Ozone advance their stable of headsets with the Onda Pro, featuring new technologies that are geared to game will this become your weapon of choice?

Product on Review: Ozone Onda Pro
Manufacturer: Ozone Gaming
Street Price: £66.95 inc VAT

Ozone, in their competitive battle for gamers hearts, have incorporated technologies in the new Onda Pro gaming headset that have targeted some of the key hurdles gamers face with their audio. Starting with a new Digital Signal Processing (DSP) to improve the quality of compressed audio, an Environmental Noise cancelling (ENC) technology using dual microphones and a lightweight headband and frame for long periods of comfort.

On first impression, the design seems to share the OEM with the CM Storm Ceres 300, which is potentially a smart idea due to the proven comfort of this particular design. Various visual changes of note on the Onda Pro are, a soft PU leather coated padding is used on the earcups and it uses a plug and play USB connection rather than a 3.5mm jack.

Overview by Ozone

ONDA PRO X-SURROUND PROGAMING HEADSET
When we created Onda PRO, we had one goal in mind, for you to become fully immersed in the game without any distractions. We’ve achieved it. Pinpoint where the fight is just by hearing the gunfire, the steps and the callouts with exceptionally accurate X-Surround Sound . The full over-ear coverage ensures a comfortable fit and it contributes to cancel ambient noise. You will only hear the great audio of your favorite games. With a light and ergonomic design, you won’t feel you are wearing them. So forget everything and get into a real new exciting experience!

Specifications & Features

Speaker
Driver unit: 40mm
Impedance: 32 Ohm
Sensitivity: 116+/-4DB
Max input: 100mW
Frequency Response: 20Hz-20K Hz

Microphone
Directivity: Omni
Impedance: 2.2K Ohm
Frequency: 100Hz -10K Hz
Sensitivity: -42 +/-3 dB

OZONE X – Surround
Headphone creates a realistic 3D surround sound field over stereo headphones. Enhance more immersive 3D sound experience for game play and video.

OZONE DSP technology
Restores clarity and details of compressed audio in music, movies, and games (MP3, WMA, AAC, AC3, etc.), recreating the subtleties of the original game sounds, making the experience more dynamic and brilliant.

OZONE Dynamic Bass
Reproduces the deep and vibrating bass to make users feel stronger bass signals of drums, bass guitars, explosions, automobile engines, etc.

Ozone Vocal Environment Noise Cancellation (ENC)technology
For dual omni-microphones. Smart close-talk voice capturing technology with dual mics that perfectly cancel out the environmental noises/sounds with the least voice distortion. ENC brings you the best communication convenience and privacy anywhere.

Plug & Play
The headset works with plug and play technology without driver requirements for a more user friendly experience.

Stylish Ergonomic Design
Onda PRO is not only ergonomic and comfortable, but it is also designed with a very stylish and attractive shape, including a backlit Logo.

Secure Travel Case
The travel protection case is really useful to get your new Onda Pro away from scuffs and scratches while still preserving all the device’s functions. Go to lanpartys, go wherever you want to, your Onda Pro are in a safe place.

Packaging & Accessories

Packaging front

The packaging is very good quality, we find a sleeve over an inner box. The design shows that we have the black version of the Onda Pro, which is also available in white, using background art not too far from the styling Ozone are known for. On the front there is information of various technologies incorporated.

Rear side

At the back there is a diagram of the headset and the in-line remote detailing various features and on the bottom half section we find the multilingual specifications.

Included carry case

Once removed the sleeve and inner box we are greeted by a firm carry case, it feels pretty good quality and has a rubberised texture on the surface. This will certainly be a selling point for those who are regularly on the move with their headset and want a good carry case included to help protect it.

Opened up

On opening, we see that it is specifically molded to fit the Onda Pro. Inside there is a velcro basket hanging that contains all the accesories (bar the included information leaflet that was under the carry case inside the box).

A look inside

Once we removed the headset and accessories, you can see the interior of the carry case, the quality is good and should provide your headset with good protection on the go. As a value guide it would likely have street value of around £10-15.

The Accessories

The Onda Pro connects via USB and has an in-line remote that has the mute and volume functions as you would expect, it also has a secondary microphone that is part of the ENC technology. Included with the Onda Pro besides the carry case, there is the removable microphone and a metal G-clip for the carry case.

Closer Look

The Onda Pro headset

The frame used for the Onda Pro is identical to the CM Storm Ceres 300, which is a good thing as it means we can expect great fit and comfort, this should be enhanced considering the improved quality of the padding on the earcups and headband. On the Right there is a 3.5mm jack with a shaped hole for the removable microphone to fit into.

The Onda Pro earcup

The earcup has very soft foam padding that is covered in a supple PU leather. The earcup itself is large and should easily fit most peoples ear size.

Adjustable straps

The adjustable straps are similar to the Ceres 300 also, plastic strips with notches that click into place firmly. The headband has thick padding coated in what appears to be PU leather for added softness.

Side view

The Onda Pro seems to be semi-open backed and has the Ozone logo behind the mesh that lights up when plugged in. Overall the Onda Pro looks sleek and sexy.

The Onda Pro with microphone

The microphone is similar to what we found with the Ceres 300 in shape and design, it is uncertain if the actual technology used internally is different or not. However, it is removable and flexible and completes the headset nicely.

Performance Testing

Setup, Design & Observations
Setup is very easy, plug it into a free USB port and wait for the propriety drivers install, this however does mean that there is no supporting software. The comfort level was impressive indeed, very soft and comfortable in every aspect while being light in weight and clamp strength, even for those wearing glasses. Moving onto the in-line remote, it felt rather high up on the cable, so there is a noticeable extra weight hanging on the left-hand side, it felt clunky, unergonomic and annoying to use. Though the functions such as the volume control and the mute work as well as expected nethertheless.

Multimedia
Before starting the listening tests, I noticed buzzing and squealing noises coming from the headset, I thought this may have been my USB port, so I tried various others including a different system, but there was no change (considering I regularly use a number of USB headsets without problem). It could be caused by the DSP, however I was advised this was a localised issue by Ozone.

Listening to various go to music tracks, it became apparent that the sound quality was good. The bass was nice though not as deep or impactful as some may like, the mids were a dropped slightly but the crystal highs made up for that. Playing through Sidewalks and Skeletons latest album – Future Ghosts, the overall balance was good, though lacked a little depth, character and precision. Due to the Onda Pro following a ‘plug and play’ rule, there is no real way to change the equalisation, bit depth or sample rates and potentially suffers because of this, however, it is a gaming headset so maybe it is more tuned for that role.

Fighting through a round of Battlefield 4 was intense and the X-surround of the Onda Pro gave nice sounding spatial awareness, from explosions to flying bullets and footsteps, the level of clarity and enhancement was impressive. Playing a few rounds on DOTA 2 revealed similar experience and the enhanced sounds were noticeably clear and present whether it was someone using a salve or clarity just off screen or an inbound Ursa roaring after using Overpower. The Onda Pro certainly shines in gaming.

Microphone
The microphone was a tricky one, ranging from worst I have ever used to good and I can’t help feeling that Ozone have overcomplicated things with the ENC and dual microphones. On entering a call, I received a barrage of complaints about the huge amount of noise, static, and interference. I had to turn the sensitivity down all the way to around 5% and suddenly, the microphone became rather good. Following the instructions for the optimal positioning of the microphone did little to cut out sounds of the mouse and keyboard when in use no matter what I tried, including positioning the awkwardly placed second microphone that is on the in-line remote in a more open space. There were some times where my voice would distort or the volume would dip which seemed to be the ENC trying to cut out my voice, admittedly this would only happen while trying to sing to my friends, but hey, this is microphone and anything that could potentially cut out your voice kinda defeats the object of its main function. Generally speaking, once set with the right level of sensitivity, it worked well.

Conclusion

The concept of the Onda Pro is actually sensible and well conceived, take a proven, light and comfortable headset frame, and improve upon it. The comfort level is exceptional, some may find if they get hot and sweaty that they may need a wipe down, however, they are breathable and I found little issue with overheating. The sound quality in game is great especially considering the enhancements of the DSP and the X-surround. Considering the included quality travel case and the plug & play nature of the Onda Pro, this is certainly geared towards gamers that are moving around a lot and want a consistent level of audio quality.

The primary consideration towards this product rating is likely the price, at £66.95, it is at the crux of mid range headsets, even if we consider the cost of the travel case, the performance given is more akin to those in the £40 area and is hard to justify the current said price. The Onda Pro is ‘only’ packing 40mm drivers and is facing off against many products sporting impressive sounding 50mm drivers. No matter the value added by the travel case, it doesn’t make up for any short comings of the headset that ultimately will be the product people are choosing spending the money on. If we take the electronic interference to the sound as an oversight, then that leaves us missing software to alter any sound options and a microphone that ranges from Terribad to Okay which requires some time consideration to find the right balance. This is a balancing act of microphone positioning, in-line remote positioning and the correct sensitivity. This is far too overcomplicated and defeats the object of why people use a microphone in the first place.

Overall the product is a complete package and despite a few downsides it has strengths in its simplicity, comfort and great gaming sounds, for these reasons we present our Vortez Bronze Award.

The Ozone Onda Pro delivers a well rounded package for gamers on the go.

Pros.
+ Plug & Play – easy to setup
+ Good sound quality – great for gaming
+ Very light and comfortable
+ Quality travel case included

Cons.
– Price
– Inconsistent microphone
– No supporting software

Click here for an explanation of our awards at Vortez.net. Thanks to Ozone Gaming for providing today’s review sample.

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