We were pleased when Cambridge Audio – a brand better known for its work in the hi-fi-centric field of amplifiers, DACs and network streamers –decided a few years ago to transpose some of that expertise into the hyper-competitive world of wireless earbuds. In a market dominated by Apple, Sony, JBL and a few other major players, it's never easy to find your niche, but in general, we found ourselves impressed with the latest mid-priced Melomania M100's balanced, clean sound and ample feature set.
Now, Cambridge Audio has turned its attention to over-ear headphones for the first time, and it has quite a daunting task to make its mark alongside the established heavyweight rivals from Sony, Bose, Sennheiser and the like. We spent some time with the new Cambridge Audio Melomania P100 headphones at a preview launch event to see whether the British brand's transition into the highly competitive world of premium wireless headphones could end up becoming more than just a flash in the pan.
Price
Price is where the P100 could really find their audience. At their £229 / $279 / €279 level, the new Melomania over-ears undercut the £380 / $399 / AU$550 benchmark set by the Sony WH-1000XM5. Yes, the Sony XM5 have dropped in price a fair bit recently (under £300 even!), but for a pair of brand-new headphones, it's hard to ignore the appeal of the P100s' competitive pricing.
For further context, the Cambridge Audio cans are also significantly cheaper than the original asking price of the five-star Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless over-ears (tested at £300 / $350 / AU$550), not to mention the rather lovely Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S2e (tested at £379 / $399 / AU$599).
Build and design
Cambridge Audio hi-fi products can usually be pretty well summarised by the use of the three S's: "sleek, subtle and stylish", a legacy that's transposed over to the company's latest foray into the headphones market. Just as the Melomania M100 earbuds benefitted from a restrained, understated look, so do the P100 over-ears inherit the same minimalist aesthetic that makes Cambridge Audio products easy on the eye. If, of course, you like that sort of look.
Bending and flexing the cans in-hand speaks of a product well made, and it's hard to envision any weak points in the construction – from the headband to the earcup hinges – that would serve to undermine the headphones' overall integrity. Every element seems well made and properly considered, and while we're always careful with test samples, running a fingernail over the cups' exterior leaves no permanent scratch, mark or impression.
They're comfy, too, or at least they were for the short amount of wearing time we enjoyed during the demo. The P100s' earcup pads are designed using carefully selected memory foam adorned in faux leather (good for vegans, of course), while Cambridge Audio claims that "enormous amounts of time and testing" went into selecting the ideal clamping force to suit the greatest variety of head sizes. We can only speak from personal experience when we say that we didn't experience any excess pressure or niggles across our half an hour of wearing – a good sign, if not a foolproof endorsement.
Features
If you care about battery life, it's great news. The Melomania P100 offer up to 60 hours of music playback from a single charge with noise cancelling switched on, or a quite astounding 100 hours of life if you're frugal and turn the ANC off. Naturally, we didn't quite have the time to test those impressive credentials, but the idea of a pair of cans that can last for most of the week without running out of juice certainly has its appeal.
If and when the P100's battery eventually does run out, the headphones' fast charging facility means that you'll get another two hours (with ANC) or four hours (without) of playback from just five minutes of juicing. Those are impressive numbers, and it's always handy to have a pair of cans that you can plug in for a few minutes in order to get significantly more playtime if you're a frequent commuter or traveller.
Away from battery stats, a crowded music venue full of rowdy tech journalists and PRs (rowdy being a relative term) was the ideal setting for testing the P100s' active noise-cancelling capabilities. We were impressed with how the Cambridge Audio headphones dealt with the clamour in the moment, dampening the clink of glasses, stamping of feet and the general rumble of conversation and letting us enjoy our test tunes in relative sonic isolation. Like the Melomania M100 earbuds, the P100 offer two modes – full ANC and Transparency – though we'd like time with the levels in the dedicated Melomania app in different environments to put both modes through their paces.
Further handy features round out the P100s' CV nicely. Bluetooth multipoint for simultaneous dual source connectivity is always handy, and a dedicated Gaming Mode – which can drop latency rates to just 80ms when connected to a source wirelessly – will appeal to gamers who want to go wire-free. We're also pleased to see a choice of wired listening options catered for courtesy of USB-C to 3.5mm and USB-C to USB-C cables provided, but once again, this will require some in-depth listening to assess the degree to which wired listening varies from the standard Bluetooth experience.
Sound
Sonically, the Melomania P100 are going to have to do a lot if Cambridge is going to cut itself a slice of a very hotly contested metaphorical pie. Happily, we did manage to get a decent amount of listening time with the P100, but we will once again caveat this section by reminding readers that our listening conditions and allotted time slots for hands-on reviews aren't ideal, and these are just our first impressions. We will need much more time and comparative listening with price rivals to make definitive assessments about the P100's sound quality. Here are our preliminary assessments about the over-ear hopefuls, however.
The good news is that there seems to be a lot to like. The P100 pack in healthy amounts of detail and presentational competence, with few elements standing out as being overly assertive, overwrought or distracting during our rundown of Tidal test tracks. Tool's chunky Forty Six & 2 seemed to benefit from the sort of muscle and organisational aptitude that a six-minute prog metal track desperately needs, with hard, grungy bass plucks coming through with a decent impression of weight and drive as they bubbled beneath Maynard James Keenan's throaty roars.
Similarly, Camila Cabello's My Oh My sounded sultry and playful through the P100s, and while not all of our reviewers are the type to get up and hit the impromptu dancefloor in the middle of a testing session, a few toe taps and head sways at least indicated that the P100 had some passion and fire in their proverbial bones. What struck us was how hard the tune's beefy drum pattern came through beneath it all – further testing will reveal whether that was a rhythmic strength or a slight imbalance at the lower end.
We got the impression of decent space and clarity here, too. Cambridge Audio's hi-fi products (see the MXN10 and CXN100 music streamers for proof) usually tick all the right boxes when it comes to spaciousness, clarity, articulation and precision, and we're cautiously optimistic that the P100 might just share that same sparkling DNA. Ramin Djawadi's Across the Oceans of Time rarely seemed constricted or hemmed in, instead showcasing the headphones' ability to let vocal works flourish and expand with proper airiness, whereas Paolo Nutini's Through The Echoes didn't seem to lose its intimacy or moodiness when played through the unfussy P100. Positive signs indeed.
Early verdict
Disclaimers about early impressions aside, it's worth re-emphasising just how steep the hill is that the Cambridge Audio Melomania P100 over-ear headphones have to climb. When you're facing off against the Sony and Bose class leaders, not to mention a host of solid alternatives from Bowers & Wilkins, Sennheiser, Shure and many others, you have your work cut out.
What we can assert is that they do seem to be a pair of headphones with a lot to offer, even if further investigation will reveal whether it's enough to allow Cambridge Audio to make immediate inroads into a tough market. Our initial impressions are of decent detail, space and a pleasing sense of solidity, but we need more time with the headphones during our full review to find out how well the P100 over-ears will nail those trickier, subtler elements of timing, dynamic contrast and genuine emotional expressiveness. We look forward to getting a full review sample in due course and to finding out whether Cambridge Audio's new P100 over-ear headphones are capable of running with the very best in this highly competitive category.
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