OneOdio Monitor 80 Headphones Review – Best Budget Studio Headphones IMO

OneOdio Monitor 80 Product Video

First impressions

As soon as the box arrived, I knew immediately that this was a level up for OneOdio.

Having already gone through the A70, the Monitor 60s, and some of the SuperEQ range, I was kind of used to what I could expect from OneOdio when their packages arrived. 

When the Monitor 80 arrived, the box alone made me think, “Okay, this should be good.” 

Then to open them and find an EVA semi-hard travel case in the shape of this fantastic oval, made me think, and hope, that these were going to sound as good as the unboxing experience was. 

Unzipping the case and taking out the headphones, I continued to be impressed by the styling of the ear cups, the comfort and feel of the velour, and the overall build quality. 

They did still have that lightness to them that a lot of OneOdio headphones have, which made me then question whether this was going to be any good. Hmmm.

The cables included were a good solid construction, and the case is well thought out with a small elastic pouch that holds the cables. 

So far, so good. 

And I could also note that each ear cup had the same as the other monitor headphones in their range, which is a ¼” jack plug in one earcup and a 3.5mm jack plug in the other. 

From here, it was just time to try them.

Comfort

Putting them on felt pretty good. There’s quite a squeeze to the ear band, but there’s a nice spacious feel in the circumaural ear cups. 

The velour finish on the ear cups is soft and nice. But there is quite a firmness to them, which is actually quite nice to wear and maintains a kind of lightness to airflow from the open-back design.

After significant sessions listening to these, today being about 4 hours, last week on two different days, I did between 2 and 3 hours to give them a really good workout, I did find the ear cups, and the overall pressure around my ears started to wear me down a little bit.

Not particularly unpleasant, but enough that I noticed it to comment on it. 

You probably just want to make sure that you’re giving your ears a break from time to time if you are gonna be doing long sessions with these. 

Despite the comfort, I do like the overall feel, and there really is a nice openness to them which makes them feel like they’re breathing for you.

Sound quality

Well, this is where I started to be impressed as soon as I put them on. 

As many of you know, my almost end-game headphones are currently the Beyerdynamic DT 1990 Pro. They are superb studio headphones, which has a lovely neutral tuning but go very deep and very high in a very effective way. 

So, to put the Monitor Odio on at less than $100 and to immediately feel like the bottom end was drawing me in was a real surprise. 

My initial enthusiasm held for some time before I started really digging deep to find any flaws in these headphones.

Bass

The bass is rich and full, warm, and tight to the point that you feel the impact from pretty much any genre that you’re going to throw at them. 

The frequency response range as listed in the specs is 10 hertz to 40 kilohertz, so that 10 hertz, you can really feel how low these are going, lower than you can hear. 

And depending on what tracks you throw at them, they have the potential to impress you even more.

The mid-bass is less impressive, but it doesn’t spill into the mids. But the general bass and sub-bass are just really quite wonderful. 

You can feel it, which is so important when listening to studio headphones. 

It’s not lost in the overall mix, it’s not just a messy frequency at the bottom of the music.

It’s actually the thing that holds these headphones together nicely.

Mids

The mids could be brighter. 

They are certainly there, but I wish that they were just a little bit brighter, a little more alive.

It’s hard to complain because your vocals come through, guitars, everything in that mid-frequency that you would want to be there is certainly there and isn’t too much. 

For example, some of the mid-range clicks and snare drum sounds aren’t jarring and aren’t too impactful. 

But I do wish that they just had a little bit more sparkle to them to complement the wonderful bottom end.

Treble

Treble, much like the mids, is there. 

It’s not too jarring, but at times it can be a little bright.

This isn’t fatiguing, and only when I really focus on those frequencies, do I have any particular feelings about it.

I think the treble is okay and probably stands a little stronger than the mids.

Overall sound quality

So, the overall sound quality for me is good. 

Particularly throwing rock music at these seems to make them really stand up and do a great job. Anything I threw at them was nice, but the overall tuning did seem to stand really well with a lot of hardcore and rock music. 

That’s not to say that pop and classical, hip hop, and rap didn’t sound good. I was just surprised at how good the rock music did sound.

Soundstage

As impressed as I was with the bass, I was also equally impressed with the overall soundstage. 

There’s lovely separation in the instrumentation.

There’s a lovely depth to the placement of the instruments. 

And the overall ambient sound, as you listen to it, is really quite natural. I really didn’t expect that from a headphone of this price, but it really was a pleasure to listen to. 

It was fun to try and find tracks that had good separation, and these were enhanced by the soundstage of these OneOdio Monitor 80. 

It did get a little bit tight around the mids just because of that lack of brightness or energy in that mid-range.

But overall, it’s certainly an impressive soundstage for headphones of this price.

Accessories

You get everything you need with these. 

As I’ve mentioned, they have a quarter-inch to 3.5mm bungee cord and a 3.5 to 3.5mm cord which is all you need. 

You can plug in the quarter-inch to the right ear and use that cable, or you can use 3.5 mil in the plug in the left ear cup and use that cable if you want to.

Options people. Options.

Specs

The sound frequency runs from 10 hertz to 40,000 hertz, and these are 250-ohm headphones. 

So you’re really going to want something to drive these to make them sound their best.

These are not headphones you’re just going to want to connect to your MacBook or laptop, iPhone, or smartphone. 

You’re really going to want to either get an external headphone amp or run these straight out of your home amp.

I’ve tested these with my Denon AVR-x4500h Receiver and also run them with my iPhone and a FiiO A3 headphone amp. 

The FiiO A3 was all I had to hand, but it certainly, with the high gain option, gave enough extra drive for these to really sound pretty great. 

And I do love the portability of the FiiO A3. Even though it’s an older model now, it still stands up well.

Conclusion

It’s clear to read, from what I’ve written so far, that these headphones have impressed me. 

For less than $100, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend these to anybody that is looking for an open-back headphone, either for music listening or for studio work.

Of course, I wouldn’t recommend these for the office or your commute, as there is certainly some spill when you’re listening to them. But the overall build quality, general comfort, and lovely soundstage, and bottom end make these an excellent first pick in budget studio monitoring headphones. 

I really do have to congratulate OneOdio on these Monitor 80 headphones. 

In terms of their full range of headp[hones, these are definitely my favorite.

If they could improve that mid-range and enrich that top end, they would certainly be worth well more than twice the price they’re charging now, and even as they are worth more on the market for their sound quality.

If I was to consider any other cans, the obvious choice would be the DT 770 from Beyerdynamic, which starts at about the $150 range. And I do love those for their natural neutral sound signature. So, for mixing, they are also an option for anyone. 

But for music listening and monitoring/mixing, the OneOdio Monitor 80 is a great choice. 

Any questions, let me know in the comments below. Stay safe.

This post was last updated on 2025-03-17 / Some images from Amazon Product API & some links may be affiliate links which may earn us a commission from purchases.