Mini Review - Unique Melody Mest Mk2

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Also available on YouTube in Spanish: Acho Reviews YouTube

Intro…

As we get to the end of the mini review series (to know more about these mini reviews, check out the Timeless mini review here), did I save the best until last?

Todays mini review is of the Unique Melody Mest 2, a set of IEMs that uses a quadbrid combination of dynamic, balanced armature, EST and bone conduction drivers, coming in (at the time of creating this mini review) at around 1100€.

As these do not come in their original packaging, due to them being kindly loaned to me by Antdroid (of Audio Discourse), I am going to skip the presentation and move straight to the …

Build and aesthetics…

The Mest 2 are a lightweight set of IEMs, using a fairly normal shape with nice smoothed edges and generally a very comfortable result, at least for my personal ear anatomy.

At a simple glance, they are a dark and simple colour with a few gold flecks, however, looking at the closer and in better light, they do have a lot more going on. The left side has the UM logo in silver lettering, while the right side sports the word Mest.

They seem to be very well built and I find them to be pleasant looking although nothing extraordinary, they don’t stand out and scream “look what I have in my ears”.

In general, I have no complaints at all in this department.

Sound…

I am going to get straight to the point and say that I expected more from the Mest 2. Now, they are by no means bad, in fact, they are very good, but I haven’t had any “wow” moments while using them. They are very capable and have a good overall sound to them, I am just not blown away.

Again, let me make it clear that they are not bad and I am certainly not going to complain about their sound (or capabilities), I just do not find them exciting, maybe because I had hyped myself up to expect more, preconceived opinions do that (sometimes for better and sometimes for worse).

In the subbass region, they have plenty of subbass to keep me happy and they are very articulate in the way they present it. Listening to test tracks like my typical “Chameleon” test, there is really nothing I can complain about in the low end.

The midbass is also very good, both in presence and in substance. There is enough to keep me (and probably most people) happy. It is also very controlled, like the subbass, without it seeming to lose control at all and it doesn’t invade the mids. In comparison to the Helios, another 1k set of IEMs that really did impress me, the midbass is possibly the only part that I feel the Mest 2 does a little better, at least in quantity.

The mids are very balanced and although on paper I would have thought that the reduced upper mids would make things sound a little recessed and pushed back, it is not the case, at least to my ears. I was surprised to find that things were smooth yet easily identified and at no time deid I find myself straining to enjoy vocals.

The upper frequencies are well extended, with a nice sensation of air an spaciousness, while still remaining smooth and not presenting any unexpected peaks or harshness.

The details are also good, although not excellent in my opinion. This could be due to the smoothness of the tuning tricking my brain into thinking it is not retrieving as much detail, as there really isn’t anything missing, I haven’t come across any tracks that I found to be lacking in detail in comparison to other IEMs, it is just quite a bit smoother.

Conclusion…

As I said at the beginning of the sound section, the Mest 2 are a very good set of IEMs, maybe even excellent, but they just haven’t wowed me.

There is two possible reasons for this, one is that I was spoiled by the fact that the first >1k IEMs I heard were the Helios, a set of IEMs that really did wow me, and since then things have just been not quite as impressive.

The other option is that I have created a memory of the Helios that is better than they actually were, meaning that even the HElios would possibly be a let down if I were to listen to them again.

The only fair comparison between the Mest 2 and the Helios would be to actually listen to them side by side and compare. However, even though that gives me another excuse to finally purchase a set of Helios (as if I needed more excuses), I will be returning the Mest 2 to its owner and I have no intention of purchasing a set.

I guess all of this is to say that the Mest 2 is great. I have no complaints. I just expected more excitement for 1000€. This is possibly (probably?) not even the fault of the IEMs, rather it is my own brain, but I can only share what I feel. It is also possible, as I have said in my other mini reviews, that spending more time with something will sometimes make me appreciate it and like it more (or sometimes less), so this should be taken as what it is, my personal take on a set of IEMs after only spending a day or two with them.

As this is the last in the series of these mini-reviews, I just want to thank Antdroid once more for loaning me all of these IEMs, and to those of you reading, if you haven’t checked out audiodiscourse.com yet, do it now!! 😀