Cambridge Audio Melomania Touch Review

September 7, 2021 5:40 pm

The true wireless market expands greatly when exposed to new and exciting brands boasting impressive technology. I’ve known of Cambridge Audio for some time, and have even tried out their DACMagic 200M which I found to be one of the best of its like. It was at that point where Cambridge Audio gained my attention as a manufacturer. I never thought the next product I’d get to try from them would be a true wireless earphone. They actually have a few different Bluetooth earbuds, but the one I’ve gotten my hands on is the Melomania Touch. They’ll set you back $119.95, which makes it a more mid-tier option compared to what is considered high-end for a wireless earphone. Can the Melomania Touch compete?

What You Get

2 x Earbuds
1 x Case
1 x USB-A to USB-C charging cable
4 x Small Silicone tips
4 x Medium Silicone tips (2 pre-fitted)
4 x Large Silicone tips
2 x Small Silicone selectable fins
2 x Medium Silicone selectable fins (pre-fitted)
2 x Large Silicone selectable fins

Look and Feel

I wanted to start with the charging case here because it’s pretty unique compared to most models currently available. The case is rather small and sports a pill-shaped body that is sure to fit easily in your pocket. The part that really makes an impression is its leather material giving it a high-class look. As for the earphones themselves, the housing is a bit larger than I expected, and combined with its wing in it can be a fairly bulky true wireless. Thankfully, the shape of the earbuds is very ergonomic, ensuring a cozy and stable fit. They provide a good amount of support, but I wouldn’t consider these workout buds even if they are secure enough to be able to withstand a good amount of activity.

Design and Functionality

There’s a 7mm driver inside of the Melomania’s housing. It’s completed by a graphene diaphragm which supplies more strength to the signal with greater potential for detail. I was happy that the Melomania touch provided an ample amount of volume that gave me plenty of headroom to make adjustments. There’s no dedicated noise-canceling feature, but the earbuds contain enough natural isolation to sound satisfying. With the addition of an optional transparency mode, you have a more effective system without having to cycle through too many features.

This brings me to the touch controls, which are very responsive, but almost too sensitive. More times than a few, the buds would operate when I didn’t want them to, activating in response to the slightest movement. The biggest standout of the Melomania Touch is the companion app you can download for your smartphone. Here you can see which CODEC you’re currently streaming in, check battery life, and a fully adjustable transparency mode. You also get a parametric EQ with a couple of presets to sort through. Lastly, you can sort through available audio CODECS to stream through, which you normally don’t see from these apps. It’s easy to see why this is their most advertised feature.

Bluetooth

The Melomania Touch supports Bluetooth 5.0 which should give you a good amount of range and bandwidth. SBC, AAC, and aptX CODECS are supported but I could only have SBC and AAC available to me, which again you can cycle through in the Melomania app.

Battery Life

One of the Melomania’s biggest attributes is definitely its battery life. You should be able to get 9 hours of playtime off of a single charge, with 50 hours of total life when including the case. This is a substantial battery life when compared to most true wireless systems on the market in any price range. I was able to get multiple days worth of listening time with the Melomania touch before I ever had to plug them in.

Soundstage

I didn’t find anything outside of what I’m used to hearing in true wireless soundstages with the Melomania touch. The headspace is almost entirely inward, limiting the imaging without detrimentally creating a mono-like response. There’s some good width here though, with certain elements properly bouncing around the mix, however, the most prominent sounds will tend to stick to a center space. Spatial imaging is still somewhat intact, but it’s all very linear, with surface-level imaging. You won’t get much height or depth out of the Melomania Touch, but the sound at least doesn’t appear constricted.

Low End

With the bass, you get a nice meaty response, full of punchy tones and rumbling textures. There’s definitely a boost in gain that supplies the timbre with richness and impact. Even if it’s still too little for you, the EQ provided by the Melomania app can give you an even bigger boost of low-end goodness. Sub-bass presence can be felt adding a greater lift to the mix, and sparking a much more significant engagement in mixes.

Mids

Midrange frequencies didn’t hold as much power as the bass, as some recessed bands weaken the response somewhat. It’s not completely v-shaped, but it’s clear that the lower and upper mids receive the most emphasis. That flat midrange just doesn’t get the proper drive though, and it creates a timbre that lacks clarity in certain areas. The low mids have a tendency to cloud these areas in unwanted resonance when it comes to acoustic tracks and even catchy punk tunes. Electric guitars miss that crunch that makes the mix gripping. However, vocals do come out very clear still, cutting through the less effective parts of the midrange with ease.

Highs

There are certain blooms of treble detail here and there, but the response is mostly smoothed out. Even trying to boost some of the highs in the app doesn’t give me the effect I usually want out of my treble. There are spurts of good detail and some shimmery texture, but it’s not enough to bring out the timbre more significantly. With that being said, the highs here will be easy to take in for most listeners, as the tonality is quite friendly to harsher, more sibilant frequencies.

Summary

I was impressed with a great number of features on the Melomania Touch, but it’s not without its flaws. The battery life, app support, and bass response all provided what most would need from a good true wireless, but outside of that, a few problems keep it from being a safe bet. Cambridge Audio still shows some impressive craftsmanship, and with some refinements, the Melomania Touch has a chance to make a real impression with future firmware updates.