Having nailed the cart and needle market, I guess Ortofon felt it necessary to branch out into other areas of DJing. There are 2 pairs in their range - the O-one (based on the Ultrasone DJ 1s), and this cheaper sibling - the O2. Now having established that some headphones share components, or indeed are almost the same, I didn't twig that the O2s and the Stanton DJ 2000s are almost the same as well. They certainly share the same headband and ear piece connector - and looking under the ear piece, it seems like that the drivers may well be the same too. And after a little more digging, it seems that these could well be Ultrasone HFI-450s. But I'll judge them on their own merits.



In The Box: The usual screwed fit adaptor and black pouch.

Looks: Whereas most headphones balance Silver with Black, the O2s dispense with Silver altogether, leaving a splash of Red on the ear piece. It's all a bit style-free for me, but then again looks are entirely subjective.



Build Quality: Solid. The minimal construction makes them feel solid in hand, and they also offer a degree of flexibility that should reduce the usual issue of stressing the hinges. The ear pieces are especially thick too

Sound Quality: Really quite nice - great for DJing. Despite the narrower frequency range, the O2s seem to deliver a punchy bass-led sound when cranked.



Isolation: This is a strong point - very good indeed. The generous padding ensures a good fit against your head, and the totally closed cup keeps out much of the noise too. They keep in quite a bit of sound too, but do rumble considerably for the person sat next to you.



Comfort and Stability: Again, the heavyweight and spacious padding ensures that your head is comfortably cradled. And the depth of the padding keeps them very firmly on your head too - perhaps one of the most stable in the group. On your head that is, as the domed back makes them a tad slippy on your shoulder.



Compactness: Same as ever - they push up into the headband and slot into the supplied bag nicely.

Value for money: Given the sub-£100 price tag, these Ortofon O2s do represent good value when up against higher cost options.

Summary

Ortofon appear to have picked Ultrasone as their OEM headphone supplier of choice. A wise move as desipte the somewhat drab appearance, the O2s themselves offer good quality, great sound and excellent comfort at a fair price.

Hype: Comfort - isolation - value
Gripe: Fixed cable