[darkgod5]

@darkgod5 Hey sorry for bothering you again, can you explain how the technicalities of Mele fare against IEMs under $100?
The staging, imaging, separation, extension, depth all that stuff

Unfortunately, I cannot as I do not own many IEMs under $100 but there should be comparisons pouring in in the following week or so as more people with more experience in that price range receive them. Though I do believe there are some comparisons already on the Hifi Guides forum:
https://forum.hifiguides.com/t/tripowin-x-bggar-mele/27944

No, stock cable is fine. If you are on a tight budget, don't even think about it.
Tips are personal and affect sound. Everyone has different ears, different perceptions. For instance, for me the stock tips don't fit or seal, they are too small. For other people they might be great.
Think of tips like underwear. Everyone likes different form factors, different materials, different feels.

Also, I can't stress this enough, as @Strifeff7 already said: dont use your MBA audio jack. Buy an USB-C Apple dongle for 8 bucks, it will take you places. It has an integrated DAC that will do the job and it's one of the best 8$ spent on this hobby. If your computer doesnt have a type C port, you might also get a cheap USB C to A adaptor and you'll be set!

Thanks for taking your time for comparitions, @darkgod5, I was sleeping (EU Timezone)

All good, friend. And I agree, everything stock is fine with the Mele so long as the tips fit your ears. They fit mine fine and I also have larger ears where some stock tips have not fit.

 

[dialogue]

Hello,
can you give some songs for us to try ?

1. TOTO - AFRICA.

2.

 

[nymz]

HBB Feedback on Mele around 6m30s

 

[chickenmoon]

So I did give a quick listen to the Mele vs Hana v2 (using same tips and source) and the Hana v2 wins, no contest, which shouldn't really come as a surprise. Hana v2 feels better balanced and more refined, Mele is defo on the warmer side and even feels bloated by comparison. Resolution and separation are better on the Hana too and it doesn't take long to realize it's in a higher tier than the Mele.

 

[darnyamlein]

So I did give a quick listen to the Mele vs Hana v2 (using same tips and source) and the Hana v2 wins, no contest, which shouldn't really come as a surprise. Hana v2 feels better balanced and more refined, Mele is defo on the warmer side and even feels bloated by comparison. Resolution and separation are better on the Hana too and it doesn't take long to realize it's in a higher tier than the Mele.

That's kinda sad. I thought it was going to be a budget Hana 2021 lol. Do you own any of the Moondrop single DDs by any chance? I would really appreciate it if you could make a comparison between them.

 

[nymz]

So I did give a quick listen to the Mele vs Hana v2 (using same tips and source) and the Hana v2 wins, no contest, which shouldn't really come as a surprise. Hana v2 feels better balanced and more refined, Mele is defo on the warmer side and even feels bloated by comparison. Resolution and separation are better on the Hana too and it doesn't take long to realize it's in a higher tier than the Mele.

Thanks for this! Appreciate it!

 

[nymz]

I thought it was going to be a budget Hana 2021 lol

Technically... It is. If you want something exactly like Hana.... Buy Hana?

 

[chickenmoon]

That's kinda sad. I thought it was going to be a budget Hana 2021 lol. Do you own any of the Moondrop single DDs by any chance? I would really appreciate it if you could make a comparison between them.

I've got all the Moondrop DDs but I don't have too much time for doing direct comparisons but I think they all at least edge out the Mele (not speaking about SSR/SSP).

Btw guys, I gave a spin to the Tripowin TC-01 too and guess what, I liked these better than both the Mele and Hana v2.

There are also the BLON BL-01 and the Reecho SG-01 that are damn good in the $ sub50 segment.

 

[nymz]

Customers are having a treat at the moment. So any good budget sets!

 

[darkgod5]

1. TOTO - AFRICA.

2.

Toto - Africa

How interesting.. the instruments are recorded well but the vocals are not or are a product of too much post-processing. So the Mele re-plays the vocals with 100% accuracy. Nitpicking, I would say the Mele is lacking the sparkle of the chimes(?) that happens a few times such as at (1:13). Otherwise, the Mele is lacking the texture of the instruments so I would say it re-plays the song at at most 80% accuracy.

However, keep in mind this is just my opinion but I actually prefer the Mele for this song as having the instruments sound much higher quality than the vocals is jarring to me. The Mele removing textures of the instruments to better match the vocals is preferred to my ears.


Alffy Rev - WONDERLAND INDONESIA

Well recorded song. The Mele lacks significant texture in the vocals and instruments. Instruments blur together in the mids and treble at (3:16) making it sound "muddy". Aside from lacking texture, the bass-heavy part at (7:40) is played fine.

I would say the Mele re-plays this song at at most 70% accuracy.

 

[morphon]

Just got my set. I'll do some critical listening today and compare them to some of my others.

Any comparison requests? Here's what I have currently:

Thieaudio Monarch
Mangird Tea
Thor Mjolner
GK10
BLON BL03
UE TF10
BQYZ Spring 1 (without BA filter)
Moondrop Starfield
CCA CA16

 

[Rush87]

Just got my set. I'll do some critical listening today and compare them to some of my others.

Any comparison requests? Here's what I have currently:

Thieaudio Monarch
Mangird Tea
Thor Mjolner
GK10
BLON BL03
UE TF10
BQYZ Spring 1 (without BA filter)
Moondrop Starfield
CCA CA16

Starfield would be interesting. Similar tuning (on graphs at least).

 

[nymz]

Just got my set. I'll do some critical listening today and compare them to some of my others.

Any comparison requests? Here's what I have currently:

Thieaudio Monarch
Mangird Tea
Thor Mjolner
GK10
BLON BL03
UE TF10
BQYZ Spring 1 (without BA filter)
Moondrop Starfield
CCA CA16

Others seem kinda pointless by now, since me or others tried them and they destroy it. Will be interesting to hear to this ones, since we have no info yet:

Thor Mjolner
UE TF10
BQYZ Spring 1 (without BA filter)
Moondrop Starfield
CCA CA16

Thanks in advance!

 

[guicnovaes]

Just got my set. I'll do some critical listening today and compare them to some of my others.

Any comparison requests? Here's what I have currently:

Thieaudio Monarch
Mangird Tea
Thor Mjolner
GK10
BLON BL03
UE TF10
BQYZ Spring 1 (without BA filter)
Moondrop Starfield
CCA CA16

BL03, Starfield and Monarch would be great.

 

[Martward]

lastly, try to listen to a different kinds of music,
the one that maybe you hate or you didn't know about,

I think this is what has given me most joy since I started going to the forums and buying new IEMs, discovering I like different kinds of music than just a bit of hip-hop and a lot of classic rock. I started appreciating bass and stuff like Yosi Horikawa since I bought the FH3.

Is it necessary to upgrade the cable? I think it looks fine as long as it doesn't kink itself in crazy ways

Nah the cable is fine, you can always buy a new one later one. I'd suggest getting the apinfit cp100 with them because they are nice and relatively cheap eartips. I quite like them on the Mele

technicalities of Mele fare against IEMs under $100?

It depends, the technicalities on the Mele are pretty standard for the price, nothing special. If you want a lot of separation, imaging and details, you're pretty much bound to hybrid IEMs. Those usually come with other issues like incoherency, worse timbre and sometimes worse tonality. I was one of the lucky ones to get a good pair of GK10, those beat the Mele in technicalities hands down, but the tuning, coherency and Quality Control are not great (I don't recommend them).

My ideal IEM: tuning of the Mele with the technicalities of the FiiO FH3 but with a single DD with beryllium coating.