That’s because when you turn them up, the O Bones get properly loud. So much so that 100% volume was uncomfortable to listen to, with a particularly sharp high-end. Dial things down a notch or two, though, and they really are quite impressive given the limitations of the tech. Gear moves in and out of the Orange workshop pretty constantly, with fixes, mods and inspections to amps, pedals and prototypes all in a day’s work. Very occasionally, though, something gets sent in that makes us crowd around the workbench — something rare, old, or unusual, or just something we’ve only ever read about before.

Orange O Bones are lightweight and distribute their weight nicely. As a result, you barely feel them (apart from feeling those vibrating drivers). Lower frequencies are a known Achilles’ heel of bone conduction. However, at least with Orange O Bones, they seem to somewhat resolve the issue.The true test though is how well that sound performs when you need to be aware of your surroundings. I’d say the mix of audio and environmental sound feels more weighted towards the latter. I found in even moderately noisy environments like running outside in the wind or next to traffic, in a gym battling music from speakers or on the train or bus, that exterior sound really wins the battle against hearing your own audio. It’s supposed to be balanced, but that’s just not the case here. Furthermore, ear plugs drastically boost the bass, making the sound overly muddy and bloated. Midrange: Quite sharp in the upper region

However, despite the poor sound quality, headphones’ primary function is to play music, so let us dissect how well the O Bones do. Orange O Bones headphones in all their glory. Bass: Pleasing quantity but only in a quiet room Like most bone-conducting headphones, the Orange O Bones have only essential features. Those involve onboard controls and a built-in mic.The serial number dated this unit to 1974, barely five years after Orange was founded, and only two after the company began serious mass production with its first factory in Kent. The OR120 was a year-zero moment for Orange: a wholesale rejigging of the existing schematics, from which emerged a new tone that everybody would come to associate with the brand, with a design and sound that would influence the amp world, both Orange’s and other’s, ever since. And here was one of the beauties, right in front of us on the bench! BEGINNING OF A DESIGN EVOLUTION Though Orange recognizes that the 16-mm driver capsules in the 32-g (1.1-oz) O Bones won't be a match for the kind of audio quality delivered by over-ear headphones, users are promised bass they can feel as well as hear, crystal clear mids and sharp, well-defined highs – all at a "surprisingly loud volume." One solution is to use the included earplugs. However, those isolate you from the outside world, and the entire point of this type of headphones is to make you aware of potential dangers. One of these occasionallys happened last week: an amp head showed up at Orange HQ wrapped in a home-sewn leather cover with an accompanying note from the original owner. The amp had been kept in storage for a while, the note explained, but now the owner was looking to give it to his son, a promising guitarist. Before he did that, though, he wanted to have the unit looked at by our expert technicians, and so here it was with us. The tingling vibrations are most noticeable when listening in a quiet place. On the other hand, you can barely feel the vibrations when you walk or run. However, at that point, you also barely hear the bass.