[section_title title=”Performance and Testing”]
Performance and Testing
The One-Eighties, powered by Otone, promise a great audio experience and have some very useful modes, so you can get the most from the headphones. I’m fortunate in that I already own a pair of BOSE QuietComfort 15s, which will provide a decent comparison, as the ANC is exceptional and the audio quality is great.
Active Noise Cancelling
First things first, the active noise cancelling is something that is heavily marketed with the One-Eighties. The basic concept of ANC is that the headphones contain microphones, which listen to the ambient background noise and then adjust the signal playback to “cancel out” the noise.
I travel by train a fair bit, so I was keen to test the ANC feature of these headphones. There is a lot of background noise when you’re on the train, both from the tracks/engines and the passengers, so it made a great first test: So there I was, sitting on the training with One-Eighties, BOSE QuietComforts and a generic non ANC pair of headphones. As expected, the generic headphones that cost £20 from the supermarket were not great at reducing the background noise, even with faux leather ear cups. Again, as expected, the BOSE QuietComforts were superb at lowering the ambient noise levels, whilst maintaining audio quality. The surprise was, however, at just how well the One-Eighties performed: pretty much on par with the BOSE pair, the One-Eighties almost eliminated the hum and whirr of the engines, with only the odd screeching child breaking through. There was also minimal noise leakage on 50% volume, so you don’t annoy your fellow passengers – another plus if you’re on the quiet carriage.
Audio Quality
Playing through a range of tracks from several genres, it was clear that the One-Eighties delivered no matter what was thrown at them: drum and bass, check, Electronic, check, Rock, check… The headphones delivered pristine high, mid and low tones at 50% volume, however when you switched the Vortex Drive (AKA VTX) mode on, it provided a deeper level of bass and produced more of a punchier sound. Switching back to the ANC and normal, unpowered mode, resulted in the music sounding slightly flat and left you feeling slightly disappointed until you switched it back to VTX mode.
Running the headphones through some more technical tests located at Audio Check, I didn’t find a single test that caught out the One-Eighties, except that the bass could be a bit wobbly at the lower frequencies until VTX was turned on. Ramping the volume up to max on an amp did produce some bass distortion, however anyone listening to music at the volume is either deaf, or will be very soon, as the headphones go LOUD.
Listening to music and watching films on my iPad was enhanced by the crisp sound and the deep bass the One-Eighties provided. One thing I did find that was slightly off-putting, was the complicated inline controls. There is just one button, which simply pauses/plays/answers/hangs-up. If you want to change the track, you have to quickly press the button in rapid succession, which can be a bit of a pain. When answering calls using the headphones the microphone was clear, although a bit quieter than using a phone, which could be attributed to the mic sitting quiet far down the cable.
Battery life was a big concern of mine, as my BOSE provide 30+ hours of playback from one AAA battery, but only work if they have power. The One-Eighties managed to squeeze out about 18 hours of sound on VTX mode with volume at 60%, from two AAA batteries, so be prepared to have to change them every week or two.
