yeah… that is one of the problems with TPE but I can’t fault them greatly for it…as they are so far the best fitting and comfortable tips I’ve used personally
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I agree, they’re also the most comfortable ear tips on my small portfolio.
those are the best tips. 
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Technical question.
The bone conduction driver, would measurement rigs pick this up properly? Would there be any interactions that would alter frequency response?
Just wondering. The 6k spike in the FR looks large enough from the general baseline that I would expect more complaints about it than I’m getting from the reviews I have read. Wondering if this is maybe a an artefact of that driver or if it really is just below threshold.
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Ok. I was thinking of posting the Q on the measurements thread but didnt want to derail the current discussion.
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So has anyone tried the mini MEST yet?
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Yea the 6K spike can probably affect some people more than others. I was surprised I wasn’t deeply bothered by it myself. It does make a lot of things sound more forward though.
Its noticeable, but not enough to make me hate it.
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Had given the mini MEST a 10 minute audition at a local head-fi shop, tonality wise wasn’t particularly my cup of tea. Though I would commend it for its ability to portray depth and layering. Alas it wasn’t for me so I haven’t really given it much more ear time.
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I was just asked to join the MEST mini tour. Not sure when that’ll start or when Ill get it but am excited to try it out. Seems like its not as popular though. People seem to think its a bit generic sounding and lacks the MEST magic.
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I was one of the first few who got it from the first lot with the initial discount from MusicTeck but after today’s review from BGGAR (you know who he is … haha), there has been some concerns with his qualifiers. Well, he praised the heck out of it with the caveat that he was reviewing the JP version.
While I am amazingly impressed by my regular/international version (which everyone here that tried it has heard), this qualifier stirred the pot and I am interested in your take on it.
Context:
Acoording to the Unique Melody official rep/person on Headfi, they said in a post “There are some minor changes in the bass timbre, where the mid-bass is slightly more pronounced. The upper-mid to treble is slightly brighter than the original MEST. The difference is about 5% if make sense.”
In another post, they said, “The MusicTeck version is the standard version which we are selling them in all the regions. JP exclusive version is a limited edition, and it was required by the distributor in Japan. We equally value all customers, but we are just lack of experience in the western market. The extra mid-bass is more like a side-effect of the extra induction port which was designed for extra comfort in long listening sessions. We didn’t tune that way. So the change in the mid-bass is minimal to none, and it is quite ear-shape depending based on the customer feedback. Meanwhile, we are thinking about designing a Western version (as required) that focuses more on bass, dynamic, and sound density in mid without sacrifices too much in clarity and overall balance.”
The question: While this kind of transparency is amazing from a company, how much do you think it makes sense to make a separately tuned US, a different Asian (JP, Singapore as they wrote - not me) and international of the same IEM? Sure they have the same signature but now (after the BGGAR review) a few of Americans and Europeans who got it want the JP version.
So basically my question boils down to the previous paragraph.
A different story: While discussing with a good friend who is a veteran headfier based in NY - who got the first MEST tour unit, told me in DM that the company is supposedly going to make an American version based on our tastes (something like a classical Andromeda tuning - for lack of a better analogy). The irony is, UM went in the opposite direction and slightly retuned it for the Asian market. I found it quite amusing.
Btw. I loved @antdroid’s review on it and I see that Andrew @Resolve would soon get an audition pair. Maybe you can talk about this a little bit if you make a video.
Cheers - came to visit the audio community after a while. Feels good!
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There’s currently only a JP version, and an everyone else version. This isn’t super strange. Many companies have done these types of things for the JP or CN markets in the past. Campfire Andromeda has a special MixWave one that is popular only in Japan for example. JP and CN and asia in general, is a massive IEM market compared to the rest of the world, so it makes sense to make a version that targets their unique listening preferences.
Personally, looking at HBB’s graph and the one I did, I think I would prefer the one available here. As typical JP-style tuning, it’s brighter, more shouty, etc. That said, it still looks like it measures pretty good.
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I dont know if Id like them to do that. Focusing on bass and maybe punch with a loss of balance and clarity?? Sounds like aiming more for mass market, which they are entitled to do I guess. Would make me think twice about getting them if they made the change. Isnt the bass shelf on this pretty good to perhaps a bit much at times already? Havent had the privilege of hearing these.
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Great post. Oh, and Happy Cake Day too.
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FYI - we did a roundtable review podcast of the MEST with @toranku, @Rush, Leneo and myself. UM
s North American rep even listened in to it 
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Oooooh, imma watch that. Had to put the MEST on hold because Utopia.
Unique Melody and Musicteck sent me a demo unit to try out of the Mini MEST and just did a quick unbox video. No actual impressions in it, just video.
The case is really nice. I love these Dignis cases and the vibrant look of them. From quick memory, I think the mini is just a little bit smaller but still thicker than most IEMs, but it doesnt bother me at all. The front pattern of this unit is the same as the blue/carbon look of the regular MEST except with blue inner shell design.
Initial sound impressions –
Mostly listened to jazz music (EST, Tingvall Trio), electropop (styrofoam, tegan & sara) and some Fleetwood Mac so far:
It’s got a more balanced bass and perhaps a more U shape sound. The bass is down-sloping, so it doesnt have the heavy sub-bass focus of the original MEST. The upper mid-range and the entire main treble region is brighter on Mini as well, so people who may think the MEST didn’t do well with female vocals should be happy with this one. I think it’s perhaps a little too bright in the 6-10K region, so sometimes the cymbals on “Dreams” comes off a little jolting.
I think the bass texture takes a bit of a loss here compared to the MEST thus far. The Mini has plenty of warm bass sounds and can be felt, but I think it does lose a little bit of the natural decay and texturing that I loved on the regular MEST. For not having a DD, it does a very commendable job on the Jazz tracks I’ve heard.
I also think the resolution isn’t on par as MEST, though imaging, depth and coherency is pretty good. But that said, I don’t think this is a bad unit on my first listen. It’s enjoyable to hear and I don’t think it has many dealbreaker flaws for the price, except it shares the same name as one of my fav iems i’ve heard.
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The Unique Melody Mini MEST is the new and smaller sibling of the very likeable MEST that I reviewed a few months ago. The Mini MEST is one of the lower priced products from luxury brand Unique Melody. As of right now, I believe the $599 Mini MEST is the lowest price product in their lineup, which will soon introduce a $300 USD triple-dynamic driver IEM in the near future.
This Mini version strips away both the dynamic driver and the two EST drivers from the larger MEST as well as reduced the balanced armatures count to 3. It still retains the signature bone conduction driver, however, making this a 4-driver hybrid (3-BA, 1-BCD).
One thing to point out on this Mini is that the BA drivers are open-air drivers, similar to the Tia driver used by 64 Audio in their Audiophile lineup. These drivers feature tubeless and unrestricted diaphragms that can give a little bit more of a dynamic driver feel to them, while still being very much a BA. In this case, Unique Melody is using 3 of these types of drivers, and I’ve been told that the distortion is controlled, and co-mingling of the drivers is enhanced by the addition of the bone conduction driver.
This Mini MEST was provided by Unique Melody and MusicTeck (North American distributor) for the purpose of a review. The link below will take you directly to the product page on MusicTeck’s site:
The Mini MEST comes in a small package which contains several tip choices, a cable and case as well as the IEMs. The case is a vibrant blue-themed Dignis brand case that has been custom made by Unique Melody and features their branding on it. Unlike the regular MEST, the Dignis case is made of a canvas-fabric material instead of leather, but is similarly sized.
The cable included is a braided, multi-colored tan/black cable that ends in a 2.5mm balanced connector that can also be optioned with standard 3.5mm and 4.4mm balanced.
For this review, I decided to go with my own set of 4.4mm Kinboofi cables and generic double-flage silicone tips that worked with my ear shape to provide the best seal and response.
In terms of actual shell design and fit, I found the Mini to be, as the name implies, a smaller version of the MEST. It has the same carbon fiber weave look on the faceplate, with blue flakes sprinkled in for contrast and the branding in silver font that shimmers in the light. The shell design is a semi-opaque royal blue color that looks very much solid, though has just enough translucency that you can kind of see the inner workings of the IEM.
The shell, while smaller than the MEST, is similar in depth/thickness and this is a bit more than some other IEMs I’ve tried in the past. For me, this never came up as a problem. I never have had fit issues with this particular set, nor did I have issues with fit with the larger MEST either.
Sound Impressions
The Mini MEST has almost a V-Shaped sound signature that I want to say is quite generic sounding, but I think that would be a bit too negative sounding for what it is. It’s tuning is very safe and is not unlike other gentle V-shaped IEMs with a bass shelf that starts early in the mid-range and a rise from 1KHz up through the treble region. Despite this, I never found the mid-range to sound recessed like a V-shaped IEM would, and so perhaps calling it that is not the best name and rather a balanced-warm focused U-shaped IEM would be a better title. But that’s a lot of titles for a thing isn’t it?
What makes the Mini MEST stand out from other similarly-tuned IEMs is a natural resonance factor that I recently experienced in the Campfire Andromeda 2020. In that IEM, I quickly noticed a more lively atmosphere when listening to acoustical music genres and I can somewhat sense that here too with the MEST. It is a touch harder to hear these nuances though, because there is a heavier bass response, which sometimes can be overwhelming in some songs, but it’s also quite fun too. (This is all relative because some may think my bass preferences are on the lower end of the spectrum than others)
There’s a tactility to the bass response on the Mini that I feel is missing on a lot of multi-BA sets out there. Very few can achieve a level of bass decay and tactile punch without having a dynamic driver, and is something I wish my Hidition Viento-B CIEM had more of sometimes. The 64 Audio U12t, for example, has a little bit of decay and punch in it’s bass response, and the Mini MEST here does also but to much less extent. I am not going to claim it’s as natural as the best dynamics and hybrids out there, but it is a little better than some multi-BA setups in this regard, although I do feel that it can some a little blunted sometimes and missing attack.
The mid-range does not sound as scooped as I would have imagined, and actually has a nice thick and full sound to it. Rock music was my favorite genre to pair with the mini since the general tonality goes well with it. Thicker notes and an exciting treble response make the buzzing guitars and drum hits with more power and emphasis. I found my head bobbing to some Alice and Chains, and Smashing Pumpkins with this set.
I never found the timbre to sound off here. Like the MEST, this isn’t exactly the neutral-reference-type sound, and is heavily colored. But somehow, to me, it still retains a natural realistic sound, that is also a little fun and enjoyable, although more boring when compared to the MEST and other IEMs that have more captivating sound signatures.
The technical performance of the Mini is average to above average, and in terms of its price range, I’d say its above average. I think the coherency is quite good with no real disjointed sounds across the 3 BA drivers and whatever the bone conduction driver does, which is impressive given the type of BA drivers they use can lead to a lot of distortion and other issues.
I think the resolution is pretty good, but not on the same level as the larger MEST or other flagships. It has resolution I’d expect from a multi-BA setup that is tuned well, and surprised a bit that some of the nuances stand out still with the heavier bass emphasis that can sometimes become muddy and buried.
It’s been a while since I’ve had a good listen to both the Dunu DK3001 Pro or the Moondrop Blessing 2, but I probably would put it’s resolution in between the realms of the Blessing 2 and the more relaxed DK3001 Pro. Both are good IEMs, but I think the Blessing 2 does more technical things than the Dunu hybrid, and I believe the Mini MEST is in-between those two in this aspect.
Soundstage is generally wide but not endless. It’s more wide than deep, but provides enough depth to showcase decent imaging capabilities, enough to have proper instrument separation and defined locations in the soundscape. When looking back at the MEST, with its holographic spherical soundstage, this one is very flat in comparison, and has a more traditional left to right stage as opposed to one that engulfs the listener.
Wrap-Up
The Mini MEST is a solid addition to the Unique Melody family, which in my limited experience with them has been a hit or miss lineup. In this set and the larger and costlier MEST, I have a bit of renewed interest in this brand again and their interesting alchemy of driver technology, shell designs, and tuning choices. It’s always a something unique with their products, and I think this one is one of the more safer approaches to tuning, while attempting something a little clever with their technology.
The Mini isn’t exactly the most exciting sounding IEM out there. It’s got a kind of tired and overly done sound signature, but it does do a few things well that make it stand out from the rest, and that’s a nice mix of BA signature resolution and transient speed mixed with a little extra resonance and tactility that makes it a little more fun of an IEM than the traditional multi-BA.
I do want to give a quick extra bonus wrap-up shoutout to the really awesome looking and feeling case that this product comes with. I even prefer it to the more luxurious one that the more expensive MEST came with.
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