Intro
Much like Truthear, Kiwi Ears has been on an absolute tear. They’ve been making highly regarded IEMs one after the other. After reviewing the Quintet, I was anticipating greatness from Kiwi Ears, especially since the Melody features a planar driver at a much cheaper price than what a lot of planars are going for.
But then, I saw the frequency response graph. Tons of bass starting at 600Hz? I’ll be honest, I was a little hesitant and scared to put my hard-earned money towards Melody. With a signature like that, most dynamic driver and hybrid (dynamic + BA’s) IEMs would be out of the question – that’s nowhere near my preference.
After dragging my feet for a while, I remembered that the Final Audio ZE3000 had an amazing dynamic driver and some strange looking bass as well – it even sounded great. Planars are also exceptional drivers, so maybe the Melody wouldn’t sound like how it looks?
Does this signature work for the Melody? Well…yes, and no – but it’s much better than you would think.
Tech Specs
Driver Configuration: 12mm Planar
Sensitivity: 102db/v@1kHz
Impedance: 18Ω
Frequency Response: 5 – 40 KHz
Connector: .078mm 2 pin
Price: $89
What’s in the Box?
Straight up, the unboxing experience is sparse. The Melody came with surprisingly few accessories, even for the price. Just like the Quintet, it came with two different sets of eartips (SML of both narrow bore and wide bore). The cable is almost exactly the same as the Quintet, in a darker colorway. It is a nice and lightweight cable, but nothing to write home about either. Besides the IEMs themselves, that’s all you get. There isn’t even a pouch or carrying case.
While that might sound like bad news, it seems like Kiwi Ears saved money from the pouch/case and put that back into the build of the IEMs and into the driver. As far as trade-offs go, I’d rather go this route than include a case and cheap out somewhere else.
Fit, Comfort, & Isolation
The Melody is lightweight, even with a metal faceplate. They weigh in at 4.7 grams each and have a shallow fit as the nozzle is very short. I had to size-up from my usual eartips because of this, so you may have to as well. The Melody is super comfortable, even with a shallow fit, due to their lightweight nature. I had no problems wearing them for a very long period of time. Isolation is average and totally typical of most IEMs.
Sound
Overall
As the intro to this review alluded to, this is where things get really interesting. I’m not going to say that the Melody isn’t a warm sounding IEM, but it’s not nearly as warm or boomy as the frequency response graph would indicate. Yet another reason why these graphs aren’t the be-all-end-all when it comes to deciphering sound signatures.
But before diving into describing the sound, the Melody needs wide-bore eartips. I used both the Spinfit W1 and the AZLA SednaEarfit CRYSTAL eartips. Without wide-bore eartips, the mid-bass is just too much.
The overall sound signature is different from most. It’s not balanced, it’s not Hartmann, and it’s not super v-shaped either. I’d almost call this a light v-shaped sound, but the mids and treble are nicely tuned and not over-emphasized. Really, the bass is the “V” part of the sound signature, but the rest is pretty neutral. Overall, the Melody is somewhat thick and definitely warm, but vocals and mids aren’t really affected.
Bass
This is where the magic of a planar driver comes in. The mid and upper bass is a lot, helping give the Melody a warm-feeling signature. But it is much cleaner than what you’d expect it to be. Even a pretty good dynamic driver would be all flabby, muddy, and bleed all over the mid range with this style of sound signature.
The planar driver however, while lightly boomy, doesn’t bleed into the mids really at all – what a remarkable thing! What it does is overpower or mask the lower mid range a tiny bit in certain tracks. What gets slightly overpowered though is still there and has detail. So it’s less of a smear or bleeding effect and more of a light masking over the lower mid range.
With tons of upper and mid bass, bass guitars and kick drums sound absolutely fantastic, almost like being at a live concert. They’re slightly emphasized, but again, nothing like what the graph would make you think.
The Melody has plenty of sub bass and plays the lowest of low notes with planar authority. Because of the big mid bass, the sub bass can feel a little overshadowed, but it is still there and is still really good. However, even with the large amount of mid and upper bass, the Melody won’t appeal to the hard core basshead – it just doesn’t slam or hit like they would like.
Mids
While a lot of IEM tuners would turn up the mids to help balance the amount of bass that is present, Kiwi Ears didn’t do that here. It’s a perfectly great tuned mid range. This tuning would be applauded in a lot of other IEMs as well. The melody is no different here, but it does sound a little boring and lacks some excitement because the bass is stealing the show. While planar drivers tend to be too fast and sharp in this area, the Melody finds a good balance of speed and natural decay, even if it is a hint on the fast side.
Some other reviewers have mentioned that female vocals can sound a little too warm and thick, but with the large bore eartips I don’t think this is the case at all. They can get overshadowed by the bass a little bit, but the tonality isn’t affected as much.
Treble
The Melody’s treble is pretty much what you’d expect from a planar driver. It has amazing extension which contributes to a lively sound with the perfect amount of sparkle – not too much and not too little. There is some unevenness in the treble, but the big bass helps balance it out a little bit. However, this does tend to minimize that “specialness” or “x-factor” that planar drivers are known for.
Technicalities
If you think planar drivers are overly detailed, sharp, and harsh, the Melody might surprise you. It sounds more like if there was a dynamic and planar driver hybrid-baby. It really finds the balance of speed and detail retrieval without feeling overwhelmed by it all.
While the Kiwi Ears Melody has above-average imaging and instrument separation, it’s not as good as other sets like the Truthear Nova or the Truthear Hexa. The big bass masks some things and it hurts the overall soundstage. While instruments are separate from each other, they sound extremely close to each other as well – the sound stage is very smashed together and intimate. Again, there’s just too much mid bass for the stage to have room to breathe.
Conclusion
The Kiwi Ears Melody is a bit of a conundrum. While it has bass by the heapfuls, the mids and treble are kinda boring in contrast. This makes for a somewhat fun sound, but it also is missing that x-factor or specialness.
While the Melody isn’t really my cup of tea in terms of overall tuning, I find it fascinating and a little addicting with that thick, warm, and fast sound – things that don’t usually go together. While I don’t find myself using the Melody for critical listening, it’s good for a fun and easy listen, especially in loud environments where the extra upper and mid bass can be needed. The Melody won’t be in my usual rotation, but it sure will be fun to pull out every once in a while to enjoy some warm planar goodness.