One Reference for Every Room: Davide Linzi and the OLLO X1
For Davide Linzi, every tour date starts in a new room. As a front-of-house engineer, he has worked for years with many Italian artists in theaters, festivals, arenas and stadiums, and each venue means rebuilding his mix in a different space.
Away from the stage, he mixes and masters in the studio, creates Dolby Atmos mixes and finishes projects on the road. Across all of it, he relies on one pair of headphones: the OLLO X1.
The end of a long search
Davide spent years trying different headphones without finding what he needed. That changed with his first pair of OLLOs, and eventually led him to the X1.
“For years I tried plenty of different headphones, until I discovered OLLO. From the very first model, I fell in love with that sound, and above all with the comfort that lets you wear them for hours without even noticing they're on. I've finally arrived at the X1, the best for me, whose detail, low-frequency depth, transient response, and above all immersive stereo image allow me to work anywhere: in studio for mixing and mastering, binaural mix, on the road with my laptop, and on live shows, where I often work on the balance of my mixes and the details of the sounds during tour rehearsals, or build a mix for the artist’s social media content after a gig.”
Where it started: Davide's first OLLO headphones at the live console.
Rehearsals: where the mix begins
During a show, Davide rarely wears headphones. Their most important job comes earlier, in tour rehearsals, when the foundations of the mix are set.
“I don’t usually wear headphones during a live show (except maybe to perform a linechek before the show start) but I use them extensively during rehearsals, when I’m making my starting choices on sounds, mix and balance. The critical part for a live show for me. You have to take the first decisions to build a mix from.”
Those first decisions have to be made quickly, and often without speakers that reflect how the show will sound in a large venue.
“There’s often little time to build a show before the first date, or the listening setups available don’t correspond to how a PA actually performs in a venue holding 20, 30 or 50 thousand people. In many cases a mid-sized production arrives at a venue with a resident PA, so every day I have to rebuild my mix in a completely different environment. That’s why I think it’s essential to have a solid starting point, a sonic fingerprint I can trust that doesn’t leave room for any indecision.”
Rehearsals, where the starting choices are made.
Davide at front of house during an arena show.
Late nights in the studio
Davide also mixes and masters in the studio, often after dark. There, headphones help him work without speakers and focus on the details.
“Since I also work in the studio on mixing and mastering, and I often prefer to work at night, working on headphones becomes almost essential, not only to avoid the noise of the speakers but also to isolate myself and concentrate more on what I’m doing. Having headphones that I can wear for a long time without fatigue, with an almost three-dimensional listening perception, helps me stay focused and feel in a comfort zone.”
Late-night mixing on the OLLO X1.
One reference instead of three
Many engineers keep separate headphones for different jobs. Davide wanted the same reference in the studio and at the live console.
“So my search for a tool that would let me work in the studio and then find the same reference point again in the live setting was essential. I didn’t want one pair of headphones for mastering, one for mixing and one for live. I wanted a single device to do everything, not so much to save money on owning several, but to have one single reference for every type of work.”
That matters even more when a live show needs to sound like the record. Davide compares his mixes and masters with the latest releases on headphones, and carries the same reference into his live work.
“Especially in modern music, where many of the sounds you want to achieve live are those of the record, I have to rebuild the detail of certain sounds, the effects on a vocal or the balance of a mix starting from the artist’s record. And as I said before, if I’m in a control room that isn’t well acoustically treated, with basic monitoring, headphones are my first reference tool. My solid starting point.”
Calibration on the live mixer
To bring his reference closer to the studio when working live, Davide pairs his X1 with IK Multimedia’s ARC On Ear device.
“Having a compensation coming out of my live mixer that comes as close as possible to that of OLLO’s software (which is of course more precise) improves my listening even further.”
Hotels, trains and backstage
Studio work continues on tour, from finishing projects to preparing mixes for the artists’ social media.
“Another key point: when traveling on tour, I often have to finish some in-the-box studio jobs, or prepare live mix-masters for the artists’ social media content. So I’m forced to work on headphones in hotels, on trains or in the backstage area. But my reference is always the same! The same as when I’m in the studio. And for me that’s an essential aspect.”
Ready for any output
From a studio headphone amp to a live console or a laptop, the X1 gives Davide consistent results.
“It’s a device that lets me do everything, with no limits in frequency response (which some headphones may have because they’re dedicated to one function or the other). Comfort is fundamental for wearing headphones for a long time, and then there’s impedance: I can easily get a consistent average volume and correct dynamic response whether I’m using my headphone amp in the studio, the headphone outputs on live mixers, or simply the minijack of my Mac if I need to listen to something quickly.”
Stereo image and Dolby Atmos
The X1’s stereo image also plays a role in Davide's immersive work.
“One thing that has always disappointed me a bit about many headphones I’ve tried over the years is the stereo image. On the X1s (and actually on all the OLLO models I’ve had since the very first one) the spatialization is very pleasant and closer to listening to two speakers in a room. Of course, this characteristic is secondary for me in a live mix. The panning of channels in a live show is strictly tied to the type of PA in the venue and the program I’m mixing. But it has undoubtedly been very useful for some Dolby Atmos mixes I’ve done using Dolby’s binaural renderer. Compared to other headphones, the perception of object positions is clearly more distinct and transparent.”
One reference, every context
Arena rehearsals, late-night mastering, Atmos mixes and work on the road. For Davide, it all comes back to the same reference.
“What matters most to me is having a reference I can rely on in every working context: a device that lets me find my bearings again in any situation.”
“The X1 is the one reference I was looking for to get my ideal sound in every context: studio or live, at home or on the road on tour.”
The X1 enters Evolution X
The X1 is now part of Evolution X, marking the transition to a new generation. As the X1 enters its EOL (End of Life) phase, we’ve reduced the price of the remaining stock, while keeping the headphones fully supported and serviceable.
And the deals stack: Evolution X pricing can be combined with other partnership deals.
Availability is limited to existing stock. Once it’s gone, it’s gone.
For more info and orders: OLLO X1
Follow Davide: Davide Linzi
