Oriveti OH300 IEM Review
Oriveti OH300 In-Ear Monitor Review
Introduction:
Oriveti is a relative young but innovative Chinese company that was founded in 2015 to provide HiFi quality audio products for the daily use. Oriveti announced this year their New OH300 & OH500 hybrid driver IEM’s.
The Oriveti OH300 that I will now review for you is a Hybrid IEM that features a 2+1 Driver configuration with 1 x Dual Knowles Balanced Armatures + 1 x 8MM Diameter Dynamic Driver that has a handmade resin monitor body and comes with a handmade 8 Core SPC (Silver Plated Copper) wire detachable cable.
Disclaimer:
I would like to thank the company Oriveti for providing me the OH300 In-Ear Monitor for review purposes. I am not affiliated with Oriveti beyond this review and these words reflect my true and unaltered opinions about the product.
Price and Purchase Link:
The actual retrial price for the Oriveti OH300 is 299,00 USD and can be purchased under the link below;
Purchase Link: Oriveti OH300
Package and Accessories:
The Oriveti OH300 came in a relative big box same as the OH500 in black color which has the Oriveti Company branding and their Motto “Listen Inspired” on the top.
This box is wrapped with a cardboard that shows the product illustration and brandings on the top and technical detail at the backside.
Inside the box are the following contents/accessories;
- 1 pair x Oriveti OH300 In-Ear Monitor Earphone body
- 1 pcs x 8 Core Detachable Cable with MMCX connectors
- 1 pcs x Leather Carrying Case
- 2 pairs x Silicone Ear Tips (S, M, L)
- 2 pairs x Foam Ear Tips (M)
- 2 pairs x Double Flange Ear Tips
- 1 pcs x Cleaning tool
- 1 pcs x Airplane adaptor
- 1 pcs x 6.35mm to 3.5mm Connector
The OH300 comes with a very rich and eye-catching accessories package same as the bigger brother OH500.
The leather case that is included to the package is of very high quality and looks pretty stylish.
The Oriveti OH300 came with lots of silicone, foam and double flange ear tips, while some of them are put in to a transparent case which works as a nice ear tips organizer.
Inside the box are also one Airplane adaptor and a 6.35mm to 3.5mm connector which are nice additions.
Design, Build Quality, Fit and Comfort:
The Oriveti OH300 has a handmade resin shell with a glossy/shiny surface in black color. On the front surface of the monitor shell that we describe as faceplate are the company branding (right earpiece) and the circular brand logo (left earpiece) which are in gold color.
The sound nozzle and a small vent are in the inner surface of the monitor body. The sound nozzle is slightly angled and a bit short. Here is a small lip that acts as a tips holder and there are 3 sound bores on the top of the nozzle.
On the top of the monitor shell is the MMCX (Micro Miniature Coaxial) female connector that holds the male connector pretty tight and nicely.
The overall build quality of the monitor is top notch without to have any imperfections like openings, burrs, etc.
The Oriveti OH300 fits pretty comfortable in my average sized ears without to hurt them even after long listening periods (2-3 hours), while the noise isolation performance is above average, which makes the OH300 ideal for the use in relative high noise intensive environments like bus, subway, train, etc.
The Cable:
The Oriveti OH300 comes with the same hand braided 8 core SPC (Silver Plated Copper) MMCX connector cable that came with the OH500.
The nicely braided detachable has a brown PVC isolation and features transparent heat-shrink ear guides near de MMCX connectors for a more comfortable over ear wearing experience.
The MMCX male connectors have a metal housing in black color which sports also left/right indicators.
The cable has also a y splitter and chin sliders which are in black color.
The 3.5mm TRS headphone plug is gold plated and has a straight profiled metal housing in black color and a strain relief for additional protection.
Technical Specifications:
- Driver Configuration : Dual Knowles Balanced Armature + 8MM Dynamic Driver
- Impedance : 13Ohm
- Frequency Response : 20~20KHz
- Sensitivity : 108+-3dB/mW, 1000Hz
- Distortion : <1%
- Cable : Class 8 wires Silver Plated Copper with MMCX connector
- Plug : Gold-plated 3.5mm Stereo Plug
- Cable Length : 1.2 M
Drivability:
The Oriveti OH300 has a pretty low impedance of 13Ω and a sensitivity of 108dB, which makes it quite compatible with relative weak sources like Smartphone’s, Tablet’s and DAP’s with weak amplification.
Equipment’s used for this review:
IEM’s : Oriveti OH300, Final Audio B2, Sennheiser IE400 Pro
DAP&DAC’s : QLS QA361, iBasso DX160, FiiO Q5s
Albums & tracks used for this review:
- Gogo Penguin – Raven (Flac 24bit/192kHz)
- Otto Liebert& Luna Negra – The River (DSF)
- Vivaldi – Le QuarttroStagioni “The Four Season” (Wav 24bit/88kHz)
- Michael Jackson – Billie Jean (Flac 24bit/96kHz)
- Elton John – Your Song (Flac 24bit/192kHz)
- David Bowie – Black Star (Flac 24bit/96kHz)
- Dave Gahan – Saw (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
- Eric Clapton – Unplugged Album (Flac 24bit/96kHz)
- Katatonia – Decima (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
- First Aid Kit – My Silver Lining (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
- London Grammar – Interlude (Live) (Flac 24bit/88kHz)
- Aretha Franklin – I Say a Little Prayer (Wav 16bit/44.1kHz)
- Diana Krall – So Wonderful (DSF)
- Laura Pergolizzi – Lost On You “Live at Harvard and Stone” (Wav 16bit/44.1kHz)
- No Doubt – Hella Gut (Spotify)
- Rush’s – Leave That Thing Alone (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
- Liquid Tension Experiment 2 – Acid Rain (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
- Twerl – Lishu (Spotify)
- U2 – Sunday Bloody Sunday (Flac 16bit/44.1kHz)
- Opeth – Windowpane (Wav 16bit/44kHz)
- Metallica – Sad but True (Flac 24bit/96kHz)
- Megadeth – Sweating Bullets (Flac 24bit/96kHz)
- Slayer – Angel of Death (Flac 24bit/96kHz)
- Armin Van Buuren – Vini Vici (Spotify)
- Lorde – Royal (Flac 24bit/48kHz)
- Photek – The Hidden Camera (Spotify)
- Tom Player – Resonace Theory (16bit/44.1kHz)
- Massive Attack – Angel (Flac 24bit/192kHz)
- Portishead – The Hidden Camera (MP3 320kbps)
The Sound:
The Oriveti OH300 has a close to neutral, slightly bright and fairly balanced tonality, while the bass shows a W shaped tuning. The subbass has more quantity and intensity compared to the midbass region. The midrange is mildly recessed and energetic, while the upper midrange and treble regions are strong/pronounced.
The Bass:
The subbass region of the Oriveti OH300 is pretty deep and shows an average intensity and extension. The subbass is not very accented while the depth is on a sufficient level. The subbass quantity and depth in songs like Massive Attack’s “Angel” or Portishead’s “It Could Be Sweet” was fairly enough. The subass region has a slightly warmer than neutral tonality and is pretty controlled, while it tends to decrease gradually towards the upper regions.
The midbass region of the Oriveti OH300 has slightly lower effect in the bass region compared to its subbass, while the impact and slam effect is a sufficient level. The midbass quantity and intensity will satisfy most listeners with exception of those who prefer a performance of a bass-head level.
The midbass region is controlled and slightly warmish in tonality. Reactions from percussion instruments to drums and guitars are quite rapid. The plus point of the OH300 in this area is that the bass is pretty fast for a dynamic driver. Basses can be positioned two units below the bass-head in quantity, one unit above the reference and neutral bass. Analytical listeners may even get too much oh300 bass.
The Midrange:
The Oriveti OH300 shows a mildly V shaped sound character which means that the midrange is lightly recessed. The midrange is in general close to neutral in tonality and has an above average level of transparency and airiness
Vocals:
The lower midrange of the Oriveti OH300 is in a good harmony with the bass and shows a close to neutral, slightly warmish tonality with a moderate level of depth. The lower midrange is slightly less pronounced compared to the upper midrange, while the clarity and detail retrieval for male vocals is pretty good. Male vocals have a good depth and average level of thickness/fullness. The upper midrange of the OH300 is pronounced, fairly neutral and slightly bright in tonality. This upper midrange tuning makes female vocals transparent and airy. Female vocals have pretty successful in terms of extension and detail due to the strong upper midrange.
From jazz vocals to pop vocals, from sopranos to trance vocals, all sorts of female vocals are very transparent and detailed and very pleasant to listen to.
Instruments:
The Oriveti OH300 has a slightly warmish and fairly close to natural instrument tonality. The general instrument presentation is lively, clean and balanced, followed with good level of transparency and detail. I found the OH300 quite successful in terms of instrument/vocal separation, instrument positioning/separation and clarity. Instruments such like guitars do sound soft, slightly warm and are not too harsh when they play from the top pitch.
Other instruments like the violins have a soft tonality and sweet timbre, while the contrabasses have a good depth.
Upper Midrange & Treble:
The Oriveti OH300 shows strong upper midrange intensity with a fairly neutral tonality. The upper midrange is transparent and airy, while the transitions are in general pretty soft and controlled without to show remarkable sharpness. This region has a good level of extension and detail retrieval from female vocals to instruments.
The violins are slightly shiny and the bow tractions are fast and have a good level of extension. Side flutes on the other hand are emotional and controlled. From clarinets up to the pianos, the intensities and extensions are quite successful.
The treble range of the OH300 has a fairly neutral and slightly bright tonality with good extension and level of airiness. A remarkable plus point for this range is that the treble doesn’t comes to upfront that could cause otherwise to treble harshness. The Oriveti OH300 has a good tuning in terms of treble quantity, intensity and sharpness and is pretty controlled and fast. For example the cymbals in genres like trash metal are pretty fast and accented. Instruments like hi-hats are slightly recessed, while crash and ride cymbals don’t show any mixings or muddiness. All type of cymbals sounds clear and detailed.
The Soundstage:
The Oriveti OH300 has a good soundstage expansion with a quite precise instrument/vocal placement and separation for the price. The soundstage performance of the OH300 in terms of depth and wideness is on a moderate level, with good amount of neutral air between the instruments.
Oriveti OH300 with the Oriveti Affinity balanced upgrade cable:
The Affinity upgrade cable which is sold separately is a true 6N OCC & Silver-Plated Copper cable with MMCX connectors that is available with 3.5mm / 2.5mm / 4.4mm plugs.
The Affinity is an esthetical and pretty lightweight cable. The difference between the stock cable and the Affinity upgrade cable in terms of sound performance are described below;
The Affinity Upgrade Cable adds more bass depth and better extension to the OH300 compared to its stock cable. The vocals do sound more upfront and there is an increase of detail retrieval compared to the stock cable. The soundstage depth didn’t change significantly, while the increase of wideness is remarkable. The Affinity upgrade cable has slightly increased the performance in terms of separation and overall resolution. The Affinity cable didn’t make any difference in the upper midrange and treble region.
The Oriveti Affinity upgrade cable is available under the link below;
Oriveti Affinity: https://www.oriveti.com/affinity
Some Short Comparisons:
Oriveti OH300 versus Oriveti OH500:
Now I want to compare the OH300 with the bigger brother OH500 which is the flagship IEM of the company with a 4+1 Hybrid driver configuration.
The most remarkable difference is the tonality between the two models. The OH500 sounds warmer, fuller and more musical compared to the OH300 that shows a more neutral, balanced and brighter sound character. The subbass depth of both In-Ear Monitors is pretty identical, while the OH500 has the upper hand in terms of quantity and depth. The midbass of the Oriveti OH300 have a more linear/balanced tuning compared to the OH500 that shows more impact and a higher level of intensity. The bass of then OH300 is slightly faster and tighter than the OH500. The midrange of the OH500 has a warmer, smoother and fuller tonality, compared to the OH300 which shows a brighter, closer to neutral and balanced character. The midrange of the OH300 is nearly on par with those of the OH500 in terms of resolution. The upper midrange of both IEM’s is fairly accented and controlled, while the OH300 sounds more neutral and upfront in this area. The upper treble range of the OH300 is more pronounced and shows better extension compared to the OH500 that is mainly focused to the lower treble region.
The soundstage of both In-Ear Monitors has a nearly identical wideness. The Oriveti OH500 is slightly better in terms of soundstage depth.
Oriveti OH300 versus Sennheiser IE400 Pro:
The Sennheiser IE400 Pro has a slightly brighter and more neutral tonality compared to the Oriveti OH300. The subbass of the IE400 Pro has less depth and the midbass region is more linear compared to the OH300 which shows more intensity and impact. The bass of the IE400 Pro is tighter and faster than those of the OH300. The midrange of both IEM’s is fairly transparent, detailed and are more successful with female vocals. The treble range of the Sennheiser IE400 Pro is a bit more pronounced and detailed than the Oriveti OH300. The soundstage of the IE400 Pro is slightly wider, while the OH300 is superior in terms of depth.
Oriveti OH300 versus Final Audio B2:
The Final Audio B2 has a warmer, smoother and softer tonality compared to the Oriveti OH300, which shows a brighter and more neutral presentation. The subbass region of both IEM’s shows a good level of depth, while the Final Audio B2 has more midbass quantity and intensity than the Oriveti OH300 which has a more linear midbass presentation. The midrange of the B2 is slightly more upfront. The lower midrange of the B2 shows a bit more depth. The Final Audio B2 is more suitable for male vocals, while the Oriveti OH300 is superior in terms of female vocal performance. The upper midrange of the OH300 is more controlled and transparent than the B2 which sounds a bit too veiled for my taste. The Oriveti OH300 is more airy in the treble range and is also superior in terms of treble extension and detail retrieval. The soundstage of the OH300 wider is more airy and shows a better instrument separation. The Final Audio B2 has the upper hand in terms of soundstage depth.
Conclusion:
The Oriveti OH300 is a wonderful looking IEM with a solid appearance which offers a clear and detailed midrange, a fast and controlled bass response, along with a treble range that is fairly that shows a good level of extension. All these features are crowned with a high quality accessory package which includes lots of ear tips, a luxurious leather case and great stock cable.
Pros & Cons:
- + Bass Control & Depth
- + Midrange Clarity and Detail Retrieval
- + Fairy Controlled Treble Range
- + Great Build Quality and Accessory Package
- – Tightness of the Bass
- – Soundstage Depth