• WANTED: Happy members who like to discuss audio and other topics related to our interest. Desire to learn and share knowledge of science required. There are many reviews of audio hardware and expert members to help answer your questions. Click here to have your audio equipment measured for free!

1More Sonoflow NC Headphone Review

Rate this headphone:

  • 1. Poor (headless panther)

    Votes: 15 8.9%
  • 2. Not terrible (postman panther)

    Votes: 34 20.2%
  • 3. Fine (happy panther)

    Votes: 85 50.6%
  • 4. Great (golfing panther)

    Votes: 34 20.2%

  • Total voters
    168

amirm

Founder/Admin
Staff Member
CFO (Chief Fun Officer)
Joined
Feb 13, 2016
Messages
44,368
Likes
234,388
Location
Seattle Area
This is a review, listening tests, EQ an detailed measurements of 1More Sonoflow Noise Cancelling Bluetooth headphones. It is on kind loan from a member and costs US $99 although goes on sale for $79.
1More Sonoflow Wireless Bluetooth Noise cancelling Headphone Review.jpg

The look and feel of the unit belies its low cost. The plastic seems stout and good quality. Pad feels soft and I like the nice large channel indicators in the red inserts. An app comes with lets you control the unit although I found the buttons very intuitive as well -- unlike many others I have tested.

Alas, the cups are just a bit too small to fully cover my ears so I can't wear them long term. I could not achieve identical response for each cup over my GRAS 45C measurement gear so consider what you are about to see approximate.

1More Sonoflow Measurements
There is provision for wired access which turns off the unit. Where possible I use to test headphones using wired mode as that eliminates impact of the BT codec. So let's start with that:
1More Sonoflow Wireless Bluetooth Noise cancelling Headphone Wired Frequency Response Measurem...png

Wow, that is one massive bass peak! Followed by good depression at higher frequencies. So I downloaded the app and tried the different modes there over Bluetooth:

1More Sonoflow Wireless Bluetooth Noise cancelling Headphone Frequency Response modes Measurem...png


That is more like it. We see that the noise cancelling mode has the flattest response so I chose to stay with that from here on. For distortion tests however, I thought it was not fair to penalize it by using the 500 Hz amplitude which is the lowest for the headphone. So I adjusted the level some:
1More Sonoflow Wireless Bluetooth Noise cancelling Headphone Frequency Response Measurement.png


Using this reference, the distortion was surprisingly low:
1More Sonoflow Wireless Bluetooth Noise cancelling Headphone Relative THD Distortion Measurement.png


1More Sonoflow Wireless Bluetooth Noise cancelling Headphone THD Distortion Measurement.png


1More Sonoflow Listening Tests and Equalization
Out of box response is rather pleasant although once you EQ it, you realize that much better response is to be had:
1More Sonoflow Wireless Bluetooth Noise cancelling Headphone equalization eq.png


The bass was tighter and spatial effects improved. The sound is a bit bright but I was OK with it. With everything in place, the level of fidelity was shocking at times! Bass is extended nice and deep. There is plenty of volume and headroom. The clarity startling with appropriate track. As a matter of fact, despite it bothering my left ear lobe, I am still listening to them as I type this!

I perform my ad-hoc noise cancelling test to see if it quiets down the loud fans from my Audio Precision analyzer and it did that.

Conclusions
You don't expect much for $79 but boy, do you get a compelling package here with a bit of eq. Had the fit been better for me, I would be in the clouds! FYI, I heard in some review they may be adding custom EQ in the app for this headphone. If so, that would make it near perfect.

I am happy to recommend the 1More Sonoflow wireless headphone. Even without the sale it is a good deal but there was one on Amazon last night so might as well take advantage of it.
----------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.

Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/
 

Attachments

  • 1More Sonoflow Wireless NC Frequency Response.zip
    26.8 KB · Views: 385
Last edited:

martijn86

Active Member
Joined
Aug 30, 2019
Messages
271
Likes
975
Location
The Netherlands
Is that 1% distortion (peak, full range) at 104dB for a $79 headphone with integrated Bluetooth, DAC and AMP? That's a win! Any future budget Bluetooth headphone is going to get compared to the 1More Sonoflow!
 

DanielT

Major Contributor
Joined
Oct 10, 2020
Messages
4,751
Likes
4,633
Location
Sweden - Слава Україні
Thanks for testing Amir!:)

They seem good, with sensible sound quality in relation to a low price, but of course this, as you say Amir, is absolutely crucial:
"Alas, the cups are just a bit too small to fully cover my ears so I can't wear them long term."

But for smaller ears, it can be a good budget option.:)
 
OP
amirm

amirm

Founder/Admin
Staff Member
CFO (Chief Fun Officer)
Joined
Feb 13, 2016
Messages
44,368
Likes
234,388
Location
Seattle Area

Koeitje

Major Contributor
Joined
Oct 10, 2019
Messages
2,292
Likes
3,880
Nice to see it is possible to buy something that is actually pretty ok in this price range. It's clear that they made an effort with their DSP to make it sound good (considering the wired results).
 

Zoomer

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 5, 2019
Messages
323
Likes
468
I perform my ad-hoc noise cancelling test
Would be nice to see the NC evaluation fleshed out a bit in future tests.
NC performance is an essential part of the package in a NC headphone after all...
 

Triliza

Senior Member
Forum Donor
Joined
Jun 23, 2021
Messages
477
Likes
558
Location
Europe
Assuming noise cancellation works properly, this are a very good deal. They are available at amazon.uk for £65 and amazon.de for €84 (with €20 voucher that seems to expire today), plus shipping.
 

Jeromeof

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Forum Donor
Joined
Jul 25, 2021
Messages
616
Likes
965
Location
Ireland
@amirm thanks for another great review. You are on a roll

It would be great to have a comparison with the similar Soundcore Q30 - their App already has 10 band custom EQ (as well as presets) and there are a few recommendations already floating around the internet to get it close to Harman. I believe the more expensive Soundcore models have too much boosted bass that the EQ cannot help but I am enjoying the Q30 - though its build quality is fairly cheap compared to nice headphones.
 

GWolfman

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Forum Donor
Joined
Nov 3, 2020
Messages
624
Likes
1,041
Out of box response is rather pleasant…
Am I right in assuming that you’re referring to wired OOB performance (with electronics off)?

Thanks(!), and nice surprise for performance.
 

IAtaman

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Mar 29, 2021
Messages
2,272
Likes
3,836
Please excuse my ignorance but I don't get it. I get there is a lot of suspicion of trolling going around, please rest assured that is not my intention nor I am an agent of headfi or have an alterior motive or a hidden agenda - I am simply a bit confused.

Below is the graph of Trio IEM that was reviewed some time back. We read it was not salvageable with EQ, and it did not get a recommendation.

index.php


This is the current 1More can being reviewed, and I understand this can be saved with EQ and gets recommended.

1More Sonoflow Wireless Bluetooth Noise cancelling Headphone Frequency Response modes Measurem...png


Looking at the out of the box FR graphs, it is hard for me to see how. Is it becasue 1More has 10db less distortion than Trio, or is it the price, or maybe the expectation from 64Audio was higher. I do not understand how this is objectively OK but the other is not.
 
Last edited:

charleski

Major Contributor
Joined
Dec 15, 2019
Messages
1,098
Likes
2,239
Location
Manchester UK
Please excuse my ignorance but I don't get it. I get there is a lot of suspicion of trolling gound around, please rest assured that is not my intention nor I am an agent of headfi or have an alterior motive or a hidden agenda - I am simply a bit confused.
It's a fair response. But you're just looking at the graphs. The real problem with the Trio was that amirm couldn't get them to fit properly despite trying various tips. This meant that the response he actually experienced wearing them was quite different to that which was measured on the Gras 4C.
 

thewas

Master Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Jan 15, 2020
Messages
6,747
Likes
16,182
That is more like it. We see that the noise cancelling mode has the flattest response so I chose to stay with that from here on. For distortion tests however, I thought it was not fair to penalize it by using the 500 Hz amplitude which is the lowest for the headphone. So I adjusted the level some:
1More Sonoflow Wireless Bluetooth Noise cancelling Headphone Frequency Response Measurement.png
Not too bad for that price, especially considering it can be probably even equalised with just two shelving filters, around -2dB low below 300 Hz and +4dB high above 2.5 kHz and in some devices or apps even with the bass and treble controllers.
 
Top Bottom