Review: Unique Melody Maven II ‘Crescent’

Special thanks to Andrew at Musicteck and Unique Melody for providing me with a sample Maven II for this review. All opinions expressed herein are entirely my own. 

Despite being one of the industry’s established premium portable audio brands, I’ve had relatively little exposure to Unique Melody’s (UM) wide range of IEMs. 

The closest I’ve come was a brief flirtation with one of the company’s most popular releases, Multiverse Mentor, which I described in my review as an “enigma” that, for me, lacked some crucial ingredients for emotional engagement, mostly sufficient physical bass.

For all its technical prowess, I felt Mentor lacked the foundation of good dynamic driver bass, so when I read about a new UM IEM called Maven II ‘Crescent’ with its also-new stacked dual-DD array, I quickly dropped Andrew – he of ‘IEM Mecca’ Musicteck fame – a note about getting one in for review. Thanks to Andrew and the good people at Unique Melody, and a few weeks later, here we are.

Introducing Maven II

I’m told UM’s Maven series of IEMs have a storied history. All I knew of them prior to Maven II was the original Maven, the first of its name, had uniquely-latticed metal shells that made almost every other IEM at the time seem downright plain-looking. 

Maven II is not actually Maven’s direct successor; there was an interim model called Maven Pro, if I’m not mistaken. It does, however, continue the Maven theme of beautifully-crafted metal shells, with the iconic ‘lattice’ forged into a crescent shape adorning Maven II’s matte titanium finish (hence the name). 

Unlike UM’s more ‘illustrious’ IEM series, MEST and Mason, the Maven family uses dynamic drivers for bass. Maven also lacks MEST’s and Mason’s proprietary bone conduction drivers, a trademark feature of UM IEMs many users associate with their stellar imaging performance.   

Instead, Maven II features 10 drivers in each earpiece – 6.9mm dynamic for sub-bass, 9.8mm dynamic for midbass, dual balanced armatures for midrange, dual balanced armatures for treble, and quad Sonion electrostatic drivers for upper treble, collectively managed by a five-way crossover system. This makes it the ‘beefiest’ edition of the Maven line to date, and as you’ll soon read, also a very capable performer, even when compared to its far pricier siblings.

Design and fit

Maven II’s titanium shells are expertly made and perfectly finished. I believe UM is one of the few, if not the only, company capable of creating precision 3D-printed titanium shells, and if Maven II is anything to go by, they have the process down pat. 

From the marketing material I received, the titanium powder is sourced from Germany, and refined to allow for shells that are a mere 0.4mm thin.  Because titanium is five times stronger than stainless steel at half the weight, the shells are surprisingly light, and also very resistant to scratches. Still, I’d caution against throwing them in a bag or onto a desk unprotected, because once scratched, titanium oxidises and discolours, so consider them hardy but also delicate.  

Attention to detail extends beyond the fine lattice work in the crescent, too. Hidden in those geometric folds are the dynamic driver vents, and the surface itself is smooth as silk to the touch. UM also added a small inscription, “for Guy” on each earpiece, which I thought was a very nice touch indeed. 

The nozzle is extended but not too long or girthy, capped by a fine metal mesh to keep the nasties away from the sound tubes inside. At first, I feared the nozzle might be a touch too big for my small ear canals, but a quick audition with my go-to SpinFit CP145 tips put those fears to rest. This is about as comfortable a fit as I get from any universal IEM, snug but not too tight, not too shallow or deep, and nice and cool on the skin.

Packaging and accessories

For a sub-$2,000 IEM, Maven II is one of the more luxurious packages I’ve seen. Inside the rather plain outer box you’ll find a sturdy black enclosure with a magnetic latch, and two sizeable compartments, including and pull-out accessory drawer. 

The main compartment holds the IEM shells and custom-made PW Audio cable inside a Dignis-made, UM-branded blue leather zipper case. This is no ordinary case, with Velcro partitions separating each earpiece, and ample space for a larger third-party cable too. 

You’ll also find a generous selection of accessories inside the drawer, including two sets of tips (UM black silicone tips and Azla Xelastec tips in three different sizes), a cleaning tool, warranty card, cable clip, and cleaning cloth. 

As mentioned above, the cable is worth a closer look, as it’s not your run-of-the-mill throwaway stock cable. Dubbed ‘UM Copper M2 RE’, it’s made by none other than Peter Wong (he of Orpheus fame), and features four conductors of 24awg pure OCC copper woven around a fibre core. 

Wrapped in a smooth, shiny, microphonic-free PVC jacket with almost-matching metallic hardware, the cable comes with non-recessed 2-pin connectors, giving it a ‘flush’ look when inserted into the non-recessed ports. You can also choose your connector type – 2.5mm, 3.5mm or 4.4mm – at checkout. 

My only criticism of the cable is that it gets quite tangled in storage, and often needs to be ‘reset’. I’m a huge fam of PWA cables, and even though Maven II’s is not quite the same level, aesthetically or sonically, as Peter’s more exclusive creations, it’s still a good indicator that the pairing is both intentional and a step above the ordinary.  

The combination of great design, precision-made titanium shells, generous (and exclusive) accessories, and a muscular spec list all point to one thing: a high-performance luxury IEM. That it’s priced ‘modestly’ compared to UM’s sometimes eye-wateringly expensive models begs the question, “what am I missing?”, and that’s exactly what I’ll try to answer next.

Continue to sound impressions…