The Swift Summary
Pros
Cons
- Excellent accoustics
- Connect two devices simultaneously
- Built-in microphone
- Locking audio cables
- Low price point
- Battery life claims are hard to obtain
Features list for the OneOdio A70
- Wireless Bluetooth 5.0 Connectivity
- Use wired or wireless
- Built-in CVC 6.0 microphone for hands-free calls
- Volume and play/pause buttons
- Up to 72 hours of playback
- High fidelity monitor level audio
- Over ear pad design
- Connect two headphones wirelessly or wired to share music
- Cable locking system
- Compatible with iOS and Android devices
- Folding design
Swift Thoughts
Design
The OneOdio A70 headphones have a clean functional design with an appealing combination of materials and textures. I particularly like hand-stitched detailing and the subtle embossed logo on the top of the headband. The concentric circles on the ear-cups have a sheen and texture that’s very reminiscent of vinyl records–a lovely touch.
Audio Performance
The audio performance of the A70s are particularly good considering the price point of the product. The Japanese parts and engineering have certainly helped in this regard. The balance between highs, lows and mids is evenly distributed and faithfully rendered across the audio gamut making them suitable for monitoring purposes.
Whether you just want to listen to your favourite music or TV series or are a budding DJ or music maker these headphones are hard to fault.
Comfort
I cannot fault the comfort. The headphones have the usual adjustable parts making them able to fit all head shapes and sizes. The underneath of the head band is made os a soft rubber material so you can wear them for long periods no problem.
Build Quality
The build quality is very good. The materials feel good quality and built to last years, not just weeks. The ear-cups rotate a full 90 degrees and fold in making the A70 very compact for transport. The A70s come with a soft pouch but if you intend to commute or travel with them frequently I’d recommend investing in a compatible headphone case.
Functionality
Shareport technology allows you to connect two devices at once–a really nice selling point and particularly useful for musicians. The ingenious dual-purpose coiled audio cable can connect to devices with either the standard 3.5mm jack or the larger 6.35mm jacks. With the A70s having both dual outputs (both 3.5 and 6.35 types) you just switch ends depending on your needs.
Additionally, the mic also works well for hands-free calls, especially with Clear Voice Capture (CVC) firmware technology. See below for more further information on CVC mics.
Swift Scores
Design
Audio Performance
Comfort
Build Quality
Functionality
Battery Life
FAQs
Q: Are the OneOdio A70 headphones suitable for DJing or mixing?
A: Yes, absolutely. The sound quality is very impressive, you can connect to two devices simultaneously and the ear-cups twist around a full 90°.
Q: Will the A70 headphones work with my iPad and iPod?
A: Yes, if the device has Bluetooth it will connect.
Q: Does it have a microphone?
A: Yes, it works in Bluetooth mode only though. As is common with almost all wireless headphones, when you connect them via wire, the connected device’s microphone takes over.
Q: Will these headphones connect to my smart TV and other smart devices (Alexa)?
A: Yes.
Q: Can I connect two devices and listen to them simultaneously?
A: Yes. For this setup you need to be in wired mode and use both cables found in the box. The headphones have two built-in audio jacks.
Q: Will the OneOdio A70 headphones connect to my PS4?
A: Yes
Q: What’s the approximate range of the Bluetooth, please?
A: Depending on obstructions anywhere between 10 to 15 metres.
Q: Are these noise cancelling?
A: No, at this price range headphones generally don’t have NC features. Being an over-ear headphone design though they do block out a lot of ambient noise.
Q: Is there an indication when the headphones become fully charged?
A: Yes, the LED light will change from red to blue.
Q: Are these headphones suitable for running in?
A: Yes.
What’s in the box?
- OneOdio A70 Headphones
- Soft Headphone Storage Pouch
- Standard 3.5mm audio cable with inline microphone
- Dual duty coiled cable with 6.35mm jack one end and a 3.5mm jack the other (1.5m-2.8m long)
- USB charging cable
- User Guide
You want it? We’ve found it.
The OneOdio A70 headphones are available in 4 colours: black, red, gold and silver.
Tech Talk
CVC mics – what do they do?
CVC is a type of noise cancellation. It stands for Clear Voice Capture. So if you are taking calls in a noisy environment, the technology helps minimises loud and distracting external sounds in order to provide a quieter environment for communication.
This is achieved is a couple of ways.
External sounds are combatted with mirrored internal frequencies to cancel them out. In this regard CVC is much like regular ANC (active noise cancellation).
What’s special about CVC technology is that it also uses a range of algorithms to process your voice audio captured through the mic. By using a range of advanced processing techniques, a device with CVC essentially creates a profile of your voice and isolates it from other ambient noises. It performs this magic trick with:
- Automatic gain controls
- Send/Receive equalizers
- Comfort noise
- Howling control
- Nonlinear processing
- Adaptive equalizers
- Power savings techniques
- Auxiliary stream mixing
- Frequency enhanced speech intelligibility
The result offers CVC users nearly a 30 decibel reduction in external noise when making a call.
Bluetooth 5.0 – what does it do?
Bluetooth is a type of wireless technology that helps one device pair with another in order for data (usually audio) to be transferred wirelessly.
You may have noticed a lot of products boast that they have Bluetooth version 5.0 built-in. What’s so special about version 5.0? There have been many improvements within the technology over the years, but in brief Bluetooth 5.0 has these improvements over its predecessors:
- Improved reliability
- Extended range
- Faster data transfer speeds
Improved reliability means that a wireless connection is less likely to suddenly fail for no obvious reason.
Extended range means that a device will stay connected with its paired device across longer distances.
Faster data transfer speeds offers both higher quality audio as well as greatly reduced audio lag when watching video content.
Studio headphones – what does it mean?
When a headphone is described as a ‘studio headphone‘ or suitable for ‘audio monitoring‘ it essentially means that the balance of the audio is neutral or has a ‘neutral sound signature‘. That’s basically a fancy way of saying that the audio will have minimal distortion and will render audio as faithfully to the source as possible. For example, studio headphones won’t have boosted bass levels, which is common in consumer-oriented headphones.
If you’re wanting to listen to audio more critically, like professional DJs, musicians or audio mixers then studio headphones are an essential tool. With studio headphones you’ll find it easier to pinpoint distortions, background noise or general audio flaws. Whilst studio headphones may be aimed more towards those with professional needs, they are more than versatile to meet the needs of ordinary consumers who want a crisp, undistorted audio experience.
