Onkyo, one of the world’s top home theatre and Hi-Fi manufacturers, has entered the lucrative headphone market with its on-ear ES-HF300 and ES-FC300 and in-ear IE-HF300 and IE-FC300 models.
Spanning a price range of £99 to £179, the new models sit smack bang in the middle of the most popular price sector of the headphone market, taking on the many new ‘fashion headphones’ brands such as Dr Dre Beats and Fanny Wang, as well as more established player like Shure and Sennheiser.
Onkyo ES-HF300 Specs
The ES range use a foldable on-ear design for easy portability, with an understated brushed metal finish. They’re powered by a 40mm titanium driver that should provide “clarity in the mid- and high-frequency bands”. The otherwise closed-back design uses a ported bass sub-chamber to “define a deep, muscular bottom-end response”.
A gold plated jack terminates the 6N oxygen-free copper cable, which is also removable, though does use a custom connection at the headphone end.
Priced at £179, the Onkyo ES-HF300 will be available from March onwards.
Onkyo ES-FC300 Specs
The Onkyo ES-FC300 headphones use the same overall configuration as the HF300s but are available in white and blue as well as black and use a lower-quality flattened ‘tangle-free’ cable. Both the flat and premium cables can be interchanged to effectively up or downgade the audio quality. 
With a price of £149, the Onkyo ES-FC300 will also be available from March onwards.
Onkyo IE-HF300 and IE-FC300 Specs
Both IE models use a 14.3mm dynamic driver rather than a balanced armature driver so should naturally have a stronger bass response and smoother top end than many earphones in this price range.
Like the ES models, the IE range is differentiated mainly by the type of cable they use, with the IE-HF300 using a 6N copper cable and the IE-FC300 using a more basic but tangle-free cable.
The IE-HF300 is priced at £129 while the IE-FC300 will cost £99, and both will be available from April.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
