Intro
CCZ is a new brand that’s pretty ambitious in my opinion. They hit the market a few months ago with their flagship IEM, CCZ Plume, which sadly has been discontinued. It received a mixed bag review, personally i liked them, the only downside to it is the price. Our topic today will be the Melody, so let’s get right into it.
Packaging
The packaging is fairly standard. A box containing the IEM, eartips and cable. That’s about it. Nothing too fancy and also nothing to complain about at this price point. Though i’d appreciate if a carrying case/pouch is included. One thing to note is that the stock cable is very prone to tangling, very annoying.
Build/Comfort
Patented rubber fin may look weird but it does help to make the IEM stays in place
Comfortable throughout long session
Made out of clear transparent plastic shell
Just nitpicking, stock cable can be better, but at this price point, i’m just gonna overlook this
The cable’s earhook does cause a little discomfort after several hours of use, but this can be easily fixed by just cutting off the ear hooks which i usually do to most of my cables
8/10 for build and comfort
Source
Foobar 2k -> VE’s Unreleased Dongle -> CCZ Melody (Stock eartips and cable)
Cayin N3 Pro Solid State -> CCZ Melody (Stock eartips and cable)
Sound
Melody is definitely not neutral and to my ears, V shaped as far as i can tell, i do not have the measurement tool to perform the necessary assessment, what i describe is solely based on what i heard with my own gears. Do take into consideration that you might get different results from different sources, heck even eartips and cable does have some impact to it as well. For the sake of this review, everything is in stock form.
Bass
As with every V shaped earphone, the bass here is definitely emphasised.
Sub bass extension is pretty good, the rumble can definitely be heard and felt, not quite bass head level like VE’s Bonus IE, but it can definitely be heard and felt when you have a good seal
It does bleed into the mids occasionally when the track gets busy, in particular Slipknot’s Duality
Bass is not bloated thankfully
Average punch and slam
Mids
Vocal is not recessed to my ears, the texture is just about right, not too thin sounding nor thick
Bass will bleed into the mids as mentioned earlier
Detail retrieval is average, u can hear the notes of instruments when it is not busy, when the track gets complicated, this is where it will fail to perform. It is not bad considering its asking price
Treble
Average treble extension
Lack air to give the sense of spacious sound
Not harsh nor sibilant for sure
Lacking in terms of clarity
Soundstage/Imaging
Small soundstage, very in your head kinda feeling
Depth is lacking for sure as everything sounded very closed in
It will suffer when you’re trying to listen to live musics such as Toto’s Africa (Live), sounded very congested
Compared against CCZ Emerald
Emerald has got more air and that translate into a better perception for soundstage, bigger and not that in your head compared to Melody
Detail retrieval and technicality they are very very similar
More refined bass,tighter and better impact
Bass doesn’t sound loose as Melody
Better sub bass response, more rumble to my ears
Driveability
Easy to drive
Can be powered well even off a dongle
Better source of course will provide better experience
Final Thoughts
Overall, they’re worth paying attention to especially coming from a new brand. Sound signature wise they are v shaped as described above, they don't have class leading technicalities nor detail retrieval, what they offer is a well priced IEM asking for 21.99 USD at time of writing with good enough sound to get you started in this hobby, but if you have higher budget, by all means go with Emerald as they offer a more refined sound and has wider soundstage compared to Melody. If budget is primarily your concern, go with Melody, you won’t be missing out much. I would rate Melody at 3.5/5.
If you are interested in purchasing Emerald. Do head over to KeepHifi’s store to check them out.
As always, big thanks to KeepHifi for sending them over in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.
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