NURAPHONE - 2 WEEKS LATER
After over 2 weeks using the Nuraphone, this is one of the greatest headphones I've heard. The bass definition and impact is insane, so so tight, you feel it over all your body, it's like if you had a subwoofer in your ears, this is what I call REAL bass. Mids are crisp and clear, slightly elevated, a tuning that I always prefer. Highs are airy and detailed, imaging and separation are exceptional, sounds coming from all around your head, 360º, with a wide soundstage, a level of fidelity found on much more expensive headphones. I used to love the FOSTEX TH900 MK2, which have a similar sound signature, but the bass of the Nuraphone is much superior. In terms of pure sound quality, the FOSTEX might be a bit better, more refined and with even better separation, but if I had to chose one, I would choose the Nuraphone. No DAP, no cable, stunning sound quality and a bass that I have never heard anything like it. I love how vocals sound here, liquid gold, no coloration, very engaging and detailed. But it's the bass, the detail retrieval and 3D imaging that impresses me the most. For the price, of course.
With spectacular ANC and call quality, I couldn't be happier. Ambient mode is very efficient too.
Couple friends had the same reaction seen on Nura videos. "OMG...!!!", jumping all over and laughing. That was funny. This thing causes you emotions and physical reactions that are yet to be seen with other headphones. If the purpose is to have fun and make you feel happier, you can't go wrong with these. Some might not adapt to the in-ear part of it, a full size headphone that goes deep into your ear canals (strange feeling), but luckily, I don't feel any strange intrusion or discomfort, I got used to it pretty quickly. My ear canals are large, I'm an L tips user, maybe this helps. I am also so accostumed to use IEMs, that I have no issues using an headphone that is also an IEM. For the ones that don't know, this is a dual driver headphone, the 40mm driver is just for bass and the in-ear driver just handles mids and highs. That's also why they have better separation than a single driver that does it all and better imaging. You can pinpoint instruments in any direction with precision. This has nothing to do with any BT headphone you've heard below 400€ and punches above its weight.
I hope Nura surprises me with an higher-end headphone, I will be all over it. For example, they could use 2-3 drivers for mids and highs, that would be awesome. On the other hand, I don't think this format, with in-ears inside the cups has been successful and they will probably implement a multi-driver system like JVC did in the JVC BEAT HA-SZ1000/2000.