Cambridge Audio’s New Melomania M100 Earbuds Sound Superb

Classic British music and audio brand Cambridge Audio recently updated its award-winning Melomania earbuds. The new Melomania M100 adds support for Lossless Audio over Bluetooth as well as Active Noise Cancellation for cutting out unwanted sounds like road noise or aircraft engines.

The new Melomania M100 are an evolution of the company’s award-winning Melomania 1+. The earbuds incorporate new premium drivers and Class AB amplification for an audiophile sound.

One of the main improvements with the Melomania M100 is their extended battery life which can play for up to 10 hours on a single charge with the ANC function turned on. With noise canceling turned off, that figure climbs to an incredible 16 hours, providing enough play time for a long-haul flight.

The Melomania M100 are equipped with custom 10mm driver units with neodymium magnets. The drivers are fed by Class AB amplification, the same technology used in Cambridge Audio’s CX Series of hi-fi amplifiers. Class AB amplification provides deep and controlled bass, realistic vocals and focused treble for a convincing soundstage.

Cambridge Audio has opted to use Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Sound platform which supports the aptX Lossless codec when used in conjunction with compatible Android smartphones. This technology enables wireless playback in CD quality with no lossy compression. Qualcomm’s aptX Lossless adjusts quality on the fly, always trying to get as high a resolution as possible. The quality matches the same kind of sound you would hear when listening to a CD, so it’s pretty good and a big step up on the basic Bluetooth audio standard.

Thanks to hybrid active noise cancelation. The Melomania M100 can effectively block out lots of unwanted sounds. Using Feed-Back and Feed-Forward canceling technology, the M100 sample sound with external microphones for checking the ambient noise levels.

There are also microphones inside each earpiece that take a second sweep at filtering out any unwanted external sounds reaching the ear canal. This double-dipping technique is highly effective and cuts unwanted external sounds like road noise from tires or the roar of a jet engine.

Out of the box, M100 earphones are tuned to deliver Cambridge Audio’s signature sound, but there are plenty of other options for fine-tuning the sound to suit the listener’s preferences. The all-new Melomania Connect smartphone app enables the listener to personalize the sound with a seven-band EQ. Cambridge Audio also provides six EQ presets set up for different musical genres.

As mentioned, the M100 offers a very respectable 10 hours of playback time from a single charge with the ANC function turned on. If you turn off the ANC, you will be rewarded with up to 16 hours. There are two full charges in the M100’s carrying case, taking the total possible playtime to around 52 hours. Fast charging means a 10-minute burst charge can deliver two hours of ANC-enabled playback.

Now few people are likely to listen to a pair of earbuds for 16 hours straight. However, longer battery life also offers another big advantage. It means you need to charge the earbuds less often and that increases the lifespan of the batteries significantly because you don’t need to subject them to so many charging cycles.

For maximum comfort and fit, Cambridge Audio designed the M100 using measurements from thousands of ears. The company says this has resulted in an earbud that is well-balanced and light enough for the listener to barely notice they are wearing them. That’s a claim I can confirm having tried them. They fit well but not so tight that you feel pressure inside the ear canal. To get a good fit, Cambridge Audio supplies silicone ear tips in three sizes, plus there are two sizes of memory foam tips that offer maximum comfort and a very effective acoustic seal.

Thanks to both Google Fast Pair and Microsoft Swift Pair, connecting M100 to an Android phone, tablet or Windows PC in seconds. The earphones broadcast their availability and the Android or Microsoft devices can prompt pairing; with a single click, the connection is made. A physical button on the charging case can also put the earphones into Bluetooth pairing mode.

Each earphone has touch controls which can be fully customized using the Melomania Connect app. The M100 also has a low-latency Gaming Mode to ensure what appears on the screen syncs with the sound sync. This feature is ideal for gaming or watching movies thanks to a latency of 80ms.

The M100 uses the latest Bluetooth 5.3 standard including LE Audio which is a technology that offers compatibility with features like AuraCast Broadcast Audio and the high-quality, low-power, LC3 audio codec. The M100 drivers are made using recycled Neodymium magnets and 50% recycled plastic. The M100 is also shipped in plastic-free packaging.

So how do they sound? In a word: magnificent. There is an airy and spacious quality to the soundstage produced by the Melomania 100. These are earbuds that produce a detailed sound but without taxing your ears. In earbuds with a lot of distortion or badly processed sound, your brain must work overtime to descramble the music. That’s why some earbuds are hard to listen to for more than 20 minutes. Not so the M100.

To test the new Melomanias, I fired up Tidal and listened to the new album from Brazilian artist Eliane Elias. The album Quietude is the new release from Elias and its laidback bossa nova vibe was lapped up by the M100. There’s an awesome bass that’s tight and warm, but never flabby and overblown. The midrange does perfect justice to the vocals by projecting them forward in the mix and adding clarity. Finally, the treble adds zing and focus to the soundstage, making it possible to pick out individual instruments.

Verdict: The new Cambridge Melomania M100 are superb. Everything from the battery life to the excellent custom drivers conspire to serve consummate sound. The compatibility with Bluetooth LE is welcome, as is support for Qualcomm’s Snapdragon sound platform which gives wired headphone quality without the wires. If you’re looking for a good value pair of audiophile ANC earbuds for a sensible price, the Cambridge Audio Melomania M100 are hard to beat.

Pricing & Availability: Cambridge Audio Melomania M100 is available now from cambridgeaudio.com and Amazon, priced at $219 / £169 / €199.

More info: cambridgeaudio.com

Tech Specs:

• Drivers: 10mm dynamic drivers with neodymium magnets.
• Amplification: Class AB.
• Audio codecs: SBC, AAC, aptX Adaptive Lossless up to 24-bit/96kHZ
• Battery life: 10 hours (16 hours with ANC off) additional 23 hours from the charging case (36 with ANC off) for a possible maximum of 52 hours of playback.
• Adaptive Active Noise Cancellation: Hybrid with Transparency Mode.
• EQ: 7-band EQ adjustment, plus 6 EQ presets.
• Bluetooth: Version 5.3 LE Audio.
• Charging: USB-C or Qi wireless.
• Fast charging: 10 mins of Fast Charge gives 2 hours of playback with ANC on, and 4 hours ANC off.
• Charging time: Approx. 120mins (0% to 100%)
• Gaming Mode: 80ms.
• Google Fast Pair & Microsoft Swift Pair: Yes.
• Water-resistance rating: IPX4.
• Ear tips: 3x silicone and 2x memory foam.
• Controls: Touch (fully customizable).
• Voice prompts: In 8 languages and with a surprise in store.