Ollo Audio X1: Quality Without Compromise

Headphones are supposed to be the final truth-tellers in my workflow, letting me fine-tune a mix long after the studio monitors are off and often after the outside world is silent. The Ollo Audio X1 promised true, sub-decibel linearity in a handcrafted chassis, so I put a pair on my desk and lived with them for six weeks before I wrote this and here’s what stood out.

Walnut ear cups, a powder-coated stainless headband, aluminium yokes, and hybrid velour/perforated leather pads make the X1s feel closer to a boutique piece of studio furniture than plastic pro-audio bait that we’re so used to seeing in the scene today. Every component, drivers, pads, cable, even the back-plates, can be replaced with basic tools, and Ollo backs that with a five-year warranty plus a 90-day trial. At 390 grams, the X1 has real heft, but the suspended strap spreads weight so effectively that multi-hour sessions stay fatigue-free.

Out of the box the X1 is already very flat, but Ollo goes a step further with Unit Specific Calibration II. Each serial-numbered headphone is measured at the factory; the resulting .xps file and a Realphones-powered plug-in tighten the response to ≈ ±1 dB across the entire 5 Hz–22 kHz band. Generic systems like Sonarworks typically deliver ±3 dB, so this moves the needle from good to forensic. The file can also export raw EQ points for RME TotalMix, UA Console, or any hardware DSP. Calibration takes less than a minute: install, drag-and-drop, and the job’s done.

What Changed from the S4X?

I’ve owned the previous-gen S4X since the 1.2 hardware revision. Acoustically, it floated around ±2 dB and relied on USC I software to narrow that to ±1 dB. The X1 meets ±1 dB without software, adds a lower-distortion driver, and widens the sound-stage through its angled transducer geometry. The older S4X also showed a ~13.7 dB variance across 20 Hz–20 kHz; the X1’s spread is roughly 9–10 dB—tighter low-end, smoother upper mids. Physically, the headband clamp is firmer for better bass seal, the pads are deeper, and the serviceability has been upgraded to true user-replaceable parts across the board.

Day-to-Day Gains

• Consistent Mix Translation: Parallel moves between headphone and nearfield monitoring reveal no hidden peaks or troughs; automation edits stick.
• Calibration That Travels: My .xps file lives on a USB key: plug into any DAW, import, and the reference follows me to remote sessions.
• Immersive Audio QA: USC II includes binaural and Harman targets plus FOH and car checks, allowing me to A/B cross-feed or spatial mixes without leaving the DAW.
• Zero Downtime: Need fresh pads mid-project? Two screws and sixty seconds back in business. Ollo have made this as easy as it can possibly be for us engineers to continue doing our work.

Verdict

Six weeks in, the X1 has become the headphone reference I judge others against. Hand-built durability, measurable ±1 dB linearity, and a calibration pipeline that takes longer to describe than to deploy. Together, they justify the Quality Without Compromise tagline. If you need a pair of headphones that can stand in for a treated control room rather than just approximate one, the Ollo Audio X1 delivers.

Words and photos by Daniel Nesci