ONEODIO STUDIO HIFI headphones
+ Good isolation; sensitive and easy to drive directly from your phones, computers, and other sources; versatile connectivity; lightweight; fun and appealing sound signature for mass market.
–Average detail retrieval; not neutral and flat for mixing audio; plasticky build quality; not much at this price point.
Sound: 7/10
Value: 9/10
A guide to the ratings
WHEN it comes to headphones, the common household names for audiophiles are Sennheiser, Beyerdynamic, Audio-Technica, Audeze, Focal, and others. For summit-fi headphone enthusiasts, they’ll look for something from Stax, Raal, and Abyss. What about home-gamers who aren’t looking to spend a fortune for a pair of headphones then?
You don’t necessarily need to spend a lot to get a pair of good headphones for everyday use. There are more people who don’t have a headphone setup (ie. DAC and headphone amp) compared with those who do, and in most use cases you don’t need one.
Enter the OneOdio Studio HiFi closed back headphones. These wired headphones are easy to drive and can be plugged straight to your laptops, tables, or phones without the need for amplification.
I’ve never heard of OneOdio before but the company’s catalogue of headphones seem to be diverse, ranging from earphones to wireless Bluetooth headphones, and seem to be popular among the amateur DJ and home-studio recording crowd… people who are looking to monitor their audio recording at a price point.
The Studio HiFi is shipped in a box together with a faux leather storage bag and two cables. There’s also a headphone stand bundled together with my review unit but I’m not entirely sure whether they’re a standard bundle since product listings omit this.
The 50mm drivers are rated at 32-ohm impedance and 110dB sensitivity – and let me tell you, they really are quite sensitive. Perhaps the most interesting feature the headphones sport are the input jacks. There is one ¼-inch socket on one earcup and a ⅛-inch socket on the other so the OneOdio will accept most stereo cables out there on the market.
The two cables are also interesting. One is the usual mini jacks with a microphone so you can use your headphones with your laptop or phone for calls. The other cable is 2.8m long and terminated with different connectors. One side is a ⅛-inch jack while the other is a ¼-inch jack. This means you can connect the headphones with any audio interface without a converter.
Build quality is, well, you get what you pay for. The whole headphone is made of plastic except for the extension rails. They do creak when flexed, and the cables are a little stiff. However, during actual use they pose no drawbacks at all.
IN CONCERT
I plugged the OneOdio Studio HiFi headphones into a myriad of devices – ranging from my FiiO uBTR Bluetooth receiver, to my laptop output, to the EarMen TrAmp DAC/amp. The headphones are sensitive enough to hiss out of my laptop headphone output and my comfortable listening level was around 55%.
The OneOdio Studio HiFi is a very fun pair of headphones with an obvious V-shaped signature. The bass region is definitely boosted lending extra punch to modern pop songs while the heightened treble simultaneously adds some energy into the music.
I did notice bleeding from the boosted bass into the midbass, resulting in a veiled midrange. Although the mids are recessed, the vocals are not muffled so watching movies is quite a treat with these headphones. I love action movies, so fighting and gunfight scenes sounded amazing.
Since they were built for studio monitoring use, I tried them while mixing a video for work. While they are okay for listening to cues and details, they are definitely not suitable for mixing and mastering audio tracks. The V-shaped signature will result in a thin and bass light final mix so I could suggest them for monitoring recordings and not mixing.
Another thing that I liked about the headphones is the sound isolation it provides. I live near a relatively noisy main road and the headphones diminished the ambient noise considerably.
THE LAST WORD
If you are looking for a budget alternative for monitoring headphones like the Audio-Technica ATH-M50X or the Beyerdynamic DT770, the Studio HiFi will not disappoint. They provide good isolation and clamping force for a heightened monitoring experience.
The OneOdio Studio HiFi is also very easy to drive and will sing out of any device I plug them into. And with the combination mini/quarter inch jacks, they could very well be plugged into any device you have!
Gear
Sources: Acer Aspire V5 573PG, iPhone XS, FiiO uBTR / DAC and Amps: EarMen Donald DAC, EarMen TrAmp, Aune T1 MK2 / Headphones: JVC HA-S500, Sennheiser HD525, Final Audio Pandora Hope VI
Price: US$50
Review unit courtesy of OneOdio / Available from Amazon.
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