Sep 09, 2026

Why Pairing ARC On Ear with OLLO X1 Headphones Actually Makes Sense

Why would you buy "flat" twice?

Why would you buy a pair of acoustically flat headphones and pair them with DSP correction software? Why not simply one or the other? Are you buying the promise of a flat sound twice?

The short answer: no. The ARC On Ear and the OLLO X1 headphones both promise flat sound, but they do it from two fundamentally different angles, and that's exactly why they work so well together.

First, be honest about what problem you're solving

I've been in the audio industry since I was 15, and I'm guilty of buying gear that made no sense for my setup. It was all emotional investing in shortcuts, convincing myself that the next thing would solve all my problems.

Before any gear purchase, ask yourself: Is this your first piece in the chain (first interface, first headphones, first speakers)? Is it an upgrade? Or the worst case: you bought something that didn't deliver, and now you're investing again to solve the same problem?

Answering this honestly is the first step in financially surviving in the audio industry.

What each device actually does

The ARC On Ear is a DAC/audio interface for your computer with integrated calibration software for most headphones on the market. On its own, it doesn't produce any sound. It sits in the middle of the signal chain.

The OLLO X1 studio headphones are at the end of that chain. They're transducers: they turn electrical signals into sound. On their own, they also don't produce sound. They need a DAC/audio interface as a source.

You need both. An audio interface and headphones connected to a computer to mix, master, or simply listen to music in a proper studio setup.

Two different approaches to flat sound

So why do both include a calibration feature?

The ARC On Ear: Software-Based Calibration

The ARC sits in the middle of the signal chain, which gives it a unique opportunity to EQ or flatten the signal before it's sent to the headphones. In theory, you can own any pair of headphones and the ARC can modify the signal to sound flat on that specific model.

It works by reversing peaks in the headphones' frequency response using software, before the signal even reaches the drivers.

The limitation: accuracy is based on the average of a few headphones used when creating calibration profiles. Even among 3 to 5 identical headphones, material tolerances in speakers, earpads, and chassis mean the average can't realistically be below 3dB tolerance. Two pairs of the same model will not have exactly the same sound. The ARC profiles can't calibrate for your individual unit. It's an average.

The OLLO X1: Acoustics-Based Calibration

The X1 headphones sit at the end of the signal chain, the device that actually turns electrical signals into audible sound. Being last in the chain provides a unique opportunity to use acoustical engineering to deliver flat sound without any software.

But acoustics aren't like an EQ. You can't dip a specific frequency by 1dB and leave everything else untouched. It's a balancing act between materials, shapes, resonances, and tolerances. Using acoustics alone, the X1 is tuned flat with about 2dB tolerance. In plain terms: they're super flat out of the box.

So why add calibration on top? If you're a professional (or training to become one), you can likely hear a 1dB change in EQ and maybe even 1dB of compression. When you hear at 1dB resolution, you make creative decisions at that resolution. Those decisions aren't consistent if your monitoring isn't at the same accuracy.

To provide monitoring at 1dB accuracy, we further calibrate with software, and we do it for every single unit, not based on averaging 3 or 5 units. That's what the OLLO X1 is all about.

Why they're better together

Now that we understand both devices deliver flat sound in different ways, is there value in pairing them?

Absolutely. They complement each other on two levels:

Level one: The obvious pairing. Neither can produce sound alone. The ARC needs headphones to turn signals into sound, and the X1 needs a DAC/audio interface as an audio source. They physically complete each other's signal chain.

Level two: The precision pairing. The ARC can calibrate almost any headphones but is limited by average-based profiles, and has to do heavy lifting when headphones are far from flat (resulting in distortion and low consistency). The X1 is limited by acoustics alone and needs software for the final mile. Together, the ARC provides the software and portability while the X1 provides near-perfect flat sound out of the box plus unit-specific calibration.

The result: the ARC On Ear handles portability, ease of use, and power. The X1 provides an already near-perfect frequency response and an open-source, unit-specific calibration file that loads directly into the ARC software.

Bonus: Go portable

You can unplug the ARC from your computer and use it as a portable amplifier with calibration running onboard. No computer needed. Plug it into your guitar, synth, vocals, bass, or streaming service on your phone and enjoy perfectly calibrated, consistent monitoring. Completely frictionless.