Contrary to the trend of the
dumbing down of audio (fueled by over-compressed digital files and streaming music), personal hi-fi has experienced an awakening in recent years, as evidenced in the expanding headphone market. Sightings of full-sized headphones out on the streets are growing as fast as the popularity of lossless flac (Free Lossless Audio Codec) and 24-bit 96kHz resolution files. Meeting the demand are electronics shops, whose shelves are packed with headphones complete with packaging and brochures that pay obligatory lip-service to quality sound reproduction. While there are many great headphones out there, too often stylish designs and a hip celebrity endorsement
beats sound quality in the arena of popularity.
Onkyo enters this flooded market with both an on-ear and in-ear offering. The on-ear headphones come in two varieties, the ES-HF300 and the ES-FC300. The only difference between the two is the HF300 includes a 6N oxygen-free copper cable that Onkyo claims delivers superior sound because it presents almost zero resistance to your audio signal. The FC300 model has a flat cable of that’s said to be of lesser quality. Also, while the HF300 and its superior cable are available only in black, the FC300 comes in white, violet and black. Besides those superficial differences, the headphones themselves are identical.
Out of the Box Impressions
Packed in a flatter-than-expected box was a pair of collapsible headphones with the Onkyo name etched into both brushed-aluminum driver housings. A plush carrying bag was separately wrapped in plastic and the thin, white oxygen-free cable was tightly secured in the packaging by its unusual snap-on connector.
When unpacking, it’s immediately apparent that these headphones (although full-sized and meant to be over-the-head) are designed to be portable. Once you pop them out of the plastic packaging, you’ll notice the highly touted cable isn’t exactly a generous length. At about 4 feet, it’s typical for use with a mobile device but music-listening in the living room will almost certainly require an extender cable.
The build quality is solid and stylish. Hard flat-black plastic joins wide brushed-aluminum driver housings, while contact points are treated with delicate leatherette cushions on the headband and ear-cups.
The headband adjusts with sturdy snaps to secure the ear-cups into a comfortable position. The cable secures near the back of each ear-cup separately using a proprietary connector that snaps into place but can break away in the event of an accident.
The headphones are snug but fit comfortably on my head. While Onkyo calls them on-ear
(or supra-aural) headphones, they fit fully over and around my ears making them more of a
circumaural design. Although they feel comfortable and seem suitable for long listening sessions, for some that snugness might start to feel tight after a while, especially for the larger-headed among us. These headphones aren’t designed to feel light and loose on your head – but that’s probably best for use with your mobile device.
The headphones themselves are beautiful to behold, rugged and refined at the same time. The tough brushed-aluminum driver housings are a “closed back” design, meaning they’ll provide a sense of acoustic isolation from your environment with no vents from your ear to the outside world. The circular shape of the outer ear-cups is designed with a nod to control dials you’d find on an Onkyo receiver.
The headphones collapse flat and pack away nicely for storage, fitting perfectly into the carrying bag that has a soft interior for protection.
Inside the aluminum housings are 40mm (1 9/16”) full-range titanium drivers that Onkyo promises will reproduce a wide frequency spectrum, with detailed performance in the mid-to-high ranges and with sensitivity suited to hi-resolution lossless recordings at 192/24. Meanwhile Onkyo says its dual-chambered drivers will optimize bass response, providing low frequency weight without “boomy” bass.
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