I think by now I’ve said enough about the UM Mage that most of you are googling “Unique Melody” on your browsers. Hold on just a little bit more. If you visit the website, don’t let the website with its broken english and the amateurish photographs distract you. My experience with Sam at Unique Melody has been a very good one. The entire process, from getting my ear impression done, shipping it to China, until I receive the finished product took roughly five weeks. That’s a little long, but Sam has always been very communicative during the process, answering every email I sent him within 24 hours. Again, please understand that English is not his first language, but he definitely takes his time to answer your questions.
Unique melody gives you an option to choose the color of your customs as well as engraving an artwork to your customs. I chose mine to be red and clear. Red for right side, and clear for the left side, just so I can get a good look of what’s inside. I really should have opted for an artwork, cause I’ve seen some really nice artwork on these Mages. Unique melody utilizes a Westone cable (with Westone’s brand on the Y-split!) that I find to be one of the best cable for IEMs, completely free of microphonics. The cable plug is removable, so you can install a different aftermarket cable in the future. They also added a roughly 1″ long thin steel wire at the plug end, so you can bend the wire permanently to the shape of your ears. A luxury that even the Westone 3 or the UM3X doesn’t have.
If you are going to get a custom IEM made, it’s very important that you find an audiologist with a lot of experience in doing IEMs. The quality of the impression is critical. The fit on my pair happens to be perfect, and these customs are actually easier to wear and take off than some IEMs like the Etymotics ER4 or the Westone UM3X, at least in my experience. Also, getting a good seal is quite important, cause that’s how good bass response is achieved. So, make sure you get the best audiologist to do your ear impressions.
GOOD: Mind blowing soundstage, instrument separation that rival full size cans. Very musical sound that goes well with almost all kinds of music. Works well from a portable source.
NO GOOD: Very sensitive to noise and hiss.
System for auditioning:
Headphones: Unique Melody Mage IEM
Source1: Lossless files on MacPro > Grace m902 DAC via Toslink
Source2: Lossless files on Ipod Classic
Amplifier: Grace m902, TTVJ Slim
Jose
Hello,
Very good review, enjoyed it very much! You should correct on Page 5, paragraph 2, line 2-3, “Red for right side, and clear for the right side, just so I can get a good look of what’s inside.”. Also, I hope you get the HE-5 soon, I already have them and I am sure you will complement them a lot in the review, looking forward to reading it. I like the site very much too, keep up the good impressions.
Bests,
Jose Gz.
Mike
Thanks for the correction Jose!
We already got the HE5 and sold it. And we wrote a review on it too! 🙂
Hifiman HE-5 First Impression
Jose
Are you planning on getting the plastic HE5LE?
Jose
Sorry for that, you already replied in the other review.
Rushabh
Hey! Awesome review.
Will you be reviewing UM’s six driver custom, the Miracle?
Also, how exactly do you think the Mage stands upto the JH13Pro?
Mike
Hi Rushabh,
No plans to review the UM Miracle at the moment. There are so many customs these days, and it's hard to cover them all, especially as we also try to cover a lot of other things. 🙂
As for JHAudio to Unique Melody comparisons, I posted a little bit about that on this thread: http://www.headfonia.com/bbpress/topic.php?id=7
Cheers.
Stephen Guo
Thank you for reviewing our UM Mage.
If you are interested in reviewing other UM products, you can contact me.
Responding to your last page, UM has no more broken English!
We are the exclusive distributor of UM in North America:
http://www.custom-iem.com
UM makes great products that makes me think they deserve to publicize their products in good English to English speakers.
If you have any inquires, feel free to contact me at [email protected]
laon
Hi mike, how much the total cost for you to get this custom? including the fit and shipping.
Thanks. 🙂
laon
bump for my above comment, sorry, delete this if you need.
Azor Ruiz
Hi Mike,
any new of when you’ll review the new UMs? Namely the Merlin, and Miracle?
or even Merlin vs JH16 since both of them claim to have very good bass?
Anonymous
Hi Azor, haven’t made any plans for a UM review but I’ll consider it. Thanks.
Adam Nie
Hi, since the link below expired, can you please post some information about how the sound signature of jh and um differ? I’m quite interested in the jh13 and the mage lol.
Hahn
Hi Mike,
I just want to ask if the westone 4 can keep up with the Mage as i cant decide between the two of them. How’s the bass on both when it comes to quantity and which is better overall? Thanks mate 🙂
Seraphan
Hey there I am looking to upgrade from Triple Fi to a custom with budget of around US$600. I am going to use it straight out from the iphone 4. I am looking for something that is close to but better than triple fi. Do you think the mage will fit my criteria? Or should i just reshell my triple fi and add in 3 driver? Thanks.
Anonymous
Hi Seraphan,
The UM reshelled Triple.Fi with 3 additional drivers is one of the best custom IEMs I’ve tried, and I’d definitely recommend it even more than the Mage. It has a nice forward sound like the original TF10, but with better quality all around and a much smoother frequency response curve (especially in the midrange region).
Seraphan
Thanks a lot for your reply. Your comment seems to match some of my friends… How do you compare it with JH10x3, JH13 pro, Jh16?
Anonymous
Hi Seraphan,
The 6-drivers Triple.Fi refit is like the JH13 but less dark. Same forward sound, engaging and fun, just a little more sparkle on the treble.
So it would depend on your music and recording, as some people find the JH13 to be a bit too dark for them.
Seraphan
Wow seems like a winner… Thanks alot for your your info 🙂
Anonymous
It is a winner product — just no buzz on it.
Special_KARZ
Just had the weirdest idea… Is it ever possible to wire a TRRS plug and mic to the Mage? Thinking of using it as a basic (pause, play, back, forward, call/end) control for iPhone.