Cambridge Audio Melomania 1

Cambridge Audio’s focus has long been on sonic delivery over appearance, so ‘functional’ is the best that can be said about the Melomania 1s’ aesthetic. The little in-ears snap reassuringly into their charging case, which features a set of five lights to indicate the battery charge level and is the ideal size to fit into your pocket.

With nine hours’ battery life from the buds, plus four additional charges from the case, you have an impressive 45 hours of continuous use.

Cambridge Audio has taken great pains to emphasise its focus upon a quality sound experience. We stream Lewis Capaldi’s Grace at CD quality on Qobuz, and there is a remarkable breadth of sound for a set of wireless earbuds.

Capaldi’s vocal is detailed, but there’s a playful ease to the dynamics. We hear his intake of breath and the break in his voice as he belts out the chorus, without losing the spaces between the chords on the piano, the strum of the guitar or the crash of drums in the mix.

We stream Rod Stewart’s This and the subtle backing vocals, imperceptible through many wireless earbuds at this price, come through. The Melomania 1s offer insight to the point that we can hear when Stewart falters slightly. Slight deviances in pitch, where Rod is straining his voice to reach high notes, are also there.

The Melomania 1s aren’t noise cancellers, so they cannot compete with the isolation offered by Sony’s WF-1000XS, for example. There’s also no dedicated app, and while this makes everything refreshingly simple when pairing, there is no scope for EQ alteration.

Cambridge Audio has made good on its promise to deliver a quality sound experience and these Melomania 1 buds are certainly hard to beat at their price. These budget-conscious in-ears offer a cohesive, expansive and rhythmically driven sound, but also an intuitive, spacious sonic presentation that few wireless earbuds can achieve for this money.