If you want open-ear headphones you can leave on for hours while you game, practice transitions, or listen critically for DJ work, choose OpenRock Pro Open Ear; if you need a small adapter that pushes airplane seat audio to two pairs of Bluetooth headphones at once, choose Avantree Relay & SoundJet.
OpenRock Pro Open Ear vs Avantree Relay & SoundJet at a Glance
• OpenRock Pro Open Ear — biggest strength: a genuine open-ear ear-hook design with 16.2mm dynamic drivers, TubeBass bass enhancement and aptX audio up to 576 Kbps, so nothing ever sits inside your ear canal.
• OpenRock Pro Open Ear — biggest trade-off: the spec sheet lists noise control as "None." There's no active noise cancellation here, and an open design deliberately lets the room in. That's the point of it, but it's the wrong tool for isolating yourself.
• Avantree Relay & SoundJet — biggest strength: it takes a 3.5mm AUX source and broadcasts it over Bluetooth to two pairs of headphones simultaneously, with Qualcomm aptX Adaptive handling the wireless side.
• Avantree Relay & SoundJet — biggest trade-off: it is a transmitter only, for 3.5mm sources. The manufacturer explicitly says it does not work with TVs, phones, hearing aids or instruments. Buy it for the wrong source and it does nothing.
• Who each is for: OpenRock Pro for the person who wears headphones all day — gaming, DJ practice, running, office calls. Avantree for the traveler who wants to share one in-flight movie with a partner.
The OpenRock Pro is built around one idea: get the sound near your ear without sealing your ear. A patented silicone ear hook holds each earpiece in place, and the weight is spread across the whole ear rather than pressed into the canal. At 26 g for the pair, with IPX5 sweat resistance, this is a headphone you can forget you're wearing on a long run, a long shift, or a long session at the desk.
For DJ work specifically, that matters more than you'd expect. A lot of people search for transparency mode gaming headphones for DJ sessions because they want to hear their surroundings without yanking a bud out every thirty seconds. The OpenRock Pro skips the electronics and just stays physically open — the surrounding-awareness design is meant to keep you alert to what's happening around you. If you're cueing tracks at home, watching a tutorial, or gaming with one eye on a chat window, that openness is the feature, not the compromise. The same goes for anyone shopping ear clip headphones for DJ practice: the hook-style fit stays put when you're moving, and you never get that plugged-up feeling after two hours.
How We Research
We compare products from their published specs and features; the verdicts below are our independent editorial opinions.
Updated: 2026-10-20 · 7 min read · Independent comparison
On sound, the sheet is specific. A 16.2mm dynamic driver, a 20Hz–20kHz range, 18-ohm impedance, and patented TubeBass tuning intended to push low end deeper than typical open-ear designs. It won't match a sealed in-ear for sheer sub-bass weight — physics won't allow that — but for anyone hunting the best hifi stereo head phones for DJ-style listening at moderate volume, the combination of aptX high-resolution audio and bass enhancement is a reasonable place to look. Battery is rated at 19 hours per charge at 70% volume, plus 27 more hours in the charging case, for 46 hours total. Calls go through a cVc 8.0 four-mic array with beam-forming, which is aimed at keeping your voice intelligible in wind.
Skip it if: you need isolation. In a loud room, on a noisy train, or in a booth where you must hear only the mix, an open-ear design is working against you. Skip it too if you want active noise cancellation — there isn't any here.
The Avantree Relay & SoundJet R1 solves a very narrow, very real problem: airplane seat-back entertainment still runs on a 3.5mm jack, and your nice Bluetooth headphones can't talk to it. This little unit plugs into that AUX output and transmits over Bluetooth — with Qualcomm aptX Adaptive doing the encoding — so you can wear your own headphones instead of the airline's.
The headline feature is that it pairs two Bluetooth headphones or two sets of AirPods at the same time. Two channels, one source. For couples or travel partners watching the same film side by side, that's the whole pitch, and it's a good one. Power is rated at up to 25 hours on a charge, which covers a long international flight with room to spare.
The limits are just as important as the features. This is a transmitter only. It does not pair with phones or tablets, and the manufacturer states plainly that it isn't for TVs, hearing aids or musical instruments. It has no drivers, no earcups, no microphone story — it produces no sound at all. So it isn't a headphone, and you shouldn't compare it to one on audio quality. The aptX Adaptive support is about keeping the wireless link stable and balanced, not about competing with a proper set of cans.
Buy it if: you fly often, you already own good Bluetooth headphones, and you want to share in-flight audio with someone sitting next to you.
Skip it if: you're shopping for something to listen through. Skip it if your source is a TV, a phone, a tablet or a hearing aid. And skip it if you want one device that does everything — this one does exactly one thing.
• Best for all-day wear → OpenRock Pro Open Ear. The ear-hook fit and 26 g weight are designed for hours, not minutes.
• Best for DJ practice and gaming awareness → OpenRock Pro Open Ear. Open-ear construction keeps your room audible; there's no electronic transparency mode to switch on or off.
• Best for sharing a flight with a partner → Avantree Relay & SoundJet. Two Bluetooth headphones, one 3.5mm source, up to 25 hours.
• Best for battery endurance → OpenRock Pro Open Ear. 19 hours per charge plus a 27-hour charging case, rated for 46 hours total at 70% volume.
• Best for sound quality potential → OpenRock Pro Open Ear. 16.2mm dynamic drivers, 20Hz–20kHz, 18 ohms, aptX up to 576 Kbps and TubeBass tuning. The Avantree has no drivers at all.
• Best for sweaty, outdoor sessions → OpenRock Pro Open Ear. IPX5 water resistance is rated for sweat and light rain; the Avantree is a travel accessory with no such rating.
• Best for calls in wind → OpenRock Pro Open Ear. The cVc 8.0 four-mic beam-forming array is built for exactly that.
• Best for people who already own headphones they love → Avantree Relay & SoundJet. It makes the pair you already own usable on a plane.
My Verdict
Yes, with realistic expectations. The open design keeps your surroundings audible and the ear hooks stay secure while you move, but there's no noise isolation and no active noise cancellation, so a loud room will bleed into what you hear.
No. It's a Bluetooth transmitter for 3.5mm AUX sources on flights. The manufacturer states it isn't compatible with TVs, phones, hearing aids or musical instruments, and it won't pair with phones or tablets.
The OpenRock Pro is rated at 19 hours per charge with 27 additional hours in the case, for 46 hours total. The Avantree is rated at up to 25 hours. Different jobs, so compare them against your own day, not against each other.
No active noise cancellation is listed — noise control is "None." What you get instead is an open-ear design that lets ambient sound through on purpose, plus a four-mic cVc 8.0 array that reduces noise on calls, not on what you're listening to.
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