Audio Performance
To get the most out of the Melodiouz you will need to have them firmly fit in your ears, so as previously mentioned it is important that you use the correct size of the silicone earbuds, or even use aftermarket ones. This is all because, in comparison to over-ear headphones, the drivers in the Melodiouz is tiny, and you will want them as close to your eardrums as possible, whilst also blocking off background noise in the process.
Even though I review mostly over-ear or on-ear headphones, for everyday use I use a pair of in-ear headphones so I know that even a tiny pair can deliver fantastic sounds and powerful bass. To be honest here I was a little skeptical of the Melodiouz at first, not because of how small they are for a pair of gaming headset, but can something with a low price tag deliver the goods. I willing put my hand up and admit how wrong I was….
EpicGear’s Melodiouz really does deliver. Some the earbuds are firmly in position the bass and treble is very prominent. A normal issue with budget in-ear headphones is that the frequencies will bleed into each over, missing out a lot in clarity. Melodiouz’ neodymium magnets does a surprisingly very good job at defining these frequencies letting you enjoy the different levels of sounds. Even thought the Melodiouz lacks any form of virtual surround sound and relies on just stereo output, you wouldn’t find that any gaming ambience is lost in the process. I tested the Melodiouz out on a variety of different games (Overwatch, Battlefield 1, The Witcher 3, GTA 5) and not once did I feel that the audio output was not up to scratch.
Using the Melodiouz on my iPhone produced just as much satisfaction, given me a lot of bass, deep tones, crisp high trebles and depth to the music, but remember that the it not made as an pure audio headphone, so comparing this to say the Sennheiser I use on a daily basis would be like comparing college football to the NFL, its good but not going to THAT good.
One of the highlights of the Melodiouz is actually the microphone, which in a lot of times will be overlooked by both the manufacturers and the gamers, hey, as long as others can hear my voice, that’s good enough, right? The amount of times I’ve played with my friends online and couldn’t make out what they are saying because they’re using some cheap and nasty microphone so that their voices are all garbled, or their wife is nagging in the background which completes overwhelms their voices, has sometimes made me mute the audio in frustration.
The microphone on the Melodiouz is very crisp and clear. Using Microsoft’s Voice Recorder software, I test this out by myself and was surprised how clear my voice was picked up. Putting it into practice with a few rounds of Overwatch, and many of the other players commented that my voice was very clear to them. The downside to the microphone is that you need to bend the flexible boom to position the microphone right in front of your mouth, otherwise it will not pick up you voice well, but then also eliminates a to of background noise as well.
When I first saw photos of the Melodiouz I was a little wary of the size of the microphone boom; it would look a little silly wearing them as a pair of audio headphones with a big microphone dangling down the side of my face. Luckily, as mentioned in the previous section, the boom is fully detachable, making the headset easier to put in your pockets, and more importantly not making you look so silly……!
Verdict & Conclusion
We normally wouldn’t put the words ‘gaming headset’ with ‘in-ear’ in the same sentence, but EpicGear has truly delivered on a relatively affordable solution, combining the two into a very good product. There will always be comparisons with other over-ear gaming headsets, or other conventional in-ear headphones, but to do so would not give the Melodiouz much justice. To cover both of these bases, the Melodiouz has had to find the middle ground in them, yet you would not feel that it has sacrificed much to do so, resulting in the Melodiouz delivering very good performance for all your audio needs.
As a pair of gaming headsets, I found the Melodiouz fitting in perfectly in my cramped home, find a right balance between gaming audio experience and not taking up much room.
Sure, even with the microphone boom removed, the Melodiouz is slightly chunky when using it to listen to music on your smartphone, but I’ve seen plenty of bluetooth headphones out of the market which are much bigger.
Priced at US$44.99 the EpicGear Melodiouz is definitely something that is affordable, delivers great performance, and find a practical use for. Buy now at Amazon – https://goo.gl/ILg8dT
