Melomania 1+

Hello Melomania 1+! Yes!! Okay so I am an avid ear bud guy and I own or have owned pretty much every relevant ear bud released in the last few years. I am looking for the perfect bud and will try to stop as soon as I find it. The ones I haven't owned were the first Melomania 1 buds. The reason was simple; in spite of the great reviews, I hated the look of the the buds themselves. They were like Frankenstein pegs jetting out of your ears. Cambridge Audio is an old British company. They specialize in high end audio and claim to just be music fans that design great stuff for fellow music fans. I believe them. When I saw these being released, in spite of keeping this same design, I finally caved. I had to know. I am glad I did. I finally get it but they are not perfect and my design concerns were spot on. So, with all of that, here is the breakdown of the good and bad. Though be warned, there isn't much bad. The Good: -Sound: It starts here as sound is where it all happens. If they don't sound good, what's the point? These sound absolutely amazing. When compared to the Jabra 85t's, the latest Bose QuietComfort's, the Samsung Buds Pros, the Klipsch T5 II's, and the Airpod Pros, these are right up there if not better than all of them. They have a surprisingly wide stage. Solid lows, full mids, and crisp punchy highs. There is virtually zero audio lag when watching videos. Further CA supports a number of Codecs here including AptX and AAC so both Android and iOS users can get the most out of them. I was concerned that a single 5.6mm driver could be good. Rest assured, it is. These are natural sounding so bass heads might be a little bummed but I cannot imagine that many folks will be unhappy here. -The Case: Maybe the most underappreciated part of ear buds in my opinion as that is what you have to carry everyday. This case is solid gold. The buds lock in tight. You kind of have to twist them in as they seat in a specific way to charge but, once in, they aren't going anywhere. It is slim and easy on the pocket. The top almost slams shut, the magnets are so strong. One upgrade from the originals is USBC charging. Great addition! Further, the case packs 4 additional charges from the 8 or 9 hours the buds pack. Brilliant! The only downside is no wireless charging but with nearly 45 hours of total battery life on a full charge, I just don't miss that here. -The App: Another big win here is the Melomania app. It is just slick. You can remap buttons, update the buds, adjust the EQ, and more. Plus, it is very polished. Really well done. I cannot tell you how many apps out there could learn from CA here. -Intangibles: 2nd Gen Bluetooth 5.0 for easy pairing and a super stable connection. You can use either bud independently. Your content will autopause if you pull out a bud. Just so much good. The Bad: -Form Factor: So I hate the peg design. They give you both silicone and Comfort moldable tips which helps. I would highly recommend the Comfort tips as they really make things more stable but it just can only do so much with buds that hang out of your ears like this. I will point out that CA did a lot to take weight out of these. The originals Melomania 1's each weighed 9.2g. These are 50% lighter at 4.6g. Well done. They have really cool circular lights that subtly glow when in use. I just cannot get past the design though. CA is on to something here but they need to make these smaller for me anyways. -Missing Items: There is no ANC here. Most high end buds have this these days but CA isn't charging high end prices. They are just giving you high end buds so this omission works fine here. There is no transparency mode or ability to hear your surroundings other than removing a bud. Not the best. -Call Quality: Not great but not horrible. Just make sure the mics are twisted down and you will have decent calls. CA put a small dimple on the side of the buds that sits just above the mics. Just feel for it and make sure it is pointing down or, better yet, slightly angled towards your mouth for best results. There are many ear buds that are much better in this department but these aren't unusable. Conclusion: So when it comes to ear buds, I am not often left at a loss for words but I almost am here. What CA has managed to accomplish for $139 should make all of us almost wonder why on earth we have considered spending so much more in the past. Almost. The big posts sticking out of your ears is still a problem. However, when you look at the field of competitors, hear these things in action, and consider all that these give you for the price tag, I just don't know that there is a better all around value in the ear bud space at this time. Yes, for $200, I sill take my Jabra 85t's and Galaxy Pros over these. Yes, for $279, the Bose are better. At $139 though, if sound and music is the driving force, buy these. They are awesome. ***Update***Okay, I had to wait for this review to post so I could add something I discovered in terms of fit. I went down to the smallest silicone tip they offer, which I never do, but that allows the buds to sit a little deeper in my ears. Still secure and still sound amazing. Further, they don't stick out of your ears quite as much. After just about a week here, I am still very happy. They are my current daily drivers. Oh, one other side note. I am not sure I gave Cambridge Audio full credit for how well these are made. The fit and finish of the entire set up from case to ear buds is outstanding. Very well engineered! Cheers to the team at CA! Buy with absolute confidence. One more additional thought. Was on the phone today with a friend that was testing out the new Master & Dynamic MW08 (mine are coming soon I hope) and I had one of these in my left ear. He sounded great. Half way through he pulled his new buds and put me on his phone. Two minutes later he asked what I was using and I told him I was using the Melomania buds in my left ear. He said I sounded perfect. I was at work and had a lot of noise around me. They may be better at calls than I thought. Solid. Okay, one last thing...I promise! I have been testing both the new Master & Dynamic MW08's and the new Bowers & Wilkins PI7'S buds. It has been about a month since I have used these Melomania buds. I fired them up today and just am more impressed than ever. These should get absolutely smoked by the respective $300 and $400 buds. They aren't at least with sound. The others both offer more features and sound better butbit is marginal. These are a steal. Unreal Melomania!

Told myself I'd buy new, nice earbuds if I lost my last set after keeping them a while, so these were supposed to be a treat. I have had constant issues with them since unboxing. They struggle to pair. My phone might pair with one at a time. I might try a firmware update and it'll only catch one earbud because it loses the other one. I've had them 2 days now. They were left in the charging case, plugged in, so they're fully charged. Now they won't even turn on. I don't even care if I get these working at this point. I don't have any of these issues with my $15 wireless earbuds I bought, and it's not acceptable to have this many issues getting earbuds this expensive working. Edit: Had them for a week now. Audio is cutting out and I still have issue with them pairing. The memory foam ear inserts are too big for comfort, and the sound quality isn't great with the normal inserts. I'll be trying to return these, but since I already tossed the packaging I'm probably out of luck. DO NOT BUY. Edit 2: It's now been 17 days since I received these earbuds and they're not connecting at all anymore. Hoping these were a dud, but... 1. The foam tips are terrible. I have a big head, and big ears, but the smalls are too big. The plastic piece they wrap around is too large, with minimal padding from the actual tips. Makes them a poor fit, and poor at isolation. The big tips isolate better, but are far too large for me and uncomfortable. 2. Connectivity issues are rampant. It's started disconnecting while I'm listening to something with my phone on a table and a clear LoS between my phone and headphones. 3. Sound is great! When they work. I WILL bet returning these now.

I have used three other sets of wireless earbuds before this and two pairs of wireless headphones. All my prior wireless sets were in the $50-75 price range so the Melomania were the first set I had gotten hoping for a pair of earbuds with improved audio and usability. I will lead off by saying that the pair of earbuds I received was found to have some level of defectiveness. The defect that was found was related to the earbud's built-in controls for things like play/pause and volume. The buttons had issues registering commands, but the volume controls through the earbuds only affected the earbud they were linked to (only the left would be affected by volume down and only the right by volume up). Even after following troubleshooting guides from Cambridge Audio, the issues persisted. I had the option to complete a request for a replacement pair, but despite the fact that I did like MOST things about the headphones and even some of the issues I had may be explained by the possibility that the buds were defective, I chose instead to request a refund. Following my refund, I choose to purchase a another pair of earbuds in a comparable price range. While those also have some issues, the concerns I had with the new pair are minor and I'm much more satisfied with them whereas even if the Melomania buds did not have defects, I may still have desired to seek a refund regardless. So what did i like about the earbuds. First: the battery life was spectacular. My last couple pairs of earbuds, I would only be able to use for 4-6 hours before requiring additional charging. Which if I timed things well over my day, I might be able to put them back in the case and charge enough to last my whole day. This pair, I didn't need to worry about that. I do wish I had paid more attention to exactly how long they did end up lasting for, but they are listed as having 9 hours and it very well may have been in that range. Second: the carrying/charging case. It was pretty sleek. Fairly small profile, fit in the pocket and the palm well, had a tiny little nub that made it obvious what side to use and made opening and closing easy. Inside, the buds held very firmly by magnets so they couldn't fall out accidentally and they would also snap into place when inserting so it was easy to place them back in. They were also not difficult to remove from the case. I didn't have it long enough to see how it might be affected by scratches like if you had them in the pocket with your keys or something, but the material it was made of didn't seem like it would have any issues with material peeling or scratching too easily/badly. Charging was through a USB-C cable and did appear to charge well and quickly. There was an easy to read light system to show how much charge remained in the case as well. Third: The earbud controls operated through a physical button. The tactile feedback of pressing a button just feels so much better than a sensor. The fact that the button took up the entire end of the earbud did cause some issues for me, but only when trying to put them in and I'll get to that later. But that's an entirely different problem regardless of the button type, just with how much of the end of the earbud was taken up by the button. Fourth: Sound quality and customization. In general, the earbuds did sound good. The app that integrates with the earbuds also allowed for many preset EQ settings as well as allowing customization settings. As someone who isn't an audiophile, I don't know anything about how to customize these settings, but I could at least understand the presets and while I would normally keep it on a more balanced setting, I did try some of the others if I was listening to more speaking based audio like podcasts or certain genre of music. So why did I choose to return them and not seek a replacement. My main issue with the earbuds was that they were very uncomfortable for me. I tried using both the foam and the silicone tips. The foam tips seemed like they should have provided cushioning to make things more comfortable, but even the smaller foam tips I had difficulty putting in my ear. The foam of those tips did not compress well such that it would then expand to conform to the inside of my ear like I've had with other earbuds in the past and earplugs in general. The most comfortable tips I tried for these were the medium silicone tips. While I was able to keep them in for several hours only minimally needing to take them out due to the irritation, from the moment that I put them in it I could feel the edge of the earbud digging into my inner ear. Even after removing, my ear would still feel irritated for quite a while. And then the following day when I would put them in again, it compounded the irritation from yesterday. This may be entirely an issue with MY ears, other people may not experience this whatsoever. And maybe with continued use and giving my ears more rest between use, I might have been able to adjust to them at some point. But it was just too uncomfortable and felt like it was getting worse. Now that I've been using my new pair for some time, I'm no longer feeling the inner ear pain I had been, but it was very uncomfortable for the week I was using the Melomanias Next: Connectivity/audio distortions. This problem MAY have been caused purely by whatever defect was present in the earbuds. Without a second pair to compare, I don't know. And it was not something that happened frequently, but even the few occasional times that it did stick in my memory. There would be a dip in connection or the audio became distorted in some way. It only lasted a moment, but other wireless earbuds or headphones I've had, I had not experienced anything similar unless I was approaching the range limit of the Bluetooth. But I would have the device in my pocket or just a few feet away and still have it happen intermittently. I don't know if this point is directly related to the previous issue or possibly another defect, but the connectivity range of the earbuds was abysmal. As mentioned, I've used numerous other pairs of earbuds and headphones in the past and at this point, I have also gotten a new pair to replace the returned Melomanias. All my other wireless audio devices including the newest pair, I have been able to leave my phone by my computer to go to my kitchen or bathroom and maintain connection with my device. Both are ~20 feet away at the absolute max and while there is a wall, the walls have an open door way. All my past headphones and also the earbuds I got as a replacement were able to maintain a connection easily at that distance with that obstacle without losing audio. The Melomania earbuds were the only ones I had ever had which I pretty consistently could not do this with. I found myself either needing to leave my earbuds at my desk or take my phone with me if I wanted to get up for a couple minutes for a drink or restroom break. Lastly, the shape of the buds. The earbuds are peg shaped. I don't particular mind from an aesthetic point of view, I think that LOOKS fine, but functionally it did cause some trouble. Minor trouble, but trouble nonetheless. I don't know if this is part of the reason why they are uncomfortable inside the ear, but the issue I have with the circular peg shape doesn't conform to the shape of the more outer areas of the ear like a more comma shaped earbud. Every single time I would put them in, I would invariably end up hitting the built in button on the earbud and end up playing/pausing or changing the volume (which was a particularly annoying situation considering the defect these buds had). Adjusting them while in my ears was also annoying usually resulting in a button press, but because there isn't a shape that conforms to my ear, I just felt like I was jamming them as deep as they could go in my ear. And while I didn't have much/any issue taking them out, I did have issues of what to do when I took them out. Unless I put the bud directly in the case, setting them down on a surface like a table risked them rolling around and falling off. Other earbuds that do not have a shape conducive to rolling wouldn't experience similar concerns.

Edit: 6 months later and I'm still enjoying these. The only issue is once in awhile they go dark, but you just have to press and hold the button, and eventually they announce they "turn off"...implying they were on, even though they were playing dead. Then press again to turn on and all is well. Other than that once in awhile quirk, these sound great for music (good bass without bloating the midrange, nicely balanced sound, crisp yet smooth highs, good detail, not fatiguing, can listen for hours) and the buds and case have survived a few drops. Use them almost every day. Fit is perfect with one of the generous array of included tips, comfortable for hours, never falls out, excellent passive noise isolation. They are great for what I paid, a C note - but at this new lower price they are a steal. I am hoping for a "Melomania 2.0", upgrading the already impressive sound, LDAP and aptX-HD, maybe a few more bands on the EQ or other features, keep everything else basically the same - Cambridge can take my money with such a product. Original review: This is for the Melomania 1+ - I note this as Amazon as usual continues to lump multiple products together in one listing, causing confusion (at least to me). To replace my venerable LG Tone neck wrap style earbuds, which have given good service but are starting to fall apart after 2 1/2 years, first I bought the Lypertek PurePlay Z3 2.0. Not good. App is awful. pairing issues. I think I got the old model as "2.0" was nowhere to be seen. Returned. Ordered the Melomania 1+. "Please don't suck, Please don't suck" became my mantra. Well, they decidedly don't suck. These buds are great. They paired right away, after I followed the directive to charge for 30 minutes. Everything is thoughtfully designed and well executed. The controls work well, the tactile click is great and it requires just the right amount of pressure. Volume up or down is accomplished by pressing and holding the button on the right or left, respectively. This works a treat. The case opens with just the right amount of pressure too. Case is plastic, but with a metal hinge, and is nice. Very ergonomic, and compact. Fits into the key pocket of my jeans. The app is surprisingly slick, and you can do a lot, even register your product or get tutorials or even tech support (which I've had no reason to try). Few products are so thoughtfully designed for pleasant use. Even the packaging was nice, and you get a credit card sized...well, card that has the controls listed so you can refer to it. Classy! Now, the sound. They're pretty laidback. Treble was depressed and I thought a bit too much midbass for my tastes. However, they seem to be opening up now with a few hours use. Also, the EQ in the app is very effective. Treble is there to be coaxed out. Midbass can be tamed and still get some visceral sub bass. Pretty good level of detail. I noticed a nice luxuriously extended cymbal decay on one particular Ultravox track. Pleasing sound. I expect the sound may improve and open up a bit more with usage. I wasn't expecting miracles from a BT earbud, but these are good enough that I might not be as bothered as I might've been, if my next phone lacks a headphone jack. They sound better than my LG buds, which don't sound bad by any means. Format/Codecs are aac or apt-x. These do not have Apt-x-HD or LDAP. Music still sounds good. Audiobooks sound really good with these buds. You get every inflection of the author's voice, which makes the audiobook just that much more immersive. You can also use just one bud at a time, which is good for audiobooking at work so you can still be aware of what's going on. Fit - plenty of tip options included. I found that the small memory foam tips are perfect - they're comfortable, stay in the ear perfectly, and offer a considerable amount of passive sound isolation. I listen to a lot of audiobooks and podcasts, so I was very eager to make sure I could easily go back 10 seconds, in case I get distracted or have to talk to someone. 2 clicks of the left earbud, and it does that. Perfect. It's quite forgiving if you're a beat late on the 2nd click - still does what you want. Again, bravo for such a user friendly product. I can't speak to call quality as I haven't tried it yet and it's not really a big priority for me personally. Don't know about battery life yet either but if it's even 80% of the listed specs, it'll be more than plenty for me. Durability remains to be seen, but they inspire confidence - even though the buds and case are mostly plastic, they seem sturdy and well made. You can't expect all metal at this price bracket, particularly given the performance. If Cambridge ever releases a "pro" model with step up features (Aptx-HD/LDAP) and fit 'n finish, I'd be tempted, as the value proposition of these relatively inexpensive buds is already plenty high.

Pros: - Feels really good in the hand. The case and earbuds feel substantial and not at all flimsy, and the USB-C charger makes me feel like I could use it for a while. (MAJOR) - The out of box experience is really good. Sounds great out of the box (speaking as a casual audiophile) and can sound even better with the EQ. No complaints whatsoever. (MAJOR) - The app is nice. It feels a little rough around the edges, but the aforementioned EQ is fun, the “find my earbuds” can be nifty, you can alternate between prioritizing sound quality or battery life, and the firmware updates make me feel like it will last, especially when the most recent update was improving battery performance. (MINOR) - Battery life is solid. If I’m only using one earbud at a time, I can very easily get through my 9h shifts without needing to stop to charge even while prioritizing sound quality. Mine seems to last ~7h before needing a charge. (MAJOR) Cons: - The magnet that keeps the case shut is fine, but the hinge doesn’t open up enough to keep the case open if you want to do that, and there’s no mechanism to keep the hinge open. (MINOR) - Was expecting more from the “find my earbuds” feature. Maybe the marketing material made me think that it was gonna be near magical, but all it does is show you where you last connected to your earbuds. Fine, but isn’t the best for someone who loses things all the time. (MINOR) - The connectivity gets awful. Sometimes I have to put the earbuds in and out of the case just to get it to realize it should power on. It seems to drain power from both earbuds even if you’re only using one, fixed only by charging the case with the earbud you’re not using in it. Sometimes it will randomly disconnect to switch connectivity from one side to the other, which normally just results in a hiccup, but on occasion your music will be incredibly quiet depending on which earbud has the bluetooth connected, which gets very frustrating. It’s fixed for a while with a quick factory reset, but it’s still very frustrating. Definitely the worst part of these earbuds at the moment but can maybe be improved with firmware updates. (MAJOR) All of the pros are things that are important to me, whereas most of the cons aren’t, and hopefully the worst one has the potential to get better, so I’d still rate it 4/5. Has room for improvement but is still a really good package.

These headphones have much better sound quality than standard AirPods, but that is about the only area where they excel. The problems with connectivity, durability, and design are so severe that they are almost unusable after a few months use, I find myself wanting the hurl them across the room! Connection occasionally drops out randomly, and you have to laboriously pair them with a device almost every time you use them, even if you've used the device many times before. They are not comfortable for use for more than about an hour. Most importantly, the design is terrible. The headphone tip frequently gets stuck in the charging case when you pull it out! So unless you happen to have a small tweezer with you to extricate the tip, they are often unusable when you need them most. The tips are also not durable, and are already looking very frayed after only a few months. Overall, I regret my purchase of these headphones, despite the superior sound. I wish I had spend a bit more money for something where they actually paid attention to design and usability.

Quite proud to be a British set-piece of excellent sound, these earbuds deliver five star performance if you find the shape pleasing. I had never heard of Melomania before, but when researching ear buds to try out this name came up. Melomania: "an inordinate liking for music or melody : excessive or abnormal attraction to music" (thank you, Webster). Ten out of ten for the name. But, how are the buds? They are shaped like bullets. Take that as you will. They don't have great clearance for the ear. People will tell you are wearing something. That may not be a bad thing, but they do stick out of the ear. I switched the ear piece with one of the generously provided memory foam sets included and found they stayed in my ears quite well despite the shape. This is a non issue for me. There is only one button on each bud. Different timed presses perform different functions, and they are context sensitive (listening to a song, in a call, getting a call, etc). Useful instructions are included. The buds feature a glowing ring of light on the end that breathes when placed in the clickable carry case. That carry case is the heart and soul of your buds. Don't lose it. The case features a small line of LEDs that displays charge (of the case). This is said to let you recharge the buds for up to 45 hours of listening. That's a lot. The case uses a nice set of magnets to snugly hug your buds when within and provide satisfying resistance when you remove them. Remove the buds, hold the buttons, and connect your bluetooth along with the audio prompts. Prepare for crisp audio. These buds deliver fine bass (not overwhelming) and crystal clear instrumentals and vocals. They get loud. I have never had to go over half volume. Color me impressed. The amount of passive noise cancellation is also stellar. These (when equipped with the included Memory Foam tips) are absolutely isolating. Some noises still get through (this is good. I don't want to get hit by a car on the way to work), but they simply transport you to a world of quality music. If there is one drawback it is that the buds seem to have an issue pairing right out of the case sometimes. They won't turn on, or only one will. Fear not, their customer service is excellent. If only one bud pairs you can usually hold down the button to turn the other on manually. It will then pair. If both buds seem to be stuck in a non-pairing, non charging, non listening place then you simply need to hold down both power buttons simultaneously for ~3 seconds. Then, place them in the case. They should start "breathing" with light once more. Remove them and they should pair. I was seriously concerned I had broken mine, but again the chat on their website was invaluable, with a Melomania associate jumping in with an answer. Brilliant. I recommend these buds. They are quality sound and good design. Technical quirks aside (and easily resolveable), these serve wonderfully.

Update: so after months of use, the left earbud stopped working completely. I reached out to the company's customer support and they were wonderful. Simply top-notch customer service. They were prompt and on top of it the moment I sent out a query. For this alone it's worth the price of the product. The replacement, the second replacement I received, just worked right out of the box unlike the other ones k received. So QC is definitely an issue, but if you did get a defective product, the customer service you can expect is phenomenal. I've had the melomania 1 for over a year and i had a great experience with it. So when I lost it, it's almost common sense to get the upgraded version of it. It's the same sound signature as the previous version, the sound stage feels closer together than the first one, but the crisp mid-range is still there and the bass is not boomy. The main problem i have with this product is connectivity. It turns off randomly, the range is definitely a lot shorter than the first version, and it doesn't connect automatically when you take it off the case. The whole experience of this product is ruined by its connectivity issues. I like the overall shape and design of the product and i want to support what Cambridge Audio is trying to do here so I won't be returning these. I just hope the next version is compelling enough for me to get it, and by that, I meant hopefully they've fixed the connectivity issues I'm having then. Edit: I'm returning these. I thought i could live with the connectivity issues but i just can't. It's too annoying and it angers me for whatever reason every time it drops or randomly turns off. Edit 2: I gave them another chance and ordered a replacement. The connection issue is not there anymore. I believe this is more a QA issue that they really need to take care of. I love CA and their products but that one bad experience definitely tinted my opinion to them. I'm bumping this to 4 stars because it works like a charm now. Whenever I take one out of the case, it automatically connects to my phone. The connection doesn't linger anymore after you put it back in the case. Battery life seems shorter but i can live with that. Overall, it's a good device. If you have a connectivity issue, try to get a replacement.