Review: Unique Melody Martian – Curiosity

FREQUENCY PERFORMANCE

Lows are the best part just like in the Maverick but with even more success on midbass and also on the general impact and rumble. For the bass part I can say it’s easily at the top together with another BA + Dynamic hybrid, the Oriolus, which is the best hybrid I’ve listened to so far. That says a lot.

The power, the impact and bass body is just right, and this time there’s no noticeable midbass problem. Of course again the midbass is not very very prominent but it’s not too laid back either, unlike the Maverick. The bass is so airy and has breathing room to give you a natural feeling. That isn’t a surprise of course with the assistance of 2 Dynamic Drivers. So what you get here is basically a more natural sound overall than other traditional multi BA IEM’s. The bass is never congested, never overpowering and never boring. To make it more clear I should say, take the great lows of the Maverick, get rid of the midbass shyness a little, and add just a little more power and better impact to it, then you have the Martian.

So there is fantastic bass presentation from top to bottom. The only thing I miss is a little more impact and I miss it because of the Oriolus. If I hadn’t listened to that one first, I wouldn’t have said that but the Oriolus is just at another level in terms of rumble and texture. The Maverick is not far away though, in fact it’s very close but sometimes I find myself cranking the bass level up by EQ, to get an Oriolus-like feeling. Overall, I think UM did a top job with this one. I was thinking what could possibly be better in terms of bass quality in an earphone after reviewing the Maverick but here I got my answer already (and the Oriolus as well).

Mids sound familiar with the Maverick. Not too thick, maybe a tad thicker but there’s the same energetic presentation with the same openness. And that’s because of the great bass success as it never overshadows the other frequencies, so they can shine in their own area. I wouldn’t say that it’s a mid centric IEM, but there’s a small prominence in the mids to a certain extent. One thing that differs from the Maverick is the general tone, which is a little thicker and I find this a truer sound than the Japanese fellow. The tone was thinner than I would’ve liked on the Maverick, so the Martian makes you happier in this regard, well, at least it made me happier. It retains that energy pretty much, making the sound really natural and enjoyable at the same time.

The control is also superb and it never sounds harsh on vocals or any other elements on the upper mid area, which is one of the most important things in my book. Overall the mid frequency part is a success for the Martian. It won’t blow you away like a Kaiser 10, FitEar TG334 or Oriolus with an amazing out of world mid performance, but the prices of those are around double or more, so that’s understandable.

The treble part can depend on the tips as I’ve mentioned above. With silicone tips, the quantity is over the limit for my liking. Those who prefer prominent treble would love it though. With foam tips, they become more controlled as a whole but retain the detail level.

The biggest advantage on the Martian over the Maverick, is the treble extension. If you’ve read the Maverick review, you should’ve seen there I’ve mentioned the lack of extension. With this new model the extension is wonderful. Tonality on the treble area is a little thinner though and it can be altered by the source, but it’s still coherent and assists the imaging capabilities very well. If you prefer a dark sound signature, the Martian – with it’s bright and open character – may not be your cup of tea, but I can say I enjoyed it as a dark sound lover. So that says alot I suppose. You can be sure it’s never harsh for moderate listening sessions but for long periods of time it can get a little fatiguing for someone who, like me, prefers smoother and darker tones.

Other than the bright character, there’s no other noticeable problem and actually that might not be an issue for bright treble lovers. The sounds is very very clean with the help of beautiful treble detail and extension. Combine this with the almost perfect lows, clean and energetic true sounding mids and you have the Martian. A very coherent IEM in its own way and I enjoy it very much.

TECHNICAL PARTS AND SOURCES

As always, let’s look upon the technical aspects.

For resolution I have to say for 700$ it’s top notch. As long as you don’t expect something like a planar magnetic headphone type of resolution, or something like Kaiser 10 and etc. the resolution would be more than enough with a good portable source. Its background is not amazingly black but it’s still fabulous, and then again it depends on your source as usual. Stereo imaging and positioning is flawless for this price range. Very very nice.

Soundstage is also very good but it’s not something like JH Angie, Layla or Oriolus. For width I can say it’s very similar to K10’s soundstage dimensions. For those who had a chance to listen to K10’s, you can take it as a reference here, because it’s similar in terms of soundstage. K10 is a little deeper though. The Maverick is narrower in comparison and depth is around the same.

I recommend sources with a good bass presence, so you can enjoy the bass success on the Martian more. The source also should have good mids and a well controlled treble part. You can pair these with the Lotoo Paw Gold (amazing with that, almost perfect), Sony ZX2 (great soundstage and smoother sound with its warm signature), HM901S (immense soundstage and positioning, no bass like LPG though).

Concerning their sensitivity, I can say it’s not hard to drive these. They’re pretty much easy to drive and even the weaker ZX2 drives them very well. I do suppose these can benefit from a good portable amplifier but unfortunately I couldn’t try that for this review. I’m curious what type of bass response I could’ve gotten with the help of an amplifier…

SHORT COMPARISONS

JH Angie has a wider and deeper soundstage, laid back but good extending treble and thick mids. The Martian has a thinner and much more prominent treble, narrower stage, but superior bass performance. Both have their strengths but overall I prefer the Angie.

Oriolus is even more amazing with the bass, has more midbass and better mid performance overall. Soundstage is also better and it’s more transparent. Treble on the other hand is a little laid back and far sounding than on the Martian. They both have a natural bass presence given that they utilize dynamic drivers for lows. I think Oriolus is something like a much better Martian, like an evolution.

Noble K10 has a similar soundstage performance, thicker mids and better resolution overall. The treble is a tad smoother, but also sounds close to the Martian. Midbass is a big difference as K10 has more midbass presence. The K10 is bassier as well.

UM Maverick, the fellow Japanese friend of the Martian has less midbass but around the same amount of bass quantity overall, maybe a little less. Treble extension is its weak point but the tone of the trebles is not thin like the Martian. It also has a superb bass quality but I found the Martian is a bit better with having 1 more dynamic driver. It also sounds more consistent. Maverick has a distinctive fun sound in it, making it very energetic but the Martian has a truer tonality. And if you consider the price difference, the Martian is much more successful IEM of the two.

Noble Savanna, which was the subject of the review prior to this, is nowhere near the Martian in terms of bass success.  No chance. But it has that reference type flat sound with great mid presentation. Treble part is similar and it has good resolution for the price, like the Martian. Savanna is a great value for the money, one of the best I’ve come across, but overall the Martian is the better IEM.

Very short: I think the Martian is better then the Noble Savant, JH Rosie, Westone W60, AK T8iE, ADEL U12 (with the S1 module). So these comparisons could tell you how great the Martian is for the asking price.

CONCLUSION

Well, what more can I say ? What a great piece of work and what a great pricing! I should congratulate the guys at Unique Melody for this, and actually I would like to invite other brands to put up these type of IEM’s with acceptable prices and better value for the hard earned money we audiophiles spend.

The Martian definitely is out of this world in terms of performance for the price. So I can recommend you guys to bring it home and see what it can do yourself.