What’s good about the Melomania P100?
The P100 certainly looks like a flagship headset. At a time when many companies are opting for heavy plastic construction even for their high-end models, it’s nice to see a sleek design for under $300. Cambridge Audio has paired aluminum accents with vegan leather and soft memory foam earcups to do the heavy lifting here. There is also a crosshatch fabric on the underside of the headband that provides textural contrast while maintaining the color palette.
Cambridge Audio has made no compromises on battery life with the P100, promising up to 60 hours of use with active noise cancellation (ANC) enabled. Furthermore, the company claims that you can get up to 100 hours of playback time with ANC turned off, depending on volume levels and other settings. I had no trouble hitting 60 hours in my battery tests, which I conducted almost entirely with noise cancellation. And to keep the P100 running longer than some headphones, the company offers users the option to replace the battery themselves if performance declines (the ear pads can also be replaced).
The P100 uses the same Class AB amplification that powers the Cambridge Audio. This, according to the company, delivers “audibly better” sound performance than what’s found in almost all wireless earbuds. Triple-layer 40mm drivers complete the audio platform, which is optimized for “precise treble and dynamic bass. ”
During my testing, the P100 excelled at reproducing crisp, crisp detail in every genre I threw at it. Even on the heavier parts of Sleep Token’s ‘Vore’, the snare hits remained strong, cutting through distorted guitar riffs with layered vocals. nevertheless, the emphasis is on the highs and mids, since bass-heavy songs like these don’t have the thunderous impact they usually do. As such, the P100 was at its best for styles that required less bass noise – genres like country, jazz and ’90s grunge.
What’s not to love about the Melomania P100?
My comments about the P100’s overall sound profile are not good news for those who want an explosive blast when listening to songs by Kendrick Lamar, Kaytranada, and other bass-heavy songs. Cambridge Audio offers a selection of presets for pitch changing, as well as a full equalizer for custom profiles. The changes were more subtle with the EQ sliders, so they didn’t produce the thump I was looking for.
But unlike many equalization options offered by other companies, none of them ruined the sound or made things worse.
Despite the soft feel of the P100’s ear cushions, they do not provide sufficient protection against protruding parts of the headphones during longer listening sessions. I used them on a cross-country trip that involved a full day plane ride and wearing headphones for over six hours. After about 30 minutes I could start to feel these edges. And while they were never painful, this kept the P100 from competing with the Bose QuietComfort Ultra headphones and Sony’s WH-1000XM5 in terms of overall comfort.
Cambridge Audio has done a good job of covering all the basics with the P100. There are reliable, easy-to-use physical controls, solid adaptive ANC performance and support for aptX Lossless. Wear detection and multipoint Bluetooth are also included, as well as wired listening with 24-bit/96 kHz quality and a five-minute fast charging tool. What you won’t discovers are things like voice detection, any mention of spatial audio, or some of the automated features offered by the competition.
Of course, I can excuse the omissions in the P100 given the price, but these are the kind of features that are becoming increasingly essential specs, so it would be nice to have one or two.
Final verdict on the Melomania P100
I’m impressed with what Cambridge Audio has built for its first wireless headphones. It is clear that the company knows how to produce clear and balanced sound, although the P100 could use a little more bass. The combination of design, sound, repairability, and battery life makes this a great option for under $300.
