In the market for wired In-ear headphones in the mid-range to high-end segment, most will be pairs of headphones with multiple Balance Armature membranes or Hybrid systems – combining multiple speaker membranes together. But as Sennheiser has affirmed: Traditional Dynamic speaker membranes have not yet been fully exploited. If seriously refined, they are still worthy of a high-end price range.
Perhaps Oriveti also has similar thoughts with the Oriveti OD200 headset. With only 2 Dynamic speakers, the pair of headphones still brings many special things to demand the price of $200.
Evaluation of design and packaging
The box of the OD200 is similar to the Oriveti OD100 pair that we learned about a while ago, exclusively gray in color and has a tomograph of the pair of simple but equally unique looking headphones.
The inner box is made of cardboard, with layers of grain to simulate wood, creating a highlight compared to being completely plain.
Opening the box, the first thing we see are the two earphones and two replacement nozzle tubes that we will learn more about below.
The box of this pair of headphones reminds me of expensive camera products from Leica, divided to store separate products and accessories.
It’s also a box, but the box to… carry the headphones with you every day is made of leather, with green stitching. This box is quite large so inside there is spacious space, easy to put headphones in along with other accessories such as tips, wires or a compact DAC/Amp but that’s why it’s a bit ‘bulky’. More suitable for putting in handbags and backpacks than pockets.
The OD200’s accessory set is too complete and arranged quite nicely, including: 3 sets of black rubber cushions, 3 sets of white cushions, 3 sets of sponge cushions, ear cleaner and 3 types of 2.5mm Balanced plugs, 4.4 Balanced and 3.5mm.
The thing I really like about Oriveti headphones is that the company makes very high quality wires! The OD200’s 2-pin cord has connections made of scratch-milled metal. The cord is braided but very soft and light so it does not make wind noise when used.
The special feature of the wire lies here: the head connected to the transmitter can be removed to change into different types of plugs.
For smartphones, computers, and tablets, we will use the 3.5mm standard, but if you want to optimize sound quality with a separate DAP, DAC, or Amp, you will switch to the Balanced 2.5mm and 4.4mm standards. While using the Oriveti OD200, I also experienced the EarFun UA100 portable DAC/Amp and can use the 4.4mm Balanced standard with any device, nothing to criticize!
This is a very smart design so that the OD200 can be used with all devices, but you also need to pay attention every time you unplug the headset from the source. Of course, you should also unplug the headset from the jack below because unplugging it from the wire will also affect the life of the wire.
From a distance, the OD200’s connection cord is gray, but if you look closely, it is dark blue strands braided with gray wire, a small design element that shows Oriveti’s meticulousness in making the product.
Unlike the Oriveti OD100 pair at a low price with a true ‘Universal’ design, the Oriveti OD200 has a design more similar to Custom headphones. The headphones are large, have curves to fit the ears, so they will fit with both tips and headphones, while the OD100 will fit more with tips.
Right from the ‘accessible’ price range product, the OD100, I was very impressed with Oriveti’s finishing quality, so the fact that the OD200 also has high outer shell quality is not surprising at all! The headphones are CNC cut from a piece of aluminum, then painted with an anode ‘racing green’. In fact, the color of the OD200 looks more like gray, but it’s true that when placed in the sun you will see a little bit of blue, just a little blurry.
HiFiGo ORIVETI OD200 Single 9.8mm Dynamic Driver HiFi in-Ear Monitors, 1DD in-Ear Earphones IEMs Equipped with Dedicated Airflow Distribution Design and Exchangeable Nozzle, Connectors (Green): Buy it now
Evaluation of Oriveti OD200 sound quality
Besides the high build quality, the OD200 is also very comfortable to wear! The inside of the headset has reasonable curves, just enough to touch the hollow in the ear but not too large to cause discomfort. The headphones will still ‘protrude’ from the ear so they are not suitable for sleeping on your side, but the comfort during normal use is very good, nothing to complain about.
The most special feature of this pair of headphones lies here: the air intake and exhaust holes are located on the body of the headphones. The company calls this the Dedicated Airflow Distribution (DAD) air distribution system. In theory, sound is the movement of materials in the air to the listener’s eardrum, then ‘decoded’ into music by the auditory system and brain for us to enjoy.
With the OD200, the DAD system is responsible for bringing airflow to the 9.2mm Dynamic Beryllium speaker membrane, reaching the listener’s ears and then exiting without ‘over-bumping’ in the ear or into the headphone housing. From there, the sound quality (especially the bass range) is not echoed back and forth, reducing the buzzing phenomenon, while increasing the detail and soundstage. That’s the theory, but what will it be like in practice?
Before talking about the sound quality of the OD200, we will find out where the sound pipes with different filters are. According to the graph provided by Oriveti, the black type will increase the high-mid and treble, thereby making the sound quality brighter and more detailed, while the silver type will have darker sound quality, leaning more towards the bass range. Personally, I think the silver filter gives a rich, rich sound quality but does not affect the quality of the mid-treble range, so I will always use this filter.
With all this advanced technology, how does the OD200 sound? It can be said that this is one of the pairs of headphones that I find… the most difficult to describe ever, because everything that this pair of headphones reproduces is very ‘standard’! If other pairs of headphones you put on your ears will be able to point out the strengths and weaknesses, the OD200 creates a very ‘correct’ sound, not superior in any range but not weak either in any range, and all sounds are very technical.
Airflow technology is most effective in the bass range, where this range is full (with the gray filter, the black filter will be closer to average), never feeling lacking at all. But once this bass appears, it stops very quickly, immediately giving way to other sound bands once it has gained the user’s attention. In Wxrdie’s Visible song, the bass sounds in the background emerged continuously, but there was never an unpleasant feeling of ‘background buzzing’. The combination of strong but interrupted bass creates a vibrant but ‘fast’, dynamic atmosphere and is true to a pair of high-end wired headphones.
Thanks to having such good bass separation from other sound ranges, the OD200’s mid range has a very wide space to express, airy from both front to back and both sides. Another reason besides having fuller bass, the gray filter also helps make the mid range thicker because it adds low-mid and controls the high-mid range. The black filter will give the singer’s voice more detail, but will also have a slight sibilance because in the high-mid section there is a higher peak. The mid of the OD200 can simply be described as… neutral, not too cold but also not adding color, thickness or anything. Sometimes because it’s too neutral, this mid range doesn’t really have ‘personality’, for example, but on the contrary, it’s very easy to mix music, whether the singer’s voice is ‘real’ tuned or autotune is added still very listenable.
Not using the Balance Armature speaker membrane, the Oriveti OD200 also does not have a ‘sharp’ treble strip like a razor. However, the treble still shows the strength of the natural, easy-to-listen sound of the Dynamic speaker membrane. Treble with black filter appears densely, does not reach the highest frequencies but still shows sufficient brightness. Personally, I prefer the treble style of the Dynamic speaker membrane, because even if I listen for a long time, it doesn’t make my ears feel tired or uncomfortable. High technicality, being able to ‘look’ at every small detail but still maintain ease of listening and enjoyment is the biggest strength of the OD200 as well as the Oriveti headphones that I have experienced.
Luxury comes from the ability to optimize existing things
If you look at it broadly, Oriveti OD200… is nothing special! This is essentially just a pair of wired headphones, using Dynamic speakers like hundreds, thousands of other pairs of headphones out there. However, the combination of excellent finishing quality, versatility thanks to the ability to replace the plug port, to modern, sophisticated sound quality thanks to ‘extracting’ all the quality of the Dynamic speaker membrane thanks to the control design airflow, the OD200 are truly one of the highest quality pairs of ‘simple’ headphones I’ve ever experienced.