Typically associated with bullet shell casings and concert band instruments, it's nice seeing the use of brass in the making of in-ear headphones. Brass has a quality feel to it and also happens to look wonderfully like gold!
Being a hybrid of copper and zinc, brass is very resistant to corrosion and can look really nice when properly applied. The Master & Dynamic ME05 are a beautiful example of in-ear headphones with brass housing that look stylish and pretty much bomb-proof!
The Master & Dynamic ME05 brass earphones have a solid build construction inside and out with 8mm titanium drivers, Kevlar reinforced flat cabling (1.2 meters long) with oxygen-free copper wiring and brass driver enclosures with a polish mirror-like finish.
Considering that they are made of copper and zinc (a.k.a. yellow brass), the M&D ME05 earphones only weigh 21 grams so they are almost as lightweight as their plastic counterpart.
The fit is comfortable and secure thanks to the angled design of the nozzles and the long rubber strip that holds the housing body in place which makes contact with your ear lobe helping the earphones stay in place.
Having said this, the shiny body of the earphones does make the M&D ME05 earphones ever-so-slightly slippery.
If you plan to use the M&D ME05 earphones as your daily drivers while out and about, you will want to use foam ear tips for a more secure fit.
Another reason that makes the ME05 earphones have a comfortable fit is the location of the microphone which is built separately from the remote control box.
In most in-ear headphones, the microphone is built-in to the remote box and placed high up inline near your jawline which tends to pull down because of the extra weight on top.
The M&D ME05 has the microphone built inline separately so there is no extra weight from the remote control box which is located in a much better location inline, near the rib-cage (approx. 35cm downwards).
The microphone itself has an omnidirectional pattern so sound is picked up from all directions which is nice although there isn't noise cancellation in the microphone; hence background noise is also picked up. With that said, the microphone is clear and loud.
The Master & Dynamic ME05 inline remote control box features three rubber buttons encased inside a metal frame that separates each button so you can tell the middle button from the other two buttons (volume+ and volume-) which control the volume and the skipping of tracks.
Being wired and made of brass, one expects the M&D ME05 earphones to sound supremely insane and provide very good noise isolation which they do. The sound is balanced across the entire audio spectrum which is good if you listen to podcasts as well.
The bass is strong and crisp with well defined and balanced mids and highs so there is a clear sound separation. The volume can be turned up fairly loud and to the maximum level without distortion thanks to low 16h ohms impedance.
The M&D ME05 really hold well in day to day use without losing their lustre and razor-sharp detailing. In terms of build quality, the ME05 compare well with the MW07 beryllium earphones.
The ME05 are premium earphones with neat features like replaceable filters that sure make the ME05 look and feel like a million dollars but with a more sensible price tag.
Having removable nozzle mesh tips is sure a plus if you happen to damage the nozzle mesh filters, although it would have been more practical if these acoustic filters were tuning filters that change the frequency response.
The Master & Dynamic ME05 brass earphones also come with a collection of snazzy accessories that include four sizes of silicone ear tips, a plastic croc clip, polishing cloth, a canvas pinch-open pouch, a leather case to store the accessories and a foam cord reel to wind up the earphones neatly.