Short answer: a tie on sound quality. Both are rated 3.3/5 (#912 and #941 of 1369 in-ear headphones) at nearly the same price ($9 vs $9.99), so choose on features and fit.
Why pick the Kiwi Ears Melody: A broadly balanced tuning with a preference score of 66 against the Harman target. The tradeoff: An uneven response, 2.4 dB standard deviation from target.
Why pick the Tangzu Xue Tao: A broadly balanced tuning with a preference score of 65 against the Harman target. The tradeoff: Treble about 4 dB below target from 3 to 10 kHz, which can sound dull or veiled next to brighter headphones.
Buy the Kiwi Ears Melody or the Tangzu Xue Tao on features: they are rated the same for sound quality at close to the same price.
Want more options? Browse the full Headphones rankings.
A broadly balanced tuning with a preference score of 66 against the Harman target.
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A broadly balanced tuning with a preference score of 65 against the Harman target.
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Specifications Side By Side
| Kiwi Ears Melody | Tangzu Xue Tao | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | 9.00 | 9.99 |
| Ranked | #912 of 1369 in In-Ear Headphones | #941 of 1369 in In-Ear Headphones |
| Form Factor | In-ear | In-ear |
| Back | Closed | Closed |
| Harman Preference Score | 66 (median of 17 squig.link measurements, calibrated to AutoEQ) | 65 (median of 6 squig.link measurements, calibrated to AutoEQ) |
| Deviation From Target | 2.39 dB standard deviation | 2.36 dB standard deviation |
| Tonal Tilt | -0.81 (negative is warmer, positive brighter) | -1.04 (negative is warmer, positive brighter) |
| Sub-bass Extension | Within 6 dB of target down to 20 Hz (+0.3 dB at 30 Hz) | Within 6 dB of target down to 20 Hz (+1.2 dB at 30 Hz) |
| Driver Type | Planar | Dynamic |
| Drivers | 1 x 12mm planar magnetic driver | 1 x 10mm glass-centered PET-edged diaphragm dynamic driver |
| Impedance | 18 ohms | 18.5 ohms |
| Sensitivity | 102 dB | 109 dB |
| Frequency Response | 5Hz - 40kHz | 20Hz - 20,000Hz |
| Connection | Wired | Wired |
Frequency Response Compared
Both headphones’ measurements overlaid on the Harman target. Above the target sounds louder in that range, below it quieter. Each curve is the median of several independent measurements, shifted so its 500 Hz to 2 kHz average sits at 0 dB, so only the tuning is compared.
Measurement data: the Kiwi Ears Melody from audioamigo, bassyalexander, boizoff, cqtek, hbb, ianfann, jaytiss, kazi, kuping-sensi, mmagtech, musicafe, practiphile, pw, soundcheck39, tonedeafmonk, vortexreviews and vsg; the Tangzu Xue Tao from aftersound, atechreviews, bassaudio, csi-zone, jaytiss and soundignity, all via squig.link.
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