CHANGSTAR: Audiophile Headphone Reviews and Early 90s Style BBS

  • December 31, 2015, 11:06:34 AM
  • Welcome, Guest
Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Advanced search  
Pages: [1] 2

Author Topic: What's the opinion on Unique Melody nowadays?  (Read 1242 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

tungoerpw

  • Swabbie
  • Brownie Points: +0/-0
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 2
What's the opinion on Unique Melody nowadays?
« on: July 17, 2015, 01:51:14 PM »
With the release of UM Mentor, there has hardly been any word/hype around it unlike the Noble K10 which has garnered such a huge following.

Even in TOTL IEM review comparisons, the UM Mentor bears little mention.

With the popularity of the Miracle, one would think that the better older brother Mentor would take charge in helping in rake more loyal fans but it seems like the winds have changed and no one seems to care about what Unique Melody makes anymore.

The release of 12 BA driver regional restricted versions of their flagship do not help matters either as many would see this as a failure of the UM Mentor as a 10 BA driver flagship.

It's like everyone is just waiting for their 12 BA driver to be internationally available.

What has happened?
Logged

altrunox

  • Able Bodied Sailor
  • Pirate
  • ***
  • Brownie Points: +10/-2
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 137
Re: What's the opinion on Unique Melody nowadays?
« Reply #1 on: July 17, 2015, 02:18:57 PM »
It's also hard to find some info and comparissons on their entry level stuff, JH, 1964 and even Custom Art have more info avaliable on the web, even the local dealer don't have demos of them, he has only the Miracle, Mentor and the Merlin.

I was really surprised a while ago, when a member of an local forum bought the K10, he sold his almost brand new Mentor two weeks after it... He said that the sound signature are different, but anyways...

BTW, I think their new flagship is the one with two ortho drivers from HFM.
Logged
I really don't know what I'm talking about
#7x1neverForget

Kunlun

  • Sort of a big deal in the online feline community
  • Able Bodied Sailor
  • Pirate
  • ***
  • Brownie Points: +42/-16
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 574
  • Goronyo Kunlun Board Member Nigerian Nat'l Oil Co.
    • my website
Re: What's the opinion on Unique Melody nowadays?
« Reply #2 on: July 17, 2015, 02:47:01 PM »
The short, short answer is that Unique Melody was so shitty in service and quality control that a number of dealers dropped them in protest.

The dealers are back, but what's changed is up for debate.
Logged

Insomnium

  • Swabbie
  • Brownie Points: +2/-0
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 5
Re: What's the opinion on Unique Melody nowadays?
« Reply #3 on: July 17, 2015, 05:44:29 PM »
I demoed the 12 driver unit awhile back and like what i heard but wouldnt purchase it for that price. The 10 drivers was NOPE NOPE NOPE ...
Logged

HideousPride

  • Random dude
  • Able Bodied Sailor
  • Pirate
  • ***
  • Brownie Points: +812/-1
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 110
Re: What's the opinion on Unique Melody nowadays?
« Reply #4 on: July 17, 2015, 06:14:50 PM »
Quote from: Kunlun on July 17, 2015, 02:47:01 PM
The short, short answer is that Unique Melody was so shitty in service and quality control that a number of dealers dropped them in protest.

The dealers are back, but what's changed is up for debate.

This is basically what I heard as well. UM's also not the best at marketing themselves, so it's unsurprising they've dropped off the map as more CIEM companies have been popping up. FWIW, Stephen Guo is also behind xDuoo, which makes pretty affordable entry level amp/DACs that are pretty well received on Massdrop.
Logged

Anaxilus

  • Phallus Belligerantus Analmorticus
  • Pirate
  • **
  • Brownie Points: +65535/-65535
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 3493
  • TRS jacks must die
    • The Claw
Re: What's the opinion on Unique Melody nowadays?
« Reply #5 on: July 18, 2015, 12:48:53 AM »
UM marketing was pretty fabulous 4-5 years ago when UM Australia was pushing to expand until Stephen Guo nipped that in the bud to control his poorly managed turf.

They made some great looking shells at one time, but never impressed much beyond a mid-fi sound even with the PP^ and that nontransparent magic dsp box that looked as if it was farmed out to ibasso. I also treid to get a very large loaner for the Merlin off the ground at head-fi including joker, averagejoe, jp, and a bunch of other old schoolers there. Unfortunately the Dynamic driver integration could never get well resolved after the prototypes I heard and the tour never happened. Had some promise. I think they just didn't have the expertise at the time to take their idea to the next level. Not sure much has changed since. IME, even w/ JHA, more drivers than 5-6 has usually been noticeably worse.
Logged
"If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading." - Lao Tzu

"The Claw is our master. The Claw chooses who will go or who will stay." - The LGM Community

"You're like a dull knife, just ain't cuttin'. Talking loud, saying nothing." - James Brown

FlySweep

  • Able Bodied Sailor
  • Powder Monkey
  • ***
  • Brownie Points: +9/-0
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 96
Re: What's the opinion on Unique Melody nowadays?
« Reply #6 on: July 18, 2015, 12:53:52 AM »
Quote from: HideousPride on July 17, 2015, 06:14:50 PM
This is basically what I heard as well. UM's also not the best at marketing themselves, so it's unsurprising they've dropped off the map as more CIEM companies have been popping up. FWIW, Stephen Guo is also behind xDuoo, which makes pretty affordable entry level amp/DACs that are pretty well received on Massdrop.

..and Stephen was, arguably, one of the best UM dealers around during UM's "heyday."  But from what I remember, he also got jacked around by UM during a big promo they had.  A real shame cause UM had some pretty good sounding customs.. and they had a lot of momentum .. their CS was always less that impressive.. but they had a chance to turn it around before the cIEM industry blew up.. they didn't.. and now, they're an afterthought b/c of it.
Logged

Anaxilus

  • Phallus Belligerantus Analmorticus
  • Pirate
  • **
  • Brownie Points: +65535/-65535
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 3493
  • TRS jacks must die
    • The Claw
Re: What's the opinion on Unique Melody nowadays?
« Reply #7 on: July 18, 2015, 12:57:07 AM »
Goes to show, everything starts at the top and shit rolls downhill from there.
Logged
"If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading." - Lao Tzu

"The Claw is our master. The Claw chooses who will go or who will stay." - The LGM Community

"You're like a dull knife, just ain't cuttin'. Talking loud, saying nothing." - James Brown

Maxvla

  • Mate
  • Pirate
  • ****
  • Brownie Points: +211/-12
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1251
Re: What's the opinion on Unique Melody nowadays?
« Reply #8 on: July 18, 2015, 01:11:49 AM »
Quote from: blackzipline on July 17, 2015, 01:51:14 PM
With the popularity of the Miracle, one would think that the better older brother Mentor would take charge in helping in rake more loyal fans but it seems like the winds have changed and no one seems to care about what Unique Melody makes anymore.

Do people generally keep trading up for the new model with CIEMs? Their resale value is so low, I don't expect that sort of market. When I thought about customs I knew I would have to demo as many of them at the same time as I could because if I bought blindly (or deafly), trying another would be painful on the pocket book. I somewhat preferred the sound of the Westone ES60 over my UERM (RMAF 2011) when I was at RMAF 2014, but the value proposition is just not there, so I stayed with what I had.

When I heard the UM stuff at RMAF 2011 I thought they sounded alright, but clearly were of a mid-fi nature as Anaxilus mentioned above.
Logged

tomscy2000

  • The Bill Nye of CIEMs
  • Able Bodied Sailor
  • Pirate
  • ***
  • Brownie Points: +46/-1
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 190
Re: What's the opinion on Unique Melody nowadays?
« Reply #9 on: July 18, 2015, 03:13:26 AM »
From what I understand, UM is undergoing a major shift in business strategy. They've always been more of the OEM type, and so they don't want the pain of dealing with customers. In the past, they've also recklessly given "exclusive distribution" to anyone who wanted it, resulting in poor CS and turf wars people already mentioned, due to both low quality distributors (with poor marketing instincts) and on the flipside, overzealous ones.

Thus, they're trying to go away from that strategy, and from what I see, opting to provide technical training/support, parts supply, etc. to local companies that wish to establish their own brands, e.g. AAW in Singapore, FlipEars in the Philippines, etc. and in turn switching to a profit sharing and/or IP licensing model. Their own production load is decreased, while their profits, while likely lower, is more consistent.

For their own side, they're choosing to leverage their 3D SLA printing to make high-margin universal models like the Mentor/Maverick-Goose-orwhateverthefuckthenewmodelsarecalled, and to limit order options so that 3D printing is incentivized for customers.

I also sense they're being a lot more selective with their partners --- Hifiman is a case in point. At least they have a standing marketing/sales department, and Fang does the diaphragmatic R&D. UM only needs to churn them out like a production line.

I don't know him well at all, but Stephen Guo seems still to be fighting the good fight, as he was the original overseas business developer. UM's sub-brand, Rooth, is all but dead.
Logged
Pages: [1] 2
« previous next »