User Experience

Seen above is the Cambridge Audio Melomania 1+ (right ear bud) installed on an artificial ear mold that is similar enough to my own average-sized ears. It goes without saying, but if going by those typical TWS earphones available today, these have the most Frankenstein's Monster aesthetic you can get. A good seal is key in making the most of the listening experience, and you have to thus push the ear buds in deep enough to accommodate it. It will not be uncomfortable by any means with average ears, nothing like the IEMs from Etymotic if that is where your mind went. Note also the orientation of the ear buds with the marking at the bottom to have the microphone facing your mouth, at least as best as possible with this form factor. A good seal will feel secure and provides a decent amount of passive isolation, with the vents aiding in pressure equilibration, too. The IPX5 rating also helps for outdoor and athletic use.

Battery life is a key metric for TWS earbuds, and these promise up to nine hours of use when fully charged, which typically tends to be the best-case scenario with low volume in low performance mode and AAC/SBC codecs. I hit 8–9 hours regularly at ~70% volume on my phone with aptX and low performance mode, and it went down to ~6 hours in high performance mode. The included charging case provides for another 30+ hours minimum across charge cycles in high performance mode with aptX and high volume, which then increases to 45 hours in the best-case scenario. This means you can get away with a fully charged case and ear buds for a vacation without worry of charging it. Quick charging of the case would have been nice, but an overnight charge will ultimately provide for far more battery life than most of the competition today.

Audio Performance

Audio Hardware and Microphones

As is the case with most TWS earphones, Cambridge Audio uses a single dynamic driver per ear bud. Marketing claims the use of a graphene-enhanced diaphragm, with carbon nanotubes and graphene being the new hype for diaphragms. In practice, the graphene used is just a coating over a more typical diaphragm material. The average end user probably does not care about these semantics, and the company at least uses "enhanced" in the terminology to indicate as much. The diaphragm is 5.8 mm in size, which makes for a ~6 mm dynamic driver setup powering the audio experience, paired with the British brand's specific tuning we will test shortly below. As is the case with all TWS earphones, driving the Melomania 1+ takes nothing special—a halfway decent phone with Bluetooth 5.0 will suffice. Sensitivity is about average too, so you don't need to turn the volume up completely, either. The absence of any aptX Low Latency/HD or LDAC codecs does hurt, and aptX also suffers from slight latency.


The Melomania 1+ earphones use the Qualcomm QCC3026 SoC, which in Qualcomm's own words is an entry-level SoC relative to the QCC304x chipsets we've seen before. It is based on an architecture with extremely low power consumption intended for TWS stereo earphones. The chipset utilizes triple-core processing delivered by two dedicated 32-bit application processor subsystems and a single Qualcomm Kalimba DSP audio subsystem. We get older gen cVc echo cancellation and noise suppressing for the integrated microphones, which works well enough for video calls and the like—I did not experience any hissing, either. The chipset also allows for the onboard controls to be used, including pulling up the smart assistant on your platform in addition to the expected volume control and media playback.

Frequency Measurement and Listening

I will mention that I have a general preference for a warm neutral signature emphasizing a slightly elevated bass and smooth treble range with detailed mids and good tonal separation. I also generally prefer instrumental music over vocals, with favored genres including jazz and classical music.


Our current testing methodology begins with a calibrated IEC711 audio coupler/artificial ear that ear buds can feed into to where you have decent isolation. The audio coupler feeds into a USB sound card, which in turn goes to a laptop that has ARTA and REW running and these TWS earphones connected to the laptop through Bluetooth 5.0 (aptX). I begin with an impulse measurement to test for signal fidelity, calibrate the sound card and channel output, account for floor noise, and finally test the frequency response of each channel separately. Octave smoothing is at the 1/6th setting, which nets a good balance of detail and noise not being identified as useful data. Also, the default tuning was used for testing, and no app-based settings were chosen unless specifically mentioned. Each sample of interest is tested thrice with separate mounts to account for any fit issues, and an average is taken of the three individual measurements for statistical accuracy. I am avoiding the use of the ear mold for TWS solutions because the base of the mold can potentially impact the connection for Bluetooth 5.0 devices. The raw data is then exported from REW and plotted in OriginPro for an easier comparison. As mentioned before, be aware that all testing henceforth was done with the Melomania 1+ on firmware 8.0.2, as firmware updates can be used to change the tuning and frequency response for TWS earphones.


The IEC711 is such that you can't really compare these results with most other test setups, just within our own library of measurements. The raw dB numbers are also quite contingent on the set volume, gain levels, and sensitivity of the system. What is more useful information is how the left and right channels work across the rated frequency response in the Cambridge Audio Melomania 1+, or at least the useful part of it. The left earbud was separately tested from the right one, and colored differently for contrast. I did my best to ensure an identical fit for both inside the IEC711 orifice, so note how the two channels start off quite consistent in the sub-bass and mid-bass and then deviate in the lower mids, come back together at 1 kHz, weirdly enough, and then deviate further in the higher frequencies. In particular, the in-ear resonance compensation peak at ~2.5-3 kHz measured and felt different, which wasn't great. There is certainly a fit factor here, but multiple fits all had the same offset, and I can't tell if it was driver flex, either. I will also mention that there was no discernible break-in period or effect, so reproducibility and consistency is good overall since the average response for each channel is basically the same across the three repeated tests. Keep in mind that with TWS earphones, the fit is quite important, as is the connectivity and signal strength from the source.

The tests were done in high performance mode, but I did listen to the Melomania 1+ in both modes to be sure. There is certainly a positive effect in high performance mode, especially at higher volumes where the perceived Bluetooth hiss is far lower and the SNR is improved even in the highs. The company also claims a greater soundstage and higher dynamic range, but I can't attest to any of these since the tuning is a big equalizer over all of this. I was looking forward to figuring out what the award-winning British sound was going to be, but it looks to be more of a safe play with the Melomania 1+ as it goes with a dominant V-shaped sound signature for the lows and mids. I can't blame Cambridge Audio for doing as much since the average consumer tends to prefer an elevated bass and warm vocals, all signs of a characteristically bright listening experience.

What I did do, however, was go in with some expectations set by all the marketing talk on the website only to see and hear something clearly not that different from the usual TWS earphones. The sub-bass is quite energetic and does a good job of bringing out the best of EDM tracks and house music. You don't have much detail to worry about there anyway, which certainly helps. The consistent dip going forward is what I have my own issues with, especially since the drivers are efficient enough with clearly high-enough sensitivity and the high performance mode amplification to where I just wanted more from even the deliberate tuning here. I did end up using the EQ option to set up a more Harman-target tuning that helped meet my specific needs. That having been said, I did not go as far as a more neutral sound signature, which is not what you are buying these for anyway. This is also where I was missing the more granular EQ settings I wanted, but there clearly is enough headroom to where even +/-5 dB in the lows had no perceived effect on the sound quality.

The mids are barely recessed in range and depth, with a brightness in the lower mids many will no doubt appreciate while others will not, making this TWS more polarizing for audiophiles and generally well-suited for the average consumer, based on marketing results thus far. I saw some mention that there is no bass bleed into the mids, but have to disagree. There is a longer decay around 100–500 Hz, which percolates into the upper mids and is where I was driven to EQ out a more recessed upper mids. Once again, the leeway in the drivers allowed for tuning to my specific needs, but I am not convinced by the default profile, either. Imaging isn't very good, even for TWS earphones. Soundstage does seem wider in high performance mode, but there is a haze over instruments that is not present in low performance mode, where it also aids with imaging. It's almost as though the same data source is stretched to fill a larger room, resulting in some ambiguity on where the music is coming from.

The best feature with the Melomania, at least to me, is the treble region. This is now the second set of TWS earphones in a row that has impressed with the treble timbre and transient response, and the Melomania 1+ is the best one thus far in that regard. There is minimal fatigue here owing to well-placed, quickly transitioning dips to where you don't feel much darkness, and I personally would raise the dip at 5 kHz up slightly. String instruments and high-pitched vocals, think Opera music, get air to breathe, leaving impact that I have not felt with TWS earphones. Piano keys also resonate nicely, with cymbals and triangles possibly needing some help again.

The driver size itself isn't much to compare since most TWS earphones go with a single ~5–6 mm dynamic driver setup. I did appreciate the headroom available to make good use of the EQ, which also helps the Melomania 1+ be more competitive. As it comes out of the box, I don't think it is the best-sounding set generally from even a technical point of view. Be it the tuning or chipset used, I thought the ATH-CKS5TW did it better for about the same price. Depending on how much the EVA2020xfinal costs, it may well offer more for those preferring this tuning style. The Shanling MTW300 is tuned very differently, so it's hard to really compare the two. However, the Melomania 1+ does better than many other TWS earphones I have tested, including the ATH-ANC300TW, Monoprice Monolith M-TWE, and Creative Outlier Gold.