Just looking around the web, as many of us do to find new stuff, I saw the Oomo Sound earphone were among the things being shown at CES2018. I read the story about the founder of Oomo hearing them on a trip to China, how they were developed by Dr. James lee of Taiwan over 8 years, and had a special three cavity structure to give a surround sound 3D sound to them. Pretty interesting read and peaked my curiosity about them. So, I inquired about them and the founder, Aaryan, sent me a pair for free to check out.
They retail for $69.95 and can be found on tier website...
http://oomosound.com/
I have spent a little more than two weeks with the Oomo sound earphones. I will state my conclusion about them early on here. They are a bit niche and during my time with them I have liked them but they have performed just okay to very nicely. I feel they are 3.5 stars which is a mix or average of the sometimes good and sometimes just okay nature of them. They are an earphone trying to give a 3D sound which can be good for movies and other video, games, and certain listening types. They are more about the effect than being technically good. As a Head-Fi straight up music earphone they seem to be on the level of an Auglamour RT-1, another earphone I have on hand, which is solid sounding and a bit cheaper. So, they don't seem to stand out much in their price bracket in sheer ability on things like clarity, detail, speed, and the like. They do fine but are more niche in the ability to give a movie style sound where the low bass, vocals, and cymbal are treble are distinctly emphasized. An extreme "W" if you will which makes them better suited for Movies, radio, podcasts, and such things though they are fun for music but can be picky with files and devices for that use. They were a bit up and down but responded well to EQ, a source with a more audiophile tuning and some power, and certain tips. With radio, my podcasts, games, and video they came into their own more and quite good. Hence my title - Niche but Nice. Sometimes they do wow and sometimes they are just okay but they can fill that niche and be useful for some.
Onto the earphones themselves...
They come in a decent folding type but with magnetic fasteners. Inside reveal marketing and a generic white plastic tray holding the earphones and accessories.
Not quite as nice as the flocked black trays others may include that looks a bit more upscale. I'll give a 3.75 out of 5 for the presentation.
Accessories:
The case has a decent red/black scheme going on to match the earphones some and has a decent zipper but still a bit generic clamshell with one pocket type.
Tips are a mixed bag. I think they are well matched for the earphone and can sound nice on them. There are three types, silicone and two types of foam. One foam is a more generic cylindrical type and the other is rounded and comes in two sizes. The foams are nice while the silicone are sturdy but only come in two sizes and have a smaller bore which kinda works against the 3D they want to give. Wider bore tips and a third size would have been nice. Including a bi-flange would have been nice at the $70 price.
At the price and being a straight down design(though you can wear them over ear) a clip would have been a nice inclusion. I'll give a 3.25 out of 5 for the accessories.
Design:
The Oomo are a flowerpot shaped housing with a rounded front that has a fairly long nozzle. The nozzle has two position post when using silicone tips you can use further out or in more positions on the nozzle. Either this can be used to improve the fit or get more bass or less bass depending on the tip you may be using. The Oomo have a straight plug capped in a metal cylinder. The y join is the same with a slightly smaller cylinder of the same color. A matching gold mic/remote unit with one button is on the right side of the cable. The cable is a slightly glossy plastic look to the sheathing. I have tested it in single digit temperature and it does not stiffen which is nice. I even shoveled snow with them w/o issue. The sheathing is smooth and makes less rubbing noise and doesn't grip or catch on things. It does hold on to the bends from out of the box even two weeks in. Also likes to tangle up a bit above the Y. Microphonics are average. Cable is fixed which is good for the fit(having smaller reliefs) but might not excite at the price these days. Nice housing and okay cable. I'll give a 3.75 out of 5 for the design.
Fit:
Fit, for me, is nice. The angled reliefs and longer nozzle give an quick and easy fit which is comfortable. The stock tips work well. The foam tips are comfy especially the round ones. A simple nice shape seems to give easy insertion and removal. I'll give a 4 out of 5 on the fit.
Sound:
Oomo marketing talks of "movie sound" which is what I think describes the earphones signature. An exaggerated "W" frequency response pushing the low bass, vocal region, and cymbals to the forefront. The bass goes low and the near sub-bass region is most emphasized over the midbass. Bass clarity is good but not great. Again similar to the Auglamour RT-1 and also decent with detail but not special. The draw is the sub-bass effect that is given due to the 3 cavity design. Can be fun and really stand out with certain uses or with a good synergy with a device. At times a real good low end thunder is there and is movie theater like. With those cavities still pushing the vocals and cymbals up to the front and keeping them separate that thunder doesn't intrude but keeps a nice sub woofer sound to things.
The mids are even and again pushed to the front so they are not buried. Nice clarity and open nature to them but not the most resolution. Keeping them smooth but not trying to be sibilant or sharp. They do a great separation between a main vocalist and back-up or teamed vocals that is different and unique in it's presentation. Great for radio listening and podcasts(the radio play kind) and movies/video. Cool and a bit different for music files but not so accurate separating what an artist is combining at times.
Cymbal and treble are interesting. The last part of the "W" always pushing the cymbal range to the front yet the treble is a bit rolled and smooth outside of that. Detail is most in the cymbal area but not pushing it outside of that. When comparing to the RT-1 the armature in that earphone is a bit more articulate and a little more extended but the Oomo is more shimmery without being brighter. More done with cymbals pushed to the fore. Again cool with music but not gonna score high on the accurate side but excels in it's niche really well at times.
Being touted as 3D sounding would suggest a big stage. While they are bigger than average they aren't the biggest. Wider bore tip help with the height. H x W x D are above average and bigger than many earphones but the effect is more about the lows reaching lower and giving a subwoofer effect and having a separate vocal channel and another for cymbal range treble than giving absolute size to the stage or being so out of head sounding. Good size but focusing on those three elements being easy to hear and pushed close towards you which tends to limit the room size more than pushing things away to make a bigger room which they aren't trying to do.
For sound they are hard to score. Perhaps a 4 out of 5 for environments where the effect is more useful. Love them for radio and podcasts and you tube and such. For music they can be picky with compressed files and are not going to be true as far as accuracy and they are trying to be smooth a fun sounding instead of technically proficient but yet their ability isn't as good as other earphone at their price. Perhaps a 3.25 out of 5 if just talking straight up music vs. other earphones in ability and the effect doesn't work it's best.
Conclusion:
Such a hard product to judge really. A bit niche. At times unique and really good or just average depending on the use. Comfy, easy to get along with, usually fun. Could have a better cable and tip selection at it's price. I have enjoyed it very much with certain uses like sports talk radio and podcasts as they shine there as well as with some you tube and even music with the right source pairing. They don't stand out as a straight up music listening earphone for ability yet if the effect works with a source and you feed it good files they can be really fun and enjoyable and immersive. The RT-1 I compared the Oomo to were fun for a bit and I am now selling them. I like them! The Oomo really won't suffer the same fate but can fill a niche as that unique and fun sounding earphone for other uses where it still has something going for it instead of being an inferior back up to higher performing models that you relegate to a drawer after a while. Still it isn't typical Head-fi equipment but maybe a more specialized use phone. Glad I was able to give some impression of them but still they are kind of hit or miss as far as recommending them as a sure thing. Could not choose between 3 and 4 stars in the title section but I give them a 3.5 out of 5 overall as they have potential and I do enjoy them for certain uses.
