BGVP Melody

Single DD with swappable tuning filters & jack terminations.

PROS: Warm and easy to listen to signature, well-built metal shells with swappable nozzle tuning filters, very good stock cable with swappable jack terminations, very good accessories in the package, good technical performance with Pop tuning filter.

CONS: Lacks upper-treble air and extension, average technical performance with Balanced and HiFi tuning filters.

About BGVP.

BGVP is based out of Dongguan, China. They manufacture and sell a wide range of products like in-ear monitors, earbuds, cables, cases, etc. They initially came into prominence with successful products like DMG and DM6. Since then they’ve launched a wide range of products with us having reviewed their EST hybrids EST12 and EST8, ArtMagic V12, DM7, DM8, ArtMagic VG4, ArtMagic DH3 and BGVP NE5 here on our website. Today we’re reviewing their newly launched Melody single DD IEM.

Manufacturer – BGVP Melody (Official AliExpress Store)

Technical Specifications.

Third-Gen BGVP 12mm Dynamic Driver with high quality composite diaphragm coil.
Double Rear Cavity Structure.
Swappable Tuning Nozzles.
Cable: High-purity Graphene Silver-plated copper mixed cable with interchangeable termination plugs and MMCX connectors.
Impedance: 18Ω.
Frequency Response: 20Hz-40kHz
Sensitivity: 106dB.
Distortion: ≤1%.
Channel difference: ≤1dB.
Weight: 6.0g each.

Included in the box.

BGVP Melody
Filters – Balanced, HiFi and Pop
High-purity Graphene and Silver-plated copper mixed cable with interchangeable termination plugs and MMCX connectors.
Silicone ear tips – Vocal (SML with black bore) and Bass (SML clear tips).
Memory foam ear tips – 1 pair
Manuals/warranty cards

Build quality and Fit.

I see BGVP has done some rebranding and now have a new logo that is stamped on the faceplate of the very well built, CNC machined metal shells, case as well as the nozzle filter holder. I quite like the new logo! The shells have red and blue arrows on the faceplate to indicate sides, MMCX sockets and swappable nozzle filters.

Tuning Filters – Melody comes with 3 tuning filters with different colours – Balanced (Chrome), HiFi (Nickel) and Pop (Red). They all have very refined grooves and screw into the shell securely.

Cable – Melody comes with a very nice high-purity Graphene and Silver-plated Copper mixed cable with MMCX connectors and swappable jack terminations – the latter being unheard of for an IEM in this price range! The cable isn’t too microphonic, is soft and supple, rolls up pretty nicely and doesn’t entangle much. The MMCX connectors lock in with a reassuring click and all the jacks are made of heavy duty metal that ooze of build quality. All in all it’s a great stock cable and I hope BGVP offers this as a 2-pin cable too.

Case – Very roomy case that easily fits the IEM and cable and a nice long netted pouch inside that fits all the nozzle filters and swappable jack terminations.

Sound Analysis.

Graphs are measured using an IEC60318-4 (IEC711) setup. You can compare all the graphs on my IEM Graph Database here – Animagus Squiglink.

Summary – Melody comes with 3 filters – Balanced, HiFi and Pop, which allow for slight tweaking of the signature. In general, it has a warm signature overall but a more bass boosted consumer audio centric signature with the Balanced and HiFi filters and a more audiophile-ish signature with the Pop filter. It has a 6dB bass boost with the Pop filter and a 10dB bass boost with the Balanced and HiFi filters. Besides that they all have a fuller lower-midrange than neutral, forward upper-midrange with around 12dB pinna gain, balanced lower-treble and warmer upper-treble. Compared to the stock Balanced filter’s signature, the HiFi filter increases upper-midrange and treble slightly while the Pop drastically reduces the bass shelf. I personally prefer the Pop filter most out of the three.

Let’s dig in deeper…

Bass – Melody has a 6dB bass shelf in the Pop filter and a bigger 10dB shelf with Balanced and HiFi filters. The bass shelf boosts both the sub-bass and mid-bass, with the levels reaching basshead territory with the Balanced and HiFi filter. Even though it has very present rumble, it’s the mid-bass that comes across stronger with strong punch and impact. With the Balanced and HiFi filter, the tuning is more in line with consumer audio as the bass sounds full and fat and isn’t as well separated as I’d personally like and also overpowers the lower-midrange a bit. The Pop filter is much better as the bass is much cleaner and better separated from the lower-midrange, with a cleaner tonal and soundstage presentation compared to the Balanced and HiFi Filters.

Midrange – I personally prefer the Pop filter for the midrange. The lower-midrange is fuller than neutral in 250-800Hz region. The shelf overall results in a fuller bodied presentation where vocals, instruments as well as the soundstage sound fuller and warmer than neutral. Upper-midrange has a forward presentation with around 12dB pinna gain which thankfully brings the crunch and bite to the warmer lower end and gives instruments and vocals good definition in an otherwise warm and full signature. You’d imagine this might come off shouty but the bass shelf and fuller lower-midrange are boosted much above neutral and balance it out pretty decently. The tonality and timbre in the Balanced and HiFi filters are on the warmer side and not as clean and natural as I personally prefer but the Pop filter is much better in that regard. Although I can see people who like a fuller and warmer presentation preferring the Balanced and HiFi filters instead.

Treble – Melody has fairly well balanced lower-treble but it’s upper-treble that is on the warmer side with all filters. The Balanced and HiFi filters are warmer because of the bigger lower-end shelf but the Pop filter has the best bass to treble balance and best clarity and detail retrieval out of the three filters. There is a valley after 10kHz in mid-treble region and it doesn’t really roll-off after that per se, but it lacks the kind of upper-treble air and extension that I personally prefer and would’ve liked a bit more of. The graph below shows how it tracks compared to the Harman In-Ear target.

Technical Performance – Melody’s technical performance depends on the filter you choose. It has better technical performance with the Pop Filter merely because of its more balanced tuning. It has a more open and wide stage with the Pop filter but a more intimate soundstage with the Balanced and HiFi filter because of their warmer and fuller lower end tuning. It also has better instrument definition with the Pop filter. Resolution and clarity are on the average side, nothing benchmark levels, mainly because of its warmer upper-treble.

Comparisons.

Tanchjim Hana 2021.

Hana 2021 is one of my favourite single DD IEMs around the $150 price point. It is a slightly fuller and airier take on the Harman target. Compared to Melody, Hana 2021 is a better balanced, more neutral sounding IEM. Hana 2021’s sub-bass levels fall between Melody’s Pop and Balanced/HiFi filters. Melody on the other hand has more mid-bass, fuller lower-midrange in the 250-800Hz as well as a more forward upper-midrange than Hana 2021 with all its filters. Even though Melody has more pinna gain than Hana 2021, it doesn’t come across shouty especially with its Balanced and HiFi filters because of much more boosted bass and fuller lower-midrange balance. Hana 2021 has better treble balance and quantity and is also airier up top. Melody does have slightly stronger instrument definition because of more presence in the 2k-6kHz region but Hana 2021 has better technical performance otherwise – be it a better soundstage, imaging or detail retrieval.

KBEAR Aurora Matte.

Aurora Matte is a significantly different sounding IEM compared to Melody. Aurora Matte is a more detail oriented signature whereas Melody has a more consumer audio oriented, bass boosted signature. Aurora Matte has about a 3-4dB bass shelf compared to Melody’s 6-10dB and a leaner lower-midrange. Even though Aurora Matte’s upper-midrange has less pinna gain than Melody in the graph, it comes across stronger defined because of lesser bass shelf and scooped lower-midrange tuning. Aurora Matte comes across slightly brighter in treble. Aurora Matte has a cleaner and more open soundstage, with stronger imaging and detail retrieval. Melody on the other hand has a warmer, more intimate soundstage but also a much warmer and easy to listen to signature in comparison.

Conclusion.

Melody has a bass boosted consumer tuning with 2 filters and an audiophile-ish tuning with the third. In general, it has a warm signature, well built metal shells, swappable tuning filters and very good accessories for its asking price, especially the stock cable with swappable jack terminations – which is mostly unheard of for its asking price. It’s sadly the lack of upper-end air/extension and the big bass shelf that boosts the bass as well as the lower-mids region in the 250-600Hz that hold it back when it comes to absolute refinement and technical performance against other popular single DD IEMs like the Hana 2021 or the Moondrop Kato. On the other hand, I can see people who like a bigger bass boost and fuller-midrange enjoying it over the other two. So, if you’re from the latter category – give it a try!

Gear used for testing and review.

DAPs – iBasso DX240 | Shanling M6 Ultra
Laptop – Apple Macbook Pro 15″
Phone – OnePlus 7 Pro

Artists I like and listen to.

Rock – Foo Fighters, Linkin Park, Switchfoot, Imagine Dragons, Daughtry, Green Day, MuteMath, X Ambassadors, Dave Matthews Band, Vertical Horizon, Our Lady Peace, Lifehouse, Fall Out Boy, Breaking Benjamin, Muse, ACDC, Audioslave, Rage Against the Machine, Biffy Clyro, I Am Giant, Normandie, Paramore, Slash & Guns N Roses, 3 Doors Down.
Pop Rock – John Mayer, Coldplay, Paul McCartney, James Bay, Hunter Hayes, Niall Horan, Keith Urban, The Bros Landreth, Bryan Adams.
Progressive Rock/Metal – Porcupine Tree/Steven Wilson, Karnivool, Tool, Dead Letter Circus, Periphery, Lamb of God.
Pop/Soft Rock – Ed Sheeran, Adele, Taylor Swift, OneRepublic, The Script, Gavin James, Magic Man, Maroon 5, Bruno Mars, Charlie Puth, Dua Lipa, The Weeknd, Oasis, Panic! At the Disco, TwentyOne Pilots.
EDM – Chainsmokers, Zedd.