Cambridge Audio Melomania P100 review: A distinguished debut | Expert Reviews UK

I bumped up the mid-range a few notches using the custom equaliser and found the additional presence made a significant difference. The Goo Goo Doll’s Black Balloon immediately sounded more engaging while maintaining excellent levels of instrument separation and detail retrieval.

I got good mileage out of the various EQ presets, too, particularly those tuned for Electronic and Rock genres. The bounding bass on Ginchy and Padre Guilherme’s house track Citadel was delivered with throbbing intensity but no shortage of control, while the eerie choral elements in the breakdown were hauntingly crisp. As the tune built to the second drop, the P100 handled the ramping up of tempo and volume smoothly, lifting me up gradually before dropping me back down into a heady state of righteous euphoria.

The noise cancellation on offer is very good, too. I found the P100 cut out most disturbances in the office, with only the pesky natter of colleagues making its way to my ears with any real impact. Out in the wider world, the P100 were never anything less than very competent. Despite this, I wouldn’t put them in the same bracket as the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones or Dyson OnTrac, both of which cancel external sound remarkably well.

It’s worth remembering that the Melomania P100 cost half the price of those options and, to their credit, look more expensive than they are. That’s particularly true of the white model I was sent for review, which I think is very fetching despite being rather bulky.

The final two areas in which the P100 stand out couldn’t be more different, with one giving them a huge practical advantage over their rivals and the other being little more than an amusing novelty.