For over 50 years now, Cambridge Audio has been making high-quality British Hi-Fi equipment, speakers and home audio solutions. Presently, similar London-based engineers behind the brands amazing Edge series have had a go at some true wireless earbuds.
Rating
Good
- ✓Great British sound
- ✓Incredible battery life
- ✓Premium build-quality
- ✓Qualcomm aptX technology
- ✓Affordable price tag
Bad
- ✕No active noise-canceling
- ✕No companion app
Cambridge Audio Melomania 1 Release Date and Price
The Melomania 1 is accessible now in the UK for £119.95. Music lovers in the US will have to part with $129.95, a similar cost in euros for customers in Europe. Cambridge Audio gear has been accessible in the US directly from the manufacturer since 2017. Also, you can purchase directly from the company’s website if you live in Germany or Hong Kong.
I have to say state I’m amazed at the cost of the Melomania 1. I know this is Cambridge Audio’s first venture into genuine wireless headphones, yet I sincerely figure they could have gotten away with charging more. The Melomania 1 is not highlight rich as a portion of the competition in-and-around this price range yet the construct and sound quality can match true wireless buds that are a considerable amount more costly than these.
A quick word on that name. Melomania is really the name of a gig venue/event space incorporated into the basement of Cambridge Audio’s London offices. The etymology starts in Latin and Ancient Greek, and it alludes to “an abnormal love of music.” It’s a condition that the guys at Cambridge Audio reveal me everyone who works there suffers from.
Premium Feel, Clean Design
The plan of the Melomania 1 is commonly Cambridge Audio. Clean. Understated. Almost minimalist at times. The 5.8mm drivers in these are produced from graphene, making them lightweight (4.6g each) yet solid. There’s IPX5 certification to shield them from sweat and the occasional downpour. The buds themselves stand out somewhat more than, state, the Earin M-2 and they are about as massive as the Samsung Galaxy Buds.
The carry/charging case, in any case, feels very premium. The charging poles make contact with the earbuds directly through the tips themselves, so there are no monstrous metal associations on a show when the headphones are out of the case. The buds snap into their beds magnetically. It’s a solid association that feels reassuringly costly. The equivalent is valid for the lid. It’s got a specific snap to it that you just don’t get from other charging cases in this value range. Do you know how a luxury car door has that costly solid and feel to it when you shut it? That’s what the Melomania 1 charging case is like.
Each earbud highlights an interactive button at the end, molded to form the brand’s logo – itself a throwback to dials on a portion of its initial audio equipment – which is used for controls. A solitary push on the right earbud is your play and pause toggle. A double press on the right skips to the next track, and to the previous track on the left. A long press changes the volume up (right) and down. You can press either once to acknowledge an incoming phone call or use a long press to reject it. Accessing your smartphone’s digital voice assistant is done by pausing, at that point double tapping either side.
Bluetooth 5.0 technology gives wireless connectivity at up to 30 meters and improved battery efficiency. Inside the box you’ll get a selection of various sized silicone and memory foam tips and a short USB cable for charging.
Balanced Sound for Music Manics
The sound conveyed by the Melomania 1 is high quality and in accordance with the company’s vision for great British sound. The way of thinking here is music the way the artist intended it to be heard, with nothing included, and nothing taken away. Accordingly, the sound is very adjusted. There’s more emphasis on rich mids than blasting bass.
Cambridge Audio has worked intimately with Qualcomm to incorporate the American giant’s aptX technology. Qualcomm aptX is an advanced compression device that means you can beam higher quality sound by means of Bluetooth than you can with SPC or AAC. I tried the Melomania 1 my Google Pixel 3a using aptX and with an iPhone XS which just supports AAC. The Qualcomm tech does make a detectable distinction.
Call quality is helped by Qualcomm’s Clear Voice Capture (cVc) noise-canceling technology. It guarantees outside noise is effectively filtered through with the goal that you can hear the person on the opposite end of the phone easily. It works fine, in spite of the fact that I’m not a fan of making calls with Bluetooth headsets in general. There is no clamor dropping on these for music playback.
One thing I cannot pressure enough is the manner by which significant guaranteeing you have the right tips fitted for these headphones is to sound quality. I was frustrated with the sound the first time I popped them in my ears. I’d just remove them out of the box, paired them quickly and gone with the silicone tips that were delivered on the earbuds. Switching to the memory foam for a more tightly seal improved noise-cancellation but opened up the sound. The difference was tenfold. A snug fit is increasingly vital to the sound of the Melomania 1 than on any other pair of in-ear headphones I’ve attempted previously.
Cambridge Audio Melomania 1 technical specifications
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Final Verdict
For its first attack into genuine wireless headphones, Cambridge Audio has completed a great deal directly here. The Melomania 1 live up to the brand’s reputation for quality audio and contemporary design aesthetic. The absence of dynamic noise-canceling or a companion app for EQ controls should not be neglected, yet this is award-winning British audio engineering in a hurry, at a reasonable cost.
There’s no affirmation of any follow-up products, however, I wouldn’t be surprised if the team in London was at that point throwing ideas around for Melomania 2. If this is the beginning stage for Cambridge Audio’s entry into the truly wireless headphones market, I’m eager to perceive what it does next.