review – If you’ve done any professional mixing, DJ’d or considered yourself an audiophile, you probably know how expensive a set of high-quality open-back monitor headphones can be. A decent entry-level pairing will set you back around $150 to start, north of $500 as you move to the pro side. Yes, you can get some basic versions on the Internet for around $100, but plug them into your gear and you’ll quickly see why they’re cheap. OneOdio is trying to fill the market with the Monitor 80, a set of budget cans that also sounds good. Are they on target or with a “bang” on landing? As always, read on to find out…
What is it?
The OneOdio Monitor 80 headphones are open-back design headphones for the budding professional or budget-conscious audiophile. The key part of the previous sentence is “open back”. For those of you who don’t know, the most common headphones you see for sale are so-called “closed-back” — which includes brands like Beats and Bose. This type of earphone keeps you from hearing outside sounds (with or to some degree without noise cancellation) and tends to seal tightly around your ears. This design produces an unnatural-sounding result, but it’s perfect for environments where you don’t want to share your music with other people – for example, while commuting or in an office you don’t want to share – workers know you listen to Barry Maniello.
In contrast, open-back headphones allow air (usually) to pass through the speaker drivers. The end result is that music tends to be clearer and more natural, but because of this openness, everyone around you can share what you’re listening to. And since outside sounds come in through the driver, those aren’t ideal when you’re on a plane or in a very noisy environment.
What’s in the box?
- OneOdio Monitor 80 Headphones
- a hard-shell suitcase
- A coiled cable (extending less than 9 feet at all) with a 3.5mm jack on one end for your device and a quarter-inch plug for the right earcup
- Straight cable with 3.5mm jacks on both ends (also about 9 feet) (plugs into left earcup)
- user’s manual
Design and Function
Let’s start with the right side. On the bottom of the right earcup of the OneOdio Monitor 80 is a 1/4-inch plug for use with a coiled cable. If you’re a DJ or mixing podcasts, this is probably the connection you use the most. The cups are made of plastic, which may help reduce the weight of the headset—the Monitor 80 itself weighs about 10.5 ounces, so you won’t feel like a cinder block is strapped to your head. This is the right side:
The left side is pretty much the same – except the jack on this side is 3.5mm, so it’s probably something you’re plugging into a dongle that plugs into your phone. The cup itself is made of velvet, not faux leather or vinyl – I don’t want to use it at 90 degrees/95% humidity, but it’s very comfortable indoors.
Everything neatly packed in a hard case, ready to go:
Ok, enough about the plug and weight. How does the OneOdio Monitor 80 headphones sound?
At this price point, these are some of the best monitor headphones I’ve had the opportunity to use. The box says they are HD Audio, and after trying these last month, I have no doubts about that claim. My favorite for audio work is the Beyerdynamic DT990, which costs $50 more than the Monitor 80. The comparison ends here. The earcups on the Monitor 80 swivel 180 degrees, which to me means they can track nearly all head movements.
And sound!While recording the audio track for the training video, I plugged the OneOdio Monitor 80 headphones into my Samson Q9U Microphone, and as good as that mic is at suppressing pops, I could hear some micro-pops in the monitor while recording. At first, I thought it was a problem with the Monitor 80 (probably a bad cable or connection, or the jack on the mic doesn’t like headphones), so I listened to the recording with headphones and I could still hear it. But when I plug in my everyday headphones and listen again, I can’t hear them anymore. While these micro-pops didn’t affect the recording, to my surprise, the Monitor 80 picked up the frequency and faithfully let me know what was going on.
The music also sounds great. Whether it’s Santana and Chris Stapleton’s bass-heavy Joy, Wig Wam’s Do You really want to try it (weird, but then it’s the title track in Peacemaker and has some great highs) or Neil Diamond’s Sweet Caroline live Performing, it feels like every note is clear and crisp, no frequencies dominate (bass doesn’t cancel out highs in the same bar), in the case of a live performance, the audience is present, but not from the performance even when singing subtracted from.
Who are these for?
good question. Really depends on what you want to do with them. Let’s start simple – simply enjoy some music. As good as the OneOdio Monitor 80 headphones plugged into my phone sound, plugging them into a USB DAC (digital-to-analog converter) with an amp connected to my computer really made these shine. I’m 100% sure I’ll never use these in a crowded or noisy room and would prefer these to wireless headphones when listening at home (no wireless drops), so maybe for personal enjoyment, these are yours alone When you really want to immerse yourself in something.
On the other hand, if you do (as I do occasionally) any professional audio work, I wouldn’t hesitate to tell you to buy these. If you’re DJing for an event, these will undoubtedly help you find the right mix points in your transitions. If podcasts are your thing, these will help you spot issues and fix them before posting, so hopefully you can cut down on unusable sessions. If you spend most of your time in post-processing, the Monitor 80’s frequency range will help you balance and build the best output.
what do I like
- The sound is spectacular – no muddiness, all frequencies are crisp and no one range dominates
- Build quality is great
- They are comfortable enough for a marathon
what would i change
- Adds 1/4 to 1/4″ coiled cable to the box and plugs into the mixing board without an adapter
final thoughts
Honestly, I thought the OneOdio Monitor 80 headphones looked good at the time of this review, but in the end they’re no different from other budget brands. So when these headphones blew my mind, it was a surprise. The OneOdio team clearly knows how to pack great audio into an affordable package. Let’s put this in perspective: My son is launching his own podcast about recruiting in healthcare. When he visited a few weekends ago, I showed him the Monitor 80 and let him use the headset for the weekend. On Sunday night, as we were getting ready to go to the airport, he asked me if I could get them after I finished my review. I love my son, but he came home with the DT990. I keep these.
price: $99.99 (down from $120.99)
Where to buy: a hate
source: Samples for this review are provided by a hate.
