alcantara with perforations on the inner chamber that deliver neutrality and a smoother, rounder upper region. I had a great time using both ear pads, and Meze makes it extremely easy to pop them out and switch them.
Every step of the ARTA's creation was designed with the listener in mind. Meze Audio took time to make every component on these headphones serviceable and replaceable. From the ear pads and headband down to the drivers and ear cups, you can fully disassemble, service, and replace any parts. This might not seem like a big deal at first, but when you're investing in a headphone of this caliber, you want to know it'll last you for many, many years to come. And unfortunately, that's not always a guarantee if a product is manufactured poorly.
Sound
I've been a fan of Meze's headphones for a long time now, and I've had the pleasure of reviewing many models over the last few years. So when I heard they were releasing a new flagship model, priced at $6,000, I had high hopes for the ARTA's sound quality.
The ARTA immediately stands out for its exuberant impedance. With an impedance of 225 ohms, you can't use just anything to drive these headphones. This is an endgame headphone that requires endgame amplification, and if you don't have that at your disposal, you won't be enjoying the full sonic presentation. Luckily for me, I'm in the perfect spot to put these headphones to the test, so I checked out our stock of demo gear and felt like the iFi Audio iDSD Valkyrie DAC Headphone Amp was one of the few desktop headphone amplifiers up to the task.
Connected to the TEAC NT-507T Network Transport via a Silver Dragon USB Cable, I switched the Valkyrie's gain to the highest mode, opened Qobuz on an Apple iPad, and pressed play. I wasn't even halfway through the second song when I had an epiphany: I can hear EVERYTHING. A track I know fairly well, "Sympathy is a Knife featuring Ariana Grande," was presented in a new, clearer light. The ad-libs added to the backing track came through vividly and clearly. They didn't sound pushed behind the main vocals like I knew they were. They sounded alive, up close and personal, as if the singers were whispering in my ear.
The ARTA not only captured those fine details, but it did something far more impressive. It brought me closer to the music and the artist's lens than I had ever been before. Listening with these headphones, I began to truly appreciate all of the hard work that goes into creating a track. A lot of the time, we understand what it takes, but as a consumer, we're focused on that end product. How does the song make us feel? What can we take away from this experience? Unless you're a particularly discerning person, you're probably not giving much thought to the artist's creative process–at least I wasn't.
"Sympathy is a Knife" is a track I've heard a hundred times over tons of different gear, and every time it sounded just as good as the last. I've listened to it over my car stereo on the way home from work. Through a pair of bookshelf speakers. Over open-back and closed-back headphones across multiple price points. Yet, it wasn't until I listened with the ARTA that it felt like I was hearing the song in its full glory for the first time. Charli XCX is a creator by nature, and I've watched several interviews where she dives into the producing process, detailing how she curates every last element in a song to be perfect. As a perfectionist myself, that's what I always chalked it up to–perfection. But it wasn't that type of perfection. It was sonic perfection, where every last detail is fully realized. Those tiny curated elements that many artists assume go unnoticed–and they do with the wrong gear–were clear as day and reproduced with musicality and a lifelike presentation.
At $6,000, the ARTA is a true endgame headphone. It has the physical design and exceptional driver to support that price, but the listening experience is what truly sets it apart from the rest. It's the headphone that makes you step back and realize. You're appreciating a track for what it is: organic, authentic, and exceptionally vivid. The overall presentation is warm, rich, and detailed. The midrange is vibrant and musical. The soundstage is wide enough to position music in a speaker-like presentation with spaciousness that projects around you, not to you. The bass response presents with impact and heft, reproducing the physical weight of each note beautifully.
The ARTA isn't the headphone trying to be everything to everyone. Meze Audio has plenty of other headphones that fit that description. The ARTA knows who it is and who it's for: the discerning audiophile who's ready for that one headphone to change their relationship with music. A headphone that complements your favorite genres, no matter how obscure and different each one is.
It demands a highly capable mate. A headphone amplifier that can deliver enough gain to make the Rinaro MZ5 HΩ driver sing without feeling like it's working overtime. If you've already invested the time and money into building your dream hi-fi system and all you're missing is that endgame headphone to pair it with, the Meze Audio ARTA Planar Magnetic Headphones are the final piece.
Sympathy Is A Knife featuring Ariana Grande
By Charli XCX
(BRAT)
Robbers
By The 1975
(The 1975)
Somebody Already Broke My Heart
By Sade
(Lover's Rock)
Midnight Sun
By Zara Larsson
(Midnight Sun)
Features
- Rinaro MZ5 HΩ High Impedance Isodynamic® Hybrid Array driver — the highest-impedance planar magnetic transducer to date
- Speaker-like, three-dimensional soundstage with natural, room-filling spaciousness
- Sculptural design fusing precision metals, carbon fiber, and premium leather with Art Nouveau-inspired styling
- Angled acoustic blade grille that diffuses rear-wave energy for cleaner, more open transients
- High-voltage, low-current operation for exceptional electrical linearity and ultra-low distortion
- Choice of two earpad styles — Duo Angled or Slim Alcantara — for tailored comfort and tonal balance
- Fully serviceable, generational build designed to be disassembled, repaired, or upgraded
- Two included 2 m cables (6.3 mm single-ended and 4-pin XLR balanced) with silver-plated LC-OFC conductors
- Handcrafted and quality-controlled at Meze's Baia Mare, Romania headquarters
The ARTA's driver is the result of another successful collaboration with Rinaro Isodynamics. This Isodynamic Hybrid Array technology already lives inside the Empyrean 2, Elite, LIRIC II, and POET–headphones that have earned their own devoted followings. But the ARTA marks the start of something new: the MZ5 HΩ, and with it, a genuine leap forward in what a planar driver can do—the highest-impedance planar magnetic transducer built to date.
While most planar magnetic drivers run in a low-voltage, high-current mode, the MZ5 HΩ driver takes the opposite approach, opening in a high-voltage, low-current mode instead. Less current running through the diaphragm means less heat and less stress on it. Push the volume up, and instead of fighting distortion or dynamic compression, the ARTA keeps delivering a clean and composed sound quality with total harmonic distortion measuring under 0.05%.
The ARTA's driver is the result of another successful collaboration with Rinaro Isodynamics. This Isodynamic Hybrid Array technology already lives inside the Empyrean 2, Elite, LIRIC II, and POET–headphones that have earned their own devoted followings. But the ARTA marks the start of something new: the MZ5 HΩ, and with it, a genuine leap forward in what a planar driver can do—the highest-impedance planar magnetic transducer built to date.
While most planar magnetic drivers run in a low-voltage, high-current mode, the MZ5 HΩ driver takes the opposite approach, opening in a high-voltage, low-current mode instead. Less current running through the diaphragm means less heat and less stress on it. Push the volume up, and instead of fighting distortion or dynamic compression, the ARTA keeps delivering a clean and composed sound quality with total harmonic distortion measuring under 0.05%.
Inside the driver, the planar trace itself tells its own story. It's 2.5 times longer than what you'd find in a typical design, yet its cross-sectional surface area is 2.8 times smaller. Picture it like this: instead of concentrating electromagnetic force in a handful of spots on the membrane, Rinaro spread that drive evenly across the entire surface. The result is a membrane that moves as one cohesive whole rather than warping or flexing unevenly — and that unity is what keeps transients sharp and the response steady, whether you're sitting dead-center or off-axis.
Dragon Cables
Fine-Tune Your Listening Experience with a Dragon Audio Cable
The ARTA already ships with two capable stock cables, one single-ended and one balanced. But if you're the type of listener who likes to dial in every last detail of your system, that's where a Dragon Audio Cable comes in.
Silver Dragon Premium — Clear | Detailed
Starting at $925, the Silver Dragon Premium swaps in 4 x 24 AWG UP-OCC silver conductors built for air, separation, and top-end extension. It's Moon Audio's flagship cable, and it's the one to choose if you want to push ARTA's already-immersive soundstage even further outward — tighter bass, more resolved transients, and that "previously lost" layer of high-frequency detail. It's particularly well suited to classical, jazz, and anything dense with instrumentation, where separation matters most.
Blue Dragon — The Clean Starting Point
If you're newer to aftermarket cables, the Blue Dragon is the easiest entry point. Built from 99.99998% UP-OCC pure copper, it doesn't push ARTA's tuning in any dramatic direction — it just clears away a little more of the noise between you and the music, giving you a taste of what higher-purity conductors can do without a big investment.
Verdict
The Meze Audio ARTA Headphones aren't chasing trends or mass appeal–they're built for the listener ready to take that final step into audio nirvana. If you've spent the time investing in gear and building that perfect hi-fi setup, the ARTA is the missing piece. The MZ5 HΩ driver delivers the technical foundation, the physical design makes it an object worth owning, and the fully serviceable parts deliver the peace of mind that this headphone will still be with you years from now.
The ARTA isn't the headphone trying to be everything to everyone. Meze Audio has plenty of other headphones that fit that description. The ARTA knows who it is and who it's for: the discerning audiophile who's ready for that one headphone to change their relationship with music. A headphone that complements your favorite genres, no matter how obscure and different each one is. For the audiophile seeking even more sonic performance, our Silver Dragon Premium Headphone Cable pushes the ARTA's already immersive soundstage even further outward. The bass response is tighter, transients are more resolved, and that "previously lost" layer of high-frequency detail is restored.
Are you ready to experience the ARTA for yourself? Explore our reference planar headphones and find your perfect fit at Moon Audio.
Great music deserves gear that does it justice.
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What's in the Box
- ARTA headphones (Duo Angled or Slim Alcantara earpad style)
- 2 m cable terminated in a 6.3 mm single-ended jack
- 2 m cable terminated in a 4-pin XLR balanced connector
- Headphone case
Specifications
Headphone Weight: 495 g
Frame Material: Fiberglass-infused ABS
Ear Coupling: Circumaural
Input Connector: Dual 4-pin mini-XLR
Driver Geometrical Shape: Ovoid
Driver Size: 102 mm x 73 mm
Driver Weight: 84 g
Driver Casing: Fiberglass-reinforced polymer
Driver Type: Rinaro High Impedance Isodynamic Hybrid Array MZ5 HΩ
Operating Principle: Open-back
Frequency Range: 3 Hz - 115 kHz
Impedance: 225 ohms
Sensitivity: 98 dB SPL/mW at 1 kHz
Maximum SPL: > 130 dB SPL
Total Harmonic Distortion (THD): <0.05%
Diaphragm Type: Rinaro Parus ARTA [MZ5 HΩ]
Diaphragm Active Area: 4,650 mm²
Diaphragm Weight: 0.10 g
Acoustic Mass: 4.7 kg/m
Lower Frequency Limit: 3 Hz
Upper Frequency Limit: 115,000 Hz
Magnet Array: Hybrid array delivering a uniform isodynamic magnetic field for precise, efficient diaphragm activation
Output Power (225Ω): Minimum: 200 mW | Recommended: 500 mW+
Voltage Swing: Minimum: ± 12V peak | ± 15-18V peak
Output Impedance: Minimum: < 22 ohms | Recommended: < 5 ohms
Current Output: Minimum: > 75 mA | Recommended: > 150 mA
