Ontrac headphone review: stupendous audio quality, but the software needs improvement

When a Dyson engineer unveiled the manufacturer’s new headphones to the roar of a plane engine at its London launch event, I was nothing short of astounded. It was a tongue-in-cheek way of demonstrating that the headphones’ ANC could withstand one of the loudest noises there is. But I had no way of checking whether it was true. The headphones weren’t handed out to the audience.

I’ve since had the chance to test the headphones in a far more realistic environment (good old everyday life) and am blown away by the first-class audio playback. At the same time, the accompanying MyDyson app seriously bugs me.

Maximalist headset meets minimalist case

Alongside the brightly coloured headphones, the box contains a slim case and a USB-C charging cable. The manufacturer sells other accessories, including USB-C to jack cables, on its website.

I notice the headphones feel fairly heavy as I’m unboxing them. Hardly surprising given that they weigh 454 grammes. However, their heaviness isn’t too noticeable when I first put them on. They’re well balanced, and can be adjusted to the shape of my head. Still, after wearing the Ontrac for a few hours, I realise my head’s beginning to tilt forwards. It certainly won’t be doing my posture (already poor from hunching over an office desk all day) any favours.

Despite their weight, the Ontrac sit fairly comfortably. Although I wear glasses, I can keep the headphones on for several hours without feeling pressure on my temples or dizziness. By contrast, I usually run into those issues pretty quickly when I wear over-ear headphones. The ear pads are soft and cover my entire ear. However, because they’re well sealed, sweat soon starts building up underneath when temperatures are high.

I really notice how wide the ear pads actually are when I hang the Ontrac around my neck – they touch my collarbone and jawbone at the same time.

Well-made headphones and fashion accessory

With its imposing size and bright colours, the Ontrac headset is definitely an eye-catching accessory. If you want yours to be even more unique, you can customise the outer caps and ear pads to suit your taste. Dyson offers a wide range of colour caps and pads, each costing 50 francs per pair. The coated aluminium outer caps look robust and high quality, as do the micro-suede ear pads. They feel very soft and supple. Changing both parts is surprisingly quick and easy.

Overall, I’d say the headphones – and their plastic components – are of high quality. The four basic models, available for CHF 499, are stylish and in tune with the times thanks to their customisability. In my opinion, the Ontrac could stand to be a bit smaller, as they look slightly oversized and clunky on my head. That’s just a matter of personal taste, though.

Joystick controls

The headphones’ manual controls come in the form of a button that the manufacturer calls a joystick. It’s used to play, pause, fast-forward or skip audio, and to adjust the volume. The controls are intuitive and work smoothly. Alternatively, you can activate voice control by pressing and holding the joystick. This feature, however, gets a thumbs-down from me. When I try using it to make a call, it keeps selecting the wrong contacts, and I’m unable to stop it from phoning them.

Hidden battery with plenty of power

Since the Ontrac’s lithium-ion battery is built into the headband, the ear cups are left looking slim. The manufacturer says the battery runs for up to 55 hours in ANC mode after a full charge. For my test, I run the headphones non-stop, getting 45 hours of power before the battery dies. Although less than promised, it’s still a considerable length of time. With this kind of battery life, you’ll need to charge the headphones once a week if subjecting them to everyday use. Thanks to the fast-charging feature, a 10-minute charge gives you two and a half hours of listening time, while a 3-hour charge is enough to refill the battery entirely.

Music the way artists intended it to be

Dyson says its headphones aim to transmit music as true to its original form as possible. And I have to admit, the Ontrac do a damn good job in ANC mode – even if they do only use stereo. Regardless of whether I’m listening to a drum solo, a water drum concert or a choir, the headphones allow me to immerse myself in every genre of music and never want to resurface. They achieve this by reproducing audio signals with 40-millimetre, 16-ohm neodymium drivers and advanced audio signal processing.

An acoustic trance trip inside my brain

To test the surround sound, I listen to Heathered Pearls by Salvaged Copper (feat. Terrence Dixon). The deep bass comes through very clearly, but isn’t obtrusive in any way. As a result, the song’s lengthy pads are clearly recognisable and a hypnotising sound is created. You can even hear vinyl cracks popping up every now and again. Even without 360-degree audio, the Ontrac headset creates an authentic sense of space for me.

Deep voice, clear bass

Listening to Hello by British rapper Jelani Blackman, the headphones impressed me by clearly reproducing the artist’s deep voice in its full range. At the same time, it didn’t make any compromises on the low basses or flute accompaniment.

Creating a home cinema feel

Listening to Hans Zimmer’s score for the movie Dune, I notice the Ontrac headphones do a particularly good job with the low registers of the scale and the clarity of the percussion instruments. However, this means the vocal trebles and strings are slightly overshadowed, which is a shame.

Grating voices

When it comes to music playback, the Ontrac really impress me. The timbre comes over clear and distinct across the entire spectrum, without individual elements drowning each other out or disappearing into each other. As for podcast and movie playback, it’s a different story. The headphones lose a few points there for amplifying background noise as two characters are talking. Not only that, but the treble voices sometimes have a biting, sharp edge to them.

Active noise cancelling

You can control the ANC via the app or directly from the headphones. The Ontrac switch between isolation mode and transparency mode with a signal tone that’s much too loud for my taste. I’m blown away by the transparency mode. It reproduces background noise so well that I feel like I’m not wearing headphones. The only way to switch off noise cancelling completely is via the app. When it’s off, the music sounds ever so slightly lacklustre and flat.

Once I switch on ANC, I hear a gentle hissing sound before feeling some light pressure on my ears. It’s as if I’m going up a mountain. Still, it’s no big deal, and I get used to it after a while. According to the manufacturer, the headphones’ eight microphones are designed to capture ambient sound 384,000 times per second, therefore reducing unwanted background noise by up to 40 dB.

When I check this with live playback in the app, I see a maximum reduction of 20 dB. Even so, I notice that it quietens background noise considerably. Compared to the Sony WH-1000XM5, the Ontrac perform marginally better, proving particularly strong at filtering out lower frequencies.

Bluetooth

The Ontrac don’t support multipoint, so you can’t switch between devices without turning off Bluetooth. However, you can turn ANC on and off at any point via the MyDyson app. Even if another device is connected via Bluetooth. For audio transmission, the Ontrac are compatible with the LHDC codec. If your phone doesn’t support this Bluetooth codec, you’ll have to make do with the SBC and AAC standards.

Phone calls and voice notes

Thanks to dual beamforming microphones, the person on the other end of the phone can hear me clearly. When I go out for a walk, the sound of my surroundings is filtered out and made inaudible to the person I’m calling. It’s only when a car drives past that they hear slight interruptions and interference signals. To try it the other way round, I give the headphones to my boyfriend and give him a call. Sure enough, even if he puts his phone in another room, the Bluetooth connection does the job. His voice comes through crystal clear, even if it is a little quiet. The voice messages I record using the Ontrac are also on the quieter side, but clear too.

No praise for the app

When I first give the app a once-over, I’m pleased with it. It’s clearly laid out, kept simple and includes sound-tracking, a feature that immediately caught my attention. On closer inspection, however, the app strikes me as a little underdeveloped. For instance, when I connect the Ontrac headphones, they appear in the menu as Dyson Zone.

See the noise

On the home screen, you’ll find the sound-tracking feature. This displays the sound exposure levels for the headphones and your surroundings as a real-time graph. I like the idea in principle. The feature allows me to track when and how often I listen to music at a harmful volume so I can change my listening habits accordingly and protect my hearing. That’s all well and good, but there’s no daily or weekly overview in the app detailing the total amount of time I spent listening to overly loud music. There are just charts displaying each individual session in minutes or hours, and I can’t do a whole lot with that.

Wait, is this an app or a shop?

The most prominent tab in the app is desperate to take me to the Dyson shop. «Headphone essentials» often catch my eye as I’m using it. In the tutorial section, the device instructions only appear once I’ve scrolled through a list of all the available outer caps and ear pads. Cynics would say that the app’s main priority is bombarding me with as many Dyson products as possible.

Horrendous live chat

One customer support option in the app is the live chat function. Dyson’s digital assistant starts off by giving you a friendly greeting, then asks you what’s up. After you’ve gone through the procedure and clicked through all the options, you’re redirected to an expert. Once you’ve waited a while, they answer your questions. But then, something happens that drives me absolutely nuts. If you ever briefly leave the chat, it disappears into thin air, unable to be retrieved. You then have to go through the whole process all over again. Sigh.

One last thing

The app has three equaliser modes: Enhanced, Bass Boost and Neutral. Mind you, Neutral mode also has minimal default settings. Audiophiles who love tinkering with settings might struggle to come to terms with the Ontrac’s lack of manual EQ. What the app does offer is the option to limit the volume to a maximum of 80 dB to prevent hearing damage. A glimmer of hope remains in the fact that automatic software updates will bring gradual changes and improvements to the app.

Update on the app

Since publication of this article, some of the errors in the app have been corrected. The Ontrac now appear as «Ontrac» in the app. Dyson has also announced that it'll soon release additional features such as a customisable EQ, enhanced ANC modes, scheduled automatic shutdowns and Apple Watch compatibility in the app. I look forward to giving them a try.