Been hearing a lot about this on Instagram and a few online reviewers. Has anyone tested these? They seem like a bunch of marketing honestly. Not a lot of technical specifications on there website.
I’ve heard about these a bunch too. Would love to get some thoughts.
I’ve seen them pop up in discussion every now and then.
It seems like more of a gimmick / marketing fluff than an actual technology that will do anything for headphones. I won’t knock them until I actually get the chance to try them but I am definitely a skeptic.
I also read that you can’t change out the silicon tips which means unless you’re pretty comfortable with someone else’s earwax, you can’t share the experience with anyone else.
Their app is supposed to be good though and the sound personalization a fun process.
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I am very taken with the idea of dual passive sound isolation and active cooling, but skeptical about it being even half as profound as the marketing suggests. They are suspiciously affordable for what they claim to be. Won’t someone with the the curiosity and coin please buy a pair and report back?
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I just ordered a pair since they have a 30 day money back guarantee and the team that designed them has a good pedigree (PhD’s in sound engineering, ear surgeon, etc.). Figured I may as well try them out and if they don’t stack up then I’ll return them.
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Nice! Make sure to post some impressions! I know a lot of us are curious whats the deal with them and if they are all that they say they are!
I’ve actually been getting a lot of notifications about these headphones. I’m curious to know how well they work, too. At the very least, it looks like they can form a pretty good seal.
It is possible to change out the ear tips but it doesn’t come with any additional pairs so you must buy them if you wish to do so.
From a technical standpoint having the bass/lows on one driver and the mids/highs on another should allow for good separation as long as it’s well designed and using quality components.
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Really interested in hearing your thoughts when they arrive!
I have a pair and they are fairly comfortable to wear. My ears don’t get hot (just went for a walk in 70-degree weather without sweating at all. I like the sound isolation and if you like Bass, you will enjoy these. The way the system works is it sends tactile bass onto your ears instead of down into your ears. It’s billed as letting you feel as if you’re at the concert. Of course, it doesn’t replicate concert level feel but I do enjoy it. It’s called Immersion setting and I really like it.
The hearing profile that tweaks the headphone to your hearing is actually nice. My profile is definitely different from anyone else in the family and I don’t like their settings but really like mine.
Are these better than high-end cans? No…are they better than Beats at close to the same price? Absolutely!
There is a 30 day return policy, so you can always send them back if they don’t do it for you. I’m keeping mine!
Oh one other thing…you can only use your hearing profile if you’re using your device with the App. I haven’t figured out how to get it to work when I’m using my laptop
UPDATE: Just figured out how to use it with the computer. The headphones actually remember the last profile that it was associated with!
Love these even more now.
Cheers!
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Do you feel like the bass gets to be too much, or muddies the sound? I feel like I would have a large problem listening to it because of that. Had this problem with Beats.
I’ve read quite a few reviews on the nuraphones and so far the only time people have mentioned the bass being too much is when they crank the “immersion” setting (basically a bass slider bar in the app) all the way up. You can completely disable the immersion setting by setting it to 0% which gives a more neutral sound without boosting the bass.
I’ll post further details once my nuraphones arrive sometime today (the wait has been painfully slow - I woke up 12 hours ago to ensure I didn’t miss the delivery guy since they require a signature lol).
Okay, the nuraphones finally arrived and I went through the initial profile creation/tuning process which supposedly tunes them to how well my ears can perceive each frequency. After listening to a few songs I must say these definitely offer a unique listening experience. The bass is not only heard but actually felt when cranked up using the immersion setting in the app. It’s similar to how you can feel rumbling bass coming from a large subwoofer which is something I haven’t experienced before in a pair of headphones. Since it’s coming from a separate driver it doesn’t really muddy the mids/highs but it can definitely overpower them when cranked up; so far most music seems to sound best with it set to around 35-55% or so depending on the genre. I still haven’t tested it with films which I plan on eventually doing.
My quick initial impressions after about an hour of listening are the lows (sub-bass/bass) are excellent and some of the best I’ve heard out of a set of cans, the mids are clear but slightly more recessed than what I’m normally used to (been using the Philips Fidelio X2’s quite a bit recently) while the treble seems ever so slightly sparkly but not overdone or fatiguing. If I disable the immersion mode altogether they sound fairly neutral and the “generic” profile that disables your custom profile and supposedly sets the EQ to completely flat sounds quite horrible. The soundstage is nearly as wide (but not quite) as the Fidelio X2’s which impressed me since the Fidelios are open-backed while the nuraphones are not.
That’s all I have time for now since I must get some sleep but I’ll do more testing after work. So far my initial impressions are positive and they compare favorably to other cans I’ve used/owned in the $200-400 range with better build quality than I expected (it’s hard to tell from pictures but they’re a lot more comfortable than they look - the silicon earcups feel soft/silky and didn’t cause any discomfort or sweat issues and the earbuds are on a two-stage silicon spring that allows them to move around and get a good fit without putting too much pressure on your ear canals).
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The way the Bass is produced in the outer portion of the headphone so you can “feel” it, isolates it from the rest of the sound, so it keeps it from being “muddy”. The in-ear portion carries the twe and midrange. It really works well with the “sensation” or immersion (as they describe it in the app) aspect too. I cranked the “immersion” all the way up and could still hear the crisp brass and piano as well as the vocals on some heavy bass tracks. Although, it is too much Bass with “immersion” all the way up. It’s a nice setup.
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I kind of want to try this technology, but on a budget.
I have been thinking about eBaying Harman’s JBL Everest Elite 700. They run a quick sine sweep and then DSP the sound based on the shape of your ear (if I’m understanding it correctly).
You can always try the nuraphones and return them within 30 days for a full refund if they aren’t what you wanted. I may be able to save you some money as well if you do decide to purchase them (send me a PM for details since I don’t want to unintentionally break any forum rules).
Thanks for the reviews @Tony and @drcbp75 . They sound increasingly more interesting after reading both of those. Thank you for your feedback. I’m wondering both of you said that the bass was being “felt” instead of heard. This is an interesting distinction. Does this mean there is less detail or speed?
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No, since the bass is being driven on its own dedicated driver it doesn’t suffer from poor detail or slow speed. The reason it’s “felt” is likely due to how the headphones were engineered/designed. The inner earcups are designed with vents that allow suction created from the bass driver pumping to suck cool air in from the lower vents and force hot air out the upper vents (nuraphone patented this technology which they refer to as “active Tesla valve cooling”) . Imagine the air port on a subwoofer, the vents in the nuraphone work in a similar fashion while the entire inner earcup area acts like a pumping woofer when the bass hits. Here’s some photos for reference:
Ditto with what Tony says. Part of the key to the design is the “in ear” portion of the headphone. It’s surprisingly comfortable and it sort of isolates the mid/high portion from the bass, therefore making everything work together. I am not a fan of in-ear monitors, but I do not mind the feel of the Nuraphones
After about 5 days using the nuraphones every day I’m liking them more and more. I’ve tested them with binaural recordings, live orchestra recordings, lossless FLAC files vs. compressed MP3s, electronic/rock/folk music, USB vs. analog cable vs. bluetooth, films, etc. and so far they’ve handled everything well that I’ve thrown at them. In films when deep, rumbling bass hits they give an experience similar to being in a movie theater with a good sound system and their overall clarity with a wide soundstage and good separation makes listening a real joy.
Whether it’s the custom sound profile based upon your hearing capabilities, using high quality components or how they’re engineered/designed that’s responsible for the excellent listening experience (or a combination of the three) I’m not sure – but it’s definitely working!
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