Unique Melody’s first full-size headphone: a planar driver and a MEMS tweeter in walnut, for music with room to breathe.
The Unique Melody Umbral marks a bold new step for the brand, introducing its first full-size open-back headphone designed to deliver a truly expansive and natural listening experience. Built around an innovative dual-driver hybrid system, it combines a powerful planar magnetic driver with cutting-edge MEMS technology to achieve both scale and precision in sound reproduction.
Designed to let music breathe, the Umbral offers a wide, immersive soundstage with exceptional detail and realism. From deep, authoritative bass to ultra-fast and refined high frequencies, every element is rendered with clarity and balance. Crafted with natural materials and meticulous attention to detail, it is made for audiophiles seeking a full-size headphone experience that pushes beyond traditional boundaries.
Open-back, hand-built in walnut and carbon fibre, and limited to 99 units worldwide.
Contents as supplied by Unique Melody and may vary slightly by batch.
At the core of the UMbral lies an innovative dual-driver hybrid system that combines a planar magnetic driver with advanced MEMS technology. The planar driver delivers powerful, controlled bass and a wide, natural soundstage, while the MEMS driver handles high frequencies with exceptional speed, precision and clarity.
This combination allows each driver to focus on its strengths, resulting in a highly detailed and balanced sound signature. The integration of both technologies ensures seamless transitions across the frequency range, offering a listening experience that is both dynamic and incredibly refined.
The UMbral is designed to adapt to different listening preferences with two sets of interchangeable earpads. The sheepskin leather pads give a soft, close seal around the ear for focused sessions with a fuller bass. In contrast, the ice-silk slow-rebound pads provide a cooler, more breathable feel, perfect for extended listening with reduced fatigue.
With a quick-swap design and refined construction, these earpads not only enhance comfort but also allow subtle tuning of the sound signature, giving you the flexibility to tailor your listening experience to your environment and personal preference.
Every UMbral headphone is crafted under a strict, end-to-end quality control process, ensuring exceptional reliability and performance. From raw material inspection to final acoustic verification, each unit undergoes meticulous testing to meet the highest standards of precision and durability.
This includes advanced simulations such as temperature shock resistance, humidity aging cycles, electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection, and mechanical durability testing. The result is a product built not only for outstanding sound, but also for long-term performance you can rely on.
The UMbral is more than just Unique Melody’s first full-size headphone — it is a statement of philosophy. Designed to deliver sound that feels open, natural and deeply human, it creates a listening experience that goes beyond technical performance.
With its open-back design and refined acoustic tuning, the UMbral offers a spacious soundstage, lifelike timbre and a sense of effortless immersion. Every note breathes, every detail feels alive, allowing music to unfold with clarity, depth and emotion — exactly as it was meant to be heard.
Unique Melody has spent years building some of the most inventive in-ear monitors in the world. Umbral brings that thinking to a full-size headphone for the first time.
The original MEST brought a bone-conduction driver into an in-ear monitor. Today UM combines up to four driver technologies in one shell.
Carbon fibre, zirconia ceramic, 3D-printed titanium, stabilised wood and walnut: each chosen for how it sounds as much as how it looks.
UM has built custom monitors from ear impressions for years. Selected models are available as Custom Fit, moulded to your ears.
BOLLSEN is Unique Melody’s partner for the UK and EU: genuine stock, a 2-year warranty and support from our own team.
Umbral is new and extremely limited, so no full independent review exists yet. Early listeners at audio shows describe excellent build and comfort, fast and tight bass, and a lively, treble-forward tuning. It is very power-hungry: plan for a high-power desktop amplifier.
What they love
Worth knowing before you buy
Summarised from independent reviews: Headphonesty, Head-Fi.
For home listening at its most open and natural. Umbral needs a powerful desktop amplifier and a quiet room, and rewards both.
Each Umbral is assembled and finished by hand, with walnut cups to damp resonance and a carbon-fibre frame for strength without weight.
A 96 mm planar magnetic driver handles the body of the music while a MEMS driver takes the highest frequencies, up to 80 kHz.
Premium materials, precision assembly and a detachable cable, backed by a 2-year BOLLSEN warranty. Made for the listening chair, not the commute.
Umbral is a low-sensitivity planar headphone (84 dB/mW). A high-power desktop amplifier is recommended, ideally 10 W or more single-ended. It will not reach its potential from a phone or portable player.
No. It is an open-back headphone, so sound passes in and out. That is what gives it its wide, natural stage, and why it is best in a quiet room.
The 2 m cable comes with your choice of 6.3 mm, 4.4 mm or 4-pin XLR plug. Choose it above when you add Umbral to your basket.
The sheepskin pads give a fuller bass and a more focused sound; the ice-silk pads feel cooler and more open for long sessions. Swapping takes seconds.
Unique Melody is making 99 units worldwide.
It is sold on pre-order and delivered by DHL Express within 5 working days.
A 2-year warranty, handled by our UK & EU support team. You can return it within 14 days if it is unused and in its original packaging. Your statutory rights are not affected.
BOLLSEN is the official Unique Melody partner for the UK and EU. You get genuine stock, a 2-year warranty handled by our own support team, clear delivery times, and help choosing the right model or fit before you buy.
| Plug | 6.3 mm, 4.4 mm balanced, 4-pin XLR |
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BOLLSEN - ERTG d.o.o.
Dunajska cesta 159
1000 Ljubljana
Slovenia
support(@)bollsen-hearingprotection.com
Free UK delivery over £35 and a 40-day money-back guarantee on our earplugs.
UK orders over £35 ship free in 2 to 3 business days; below £35, tracked delivery costs £4.95 and takes 1 to 3 business days. If you are not completely satisfied, simply contact us within 40 days of purchase for a full refund. No questions asked. You pay the return postage, and we recommend sending it tracked. For more details, including delivery to Europe and the rest of the world, please visit our Shipping & Delivery Terms page. Our warehouses are located:
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