Cambridge Audio Melomania 1
Mindblowing sound without the wires
If you’re after a pair of audiophile true wireless earbuds you can’t go wrong
£119.95 FROM Cambridge Audio, cambridgeaudio.com
FeatuRes Graphene 5.8mm drivers, Bluetooth 5.0, AAC and aptX, IPX5 water resistance, active noise cancelling, up to 45 hours battery life
Cambridge Audio is known for its hi-fi audio equipment, but until now, hasn’t ventured into the world of true wireless earbuds. Enter the Melomania 1s: with an outstanding 45 hours of battery life, they combine the brand’s award-winning engineering with the convenience of truly wireless listening.
The Melomania 1s look very sleek indeed, with a compact, bullet-like shape and slim charging case that fits easily into your pocket. The outer housing of each bud features an LED band that indicates charging and pairing status; a design that’s echoed in the accompanying charging case.
These earbuds are pretty long, which means they sometimes feel insecure. However they didn’t fall out once during testing, and a selection of rubber and memory foam eartips are included for a snug fit. Weighing 4.6g each, the earbuds are comfortable to wear, even for long periods. They’re also IPX5-rated for water resistance, so should be able to withstand a little sweat.
Pairing the Melomania 1s is easy; remove the buds from their charging case and ensure Bluetooth is enabled on your device. We didn’t experience any dropouts while using them – the connectivity is very good.
The outer housing of both the earbuds doubles up as control buttons. These buttons also allow
you to skip back and forth through tracks, answer and reject calls, and summon Siri. One downside of this is that whenever you need to push the earbuds in or adjust the fit, you run the risk of pausing your music or skipping a track by mistake. It’s a small niggle, but this can become annoying.
Battery life and sound
Battery life is outstanding; you get nine hours from the buds themselves, with a further 36 hours of juice contained within their charging case. That’s over double the playback time offered by Apple’s AirPods.
For a pair of true wireless earbuds, the sound quality is sensational. Clarity and presence are the keywords there, qualities the Melomania 1s deliver in spades. Listening to Debussy’s Arabesque No. 1 displayed a level of precision that we haven’t heard from wireless earbuds before. Complex descending piano arpeggios were conveyed with dexterity and nimbleness, while deep bass notes loomed warmly in the background.
To see how these earbuds handle bass frequencies, we tried Win Is Enough by The Last Artful, Dodgr. Deep synth accents bloom up from the depths of the mix, as cardioid kick drums thump below. They don’t overpower the other frequencies either, while the vocals remain clear and detailed.
If you’re after a pair of audiophile true wireless earbuds, you can’t go wrong with the Melomania 1s. They look great, feel great and sound fantastic. Olivia taMbini