Intoduction
Nura is an Australian brand, created by Dragan Petrović and Luke Campbell, funded several years ago by kickstarter.
My first experience wis the nuraphone was several months ago, during the Sound Days in Paris. A little soundproof booth was installed to test the headphone without being disturbed from the crowd. I thought at that moment that these headphones were really interesting and wanted to test them. Nuraphone was kind enough to send me a pair for review with all the cables available, which are a USB-A cable (included with the nuraphone for charging it), an analog cable (terminated with a 3,5mm jack), a lightning cable, a USB-C cable and a micro-USB one.
Aspects and set up
The Nuraphone comes in a little hard travel case, with a space to put 1 or 2 cables. The nuraphone looks like a normal over-ear headphones, with a mat black finish and silicone ear-cups, priced at 400$. Inside of the two ear cups, we can find two little sticks who go into the ear canal, like an IEM. The sticks delivers the mid and highs frequency and have the measure equipment, meanwhile the rest of the ear cup delivers the low frequencies.
To those who don’t know why these headphones are special, the principle is simple: « The nuraphone plays a range of tones into the ear, and then measures a very faint sound that your ear generates in response to these tones called the Otoacoustic Emission (OAE). This tiny signal originates in the cochlea and vibrates the ear drum, turning it into a speaker and playing sound back out of your ear. Encoded in the returning sound wave is information about how well you heard the sound that went in. The nuraphone uses an extremely sensitive microphone to detect this returning sound wave, and a self learning engine built into the nuraphone to create your profile. ». It creates your own unique profile to tailor the sound to your anatomy.
The headphone can store up to 3 different profiles, and save your selected one in the headphone, so the tailor sound works all the time (with bluetooth connection, but also with the analog cable in which case an analog to digital converter works before the acoustic correction is applied, then re-converted to analog).
It’s made with selected materials: stainless steel for the headband, aluminum and silicon for the rest. Only a small part of the silicon touches your skin which is great when it’s hot outside. Speaking of it, if we look closely, we can see little holes into the ear cups: the air can go in and out which create a cooling system (Dragan told me it’s actually several degrees colder into the ear cups than outside — tested when it’s 24°C outside).
I was really excited when the box arrived at my door and I opened it immediately to try it. I searched for the on/off switch but there was nothing in there, no buttons, no nothing. After searching for 1 long minute, I decided to put it on my head to see how it feels with these sticks. Have you ever dreamed, like me, when you were a teenager (or else), to have a Jarvis like in Iron Man? Well, it’s kind of the same thing. The nuraphones turned on automatically and a lady began to talk to me, and explained what I had to do.
I opened the app (you have to have a smartphone in order to configure the nuraphones) and launched the calibration. It took about one minute and all I had to do was to press the start button. At the end of the calibration, the app launched a demo music to test the tailored sound with two buttons: one to listen to the music with the « Generic » profile, and one with yours. I must say, the result was astonishing. It’s not a little difference, it’s not the night and day difference sellers wants you to believe when they want you to buy something more expensive than the one you wanted to buy. It’s a difference like it’s not the same sound anymore, it’s not the same music, it’s note the same headphones.
Ok, that’s impressive, let’s click on continue. Now A little scroll bar appeared to adjust the « immersive mode ». It’s supposed to simulate a live concert: big and impactful bass that hit you on the face. What it does, to put it simply, it adds several db to the bass and enhance what the skin and bones can feel, with creates the impression that the nuraphones are vibrating. I’ll agree that’s not audiophile, that’s not for the purist, but oh boy, that’s fun and addictive!
I save everything on the app, my name so I can identify my profile etc, and close the app to listen to my reference tracks, the ones I know perfectly and I listen to every time I try a new pair of headphones.
Sound test
I began as always with « Hide In Your Shell » from the album Crime Of The Century by Supertramp (the remastered version) on Spotify, without immersive mode, to compare it to my other headphones. The sound was precise and articulate, more on the cold side than a warm sound, but not harsh or anything. The soundstage, not very wide compared to other headphones, was good as well was the depth. I like to listen to my music kind of loud, so i pushed the volume to the maximum. During certain moments, when all the band is playing together, we can hear a little bit of distortion, the nuraphones had trouble to keep up, the sound wasn’t as precise as before (when there was less instruments) and the sound was kind of metallic.
I then listened to « Hard Headed Woman » from the album Tea For The Tillerman by Cat Stevens. The guitar was detailed, Cat’s voice realistic and the chorus arrived like they should do. The violin in the back were subtle but clear and beautiful. I enjoyed listing to this song with the nuraphone although when he began to sing louder, the same thing happened (metallic sound…), but it was a bit better, and enjoyable.
On « The Weight » from Music From Big Pink by The Band, the voices are up front meanwhile the acoustic guitar is discrete and kind of shy. Although the voices could be a bit more natural, the song is somehow coherent and enjoyable. The drums are punchy but they don’t overcome the rest.
Let’s skip some decades and go with « NaaNaaNaa » live by Cory Henry And The Funk Apostles. The organ is surprisingly good and alive. The bass guitar swing and the drums kick ass. My head is moving by itself while my foot is tapping on the floor. The highs are clear and present with a lot of details. Again, Cory Henry’s voice is a bit metallic and could be a bit warmer but the essential is here.
I couldn’t liste to modern Hip-Hop/Rap/RnB without the immersive mode on. It creates a real intensity and punch to the music (you’ll have to adjust it, one setting is not optimal for all songs).
I’m prepared to bet an arm and leg that no one can dislike the nuraphones with the immersive mode on listening to « Gangsta’s Paradise » by Coolio. The sound is deep and powerful, the chorus are huge, the highs clear and the signers/rappers voice are where and how they need to be. The big, punchy and vibrating bass is incredible, really percutant and immersive while everything else is audible clearly.
« D.N.A » form DAMN by Kendrick Lamar never was more enjoyable. Punchy, strong and alive. Kendrick’s lyrics and energy take sense with this headphones (again, with the immersive mode).
I then used the analog cable and connected the nuraphones to my Astell and Kern AK100 II. The overall sound quality just got better but the tactile commands don’t work when the nuraphones is connected with a cable (Dragan told me during our call that they made the choice to deactivate everything instead of activating only a fraction of the command’s functions). I used a lot my A&K, more than my phone, although Dragan told me the vast majority of the nuraphone’s users preferred the bluetooth connexion.
I spent a lot of times with these headphones almost everywhere: at home, on the subway, walking on the streets, at work… and the isolation was so good it didn’t matter where I was. Once a friend came by my house for whatever reason he had to come. He was sitting next to me in the couch and I had the nuraphones working at maximum level (with the bluetooth connexion) and he didn’t hear a thing.
The last software update added an even better isolation with an active isolation (thanks to the 6 mics inside the nuraphones) and a mode call « Social mode » which block certain frequencies and enhance others, so you can listen to music and hear if someone is talking to you.
During my phone call with Dragan Petrović, he told me that Nura is doing well (tens of thousand nuraphones sold) and a lot of things are being develop (although it’s too early to know precisely what they are up to).
Conclusion
The nuraphones are unique: the technology inside is remarkable and very effective, addictive and can evolve through software updates. The bass is certainly, for me, the forte of these headphones which make some genre of music even better and alive. It may works better with some genre, but it’s an overall good pair of headphones, with an astonishing price/quality ratio. It’s for me not the most realistic or audiophile-like type of sound, but it’s the headphone I would take if I wanna have some fun.
Tech Specs:
- Dimensions:190 x 170 x 88 mm
- Weight: 329g
- Connectivity: Bluetooth aptX HD, Universal Wired (Lightning, USB-C, micro-USB, analog)
- Battery: Lithium Ion Battery, Up to 20 hours
- Noise Isolation: Dual passive (and now active with the update)
- Materials: High grade stainless, aluminium cups, hypoallergenic silicon pads
- Voice: External microphones for calls
Sources:
- iPhone SE with spotify
- Astell & Kern AK100 II with flac files
Headphones used as reference:
- Sennheiser Momentum
- Master & Dynamic MH40
- Audeze EL-8C
Materials and finitions: 8,5/10
Sound Quality: 7,5/10
Price/Quality ratio: 8,5/10
Overall: 8,5/10
Nura is an Australian brand, created by Dragan Petrović and Luke Campbell, funded several years ago by kickstarter.
My first experience wis the nuraphone was several months ago, during the Sound Days in Paris. A little soundproof booth was installed to test the headphone without being disturbed from the crowd. I thought at that moment that these headphones were really interesting and wanted to test them. Nuraphone was kind enough to send me a pair for review with all the cables available, which are a USB-A cable (included with the nuraphone for charging it), an analog cable (terminated with a 3,5mm jack), a lightning cable, a USB-C cable and a micro-USB one.
Aspects and set up
The Nuraphone comes in a little hard travel case, with a space to put 1 or 2 cables. The nuraphone looks like a normal over-ear headphones, with a mat black finish and silicone ear-cups, priced at 400$. Inside of the two ear cups, we can find two little sticks who go into the ear canal, like an IEM. The sticks delivers the mid and highs frequency and have the measure equipment, meanwhile the rest of the ear cup delivers the low frequencies.
To those who don’t know why these headphones are special, the principle is simple: « The nuraphone plays a range of tones into the ear, and then measures a very faint sound that your ear generates in response to these tones called the Otoacoustic Emission (OAE). This tiny signal originates in the cochlea and vibrates the ear drum, turning it into a speaker and playing sound back out of your ear. Encoded in the returning sound wave is information about how well you heard the sound that went in. The nuraphone uses an extremely sensitive microphone to detect this returning sound wave, and a self learning engine built into the nuraphone to create your profile. ». It creates your own unique profile to tailor the sound to your anatomy.
The headphone can store up to 3 different profiles, and save your selected one in the headphone, so the tailor sound works all the time (with bluetooth connection, but also with the analog cable in which case an analog to digital converter works before the acoustic correction is applied, then re-converted to analog).
It’s made with selected materials: stainless steel for the headband, aluminum and silicon for the rest. Only a small part of the silicon touches your skin which is great when it’s hot outside. Speaking of it, if we look closely, we can see little holes into the ear cups: the air can go in and out which create a cooling system (Dragan told me it’s actually several degrees colder into the ear cups than outside — tested when it’s 24°C outside).
I was really excited when the box arrived at my door and I opened it immediately to try it. I searched for the on/off switch but there was nothing in there, no buttons, no nothing. After searching for 1 long minute, I decided to put it on my head to see how it feels with these sticks. Have you ever dreamed, like me, when you were a teenager (or else), to have a Jarvis like in Iron Man? Well, it’s kind of the same thing. The nuraphones turned on automatically and a lady began to talk to me, and explained what I had to do.
I opened the app (you have to have a smartphone in order to configure the nuraphones) and launched the calibration. It took about one minute and all I had to do was to press the start button. At the end of the calibration, the app launched a demo music to test the tailored sound with two buttons: one to listen to the music with the « Generic » profile, and one with yours. I must say, the result was astonishing. It’s not a little difference, it’s not the night and day difference sellers wants you to believe when they want you to buy something more expensive than the one you wanted to buy. It’s a difference like it’s not the same sound anymore, it’s not the same music, it’s note the same headphones.
Ok, that’s impressive, let’s click on continue. Now A little scroll bar appeared to adjust the « immersive mode ». It’s supposed to simulate a live concert: big and impactful bass that hit you on the face. What it does, to put it simply, it adds several db to the bass and enhance what the skin and bones can feel, with creates the impression that the nuraphones are vibrating. I’ll agree that’s not audiophile, that’s not for the purist, but oh boy, that’s fun and addictive!
I save everything on the app, my name so I can identify my profile etc, and close the app to listen to my reference tracks, the ones I know perfectly and I listen to every time I try a new pair of headphones.
Sound test
I began as always with « Hide In Your Shell » from the album Crime Of The Century by Supertramp (the remastered version) on Spotify, without immersive mode, to compare it to my other headphones. The sound was precise and articulate, more on the cold side than a warm sound, but not harsh or anything. The soundstage, not very wide compared to other headphones, was good as well was the depth. I like to listen to my music kind of loud, so i pushed the volume to the maximum. During certain moments, when all the band is playing together, we can hear a little bit of distortion, the nuraphones had trouble to keep up, the sound wasn’t as precise as before (when there was less instruments) and the sound was kind of metallic.
I then listened to « Hard Headed Woman » from the album Tea For The Tillerman by Cat Stevens. The guitar was detailed, Cat’s voice realistic and the chorus arrived like they should do. The violin in the back were subtle but clear and beautiful. I enjoyed listing to this song with the nuraphone although when he began to sing louder, the same thing happened (metallic sound…), but it was a bit better, and enjoyable.
On « The Weight » from Music From Big Pink by The Band, the voices are up front meanwhile the acoustic guitar is discrete and kind of shy. Although the voices could be a bit more natural, the song is somehow coherent and enjoyable. The drums are punchy but they don’t overcome the rest.
Let’s skip some decades and go with « NaaNaaNaa » live by Cory Henry And The Funk Apostles. The organ is surprisingly good and alive. The bass guitar swing and the drums kick ass. My head is moving by itself while my foot is tapping on the floor. The highs are clear and present with a lot of details. Again, Cory Henry’s voice is a bit metallic and could be a bit warmer but the essential is here.
I couldn’t liste to modern Hip-Hop/Rap/RnB without the immersive mode on. It creates a real intensity and punch to the music (you’ll have to adjust it, one setting is not optimal for all songs).
I’m prepared to bet an arm and leg that no one can dislike the nuraphones with the immersive mode on listening to « Gangsta’s Paradise » by Coolio. The sound is deep and powerful, the chorus are huge, the highs clear and the signers/rappers voice are where and how they need to be. The big, punchy and vibrating bass is incredible, really percutant and immersive while everything else is audible clearly.
« D.N.A » form DAMN by Kendrick Lamar never was more enjoyable. Punchy, strong and alive. Kendrick’s lyrics and energy take sense with this headphones (again, with the immersive mode).
I then used the analog cable and connected the nuraphones to my Astell and Kern AK100 II. The overall sound quality just got better but the tactile commands don’t work when the nuraphones is connected with a cable (Dragan told me during our call that they made the choice to deactivate everything instead of activating only a fraction of the command’s functions). I used a lot my A&K, more than my phone, although Dragan told me the vast majority of the nuraphone’s users preferred the bluetooth connexion.
I spent a lot of times with these headphones almost everywhere: at home, on the subway, walking on the streets, at work… and the isolation was so good it didn’t matter where I was. Once a friend came by my house for whatever reason he had to come. He was sitting next to me in the couch and I had the nuraphones working at maximum level (with the bluetooth connexion) and he didn’t hear a thing.
The last software update added an even better isolation with an active isolation (thanks to the 6 mics inside the nuraphones) and a mode call « Social mode » which block certain frequencies and enhance others, so you can listen to music and hear if someone is talking to you.
During my phone call with Dragan Petrović, he told me that Nura is doing well (tens of thousand nuraphones sold) and a lot of things are being develop (although it’s too early to know precisely what they are up to).
Conclusion
The nuraphones are unique: the technology inside is remarkable and very effective, addictive and can evolve through software updates. The bass is certainly, for me, the forte of these headphones which make some genre of music even better and alive. It may works better with some genre, but it’s an overall good pair of headphones, with an astonishing price/quality ratio. It’s for me not the most realistic or audiophile-like type of sound, but it’s the headphone I would take if I wanna have some fun.
Tech Specs:
- Dimensions:190 x 170 x 88 mm
- Weight: 329g
- Connectivity: Bluetooth aptX HD, Universal Wired (Lightning, USB-C, micro-USB, analog)
- Battery: Lithium Ion Battery, Up to 20 hours
- Noise Isolation: Dual passive (and now active with the update)
- Materials: High grade stainless, aluminium cups, hypoallergenic silicon pads
- Voice: External microphones for calls
Sources:
- iPhone SE with spotify
- Astell & Kern AK100 II with flac files
Headphones used as reference:
- Sennheiser Momentum
- Master & Dynamic MH40
- Audeze EL-8C
Materials and finitions: 8,5/10
Sound Quality: 7,5/10
Price/Quality ratio: 8,5/10
Overall: 8,5/10
