[AnakChan]

Today I had the pleasure of being introduced to Stephen Guo of Unique Melody. He was at the e-earphone Portable Festival in Akihabara for the past two days and brought along a new gem which adds to the Unique Melody line.
 
The Unique Melody Mentor is a 10xBA design of 4xLows (Warning Speculative due to bad memory: 2xMids, 2xHighs, & 2xSuper Highs). I'll have to get the specs from Stephen Guo, and the pix from Currawong. The size is surprisingly small for a 10xBA setup and had a quite full sounding sound next to the Miracles (where the Miracles started to sound almost thin by comparison with its mids->high focus). At least for the quick time I had a chance to demo the Mentor, it felt like the Miracles but just with added extension to the bass low end. It sounded smooth and articulate, nothing in particular stood out as odd or unwelcoming to the ears.
 
It'll come in both universals an CIEM form. I'll get the details of the product availability dates and the pricing and more info (and pix) to come.
 
Cross Reference Threads:

Updated: 24th Decemver 2013

Unique Melody Mentor

Official Page: http://www.custom-iem.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=118&products_id=678

Drivers per ear: Low: 4 armature drivers, Mid: 2 armature drivers, Mid-High: 2 armature drivers, High: 2 armature drivers in a 4-way crossover design.
Sensitivity (at 1kHz): 112dB spl 
Frequency response: 20Hz - 20000Hz
Impedance: 20ohm
Noise isolation: -26dB
 
Price: USD$1249 for universals, $1449 for CIEM (2 year warranty cable excluded), 60 day free refit
 

FR Chart

 
 
Cross Reference Threads: Brief mention of the Unique Melody Mentor http://www.head-fi.org/t/696250/e-earphone-akihabara-tokyo-headphone-festival-december-2013
[Photo by Currawong]

 
Some more pix :-

 

 

 

 
[Update 2nd Jan 2014] Universal Mentor Size Specs

 

[Mimouille]

I want I want I want !!!!!

 

[Shini44]

i also want want want!!!  

but 2x mids alone? seems like the mids will still be behind the bass and dry like the UM Miracle :< i mean we have 4 lows/highs O-o 

i wish it was like 2 lows 4 mids 4 highs :3 

I AM GETTING ONE ANYWAY!!! <3  Love Unique Melody <3

 

[Saraguie]

  Today I had the pleasure of being introduced to Stephen Guo of Unique Melody. He was at the e-earphone Portable Festival in Akihabara for the past two days and brought along a new gem which adds to the Unique Melody line.
 
The Unique Melody Mentor is a 10xBA design of 4xLows (Warning Speculative due to bad memory: 2xMids, 2xHighs, & 2xSuper Highs). I'll have to get the specs from Stephen Guo, and the pix from Currawong. The size is surprisingly small for a 10xBA setup and had a quite full sounding sound next to the Miracles (where the Miracles started to sound almost thin by comparison with its mids->high focus). At least for the quick time I had a chance to demo the Mentor, it felt like the Miracles but just with added extension to the bass low end. It sounded smooth and articulate, nothing in particular stood out as odd or unwelcoming to the ears.
 
It'll come in both universals an CIEM form. I'll get the details of the product availability dates and the pricing and more info (and pix) to come.

How many of us have filed for bankruptcy and/or gotten divorced and/or been deprived of the fairer sex's attention because of Anak's  telling us about all this great gotta have stuff? 

   Let's start a club.
 
So Sean, when can I order? 

 

 

[Shini44]

when will the pre order start? :3 i want serial number 004, will stick to the PC and tell Stephen to mail me once the 3rd pre order been done xD

also i need more comments about the mids , hope they are better than UM Miracle's mids :/ 

i swear i was planing to fly to any country just to make Fitear 435 since it does have better mids/highs than UM miracle but now UM got new product, i got to get enough information.

 

[Loquah]

This sounds really interesting. Just have to NOT order through UM Aus / ACustoms

 

[Shini44]

i ordered UM Miracle twice through Stephen gou and got my CIEM done twice in 3 weeks exactly!! 

always send your impression directly to the lab and leave the rest to Stephen else you will end up waiting a lot.

 

[Deviltooth]

I used UM Aus for my 3DD (utter crap) and had the worst buying experience of my life.  During this time period I also contacted UM in China and they were no more helpful.  When it comes to custom and high end IEMs customer service becomes very important, you'll be spending a lot of money.  Thus I pass on this warning to all potential North American purchasers of UM products: BEWARE!  Like you I read raves on Head Fi and was happy to jump in with both feet when the 3DD pre-order became available. It was a mistake akin to throwing my money into a fire and burning my hands in the process.  I urge you to look at the many, many excellent options available to you from other more honest, organized, communicative and efficient companies.

 

[Saraguie]

Deviltooth. Sorry you had this problem.

I on the other hand can only rave about the customer service I received before and after I purchased my Miracles from UM AU.
There are only a handful of companies in my 60 years on the planet that I can say treated me as well. And I am not alone.

I already emailed and have asked how soon I can purchase this new offering by them.

 

[AnakChan]

  How many of us have filed for bankruptcy and/or gotten divorced and/or been deprived of the fairer sex's attention because of Anak's  telling us about all this great gotta have stuff? 

   Let's start a club.
 
So Sean, when can I order? 

 

 
Good question. Probably dropping a mail to Stephen to ask him (custom-iem). I've actually had nothing but good service from Stephen. He's very responsive on mail. Even if UM's factory in China may have issues in some delays, Stephen is great in communicating so that you are (or I should say, "I am" at least) not left in the dark.

 

[Mimouille]

I would rank Stephen at the top for customer service. Based on purchasing 2 ciems, 2 cables and 1 reshell.

 

[shotgunshane]

Glad to hear about more TOTL universals to go alongside their ciem counterparts.

 

[Shini44]

found this on another site:
 
"After visiting the JH Audio booth, I dropped by the Unique Melody booth which was just next to JH Audio. I was able to chat with Stephen Guo, and one of the lead audio engineers was there as well though I didn't catch his name and he spoke only Chinese. I own the UM Miracles and I originally asked to demo the Merlins since I was always curious how much bass I was 'missing' with the Miracles. Maybe it was due to the imperfect seal, but the difference in bass between them wasn't very big, and the treble had increased sparkle but also lost some smoothness. Soundstage was insanely big though, definitely more than my Miracle. Overally I liked the presentation on the Miracles better. Afterwards I tried the Mage but was slightly put-off by the even more forward upper-mids and decreased bass. I thought I was done and was about to head to the next table to try the Beat Audio cables, but then Stephen asked if I wanted to try the latest models. I thought he was going to offer me the universal UM 2X or 3X so I wasn't too excited but then he said it was a 10-driver model and I was a bit shocked. I had no idea that UM would be bringing a prototype model for demo, much less a flagship 10-driver. I immediately took a quick listen, and the sound was incredible, with the smoothness of the Miracle, but increased (I think, not sure will check again tomorrow) treble and a warm enhanced bass that still preserves the clarity of the midrange. Bass was definitely boosted over the Miracle, and while it was enjoyable, I hope it doesn't become too-much (especially the mid-bass) when listened to in custom instead of universal form. I asked about the bass and compared to the Miracle which is sub-bass heavy, the boost is more in the mid-bass. Even so, the bass rumble I heard in the demo was very addicting. More details: its name is "Mentor", it has 4 drivers dedicated to lows, release announcement is expected around January (actually release is pretty much ready, Stephen said he has just been too busy to handle the updates) with a USD price of around $1,300 - $1,500. Despite having 10 drivers, the casing of the Mentor is very very small, due to the compact high-frequency drivers. It looks like it would fit in nearly the same space as the Miracle. Will definitely check it out again tomorrow.

Whew. Hope that last bit of info was interesting for the other UM fans around here 

"


i am still worried about the mids but i will end up buying it for the treble seems to be like the mentor is extra treble/bass while maintaining the mids or maybe better mids i hope :3

 

[tranhieu]

Anyone noticed the new driver-race heating up recently? Starting with the Roxane, then came then K10, and now another 10 driver custom coming out next year. Not that it's a bad thing, though.

 

[OziasEvangeline]

Anyone noticed the new driver-race heating up recently? Starting with the Roxane, then came then K10, and now another 10 driver custom coming out next year. Not that it's a bad thing, though.

Rooth came first with the 10 driver, then Noble with another 10 driver, THEN Roxanne with 12. Now UM joins the race