Cambridge Audio Melomania True Wireless Earbuds (ONE, Black)

I'm almost exclusively trash. I'm used to cheap wired headphones and I usually hate change, as well as not really knowing what good audio sounds like. So, this review is from the perspective of an overall swamp goblin who doesn't know what they're really talking about. The audio quality is great as far as I can tell. I don't know what I'm looking for, but everything seems to come through pretty clear. Bass is strong but not like, too strong. It's not tinny. I can hear parts of songs I never noticed before. Sound wise, these headphones are making me love music again. Love that. Build quality seems pretty solid. The case is nice, everything feels secure, and nothing looks or feels cheap. You'd hope so too because these are a hell of a lot more expensive than my usual cheapo wired earbuds. No faults here. As far as I can tell, the battery life is actually great. I listened to various stuff on Spotify for about 2.5 hours, give or take, and I was at about 65% battery by the time I took them off. By this time I was ready to whap them back in the case, so I don't foresee any battery issues unless I'm stupid and forget to charge the case. Lovely. I was worried about the look of them when they're in, because a lot of the marketing photos looked a bit like Frankenstein but the bolt goes through your ears instead. I'm pretty pleased to note that they're not overly stupid looking in real life. They really don't stick out as much as the pictures let on, and they feel really secure when they're in. Haven't dropped one so far, knock on wood. Brilliant. After wearing them for a while, they did get a little uncomfortable. But this is like 3 solid hours of having them in. It wasn't bad, but I could definitely feel some pressure. Easy solution: take a break every so often. Every pair of headphones will feel a bit uncomfy after that long, and because of that I'm not taking off any stars for this slight uncomfortability after multiple hours. Moderate use is totally comfy. We stan. Range wise I've not noticed any issues so far. If I leave my phone in one room and go across to another, through multiple walls and doors, it does struggle and eventually cut out. But being in the same room works perfectly well. This is the same range I've had from other Bluetooth connections so again, I'm fine with that. The only thing I do see as a potential issue is losing one. As far as I can tell there isn't a way to track the individual buds. So, don't be stupid about it. Put them back in the case when you're done, and don't lose the case. While these are totally a luxury product and cost a decent chunk, so far I'd say they're pretty good. They're also quite a bit cheaper than other competitors, but with a much better battery life. They're delivering everything I wanted so far. I was between these and a couple of others, and I have to say I'm pretty pleased with my choice. Definitely worth picking up.

After a disappointment with Soundpeats ‘Dual dynamic drivers’ earbuds I decided to up the budget threefold and bought some Cambridge Audio Melomania 1's. Skip to my verdict: They’re terrific! The clarity that the Melomania’s deliver is a revelation. Until you hear music from a clearer source than you are used to, you don’t realise what you have been missing. The Melomania’s are billed as an audiophile’s earbuds with a relatively natural flat sound response, meaning not for bass heads. However, I found they had too much bass. That’s right, too much bass! After an hour’s charging I went straight for the foam ear tips because foam tips have served me well in the past with other true wireless earbuds like the Enacfire Future Plus or the now redundant Soundpeats active noise reduction wireless earbuds. However, the foam tips have a greater mass than the silicone ones and this seals my ear canal more efficiently creating more bass. I had to use a sound equaliser to cut the bass (a 6db cut at 60Hz – ie. cut by half) to stop the bass overpowering the mid and high tones. Putting in the lighter silicone tips reduced the bass naturally to an acceptable level without needing to use the equaliser. For me this was the solution. Bass heads stick with the foam. With the right size silicone tips giving a snug and comfortable fit I found I wanted to listen to my music for hours. I say “wanted” because many earbuds I have tried were so unremarkable and underwhelming I was glad to put them back in their box. But with the Melomania’s I couldn’t get enough of my playlists and hid myself away so I could listen some more. When was the last time you wore headphones or earbuds that had you enjoying your music all over again? For me this was a refreshing change. I mentioned that I achieved a ‘snug and comfortable fit’. Before buying them I spent several weeks watching YouTube videos and reading countless reviews here on Amazon and the question of ‘fit’ was a recurring topic. People even knocked off stars for a ‘poor fit’ and praised for a ‘good fit’. There is no question that achieving a snug fit is absolutely essential if you are to hear any bass and avoid the ‘tinny’ sound reported by some. So let’s try and clear up this tricky subject? Fit is purely subjective. It varies from person to person, ear canal to ear canal, it’s a lottery. Some fit you, whilst others fit me. It isn’t rocket science yet folk complain the earbuds ‘were a poor fit’. What were they expecting? “One size fits all” perhaps? Don’t be silly! Let’s face it, Cambridge Audio buy-in silicone tips just like Sony, Sennheiser, Soundpeats, etc. It’s daft to think that one manufacturer’s tips are so different to another’s! So my encouragement is to approach the question of tips as a Second Task. You might get lucky and the ones supplied fit perfectly, or (more likely) you will need to experiment with others off Fleebay before you get success. But it’s well worth investing the time to get a decent sound, and also a comfortable fit. So please, enough of “the fit was poor”, because no two ear canals are the same. (even left and right may need different size tips). Lecture over! Incidentally, I own a pair of Shure 535’s with custom silicone inserts (hot silicone poured into your ears for a totally custom and super perfect fit), and some Grado RS1’s over ears. I used both for comparison purposes and I can say with total confidence that either of the above knock the spots off the Melomania’s, but they are wired and cost many times more, so it’s not a fair fight. Bluetooth it seems, has not evolved sufficiently to compete with wired headphones quite yet. However, if you must go wireless then the Melomania’s musicality, clarity, and faithful fidelity will have you thinking about what to listen to next, rather than what’s stuck in your ears. I found myself jumping from song to song in my music library like a kid in a sweet shop, completely forgetting about the Melomania’s. After all, enjoying my music is why I bought them! I have not had any connection problems although I use them indoors, and I find the push switches on the ends of the buds to need only a gentle push. They are also a tad smaller than I expected. Curiously their unique round design makes it easy to insert them properly, because you can simply rotate them slightly as you push them in. Simples! I attach a photo of them, and the case, on a standard CD case to give a sense of scale. At around £119.95 they are not cheap, yet I think they represent excellent value for money given the superior sound they produce. If you are in to your music then ignore the glut of £35 earbuds on Amazon and treat yourself to some Melomania’s. I’m SO glad I did.

After Doing extensive Research on getting earphones I was torn between the Tevis, the 1more and the Melomania. After reading more and more into I decided to go with the melomania. Sound and Connectivity: The sound is great for it, I usually have Sennheiser and Sonys. And this reached at their level even with a bit of latency. The connectivity is good at times but most the times the connection dropped on mine. I live in a semi crowded area. So in the day I thought it was just fighting the interference. But when it came to night and these headphones were 100% charged the connectivity was dropping and I could barely understand any of the music. Like it Skipped every syllable. The reviewers I've seen said it was good, but I believe some of them were a bit "Over zealous" with their reviews. Like on YouTube. I wont name any names there, but you will have seen them since you got to this page. Design: Its designed well, I really love the shortcut keys you have they did an amazing job with that and its hard to find that sort of Accessibility with these kind of headphones. They do feel light and like hollow plastic if that makes sense? They are very light weight and the ear buds they come with have varying sizes. Even with all of them they didn't stay in my ear for too long. They fit and I felt it go in, but it hurt my ears. And they would constantly fall out like they lose suction. Especially when I'm cooking or when I need to pick up something they will just fall out. And the worst part is when they fall out you wont notice it so you have to be super careful with your movement and be observant. Because they are super light weight. Battery life: Superb Battery life Quick charging Its amazing for that. Like they have spoiled us with this amazing battery life. Kudos to them. Calls: Its terrible for calls, the connectivity was bad and it kept dropping. It sounds like an echo from what I was told when I spoke. And it constantly sounded like I was in a tunnel and slightly Muffled. I called my friends on Discord, Skype, and normal mobile calls. (all on my phone) all had the same result. So be warned with calling. Ending statement: If you want something to listen to music its perfect for it. Be careful when using them in crowded areas like just generally walking outside in the park, or in town. You will get latency issues. As all Bluetooth devices get this so this isn't a melomania exclusive issue. Its an Overall Bluetooth issue. Charge is fantastic. Call qualities are bad, Connectivity is mediocre. Sound is great. My overall review of this would be a 7/10

Having struggled to use cheap Bluetooth wireless earphones held together by a wire (which kept catching in my neck), I took the plunge and bought these as my first true wireless set. It has to be said, they are not the sleekest looking ear buds around, but what they lack in looks they more than make up for where it counts. The sound quality is truly stunning, and I am constantly amazed by the detail I have previously been missing on tracks I have listened to for years. I have seen a lot of people complaining about the fit, but I have genuinely had no problem. There are a few sizes of rubber and memory foam adaptor supplied, and it is definitely worth spending time getting the best fit. It makes a huge difference to the sound and and the noise blocking. Actually, I struggle to see how people find they don’t fit as the bit that goes in your ear, and the adaptors that cover them, are pretty much the same size and shape as for any earphones I have ever owned. Battery life is amazing, too. I have been using them for about an hour a day and putting them back into the case after use, and have only had to charge the case a couple of times since Christmas. Of course they are not prefect, but none of the niggles are particularly serious. The Bluetooth connection is pretty reliable, although sometimes one fails to connect and you need to put them both back in the case then take them out again to force them to reconnect. Not sure if this is just Bluetooth being Bluetooth, or a design fault of the earbuds, but it is a little annoying. The end of each earbud is also a large button, and it is easy to push this when fitting or removing the earbud. You soon get used to handling them to avoid this. I find it impossible to remember the controls, beyond pressing and holding left or right to reduce or increase the volume and tapping either button to pause/start. I have inadvertently initiated calls by pressing accidentally, so would much prefer if the controls were just volume up/down and pause/start, but that is probably just me! I also had one of the memory foam adaptors tear when trying remove it to clean it, but Cambridge Audio sent some replacements free of charge, so I’m not too annoyed about that. Overall, I would highly recommend these to anyone who wants true wireless earbuds that sound amazing and don’t cost silly money.

This is my first pair of True Wireless earphones and I'm very pleased! Initially I wanted to get the AirPods a couple of years back, but they weren't "quite right" (especially given how much they cost)... I've heard the sound leakage from other people who have them on the Tube (very annoying!) and still not sold on the way they look (i.e. odd). [Having said that, I use the wired EarPods at work for making calls as they're supremely comfortable and I make a lot of calls throughout the day with my job.] So... I'd read the review of these back in the Summer and they apparently had better sound quality (and Cambridge Audio have a good reputation), so when the price dropped to £100, I thought I'd get them. I was a bit nervous of spending this much on a set of wireless earphones, particularly ones this small (in case I lost them), but I think I'll be alright! Onto the earphones themselves. Having done my research, I have to say it's totally worth taking the time to try the different sizes of ear tips as the fit has to be right. They have to form a seal inside your ear canal (to get best sound quality), without being uncomfortable. Personally, I found out that I needed larger ear tips, which seal the ear canal without feeling like I've jammed them in. This also means they're more likely to stay in and not fall out... The feeling you want it "held in place", rather than "rammed in your ear"!! Even though they look big / chunky, they're not and sit in the ear quite nicely (i.e. comfortable) and are very light. Once you get the fit right, the sound quality is *clear* -- I can't emphasise that enough... Significantly more so than a lot of other earphones that I tried. Also the bass is very good... Some people have said they can't hear or feel the bass -- that's because they haven't got the fit / seal right of the tips inside their ear canals. If the ones supplied are no good, then I've seen 3rd party suppliers on Amazon selling replacement ear tips in a variety of sizes and materials. I like these because they're light and discreet and I would agree with reviews that the sound quality is a lot better than headphones more expensive than this price point (originally these were £150 -- and the sound is significantly better than the AirPods, for example). I've only made a few calls with them -- if you're in an environment where it's not too noisy, call quality is very good (according to the person on the end of the line), but if there is some ambient noise or it's a windy day, then it can pick those up. I haven't tried them in a noisy environment (the office) much and I can imagine a lot of background noise will be picked up. I imagine this is where the AirPods win out as the microphone is on the end of the arm and you can direct it at your mouth. These earphones don't have noise cancelling and to be honest they don't need it... [Rather I certainly don't need it. I've tried it on other phones (including the AirPods Pro) and think that while it's very clever, I don't particularly like it. Especially when travelling, I like to be aware of my surroundings.] Again if you get the fit right, most of the ambient noise is quietened down (say reduced by 85%?), so they're pretty decent earplugs too! Once you switch on the music, you are still "aware" of what's going on around you but without it ever disturbing your listening. You can always turn it up and at full volume these are *loud* (like "ow" loud!!), so that will certainly drown out any irritating noises!! Really pleased with my purchase!

I'm not usually the one to write reviews, but I'm so impressed with these that I simply felt obliged to write one. After being with wired earphones for a while I thought I'd go down the path of the 'true wireless' buds that have been garnering popularity. After a bit of looking around I was stuck between these and the Sony WF-1000XM3s: these were what I wanted to go for based on sound alone, which is obviously what you want a decent pair of earphones for; but I was quite unsure based on the number of people saying they couldn't get them to fit right in their ears, a problem so severe that many were knocking an entire star off for it. However, after considering how many reviews I saw about the Sonys regarding them sounding poor, and after agreeing with myself that I have big ears, I went for the Melomanias. Fast forward less than a day (thanks to Amazon Prime, of course) and there they were, laid on my doormat after being posted through my letterbox. Initial impressions were that the packaging is very premium, which was rather surprising because it's all made out of... well, recycled cardboard. Slip the box out of the sleeve and you're presented with two objects: a piece of paper from the CEO James Johnson-Flint thanking you for your purchase etc; and the main part of the packaging, holding the case for the buds, the charging wire and a little envelope with gold lettering which reads 'For Those Who Listen'. Inside it is your usual literature, as well as a handy credit card-sized piece of paper listing the touch control combinations, and a neat little booklet of sorts guiding you through the history of Cambridge Audio. There are extra tips for the buds stowed away in a clever little mechanism, which slides out of the box; there are two pairs of memory foam tips, and three different sizes of 'normal' tips which have two pairs each, so you have a good bit of variety. I initially went for the memory foam ones but found them to be a little uncomfortable after a while, so I swapped them for the largest pair of tips. Pairing the buds is easy: turn on Bluetooth on your device, take the buds out of the case and select one of the buds that appear; both buds will show up, but only connecting to one is necessary, as they are both synced with each other. So, now comes the important part: the buds themselves. What do they sound like? Phenomenal. Like, seriously, I'm not sure whether it's because I've had poor earphones in the past or something but these sound simply amazing. The clarity and the range of sound is exceptional, meaning that I could hear absolutely everything that was going on in everything I tested, even things I've personally never heard before in music I've listened to for years—this ranged from frenetic techno such as Aphex Twin and Autechre, to orchestral pieces such as the score for 1917, and a bit of everything in between. The bass is nice and punchy, not overemphasised but natural, and this may be contrary to what other reviewers have said because they fit perfectly in my ear. I shove them in, give them a wiggle about to find the optimum position and they stay there—never do I feel like they'll fall out. And, whilst these earphones don't have ANC, the good fit I have ensures that I couldn't hear my surroundings anyway, so WF-1000XM3s with your clever ANC processor eat your heart out. The touch controls are rather run of the mill, in which the sides of the buds are physical buttons that you press rather than true touch controls, but this doesn't bother me as I don't use these anyway. Unfortunately, I cannot comment on the microphone as I haven't made or received any calls with these. One other thing I can comment on, though, is that the buds themselves have an enormous battery life and the case has an even more enormous battery life to boot. I do have some niggles with these though. The first is that the charging method is via micro-USB, which is a shame considering that virtually everything is transitioning to the more modern USB-C. The second is that these do not support wireless charging, which again is a shame, especially for a product like these which would probably benefit from not having the circuitry for a physical charging port and instead just rely on wireless charging. The third is quite nitpicky, but the charging port location is on the side of the case, and I feel that it would look better if it was on the bottom of it instead. But these issues are rather unimportant I suppose, and none of my issues are from how they sound which is very much a good thing, as these buds are something special. As I mentioned, I was stuck between these and the WF-1000XM3s. Right now, I'm very happy that I went with these, so much so that I've spent virtually all day listening to my entire music library again with a huge smirk on my face. If you're in the same boat as I was in then I believe my review is proof-is-in-the-pudding enough for you to make a decision.

I remember first receiving these in October 2020, and the sound was amazing on my Bluetooth 5 aptX phone with lossless audio. I am usually used to 250ohm Over ear headphones with a DAC + Tube AMP. I always found them to be pretty decent headphones for listening to music, podcasts or audiobooks indoors. I have tried all the earpieces, and none fit me correctly, which is a shame. So when I wear them out, unless it's winter and I'm wearing a woolly hat. They will fall out of your ear and try and roll to the nearest drain. The controls I have no issue with, Complicated sounding at first, but you soon get used to them and nothing wrong with the build quality. Now, 21 months into using them (and I do not use them every day, about 3 or 4 times a week). The battery dies within 20 minutes on the right earphone, and I have hardly any sound coming out of the left earphone, which appears to be a common problem. I have factory reset them numerous times, used to different devices, even different versions of Bluetooth. But they are just not usable now.. I could live with the battery dying within 30 minutes on the right as id then just listen with one ear if it was an audiobook, but they are useless to me now. I usually love Cambridge Audio equipment, but I do not know if it's generally a fault with wireless earphones, but they are not fit for purpose; I am going back to wired now, At least they last a bit longer, they have no battery, and if they fall out of your ear they are not going to roll down a drain, unless your phone goes with it. Overall good sound and nice earphones for a bit of a gimmick, but audiophiles and the aspiring will wish they had just stuck to normal wired headphones. I won't ever be buying wireless earphones again.

I have been looking for a replacement for my Bose soundsport (the wireless ones with a wire between them) because after a couple of years use they have fallen apart. Sound from them was very good, no ANC but their sort of twist in design sealed well and negated this. After about 6 months the clip on them broke (spring clip on the cable) which was annoying as I sometimes listen with only one earpiece in and using this clip supported the weight of the dangling earpiece. I nicked one off some Skype headphones at work and with a bit of superglue made a slightly ugly replacement. A few months on and the volume control has split at one end meaning the control doesn’t work so well and now the o/off button rubber cover is jiggly at best. So, replacement needed. What hi-fi reviews/awards as always first stop for a shortlist. I already have the on ear AKG wireless ANCs as a reference and they truly are great, but not always convenient with their large on ear design. I initially ordered the Bose soundsport totally wireless ANC set, previous award winners. Sat still they are great, sound as good as my old ones, but while walking I could hear them banging their driver housing against my ear getting a muffled bop with each stride - while I may expect that while running, which they aren’t designed for, I mean a normal walking pace. So back they went. Opted to try the Sony award winners, got a little of the same, not as bad, but the ANC and signal processing just made music sound weird. The software gives different ANC options and none of them sounded right to me, just heavily processed. Incidentally I’m currently listening to Amazon Music HD for source. So the Sony’s sounded fine without ANC on but still with the bop sound when walking and a slight noise of air passing the protruding buds due to not having ANC on to get anything like a faithful reproduction. Back they went and I happened across the review for these Cambridge Audio buds. I was hesitant as they are comparably so cheap.... 9 hours battery life seems about right having now used them - don’t get mislead by the 36 hours or whatever as they requires recharges via the case. This is great though as it means you can listen on your commute or whatever, then pop them in the case while you do your job/activity, then they are charged for the return without needing plugging in anywhere - I just think the marketing for that is a little misleading. My first impressions were “wow, they’re small”. They are, pleased they had a carry case as they’d be easy to lose. They have stayed in my ears well, but I’m still scared when I go to the toilet with them in :) Nothing to secure them. Plop. ANC works well, very well. Just popping them in and switching on without playing music confirms this. Sound is excellent, neutral, faithful, not harsh when pushed, detailed and not fatiguing. They sound good, in fact absolutely great for the price - in my opinion better than the “double the price” rivals. CA have really surpassed themselves with this product. It will without a doubt be the award winner for class/price in the 2019 awards (unless a new miraculous product appears). My only gripe is the led accents on the earbuds that glow when in use for the first few minutes, surprising how much that lights up a dark bedroom. But it is only a little gripe, a companion app that could turn that off would be great. QI charging would have been nice rather than micro USB - next model I’m sure will have. Don’t hesitate with these. Buy them if you are looking for some true wireless in ears. I’ve had these a week now and they haven’t made my ears sore but I’ve likely only used them in three hour sessions. I left the silicone tips on they came with, but may try the other two pairs included for fit to see. If you get them I hope you enjoy them as much as I am. These may end up being one of those products reminisced about in hi-fi history like the nakamichi dragon, wharfedale diamond, or mission Cyrus one.