ORIVETI OD100: No-Frills, Just Appealing Tuning

ORIVETI is a Hong Kong-based audio company that specialises on engineering and designing HiFi earphones for both sophisticated and casual listeners. They are a company known for striving innovation on their products since the introduction of the Primacy series in the mid-2010s.

As I did a review on their ORIVETI OD200 before, I have another set from them and this one is their latest model for the entry-level segment. This is the ORIVETI OD100, like the OD200, it has a single transducer configuration IEM but its form factor is quite different as it uses a cylindrical bullet-type shell casing rather than a typical UIEM-style shell chassis.

The driver that was implemented here is a 9.2mm dynamic driver with DLC (Diamond-Like Carbon) coated diaphragm. DLC materials are known to have a tensile strength, resistance to wear and better friction that makes the membrane more responsive to deliver a more robust bass response and bright treble response with good clarity and better resolution on sound quality.

The drivers were encased in a CNC-milled aluminium alloy shell chassis in a cylindrical bullet-style form factor for durability and better protection on transducers. The shell design actually reminds me of TINHIFI T2 and its derivatives that makes it more minimalist yet elegant, and these shells underwent some treatment to make it more hypoallergenic so that allergic reactions in ears will not occur. ORIVETI did a good job on using a 2-pin connector for its interlocking mechanism as it is the most stable and proven to be more durable among the connector types.

The stock cable of OD100 is somehow of a good quality on how it was built as it is quite sturdy, supple and flexible without any microphonic issues at all. It is made of silver-plated copper wirings grouped into 4-core sections and on its end, it has a gold-plated 3.5mm termination plug.

When it comes to fitting and comfort, the OD100 provides a good sealing as it isolates some external noises from the outside surroundings and it sits well into my lugholes without any issues as I can wear them for a long listening session due to its rounded and smooth surface. You can wear them in either in an typical IEM fashion or let it hang like an earbud (just replace the cable with no guiding ear hooks).

As for product packaging, ORIVETI OD100 is quite loaded with accessories and how it was well-organised and presented inside on its square-shaped box. The illustration and product specifications on box cardboard casing are well exhibited and printed pretty well.

Here are the following contents inside of ORIVETI OD100's packaging box:

● Pair of ORIVETI OD100 IEMs

● Stock cable

● Oval-shaped zippered IEM storage case

● 3 pairs of white-coloured narrow bored ear tips in different standard sizes.

● 3 pairs of black-coloured wide bord ear tips in different standard sizes.

● 3 pairs of memory foam ear tips in different standard sizes.

The ORIVETI OD100 fares well on power scaling and amplification as it is easy to drive and it will also benefit other better sources with better power output to amplify this set in a more dynamic and full-range sounding.

Regarding its tonality, this set has a U/V- shaped (depends on ear tips, more of a V on  white-coloured and memory foam tips) sound profile. It has more noticeable elevation on both low frequency and high frequency, while the midrange is on the neutral presentation across the frequency spectrum.

(Graph was provided by [USER=516219]@baskingshark[/USER] , credits to his effort)

LOWS/BASS:

The bass quality is undoubtedly one of the highlighted frequency ranges here. It has a punchy and tactual bass response that will be quite satisfying to hear in some bassline tracks but this one will be still considered as lacking to most basshead stalwarts.

It more focuses on the mid-bass than the sub-bass but on the latter, we will still feel a rumbling and reverberating response generated by instruments such as low tuned bass guitars, octabasses, synthesisers and drum machines from certain genres like, electronica, synth-pop,rock, Rn'B and old school hip-hop. Mid-bass appears to have more texture to give that slam and thump in general bass response of OD100. Bass kick drums have some sort of authoritative impact on them as they sound pounding and full with some hint of resonance, bass guitars have its roar as it sounds broad and rasping while cellos have warm and sensuous sound with a dark tone on them. Bass and bass-baritone vocals have a heft, rumbling and sufficient depth on their vocals as they sound dense and dusky to my ears.

References:

Bass Kick Drums

● Led Zeppelin - When The Levee Breaks

● Marduk - The Blond Beast

● Dark Angel - Death Is Certain (Life is Not)

Bass Guitars

● Metallica - Motorbreath

● Sister Of Mercy - Lucretia My Reflection

● Primus - My Name is Mud

Cellos

● Yoyo Ma - Bach cello suite no.1

● Strings section on Mozart's Ein Kleine Nachtmusik

● Apocalyptica - One (Metallica cover)

Bass & Bass-baritones

● Bryn Terfel

● Andrew Eldritch

● Barry White

MIDRANGE:

The midrange on this one is fairly recessed on the overall presentation of its frequency range. But due to mid-bass emphasis that added some warmth and texture on its note weight, it makes vocals sound more natural particularly male vocals, a ponderous sound on brass instruments and a bit resonant and round sound on some percussives. Female vocals appear to have an ample sheen on their voices and strings have enough crispness but it seems that they sound less energetic, less vivid and a bit smoothen but they are still able to convey an expressive and pleasing sound.

On male vocals, baritones are quite organic and have an almost accurate tonal colour on them as they sound lush, rich and smooth sound from milder and sweet on light baritones to lyric baritones, and then on a steely, fuller and smooth vocalisations on kavalier baritones, verdi baritones and noble baritones. Tenors have these brassy, dazzling and spiciness on their vocals on delivering some thrilling high notes on male vocals and shimmering timbre whether it is leggero, lyric, spinto, dramatic and helden tenor types. Countertenors have their tender, sensitive and smooth vocals that I noticed that it sounds a bit more of a contralto rather than mezzo-sopranos that they have similar range and sound characteristics to my ears. On the other hand, female vocals have diverse tonal responses that affect the timbre and tonality of their respective voice quality. Contraltos sounds well-modulated as they have a rich, husky and smoky sound on them, Mezzo-sopranos have fiery, velvety and warm sound on them as they give that luscious vocals on my ears, and then on sopranos, some soprano types like soubrette, lyric and dramatic ones have a silky, crystalline and silvery vocals on them but on the coloratura sopranos they sounds a bit limited on their range and energy as they sound less glimmering to execute their florid vocal passage that reaches the limits of a human voice.

As for instruments, strings like guitars, harp and violin sounds have a sufficient crisp and glint sound on them as acoustic guitars are sound between buttery and balanced with an ample sustaining sound, harps have blurring and splashing sound, and then violins have introspective and lustrous sound in them. On percussion, tom-toms have a warm and ringing sound on them, snares have a hard and clattering sound on every stroke, field drums sound sonorous and a bit boomy, and kettledrums have a booming and powerful sound. Pianos have warmish-balanced tones that make them more pleasant to listen to. Brass instruments like trumpets, horns and trombones, trumpets have full and rounded sound while horns have warm and velvety with a tad muffled sound while  trombones have full and dramatic sound. On woodwinds, flutes have rich and mellow sound, piccolos have delicate and graceful sound, clarinets have warm and round sound and saxophones sound earthy and mild with their distinct reedy sound.

References:

Baritones

● Eddie Vedder

● Dmitri Hvorostovsky

● Robert Merrill

Tenors

● Robert Plant

● Placido Domingo

● Luciano Pavarotti

Countertenors

● King Diamond

● Philippe Jarrousky

● Andreas Scholl

Contraltos

● Kathleen Ferrier

● Tracy Chapman

● Annie Lennox

Mezzo-Sopranos

● Cecilia Bartoli

● Dolores O' Riordan

● Sharon Den Adel

Sopranos

● Diana Damrau

● Tarja Turunen

● Allison Krauss

Instruments

● Eagles (Live, Hell Freezes Over) - Hotel California (Guitars)

● Felix Ayo/Vivaldi - Summer III. Presto: Tempo impetuoso d'Estate (Violins)

● Jethro Tull - Living In The Past (Flute)

● George Michael - Careless Whisper (Saxophone)

● Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra/Wagner - Die Walküre (Trumpets)

● The Specials - A Message To You Rudy (Trombone)

● The Ventures - Hawaii Five O (Drums)

● Yiruma - River Flows In You (Piano)

HIGHS/TREBLE:

It seems that OD100's treble is more on a balanced side as it has acceptable brightness on it while maintaining a smooth response. It has accented upper-mids that gives definition and attack on vocals and instruments, clarity is rather decent as nothing to scoff regarding the lucidity of its notes. Sibilance is well-controlled and not a hint of harshness although there are some instances that some female vocals might be shrill to some treble-sensitive folk out there.

On the brilliance part of the treble region, it has a satisfactory amount of sparkle but the airy extension seems to be on the modest side. Cymbals strikes have a glistening sound while hi-hats have a shortened buzzing sound with their distinguishable chick-y sound. Celestas have a shimmering sound and glockenspiels sound bell-like and lustrous.

References

● Celtic Frost - Visual Aggression (Cymbals)

● Ottoman Mehter - Ceddin Deden (Cymbals)

● Cologne New Philharmonic Orchestra/Tchaikovsky - Dance Of The Sugar Plum (Celesta)

● Orchestre philharmonique de Radio France/Saint-Saëns - Danse Macabre, Op. 40 (Glockenspiel)

SOUNDSTAGE, IMAGING AND OTHER TECHNICALITIES:

The sound/speaker stage appears to be rather moderately spacious as it has an above average width span from left to right, an average height reach with satisfactory depth from front to rear that gives me an acceptable spatial dimension within my perceived headroom.

Stereo imaging is a bog-standard two-dimensional stereo presentation where I can perceive the placement of instruments and singers in a soundscape but not in the most accurate way. Separation is decent but its layering aspect appears to be more of an average as it performs not-so well defined on determining the arrangement of the tonal and frequency layers of specific instruments in a sonic canvas. It appears that it can take some complex tracks but for orchestra tracks, it is quite challenging.

Coherency of its driver seems to perform pretty well  as it is quite responsive to deliver a fast transient response and well-done decay. Resolution capabilities are more of a mixed bag on this set as it has quite solid macro-dynamics in its note density but its micro-detail definition is a bit blunted to extract some nuances and details from an audio track that I consider as inadequate.

PEER COMPARISON:

TINHIFI T2 DLC

●  Both OD100 and T2 DLC are closely similar from DLC dynamic drivers up to the shell form factor, but T2 DLC's stock cable is of a lesser quality compared to OD100's good quality and more supple cable.

● T2 DLC is more of a U-shaped sounding set that it focuses more on sub-bass, a clean, transparent but leaner midrange and then, brighter, energetic and a bit airier treble response. Technicality-wise, T2 DLC have similarities with OD100 in sound/speaker stage, imaging, , layering and coherency but on microdynamics, This set is a bit way better than the OD100.

DUNU KIMA

● Another set that also has a DLC dynamic driver and it was enclosed in a metal alloy shell. Unlike OD100, its shell form factor takes more of typical IEM-style and it has a bit more inclusions of accessories like adapter , cleaning tool kit and more premium ear types.

● KIMA has a mild U-shaped sound signature  that sounds almost neutral and well-balanced sounding. It has more focus on mid-bass than sub-bass but compared to OD100, its bass response sounds tighter and less texture on the mid-bass, a clean, neutral and slightly more energetic on the midrange, and last but not the least, the treble response sounds quite a bit bright with good sparkle but the airy extension is rather modest. On technical capabilities, it has an average to above-average sound/speaker stage, but it has a 3D-like stereo field presentation on its imaging, good separation and better layering. It has a bit better resolution capability.

SIMGOT EA500

● Considered as the gold standard of a single DD IEM in under $100 and a forefront of SIMGOT revolution which is happening this year. It also has a DLC dynamic driver and is also encapsulated in a solid metal chassis. It has a detachable nozzle with tuning filters on it.

● As it has detachable nozzles with tuning filters, it offers two types of sound signatures based on Harman target curve in which all of them are U-shaped sounding. The black one is an in-house SIMGOT tuning based on Harman target curve while the red one is more of typical Harman target curve tuning. The black one has a more solid bass, clear and detailed midrange, bright and crisp treble at the expense of instances of sibilance, while red one is more sub bass focus, a leaner and cleaner midrange and smoother treble response it sounds less detail, less vocal definition and less airy treble response. On technicalities, it has better technicalities especially in part of separation and layering, and resolution capabilities are a bit better as it has solid macro-dynamics with a bit sharper micro-detail retrieval definition.

As I conclude my assessment on this product, it still comes to my thoughts as to what will be the relevance of this set given the stiff competition against the established sets in the under $100/£80 segment? If we observe properly, the majority of the sets in this particular price range are following a certain popular tuning target curve which makes them so common nowadays that they become stale and less appealing as they sound too safe as they are just conforming with this particular type of tonality in the audio market. And ORIVETI OD100 is trying to be a standout set among its peers as it is flouting that established kind of sound profile that permeates on some sets nowadays that ORIVETI as an innovative company will disregard that kind of notion by simply offer an alternative tuning, a tuning that will be likeable for both casual and audio enthusiasts if they just want an enjoyable and engaging on a fun and musical type of tuning.

ORIVETI OD100 is now available at ORIVETI's official online store, check out the unaffiliated link below that I've provided.

LINK: https://www.oriveti.com/product-page/oriveti-od100-single-dynamic-driver-hifi-iem

Also, check out my previous product review on their ORIVETI OD200.

● ORIVETI OD200

​

SPECIFICATION:

MODEL: ORIVETI OD100

IMPEDANCE: 16Ω

SENSITIVITY: 105B

FREQUENCY RESPONSE: 20Hz – 20KHz

CABLE LENGTH: 1.2M

PIN TYPE:  2-PIN CONNECTOR (0.78mm)

PLUG TYPE: 3.5mm

DRIVER UNIT(S): (1) DYNAMIC DRIVER 

PROS:

● Well-built solid aluminium shell chassis.

● An ergonomic shell design will be versatile on wearing methods either earbud-style or a typical in-ear.

● At least not a hint of driver flex.

● Well-accessorised for an entry-level set.

● Good quality stock cable

● A warm, engaging and musical type of tuning.

● Quite slamming and authoritative bass response.

● Warm and well-bodied texture midrange.

● Excellent for male vocals, brass instruments and some percussive.

● Somehow it has a balanced treble response.

● Not a hint of sibilance or harshness.

● Solid macro-dynamics.

CONS:

● Some occurences of bass bleeding.

● Mediocre on layering capability.

● Need some refinement on clarity and detail.

● Modest airy extension.

● Not a set for Harman-tuned adhering audio enthusiasts out there, Simply skip this one if you are one of them.

Some Tracks Tested: ( * = 16-bit FLAC, ** = 24-bit FLAC, *'* = MQA, '*' = DSD, *'= .WAV)

Alison Krauss -When You Say Nothing At All *

Jade Wiedlin - Blue Kiss**

Led Zeppelin - When The Levee Breaks **

Mountain - Mississippi Queen *

Queen - Killer Queen **

Guns N' Roses - Patience *'*

Eric Clapton - Tears in Heaven '*'

Sergio Mendes- Never Gonna Let You Go '*'

Pearl Jam - Daughter **

Roselia - Hidamari Rhodonite *

Assassin - Fight (To Stop The Tyranny)*

Celtic Frost- Visual Aggression *

New Order - Blue Monday *

The Corrs- What Can I do (unplugged version) *

Jimi Hendrix Experience - Voodoo Child *

The Madness- Buggy Trousers *

Metallica - Motorbreath **

Mariah Carey- Always Be My Baby *

Destiny's Child - Say My Name *

Malice Mizer- Au Revoir *

Mozart - Lacrimosa *

New York Philharmonic Orchestra - Dvorak- Symphony 9 " From the New World." *

Eva Cassidy - Fields of Gold (Sting cover)*

Michael Jackson - Give In To Me *

Exciter - Violence and Force *

Diana Krall - Stop This World **

Debbie Gibson - Foolish Beat *'*

The Sisters of Mercy – Lucretia My Reflection**

Suzanne Vega – Luka **

Lauren Christy – Steep *

Ottoman Mehter - Hucum Marsi *

Diana Damrau - Mozart: Die Zauberflöte*

Type O Negative - Black No.1 *

Felix Ayo - Vivaldi: Presto **

Three Tenors - Nessum Dorma *

Mercyful Fate - Witches' Dance *

P.S.

I am not affiliated to ORIVETI nor receive monetary incentives and financial gains as they provide me a review unit for an exchange of factual and sincere feedback from yours truly.

Once again, I would like to send my gratitude to MARCO of ORIVETI for providing this review unit. I truly appreciate his generosity and trust towards me and other reviewers.