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
). 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!
(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
