Cambridge Audio Melomania 1 Plus
The newest model in Cambridge
Audio’s two-time What Hi-fi? Award-winning Melomania line-up promise the same look and feel of their decorated older sibling, the Melomania 1, but with additional app support, customisable EQ settings and the British audio firm’s innovative High-performance Audio Mode.
Aside from new finishes (gone is the ‘stone’ grey hue we lovingly dubbed ‘NHS Grey’), the upgrades are hard to spot to the naked eye – but then again beauty is usually in the detail. Number one with a bullet
The fresh white finish of the charging case (also available in black) is a solid upgrade on its predecessor. It feels cool, tactile, more pebble-like and the matt finish means no more fingerprint smudges.
The five-strong row of LEDS indicating battery life remains while the ‘L’ and ‘R’ on each earpiece are now written in electric blue. You now get a USB-C fast charging port, too. Although multiple ear tips were promised to ensure a secure fit, instead Cambridge has doubled up on its standard small, medium and large offerings, so you now get two sets of each rather than one. There are also two sets of medium and large ‘memory foam’ options, but curiously no small option, and these are only available in black.
The bullet-shaped buds are practically identical in build to the Melomania 1 – each weighs the same 4.6g, boasts IPX5 certification against rain and sweat, houses a 5.8mm graphene-enhanced driver and has Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity with aptx and AAC codec support.
Battery-wise, the 1 Plus boast up to nine hours on a single charge plus four extra charges from the case, which adds up to an impressive 45 hours of total playtime in Low Power mode (seven hours or 35 hours in the default High-performance mode).
Pairing is easy using the handy quick start guide, and during our tests, the connection between both units and our device remains secure and snag-free.
Possibly the biggest upgrade here is support for the free Melomania app, which is now considerably more stable than it was. With it comes the ability to customise the EQ settings or pick from six presets, check the battery level of each earbud, locate misplaced earbuds on a map, and receive firmware updates.
Touch controls here involve pressing the circular button on each bud and we find these intuitive and useful. Holding down the right increases volume, while holding down the left lowers it – simple and effective. A single press of either earpiece starts or pauses playback, two skips forward a track (right earbud) or goes back a song (left earbud), and three presses of the right bud calls up Siri or Google Assistant. These controls are so reliable that we rarely dig out our smartphone when testing them in transit. That should be a given, but it hasn’t always been our experience when testing competing buds at this price.
Cambridge has advised wearers to position the earpieces so the recessed circle within the circular top surface of the driver housing is at its lowest point, so that the microphone in each bud can perform to its fullest. We do so and are able to enjoy clear voice calls. A step up in refinement
Switching back to High-performance Audio and with all EQ levels unaltered, we’re treated to an impactful and expansive presentation of Kate Bush’s
And Dream Of Sheep (a Tidal Masters file). The keys feel three-dimensional in our left ear as Bush’s vocal soars through the frequencies centrally, backed by samples of seagulls, pared-back guitar picking, wind instruments and spoken word. When the brooding storm builds, the Melomania 1 Plus deliver it dutifully and with remarkable clarity for this level. This is a small but definite improvement on their older sibling for layering and detail.
The slinking bass, Wurlitzer and sax at the outset of Beck’s Debra are organised with precision and given an extra few yards of space in the mix. The low-level, call-to-action vocal before the verse is often lost in muddier bass registers of lesser headphones, but not here. Beck’s voice is emotive and held masterfully in check even as the intensity builds. Through the mids and treble, we’re aware of the step-up in terms of clarity and refinement over the original Melos.
There are marginal gains to be had over the originals in terms of the dynamic build too. The leading edges of notes are marginally cleaner in the updated set of in-ears, as demonstrated by the initial synth strings in Dr Dre’s Forget About Dre.
In direct comparison with the five-star Panasonic RZ-S500W, the original Melos suffered marginally for detail. That balance is now redressed. Whether you prefer the Panasonics will likely come down to those headphones’ noisecancelling or teardrop design, but for an engaging, detailed, expansive listen, the Melomania 1 Plus are very much in the running for best at this level.