Cambridge Audio Melomania M100

Verdict

A confident and mostly successful mid-range true wireless, with a rich, energetic sound; effective ANC, comfortable design, and good call quality too. An ambitious and fun pair of wireless earbuds.

Introduction

Cambridge Audio’s previous forays into the true wireless have varied from the very good to slightly disappointing, so where on that scale are the Melomania M100 likely to end up?

The specs show the Melomania M100 is Cambridge’s most advanced and ambitious effort, adding Active Noise-Cancellation, Snapdragon Sound Bluetooth support, and Class AB amplification found in its CX series amplifiers to boost the sound.

If this was a tick-list the Melomania M100 would hit virtually everything on the list that is expected from a premium true wireless, let alone one in the mid-range.

It’s up against some strong competition from the likes of Beats, Jabra, Technics and plenty more; but the M100 shows Cambridge Audio has no interest in shirking from a fight.

Design

• Touch controls
• White and black versions
• IPX4 rating

First things first, the touch controls work! The Melomania Touch had significant issues (ironically) with its controls. The M100 features that actually recognise inputs and don’t raise the volume by themselves as if a ghost has taken control.

The earphones come in a choice of black or white (or black/yellow if you get the limited edition How High version).

Build quality is good, the earphones don’t look or feel noticeably cheap, and the fit is comfortable with three silicon ear-tips (small to large) and two memory foam ear-tips (small and large) to find the best fit.

The charging case is slim and petite, quite easily stored in a pocket, and the earphones lock in with a magnetic snap. The only issue I‘ve had is remembering how to place the earphones back in the case – there’s always a slight pause before I remember that’s not the way.

An IPX4 rating makes the Melomania M100 splashproof against water and resistant to sweat, and that’s pretty much all you need to know about its design.

Features

• Adaptive ANC
• Snapdragon Sound support
• 10 hours per charge

A mid-range true wireless often requires finding a balance between performance and value, especially when cheaper options pack all types of advanced features like adaptive ANC and Snapdragon Sound.

Nevertheless, the Melomania M100’s feature list is comprehensive. There’s the adaptive Hybrid ANC and Snapdragon Sound support (both courtesy of Qualcomm), Class AB audio amplification, app support and voice control.

The noise-cancellation is very effective, confidently thinning out external sounds, combatting the noise of the London Underground well (though it inevitably struggles with the loudest parts of the Victoria Line), and reducing the voices around me to a whisper.

Used on a plane, the M100 assuredly removes cabin and engine noise, and dealing with wind noise doesn’t particularly trouble the buds either. In terms of quietude, the Melomania M100 provides plenty of calm.

There is a caveat about the adaptive part of the noise-cancellation. Strong though the M100’s ANC is, the strength of its performance has a tendency to go in and out for no particular reason.

I was standing in a queue in Leicester Square with a street musician nearby and the noise around me was pretty constant. And yet there were times when I couldn’t hear the musician and other times when he just popped into my hearing space – and it’s not as if he was moving about either.

It’s a similar case with the transparency mode, the strength of which goes in and out on its accord despite it not getting any louder or quieter. I can only assume the ‘adaptive’ part is being a little too adaptive. When the ANC works it’s very good but now and then the bubble of isolation lets in unexpected noise.

The transparency mode is good enough to have a conversation with someone and hear them clearly, with settings in the app to choose the strength from High, Low, and Voice Focus. The overall performance offers good clarity and awareness of surroundings, rightly ramping up and down the effect when the earphones sense blustery conditions. I’m less convinced by the differences between each type of mode, which sound the same regardless of which one I pick.

Battery life is up to 10 hours with ANC activated (16 without) and a significant 33 hours from the case (52 without ANC). A battery drain for an hour with volume at 50% drew an 11% drop, which suggests battery life is on the money. The case supports Qi wireless charging and a quick charge provides two hours from a 10 minute top up.

A Bluetooth 5.3 connection with SBC, AAC, aptX Adaptive and aptX Lossless suggests good things as far as the wireless performance is concerned. The aptX Lossless variant is reserved for the Snapdragon Sound platform, and technically is capable of lossless transmission of audio over Bluetooth… if you have a phone that supports it.

I don’t, so I’ll focus on the aptX Adaptive variant, and the performance is reasonably strong. There were no issues in Leicester Square, and no problems walking through Victoria train station – but the Melomania M100 did struggle at Waterloo station. It’s patchy at best walking through the concourse, with some long pauses before audio finally resumed.

Call quality is pretty good, and though my voice sounded faint at times, the person on the other end didn’t notice the noise of people chatting away around or the wind blowing into my face. True wireless aren’t great with calls but the Melomania M100 is one of the better ones.

There’s a new app to support the Melomania M100, and the Connect app holds one of the best secrets. Head to the Audible Feedback setting, choose the ‘Southwark’ option and you’ll be granted access to the Toast of London’s luxurious voice in Matt Berry. You’ll constantly be pressing the controls just to hear him say ‘noise-cancelling’ in his distinct tones.

The app itself is well presented and appointed with features, from audio presets to devising your own custom EQ, enabling Mono mode (if you want to use one bud) or Game mode (which reduces latency to less than 80ms). You can customise which touch controls are activated, as well as enable auto-play (which works only when you take both buds out). It’s clear and easy to use with explanations, making for an easily accessible app.

Sound Quality

• Energetic sound quality
• Not the most deft treble performance
• Big and rich bass

Cambridge Audio’s previous true wireless earphones are all very good for audio quality, and the Melomania M100 puts forward a wide, expansive soundstage, delivering music with plenty of zest and energy.

The sound is warmer than I remember either from the Melomania 1+ or Touch being, and it’s an approach envelops every track I listen to, with a smoothness that gives the midrange a richness but arguably blunts the high frequencies when listening to GoGo Penguin’s Raven.

The audio isn’t lacking for clarity as far as treble is concerned but there’s not as much variation to the piano notes that I can recognise. If there’s a flaw – if you want to call it that – is that it doesn’t quite present as much insight and definition as some other true wireless can summon.

Despite the flat EQ option used for the majority of testing, these aren’t neutral-sounding headphones with the M100 putting emphasis on bass that gives its performance weight and power.

Take Easy Life’s skeletons (Qobuz), the M100 betters the Beats Studio Buds+ for scale and power, though I’d say the Beats are clearer, their approach flatter. They lack the excitement and weightiness of the Melomania M100, but they offer more insight.

In terms of dynamism the Melomania M100 are a steady listen, which is not to say that there aren’t any dynamic shifts, just that these earphones don’t leap from quiet to loud and vice versa in a single bound. Loud and fairly louder are more in line with the M100’s repertoire than loud and quiet.

Though they lack a little nuance, the Melomania M100 are never not exciting. A big, bold, energetic sound that will make a melomaniac out of you.

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