Cambridge Audio Melomania M100 review

When Cambridge Audio told me that it would be introducing the Melomania M100 as its first pair of noise-canceling wireless earbuds, I couldn't wait to get my hands on them. I am a big fan of the British audio specialist's approach and the way it majors on audiophile sound quality. Plus, we loved the company's Melomania 1 Plus wireless buds when they launched in March 2021, which despite the lack of noise canceling and transparency features ranked among the best wireless earbuds thanks to their stellar sound quality and strong battery life. 

The Melomania 1 Plus have been out of production for a while now, so you can imagine my excitement when the Melomania M100 noise-canceling wireless earbuds arrived on my desk. They look very different from the bullet-shaped design of their predecessor. But just like their forerunner, the all-new flagship model has been set at a price that undercuts the competition by some margin. 

The new wireless earbuds really do pack a lot in at the price. Read on to find out how the Cambridge Audio Melomania M100 wireless earbuds perform.

Cambridge Audio Melomania M100 review: Cheat sheet

• Flagship features and audiophile sound for less than rivals.
• 10mm driver and Class AB amplification derived from Cambridge Audio's CX Series Hi-Fi amplifiers.
• Bluetooth 5.3 with aptX Lossless and aptX Adaptive support.
• 10-hour battery life with ANC, and Qi wireless charging compatible. 
• Google Fast Pair, Microsoft Swift Pair, and manual pairing via a button on charging case.  

Cambridge Audio Melomania M100 review: Price and availability

• On sale now costing $219 / £169 
• Available in black — although a limited M100 Hikerdelic How High Edition is also available to U.K. buyers  

The Cambridge Audio Melomania M100 wireless earbuds are on sale priced at $219 / £169 (approx. AU$335 in Australia, although I understand that they're not on sale there just yet). They're available to buy at cambridgeaudio.com. Online retailers include Amazon, but at the time of writing, I haven't spotted the M100 listed on sale at other retailers. They're available in black only. 

If you live in the U.K. you may also be interested in the limited run M100 Hikerdelic How High Edition available at cambridgeaudio.com. This special colorway has identical specs and is priced the same as the standard M100. 

Although the price tag has increased compared to the Melomania 1 Plus ($139), the all-new M100 includes noise-canceling and lossless audio. The inclusion of these flagship features at the price makes them look like a bargain compared to rival models with a similarly solid range of features. 

For example, the Sony WF-1000XM5 — the best wireless earbuds overall — have an MSRP of $299 / £259 / AU$499. Find out how the Sony and Cambridge Audio flagships compare in our Sony WF-1000XM5 vs Cambridge Audio Melomania M100 face-off. While Apple's ubiquitous AirPods Pro 2 USB-C cost $249 / £229 / AU$399.    

With a price tag of $219 / £169, the Melomania M100 are great value and look like a sweet deal compared to most top-tier noise-canceling rivals. Only the recently introduced OnePlus Buds 3 Pro ($99 / £78 / AU$150) ANC flagship undercuts them.

Cambridge Audio Melomania M100 review: Design and fit

• Discreet design and comfortable design for long-term wear
• Supplied with three sizes of silicone tips and two sizes of memory foam tips 

The Melomania M100 wireless earbuds are a much smaller design than their bullet-shaped predecessor. Although there are no dimensions or weights specified at the time of writing, they're approximately the same size and weight as Sennheiser's Momentum True Wireless 4. The Cambridge Audio's have a more rounded design though, and feel a lot less bulky than the new Sennheiser flagship.    

Cambridge Audio Melomania M100 review: Features

• Supports aptX Lossless, aptX Adaptive and Bluetooth LE Audio
• Active noise-canceling with three levels

The Cambridge Audio Melomania M100 wireless earbuds are the company's first noise-canceling design, and as such they come with a considerable feature set. They're built on the Qualcomm Snapdragon Sound with support for Active ANC tech that works with Android and iOS devices. Bluetooth connectivity runs on version 5.4. 

For audiophile listeners there's aptX Lossless audio support along with aptX Adaptive Audio and Bluetooth LE Audio from compatible Android devices. Much like the similarly-specified Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 4, the M100 will be able to integrate with Auracast audio sharing via a future firmware update, and there's no LDAC support. Additionally, it's important to remember that iOS playback devices won't be able to take advantage of aptX or LE Audio codecs.

There's a new Melomania app. Once downloaded to my Sony Xperia 1 IV smartphone which I use exclusively for music playback, the new app updated the M100 firmware to version 2.0.37. The Melomania app has been given a refreshed look with a new icon and a smart layout using a white/black/orange colorway that's easy to read and navigate. 

The Equalizer has been updated to seven bands (it was five bands on the 1 Plus), along with custom sound profiles tuned to your preferences and six presets including Flat (default), Blues, Electronic, Natural, Rock, and Voice. While I've stuck with the Flat setting throughout my tests so far, there's plenty of flexibility for different kinds of content.

The M100 also supports Gaming Mode, which claims to reduce screen/sound sync issues to just 80ms.

Cambridge Audio Melomania M100 review: Controls

• Full suite of touch controls but commands can be flaky
• Wear detection unreliable

The Melomania M100 Plus wireless earbuds have touch controls, but I found my commands unreliable, at least to begin with. The responses to my finger taps felt slow and delayed, resulting in a level of uncertainty about whether a command had been registered or not. Sadly, there's no audible feedback during playback navigation to acknowledge skip back or skip forward, or that volume commands via hold and single/double-press gestures have been received. 

There are, however, voice commands assigned to noise-canceling, transparency, and game modes. Users can choose from multiple audible feedback languages including tones as well as voiceovers from the British actor and comedian Matt Berry.           

Wear detection is on board but it only worked for me when both earbuds were removed.  

Cambridge Audio Melomania M100 review: Sound quality

Throughout my listening tests, the Melomania M100 wireless earbuds have demonstrated their remarkable Hi-Fi pedigree. The M100s have a powerful yet well-balanced sound with deep, controlled bass, natural vocals, and impressive treble clarity. 

I've been connected to my Sony Xperia 1 IV smartphone via aptX Adaptive streaming tracks from my Tidal playlist. Although I'm constantly adding new content, I've heard many of the tracks hundreds of times, yet I've reveled in the way these Cambridge Audio buds make my music sound.

The custom 10mm drivers matched with Class AB amplification derived from audio specialist's CX Series Hi-Fi amplifiers sound like a triumph. The larger-sized drivers reap sonic dividends with deep bass that feels perfectly tuned and are some of the largest I've encountered in a pair of wireless earbuds.

Playing audiophile favorite tracks like "Tinseltown in the Rain" by The Blue Nile, I was enthralled by the amount of space around instruments and the expansive soundstage these buds create between my ears. The music dances between my ears in such a lively and engaging way, that during my testing I find myself listening to the end of the track rather than skipping to the next test track after a minute or so.

High frequencies sound nicely detailed without being too brash or edgy as can sometimes happen on lesser earbuds. Even recordings that have plenty of treble information in them manage to sound detailed and just the right side of refined without getting fatiguing.

From my very first listen, the M100s showcased their engaging sound signature and got right to the heart of my music. I love how Cambridge Audio has managed to bring its audiophile sound signature to these new wireless earbuds.

Cambridge Audio Melomania M100 review: Active Noise Canceling

These are Cambridge Audio's first set of noise-canceling wireless earbuds. There are three noise canceling levels: High, Medium, and Low, I like the graphic that displays on the app screen to show the relative level of noise canceling selected. In terms of noise-canceling performance while sitting at my desk, I'd say that it's good rather than great. Sounds from the radio blaring away in the background were certainly reduced, but high-frequency sounds managed to break through. I could also occasionally hear the low-frequency sound of machinery in the background from my neighbors working in their yard.

Transparency mode felt decent, but perhaps not quite as effective as the best transparency models out there.

Cambridge Audio Melomania M100 review: Battery life

The Cambridge Audio Melomania M100 earbuds hold more battery life than their predecessor and give one of the longest ANC playback times among elite models. They claim up to 10 hours of playback from just a single charge with ANC activated, or 16 hours with ANC switched off, which makes them more powerful than the Sony WF-1000XM5. Cambridge Audio says that users will get more than two full charges from the case. That seems reasonable, and after a week or so of use, the claim seems accurate. 

Fast charging means that just 10 minutes of charge time offers another 2 hours of ANC-enabled playback. The M100 charging case has a USB-C port at the back and has Qi wireless charging support. A short charging cable is supplied.

Cambridge Audio Melomania M100 review: Verdict

The Cambridge Audio Melomania M100 are among the best-sounding noise-canceling wireless earbuds I've encountered. Their stunning Hi-Fi sound signature and lossless audio support set the wireless earbuds standard for audiophiles at the price. They're a sweet deal that gives several of the best audiophile headphones a run for the money. 

More from Tom's Guide

• Cambridge Audio boosts its Hi-Fi series with most powerful music streamer yet
• Sony WF-1000XM5 vs Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 4 face-off, which flagship ANC buds are best?
• Tidal just rolled all of its premium hi-res streaming features into one affordable plan