A year ago, the Unique Melody MEST was released and it gained quite a
following in the audio circles. In my personal take of this quad-brid IEM, I
absolutely loved it, giving both the universal and custom models high marks
for its balanced sound-signature, excellent resolution, and imaging, and
natural sound that featured a unique bone conduction driver, along with the
very popularly used Sonion electrostatic tweeter drivers.
Unique Melody has taken feedback from the community and released an updated Mk
II version that is sold to the western audiences. They had already release
special versions of the original MEST in Japan and Hong Kong/China, but had
not targeted a special version elsewhere until now.
Configuration & Unboxing
The MK II version of the MEST keeps the same driver configuration mostly,
except replaces the original bone conduction driver, with a new double-sided
version that increases its frequency range that it can play around in. The
rest of the driver config remains the same with a single dynamic driver, four
balanced armatures, and a pair of electrostatic tweeters.
Along with the driver swap, the shell design was changed to closer match the
models developed to the Asian markets. This meant the large size of the
original MEST was shrunk down and is now a much smaller form factor that'll
fit more users comfortably and easily. I can attest to this, as the original
MEST was pretty large and may not have been the most comfortable IEMs I've
tried. This new updated design is very comfortable for me.
Along with the small shape, there are some small little changes with the
nozzle, the vents, as well as the design. Gone away are the red or blue flakes
inside carbon fabric, but instead, the red or blue flake options are now gold
flakes. I prefer this black and gold combo more than the red or blue options
of the past. There are also additional green, purple and other design choices
now available if one goes with a custom model, however the universal is only
available in gold/black.
The big bulky cable that came with the original MEST and Mini MEST has also
been replaced. This time, the company partnered with PW Audio and created a
custom black braided cable called the Copper M2 cable. This new cable is still
on the big side, but its significantly easier to handle, is more supple, and
the build quality is fantastic. The connectors and the splitter are well made
and feel great, and the overall quality is just better. While I quickly tossed
the original MEST cable back into the box, this new PW Cable has stayed
attached to the MK II the entire time.
Finally, the other new additions to this package are including a new magnetic
clip for storing the cables or buttoning it to your shirt, and including a set
of Azla tips. These tips were an extremely popular choice among those in the
communities and including it directly in the box is a big win for the company.
These were my preferred choice of tips with the original MEST MK1.
Like the previous models, Unique Melody includes their custom collaboration
case with Dignis. This bright blue case is a very attractive and wonderful way
to store the IEMs and additional accessories in. All in all, it looks like UM
really went out of their way to work with premium companies across the board
to get the best accessories they could within the price budget here, and
provide a very nice and ready for use end item for customers.
These little upgrades do come with a small price hike though. The MEST MKII
comes in at $1499 USD, which is about a $100 USD price increase over the
original MEST last year. At this time, I do want to make sure to disclaim that
this review sample was provided to me from UM directly, but they do not
influence or review the words and thoughts in my writing process here. Thank
you Leo and UM for providing this review unit!
Full Unboxing Video
Sound Impressions
The Unique Melody MEST MK 2 spent the majority of my listening time attached
to the Lotoo PAW 6000 digital audio player. I used this DAP as both a portable
player around the house or in the office, or connected directly to my computer
as a USB DAC. Typically when in DAC mode, I used Roon and HQPlayer as the
music player, while using the DAP as the DAC/Amp.
In addition to this pairing, I also used the MEST MK2 with the all-new Topping
D30 Pro and A30 Pro DAC and Amp stack. This dac/amp pairing is a bit more
incisive and forward than the Lotoo. Finally, I also spent a short time with
pairing the MEST Mk2 with the Shanling M3X DAP, as well as the Meizu USB-C
dongle attached to a Samsung Galaxy S21 phone.
The Unique Melody MEST Mk2 presents a very well-balanced sound signature, with
a pleasant bass boost, a relaxed mid-range and a treble region that's
generally sweet, but has a little bit of excitement too it, and well extended.
In terms of how it compares to the original MEST Mk1, there's a small addition
of warmer lower-mids, a punchier bass, and a reduced 6KHz spike, but also just
slightly more treble overall, especially in the upper harmonics. This gives
the MEST Mk2, a slightly, slightly, more fun sound and one that I am enjoying.
Let's go into a little more detail.
The MEST MK2's biggest change is its bone conductor driver, which is now
two-sided. While I can't say I felt anything or could hear how it affected the
sound in any clear way, there is definitely a tuning difference between the
two, though subtle, but welcomed. When the original model came out, I thought
it was an interesting and deeply engaging sound, which a unique presentation.
The MK2 model now takes on all the good things about the original, but tidies
up the loose ends, and make this set a more refined, but also a more fun and
enjoyable one for all music genres to me. The changes are subtle, but its
noticeable.
In the low end, the UM bumped the bass quantity ever so slightly by 2-ish dB
SPL and this small increase gives the presentation of kick drums and bass
guitars are more defined and impactful presentation. Don't get me wrong, the
original was plenty bassy for me, but it did have a bigger focus on sub-bass
performance than mid-bass. The tuning differences that UM added in this model
improve the mid-bass performance to work better with rock music genres where
there's a lot more electric bass and kick drums leading the way.
The sub-bass performance does not seem impacted by this. In Massive Attack's
"Angel", the sub-bass pounds with might, and the kick drum sounds are punchy
with great detail and texture. When I popped on the original MEST CIEM
(Custom), it still hits hard, but not quite as much as the MK2 universal. The
MK2 slams.
This additional bass quantity really helps add a meatier and engaging
mid-range that can sometimes feel a little thin on the original MEST. I
wouldn't call the original one thin in general, but there were times when the
upper mid-range's peaks could cause the general sound to lack some lushness.
With this, I do find the MEST MK2 works better than the original MEST when it
comes to male rock vocals. I enjoyed listening to Chris Cornell's wallows, and
Chris Stapleton's southern folk rock vocals.
The upper-mids are really improved on this new MEST MK2 in my opinion. In the
original version, there were some benefits to having a peak in the presence
range, explained later, but it did have some drawbacks. First, I felt that
this did occasionally added sharpness and a little too much bite on guitar
plucks and strings, which can make some of my favorite music from bands like
popular bluegrass bands Nickel Creek and Alison Krauss have a little too much
twang at times. It also affected some higher pitched female vocals like Krauss
or someone like Lauren Mayberry, where their vocals sound a tad strained. For
the most part though, this wasn't much of an issue, but I can see some people
who are sensitive to this region, take some offense to it.
The MK2 tames this peak down, while still retaining the same softness and ease
of the upper-midrange that I really liked on the MK1 and reminds me more of
how the custom model sounds than the universal version of the MK 1. The three
versions have their differences, and so I do find the MK2 is in-between the
Custom and Universal MK1 versions in this sense.
In some ways, the original MEST had the unique presence peak that made imaging
and soundstage very holographic and spherical. I don't necessarily find the
soundstage to be as bubbly in this case. To me, the MK2 has more of a
traditional soundstage presentation, where things come at you left and right,
top and bottom, and forward. But it doesn't necessarily encompass me like the
original did. So, in this sense the MK2 doesn't compete with the MK1's
presentation capabilities, but it still has a solid soundstage that is fairly
wide and deep and something that sounds a little more traditional for IEMs and
headphones, and less of one that seems like its been fed through a cross-feed
manipulator, when compared to the original MEST.
The treble range is, like the original MEST, leans bright, but has a nice
smoothness to it that is helped by the EST drivers. The treble range is
extended, and I don't feel like I am missing much in the entire range of
instrumental harmonics of the music I typically listen to. Cymbal and Hi-Hat
splashes are controlled and don't have a fatiguing sound that I can
occasionally get with the MEST CIEM, and feels more aligned with how the MEST
Universal sounds.
The imaging and resolution qualities are still intact from the original
versions of this product. The MK2 has good instrumental separation, which is
on display with an a nice incision and a forward, but wide presentation of
"Goodbye is All We Have" from Alison Krauss and Union Station.
Source/Impedance Synergy
With increasing source impedance, the MEST MK2 increases its bass quantity, while also dipping down in the mids and upper treble. This gives the overall sound a bassier and slightly darker sound, so if someone felt there wasn't enough low end oomph, the easy way to fix it is to get something like the iFi Ear Buddy or IEMatch and bump up the impedance slightly, or get a a bigger 20 ohm adapter to adjust accordingly. I used the Hiby 4.4mm 20 ohm impedance adapter in this case.
Overall
To me, this is a nice all-rounder overall. I am enjoying it daily with a
wide-variety of music and that's typically the type of IEM I reach for most of
the time, since my music rotation is pretty eclectic and all over the place. I
may go from bluegrass to alternative rock to jazz to hip hop and back to
country and on to electropop or new wave. It's a constant rotation of
something different, and the MEST MK2 is even better at this than the original
version in my eyes.
As some may know, I do put this type of all-rounder capability on a higher
pedestal than niche products, but that doesn't mean I don't like one-off
guilty pleasures or other genre-specific products if they are executed well.
The MEST MK2 does fall into the same type of category and in the summit of my
favorites along with other great all-rounders like the 64 Audio U12T and the
Sony IER-M9.
This is a nice overall package, from every little detail put into stuffing the
box with premium tips, cable, and case, and a welcomed re-design of the
already stellar MEST MK1. The new smaller form factor is the biggest change in
my eyes that makes it worth it for someone like me with small ears to upgrade.
It makes this a very pain-free experience that has the sonic pleasure to go
with it.
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You know you gotta get a ciem now lol
ReplyDeleteLovely review and in fact, the review which made me go out and upgrade my Mk1’s to Mk2’s! Hence I genuinely “thank you”. Completely echo your thoughts now on upper bass and lower mids… lacking for me personally on Mk1. Oh my god! These Mk2’s really slam as you say! I’ve now reached out to all those tricky albums I just “avoided” with the Mk1’s. Exemplary. End game IEM. End of … or at least I hope! Cheers
ReplyDeleteThat's great that you found your endgame iem!!
ReplyDeleteCompared to u12t would you prefer this mest mkii or the u12t?
ReplyDelete