Unique Melody Miracle Review & Appreciation Thread - Page 4

Quote:

Originally Posted by LegendaryLvl1 

I would have laughed if your rig just fell off down

and down

and down

and broke.

 : )

 

I think I would have cried and retired from Head-Fi... haha

My wallet didn't appreciate this little endeavor, and a second exploration would not have been acceptable I suspect.

I was kinda nervous putting it there. My half brother had his kids over too. Which is why I have it up stairs. Away from them, to photograph. Was worried they would come thundering up the stairs and knock it or something...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Acesi7 

No Problem :D

Just remember that these aren't 'beats' the sound they produce is absolutely awesome, at all listening levels and across all frequencies. I found the bass to be very deep and punchy, but without being over the top or drowning out any other frequencies.

 

That being said I got curious about a more bassy version and am very tempted to get a pair of UM Merlin's which are the Dynamic Driver and more bassy cousin of the Miracle. So will be able to give you guys a bit of an A/B once I put my order through.

 

I mudt have miss understood then. The way you describe sounds perfect, just what im looking for.

Been looking at the Merlins, looking for a review. nothing I have seen yet.... looking forward to your impressions.

I asked Stephen over at custom-iem and he said about a week and half till i get mine

Quote:

Originally Posted by rido 

I mudt have miss understood then. The way you describe sounds perfect, just what im looking for.

 

Been looking at the Merlins, looking for a review. nothing I have seen yet.... looking forward to your impressions.

 

I asked Stephen over at custom-iem and he said about a week and half till i get mine

I posted some impressions of the Merlin demos in another thread.  I only got 1 night with them tho :(

They are the ones to get for electronic music!

I still bought the miracles however, as they seem more balanced and open sounding to my ears.  They needed to be returned for a refit but in the short time I listened to them I found the bass level was perfect.

gav.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rido 

I mudt have miss understood then. The way you describe sounds perfect, just what im looking for.

 

Been looking at the Merlins, looking for a review. nothing I have seen yet.... looking forward to your impressions.

 

I asked Stephen over at custom-iem and he said about a week and half till i get mine

Very exciting mate! Can't wait to hear your impressions of them.

Having finally got my custom rig finished these have really just come into their own. I honestly can't believe how incredible they sound. Still want to get the Merlin's as another pair for both backup, and for different styles of music (I have a wide gamut of music tastes). But the Miracles have been nothing but impressive throughout all of them. Please post some pics of yours when they get in.

Quote:

Originally Posted by gavtorn 

I posted some impressions of the Merlin demos in another thread.  I only got 1 night with them tho :(

 

They are the ones to get for electronic music!

 

I still bought the miracles however, as they seem more balanced and open sounding to my ears.  They needed to be returned for a refit but in the short time I listened to them I found the bass level was perfect.

 

gav.

 

I was chatting to Matt and was also very tempted to quickly borrow those demo's, but just didn't have the time before he had to send them off to a customer to test. So will just have to get some custom Merlin's of my own. haha.

May I ask what source/amp you will be/thinking about using for your UM's?

I recently had the chance to hear the Merlin demo's before Matt had to send them off.

Admittedly it was only a brief listen as i then went to his own Miracles.

In my opinion they would be great for electronic Hip Hop as the bass is quite pronounced.

The bass was felt through my head.

 To my liking i much prefered the Miracles wich were more balanced.

But if your looking at a second set or just love the xtra bass these boys will definately deliver, you wont be disapointed.

Again i must stress though it was only a brief listen & demo version.

I just picked up a HM-601 in the mail 2 days ago.  It is far better than my HTC desire (which is still OK) that I was using previously.  Also today I got my hands on a RSA Mustang from a guy on the head-fi for sale forum in Sydney. I only had a brief listen on my lunch break but 601 line out > Mustang Hi Gain > AKG K702's sounded pretty nice.  Will compare to my muse mini dac > lyr combination when I get home.  Need to test the LCD-2's as well :)

Running from the 601 line out to the amp definitely sounded better than the headphone out on the player.

The only other thing I am interested in trying when I get my miracles is a different headphone cable and mini / mini interconnect...  I think UM will have that stuff at the melbourne meet coming up so I might pop in to that to test them out.

gav.

Quote:

Originally Posted by gavtorn 

I just picked up a HM-601 in the mail 2 days ago.  It is far better than my HTC desire (which is still OK) that I was using previously.  Also today I got my hands on a RSA Mustang from a guy on the head-fi for sale forum in Sydney. I only had a brief listen on my lunch break but 601 line out > Mustang Hi Gain > AKG K702's sounded pretty nice.  Will compare to my muse mini dac > lyr combination when I get home.  Need to test the LCD-2's as well :)

 

Running from the 601 line out to the amp definitely sounded better than the headphone out on the player.

 

The only other thing I am interested in trying when I get my miracles is a different headphone cable and mini / mini interconnect...  I think UM will have that stuff at the melbourne meet coming up so I might pop in to that to test them out.

 

gav.

 

I wonder if we can start getting some more a/b source comparisons?  I'm using mine with ipad straight up,  my Nexus S with Voodoo Sound, also my desktop parsound setup, and my d10 cobra fed optically at work.   The ipad is the bottom of the bunch, Nexus S does amazingly well, although isn't quite up to the D10 cobra, and the desktop sound is definitely another step up.  Although to be honest, something about the Miracles allows them to do really well with just about any source I've tried.

More impressions of the Miracle please!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Poetik 

More impressions of the Miracle please!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Poetik 

More impressions of the Miracle please!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by i2ehan 

Quote:

I can happily give my impressions of the Miracle, but I don't know how much help it will be, given I've only got the TF10 to compare it to. It's simply world ahead in every way. But if you are interested in a more concise review from someone with next to no basis for comparison I'm happy to do so. :D

Quote:

Originally Posted by Acesi7 

I can happily give my impressions of the Miracle, but I don't know how much help it will be, given I've only got the TF10 to compare it to. It's simply world ahead in every way. But if you are interested in a more concise review from someone with next to no basis for comparison I'm happy to do so. :D

Couldn't ask for more my friend. 

Do it!!!!

My review of the Unique Melody Miracle.

For the purpose of this review, please let me give you a quick history. Got the Miracle on the 14th of July. And have been using them solely ever since. BUT (there's always a but) the sources and amps have changed through-out my time testing them. So this is where I will have to clarify a few differences, as these did make a large difference to certain area's of the Miracle.

Customer Service (Unique Melody Australia): OK, as usual, and by now we all know, the customer service of UMAus was amazing. They answered every one of my emails within hours. And always courteously. My favourite part of the experience, and what seems to be a rarity in the audio distributors community is realistic expectations. If something was going to be later than expected. I got an email about it. BEFORE I asked. And I got a reason as to why. At no stage did I have to chase this up with them (That's not to say I didn't shoot them an overly excited "Can't wait for my IEM's I want them NOW!!" email or 2 :P). As they were on top of it the whole time. 10/10

Build Quality: This goes without saying. Perfect. Really couldn't find fault. 10/10

Artwork: Now I got on the artwork band wagon VERY early, as in I submitted my application for them without any artwork as they didn't have their 'New' full colour artwork printing capabilities yet. But when I saw that they had finalized this, I asked if it was too late to add artwork now. And luckily it wasn't (Add time to the delivery, but was made aware of this before confirming). I sent through my designs and also a bad quality mock-up of where I wanted them placed. Now here's where I place a small amount of warning. I came up with a VERY small design, to be placed length-ways along the faceplate at the bottom of each faceplate. I also chose this to be in Black, on the brushed steel finish. This was not a good idea. It only a few things were different I think the finish would have been much improved. But given so many little things, what I ended up with was not ideal. The reflection in the design off the brushed steel under the faceplate made the very small writing almost illegible. If it had have been larger, this wouldn't have been a problem, or if I had have chosen a solid color faceplate. This wouldn't have been an issue. But unfortunately I didn't. While I'm still quite happy with the outcome. I'm hoping my Merlin's (Very different design having learnt from my mistakes) will come out better. But I will say this, the failing in artwork was entirely my fault. I was warned that this may not come out very well given it's size. So UM did try to recommend an alternative. But I was pretty adamant. So pending the results of my Merlin's which have a much easier design. 8/10

Soundstage: I'm aware that many people will say this is a non-issue in IEM's and if you are going to Soundstage, get headphones, or even speakers... But I'll address this anyway as I found this to be very interesting. The soundstage of the Miracle I found to be pretty good, nothing spectacular. But definitely a step ahead of the TF10's and even the HD-25's to my ears. But, adding the CLAS/SR-71B to the equation, and wow. The resulting soundstage was outstanding! I've never heard separation and width like that before. I wasn't even doing any 'critical listening' when I first used the combo, I was on a train listening to the new setup for the first time. And I actually couldn't believe what I was hearing. Closed my eyes and let the next 30-40 minutes disappear as I found my favorite songs and listened to them again to pickup on new details and engulfed by the sound stage. So while I have no basis for comparison, this was absolutely the best overall sound I have heard. *When partnered with the right components. 10/10

Highs: This is where the Miracle shine. Every single song I've listened to seems to be more alive. I listen to my music a fair amount louder than most people, and I find I don't have to with the Miracle, I get everything out of the music without having to really turn it up. And even when I do have it quite loud, I don't find it invasive as I did with the TF10's and the HD-25's there would be certain notes at that level that was cringe worthy. But with the Miracle. Nothing, just perfect listening. 10/10

Mids: Everyone is familiar with the TF10's fairly V shaped sound signature, and so it's pretty needless to say that the Miracle really annihilated them on this front. And I did indeed love everything about the presentation. It seems pretty cliche to say, but I really do notice things I've never heard before with the Miracle, but what surprised me, is it's not because the missed sections were too high, or too low and not reproduce by the drivers, but instead because they all overlapped, and piqued in the wrong spots and 'drowned out' these missing parts. But with the Miracle, there is a place for everything, and everything in it's place. The mid's just sing... 10/10

Bass: This is where I'm divided, as I wouldn't consider myself a basshead (although maybe I am) as this was the only place with the Miracle that I wasn't absolutely satisfied... But on the other hand, not in all cases. There are songs I listen to with the Miracle where I find there could be a little more bass quantity, it's only maybe 15% of the time. Most of the time and bass is perfect, in fact, at all times the control, extension and quality of the bass is perfect... But I do think a little more quantity on particular songs would soothe my savage beast inside. 8.5/10

Price: The price at time of purchase was $910 + Impressions + Artwork + Postage. I think I ended up paying around $1000 on the dot, can't remember to be honest. Now while this is a lot of money, for what you get. I'm very happy with the decision. The presentation when you get them is magnificent and makes the spend feel more worth it (and very impressive to friends when they see you open them. haha). The whole experience feels 'Spare no expense' which is what you would want when spending so much money, the customer service makes you feel like you are their only customer and highest priority, the build quality is second to none, the warranty and re-fit policy is outstanding (especially compared with JHA whom have turned me off with their complete lack of flexibility around re-fits even if your willing to pay). I honestly couldn't recommend UM Aus highly enough. And with all the deals they are running right now, I doubt you'll pay as much as I did anyway! haha. 9/10. (10/10 if you managed to get into any of the group buys, or the 'phase one' deal at UM Global)

Conclusion: It's worth noting that I'm a bass player so tend to focus more on bass guitar in songs already, this may play a part in my decision. With that out of the way, let me just say that I really enjoy the bass with the miracle. And it flaws every other headphone/iem I've listened to in all Highs/Mids/Bass, in quality, control and placement. These might just be too analytical/flat for some listeners. I personally find that these will be my everyday, an critical listening set. But will more than likely use the Merlin (coming soon...) to fill the gap on the train, or when I go for a run and feel like that bit more oomph(I'm pretty sure that's the technical term for it). So I can't recommend these highly enough for most. But I think (from what I've read) these are more of a JH13 equivalent. So with that in mind. I honestly couldn't be happier.

Overall: 65.5/70

Here's hoping by adding the Merlin's to the collection it will make the overall 140/140! :D (There's logic in that I swear!)

Hope at least 1 person finds this helpful. Also I'll be doing a review of the HP-P1 when I get it. I thought I could live without the soundstage and separation, it turns out I can't. So here's hoping the HP-P1 provides the close to the same sound as the CLAS/SR-71B. As I do want to cut down on bulk.

Cheers!

Aaron

Great review! Pretty much reassures my decision for the Miracle, as I've encountered one too many reviews/impressions now that convince me it's just the sound I'm after! You've made my decision much easier to cope with, but my wait time, not so much. 

Nonetheless, I've got enough to distract my ears with. Thank you again for the review my friend! I'm just as anxious to hear your impressions of the Merlin, so needless to say, do keep us posted. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by i2ehan 

Great review! Pretty much reassures my decision for the Miracle, as I've encountered one too many reviews/impressions now that convince me it's just the sound I'm after! You've made my decision much easier to cope with, but my wait time, not so much. 

 

Nonetheless, I've got enough to distract my ears with. Thank you again for the review my friend! I'm just as anxious to hear your impressions of the Merlin, so needless to say, do keep us posted. 

Thanks :D

I'm waiting with bated breathe for the Merlin! Should be here this week! Finger Crossed! Although the HP-P1 will be a little bit longer :(