[WyldRage]

There's a new review for the S4X, and it is pretty positive:

 

[Roderick]

Two problems with that review.

1) He often mentions new drivers on S4X. I don't think Ollo ever stated that the drivers were changed. They look the same and have same specs. Quote from Ollo about upgrading S4 to S4X.
"
With an upgrade, you get:

• New headband
• New earpads
• New inner acoustics
• New individual measurements
• 5yr limited warranty
• We do not return used parts with the exception of ear pads"

So no new drivers.

2) Comparison to S4 is flawed. He says tuning between S4 and S4X is consistent and difference between the two comes from several small improvements which might be difficult to hear without A/B testing. Thing is the tuning is drastically different between the two. S4 has a lot of emphasis on low midrange followed by a drop bottoming out near 1.5khz. Difference is not subtle in the slightest.

Graph from Ollo's site:

This is my measurement. Not an exact match but differences between the two are similar just the presentation is different.

Keeping in mind SPL doubles for every 6db and perceived loudness is doubled by every 10db the differences here are huge. I'm not saying either of the headphones is bad because of it. They're just very different and the review did a poor job explaining the differences between the two models.

 

[Beagle]

Two problems with that review.

1) He often mentions new drivers on S4X. I don't think Ollo ever stated that the drivers were changed. They look the same and have same specs. Quote from Ollo about upgrading S4 to S4X.
"
With an upgrade, you get:

• New headband
• New earpads
• New inner acoustics
• New individual measurements
• 5yr limited warranty
• We do not return used parts with the exception of ear pads"

So no new drivers.

2) Comparison to S4 is flawed. He says tuning between S4 and S4X is consistent and difference between the two comes from several small improvements which might be difficult to hear without A/B testing. Thing is the tuning is drastically different between the two. S4 has a lot of emphasis on low midrange followed by a drop bottoming out near 1.5khz. Difference is not subtle in the slightest.

Graph from Ollo's site:


This is my measurement. Not an exact match but differences between the two are similar just the presentation is different.



Keeping in mind SPL doubles for every 6db and perceived loudness is doubled by every 10db the differences here are huge. I'm not saying either of the headphones is bad because of it. They're just very different and the review did a poor job explaining the differences between the two models.

Both look awful.

 

[Roderick]

Both look awful.

Ok. That got me curious I get that S4 might be harder to appreciate but what is wrong with S4X? For me it's bit too agressive at 2khz and can infact become shouty on a occasion. But overall I would not say it's awfull at all. Quite the opposite considering what other stuff is out there. I added HD650 for reference. That hole in 6-7khz is just something my particular minidsp E.A.R.S likes doing.

 

[Beagle]

That hole in 6-7khz is just something my particular minidsp E.A.R.S likes doing.

Except it's not doing it with the S4.

 

[Roderick]

Minidsp is known to do weird stuff particularly at 5khz and I think that this is something similar. I see this too often for it be an accurate result. There is likely a dip there but it gets attenuated because of the fake ear cavity resonances or because of some other fault in the system. HD650 definately has a dip somewhere between 6khz and 10khz. I say somewhere because looking at all the dozens of measurements available for hd650 the location of the dip seems to be all over the place. Or it is not there at all. Sometimes ringing shows up as a hole in the fr when measured etc. They can't always get this right with $10 000 measuring systems so it is highly propable that $199 ears has ton of weird problems. Peaks in the treble are usually pretty spot on but all dips in the measurements beyond 5khz should be approached with suspicion.

 

[Joaquin Dinero]

Minidsp is known to do weird stuff particularly at 5khz and I think that this is something similar. I see this too often for it be an accurate result. There is likely a dip there but it gets attenuated because of the fake ear cavity resonances or because of some other fault in the system. HD650 definately has a dip somewhere between 6khz and 10khz. I say somewhere because looking at all the dozens of measurements available for hd650 the location of the dip seems to be all over the place. Or it is not there at all. Sometimes ringing shows up as a hole in the fr when measured etc. They can't always get this right with $10 000 measuring systems so it is highly propable that $199 ears has ton of weird problems. Peaks in the treble are usually pretty spot on but all dips in the measurements beyond 5khz should be approached with suspicion.

If you run that same test repeatedly are the results consistent ?

 

[Roderick]

If you run that same test repeatedly are the results consistent ?

Yes. I think there is something with certain headphones that reacts poorly with the fake ear. I take multiple measurements in different positions for both channels and combine those into one average that should roughly represent the overall sound. Here is one S4X measurement that looks really weird.

I had adjusted the position only slightly and that 6.5khz region allmost stopped existing for a very narrow area. That of course does not happen. Also interesting is that second dip is in the same area where HD650 has that strange treble peak. So whatever the reason S4X and HD650 both have some weird stuff going on at 6.5khz and around 17khz. Those have something in common in their build or drivers that messes up the measurements.

EDIT: Forgot to mention the weird fake ringin that shows up in spectogram and waterfall. This is also a known problem with E.A.R.S. It is not there for most of the headphones but some headphones always have it. Both Ollo and HD650 have that.

 

[Beagle]

Minidsp is known to do weird stuff particularly at 5khz and I think that this is something similar. I see this too often for it be an accurate result. There is likely a dip there but it gets attenuated because of the fake ear cavity resonances or because of some other fault in the system. HD650 definately has a dip somewhere between 6khz and 10khz. I say somewhere because looking at all the dozens of measurements available for hd650 the location of the dip seems to be all over the place. Or it is not there at all. Sometimes ringing shows up as a hole in the fr when measured etc. They can't always get this right with $10 000 measuring systems so it is highly propable that $199 ears has ton of weird problems. Peaks in the treble are usually pretty spot on but all dips in the measurements beyond 5khz should be approached with suspicion.

In cases like these, it is wise to use one's ears to determine where there are colorations or frequency aberrations. Or just get a Yamaha HPH-MT8 or HPH-MT220 and see if other headphones sound odd around the 5k to 10k area in comparison.

 

[FullBright1]

OllO S4X. Mini Review : Revised


Gear used : Marantz CD-1 Player & RME ADI-2 Dac Amp


Songs :

Kacey Musgraves : "Slow Burn"
Limperatrice : "Error 404"
Limperatrice : "Parfum Theremine"
Keane : "Thread"
Katie Melua : A Love Like That"
Vulfpeck : "Love is a Beautiful Thing"
Jana Kramer : "I wont give up on You"
Sade : "The Sweetest Taboo"
Sade : "No Ordinary Lover"
Bryan Bennett : "Voyage"
Aleah Stanbridge : " Sinking Ships"
Ilya Toshinskiy : "Train Station"
Sarah Jarosz : "House of Mercy"

--------

My Thanks to my friend Mojca @OllO for making this review possible.


Ok, the OLLO SX4.
It arrived to me, courtesy of DHL, in about 3 days... So, that is Lightning Fast = across the World.

So, what is this set of Headphones. ?
The fine folks at OLLO are positioning it as a Mixing Mastering "Brutally Honesty", Studio Gear.
Well, more on that in the Frequency response section and beyond.
What i can tell you is that they are a good set of headphones. They are a well designed, attractive, and retro-aesthetic : Gear.
The OLLO"s reveal this sonic impression : = that they've been endlessly Lab tweek'd to get the maximum amount of nuanced sonic truth out of a $400 set of wooden cups.

Tonally they offer a bit of the Grado sound, yet with ample bass and more bass extension, and a treble response that does not punish you.

Comfort : Smallish Over-Ear Cups with very soft PLeather pads. Headphones are very light.

Treble : Its slightly energetic, its detailed, and its extended. Sizzle or SSSSS, is not a problem.

Midrange : Here is where all the action is, regarding this Gear. Its is very tuned, and occupies the majority of the rich energy that is found within the OllO's dynamic sound.
Mildly Forward? Yes, .
This is not a dull sounding set of Headphonea......This is Semi-Grado Lively, but with Low end and a smoother Treble.
Yet with all that dynamic power the OllO's posess, listening fatigue is not noticed,....Probably because you dont have to play these loud to get them to sound good. Also the top end is rich and tho it is very precise its not sharp or piercing or shrill or thin.

Bass: Well integrated, articulate, extension is good, precision/detail/impact is very balanced and very obvious.

Detail Retrieval : Its impressive. There is a sense of analytical sound quality, but the headphone's are quite musical.

Soundstage is : Medium, and slightly immersive at first and after a bit of burn in, it blooms.
The Cups are not large, yet the soundstage is good and gets better.

Instrument separation : Very well done. So, for the Mastering and Mixing process, these could work well, once you learned how to hear them correctly. = Just like every other set you would want to use in a Studio.

Timbre : Transparent... Mostly Natural, with a taste of richness.

These Burn in well. At about 8hrs a new layer of "natural" is evident, and they bloom towards an even more natural and authentic presentation.
After about 8 hrs of use, you'll note the soundstage blooms and the mids slightly soften and become even more natural/neutral.

Who will love these : All who enjoy Female Vocals. All who appreciate articulation within headphone sound.

This headphone's sound has been mostly highly reviewed online.
I look forward to more and better from this company

-

-

 

[Beagle]

So, for the Mastering and Mixing process, these could work well, once you learned how to hear them correctly. = Just like every other set you would want to use in a Studio.

Do they leak a lot of sound out the back or are they more semi-open and less prone to that?

 

[FullBright1]

Do they leak a lot of sound out the back or are they more semi-open and less prone to that?

By design, they are do provide better then average isolation.
They also soften, tonally, and become more Reference sound starting at about 8 hrs of listening.
What i do is play Dubstep or very bass heaven music at a reasonably loud volume as my burn in technique.
I noticed that these lost that out of the box midrange edge and the soundstage bloomed.
Typical of a good headphone when its settling in.

These are very good headphones.
They will make excellent mixing and mastering Headphones, for which they are designed, but, just to buy them to listen to them, is a good idea.
The currently price is too low, so, i hope you can get them.
Takes 3 Days, obo, DHL to you.
Something else..
If you have a Paypal account, you can PayPal flex pay these, with $180 Euro Down, and flex pay the rest.

 

[voja]

I took my time with my review, did a lot of research, and had a technical approach. The review has been published here:
https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/ollo-s4x-reference-over-the-ear.24473/reviews#item-review-24842

What I have to say is that it I don't think it's fair that in the past people kept referring to Sonarwork's review of the S4 (note: not the S4X!). I did what I could to judge it from a non subjective perspective, this meant studying their approach and reasoning behind measurements. I hope we have more technical review in the future, or at least more reviews from professional audio engineers... because an audiophile approach isn't it for this headphone. I think Ollo Audio did a very good job, it's a serious improvement over their previous models.

 

[Roderick]

audiophile approach isn't it for this headphone.

Exactly the reason why I've never wrote a review on these here. It's an improvement from original but from "audiophile" perspective I don't think price/sound quality is quite there. On the other hand it has no major sound flaws, great build quality, good warranty & customer service, cheap user replaceable parts and ability perform well on all equipment makes it a solid choice for someone set on buying one headphone and keeping it for 15 years.

 

[FullBright1]

I took my time with my review, did a lot of research, and had a technical approach. The review has been published here:
https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/ollo-s4x-reference-over-the-ear.24473/reviews#item-review-24842

What I have to say is that it I don't think it's fair that in the past people kept referring to Sonarwork's review of the S4 (note: not the S4X!). I did what I could to judge it from a non subjective perspective, this meant studying their approach and reasoning behind measurements. I hope we have more technical review in the future, or at least more reviews from professional audio engineers... because an audiophile approach isn't it for this headphone. I think Ollo Audio did a very good job, it's a serious improvement over their previous models.

OllO created this gear for a specific use.....but its the same use you find with the Neumann NDH20.
Its GEARED towards the Studiophile, but it works as a $399 Audiophile set.
It has its own voice, and it does its own thing, and its highly reviewed.

Consider that If the HD800 and the OllOS4x were released at the same time, the HD800 would be miles ahead of the S4X regarding hatred reviews by "day 2", and that one costs substantially more money.