[cossix]

So I saw this Kickstarter project and it seemed pretty interesting, but I want to hear people's thoughts on this before I jump on it.

Nura: Headphones that learn and adapt to your unique hearing

SUMMARY: Apparently these headphones tailor fit the frequency response of the headphones to each individual's hearing. They do it by monitoring your ears' hearing via otoacoustic emissions, which I think means measuring the sound waves that are reflected off your ear when a sound is played into your ear. They then use the data to customise the frequency response of the headphones.

How legit is this? Is it just pseudoscience or actually feasible?

Feeling a bit iffy about this because 1) I don't know what their target frequency curve is, 2) I don't know how good these headphones actually, and 3) seems to be a new company with no experience and very sparse info online (their website doesn't say anything at all).

What do you guys think?

This looks like the only headphone that measures hearing that way so it at least passes my "uniqueness" test. The other Kickstarter headphones are pretty dumb, graphene drivers, various "hearing tests" but the kind that Android phones already have as a feature. Most Kickstarter headphones look gimmicky as hell, at least these are original. Either way, do you really need something like this? If you learn how to use EQ and buy a quality headphone from a well known company, you'll have a better experience

 

[phase0]

Saw this and it raised my eyebrows...

https://newatlas.com/nura-headphones-review/52214/

These headphones sound incredible to everyone on the team who's tried them – it's like a magic trick that pulls amazing detail and fullness out of music you've heard a thousand times before.

After a month of daily use, sometimes for up to 5 or 6 hours at a time, I can heartily say yes, these things are the real deal, with a little room for improvement.

So how do these compare to Susvara, Abyss Phi and other TOTL... I'm guess they're not in the same league... But some random reviewer x says there's not much room to improve headphones after this...

 

[yiannis550]

All these reviewers compare the nura headphones to Bose 35 and sony and beats Bluetooth etc. I tried all those popular Bluetooth headphones and for me they are horrible.
These mainstream models don't compare to sennheiser 650hd or to my UE tf10.
I have read reviews of people who use audiophile grade earphones and headphones and they say yes the nura are much better than those mainstream headphones but if you already have some audiophile headphones or earphones that you like then they will probably sound similar or worse. The headphones you already like are probably having the signature your ears prefer, plus theybhave better quality sound than the nura...
This makes sense.
I would like to try the nura myself though just for the experience, but I am not buying. I d rather save for a custom iem. It has been always my dream to go for a custom iem but as a father of 4 children there is always some other financial priority...

 

[phase0]

I just received my first pair of customs last week. I ran UE tf10 for about 10 years (or IDK a long time). Seems like after they're in for a while I get some movement and I heard some pops and other noises. So now after all that money trying to do it right. I'm trying to think of how to articulate what could be the issues, possibly send back for a refit attempt. My new IEMs I'm sure gotta be way better sounding that the tf10 but I used to wear those for long times and they were comfy and sounded good. Now that I gave up the silicon tip thing IDK. I'm not even sure the fit can get better?

I think you're right about ppl who already have an audiophile headphone. I'd be curious to try these out though.

 

[bowman339]

I got to try the Nura at the Sydney launch a couple of days ago. For about 20min. I was born with moderate hearing loss. It did its thing mapping my hearing profile and personalised the sound. Then I listened to some songs I have known for many years. Got a bit emotional. It was incredible. A friend who was with me has normal hearing and is in to high end audio. I haven't been. Not much point. He thought the sound quality was better than anything else he has tried. Really looking forward to getting my pair so I can hear more.

 

[Jim Bobber]

I’ve had a pair of these for a while now, I was one of the first to receive my kickstarter pledge. I can say without a doubt they are amazing. The soundstage is phenomenal. I have them paired with my Fiio X7 MK ii. I also own Oppo PM-3’s, Bose QC35’s, 1more Quad drivers and a pair UE 600’s. I’ve been massively impressed with my Nura’s They sound great via Bluetooth and I got them with all the cables, so I’ve got a lightning connector, 3.5mm, micro USB and USB 3.a poster earlier said they don’t come with a 3.5mm cable, which is not correct. I think if you buy them now you have to purchase additional cables.

Fit wise they are very comfy, well for me anyway. The in ear component is quite forgiving, it does not fit in as tightly as a conventional ear bud, I guess it will differ a little for different people!! Compared to the PM-3’s all I can say is WOW, the soundstage blows the oppos away!

 

[struts]

Received mine a few weeks ago (I was an early KickStarter backer but based in Europe which I think were the last units to ship) but one thing and another meant I only unpacked them a couple of days ago. Here come a few initial impressions.

Rewinding a little my first impressions were actually formed over the last several months by the pre-delivery communication from Nura. All through the inevitable delays while design, supply-chain, assembly and logistical gremlins were all resolved backers received frequent, transparent and earnest updates. This inspired confidence (at least in me) that Nura was a team that was serious about customer satisfaction, and not a fly-by-night outfit that would fail or disappear off into the sunset before I ever received my product.

The unboxing experience is quite something, these cans simply ooze quality. Everything from the outer packaging, the feel of the magnetic clasp on the carry case, the soft silicone “open-mouthed” cup (again, magnetically attached - niiiicce) therein to hold the cables - which are the rubbery anti-tangling sort à la Apple, the materials, the finishes (nice juxtaposition of matte and semi-matte), to the cunningly integrated touch-sensitive buttons sporting discreet logos give the impression of being the result of very deliberate and carefully weighed decisions by people who care - deeply. Hell, even peeling the protective film off the matte metal parts is a tactile experience! This goes beyond “quality”. I have to say the overall impression is one of carefully curated design-driven and immaculately executed luxury. This may sound like hyperbole but imho this is an Apple or Tesla-level experience, I was immeasurably impressed. How much did these cost again?

This high bar is maintained through set-up via the iPhone app which also feels extremely polished. This was a huge, and very welcome, surprise given the buggy, not-ready-for-prime-time feel of the apps accompanying some of the other KS projects I have bought in to. A voice in the cans guides you step-by-step as you calibrate your personal profile (although I would love to know if the little coloured “blotch” diagram actually corresponds to that profile in any way that makes it possible to interpret). You are then presented with the opportunity to listen to a test track (View2 by Sasha) while toggling the correction on and off at your leisure. The magnitude of the difference is quite shocking, at least for me, 51 y o and my hearing undoubtedly starting to roll off at the extremes. This is not strain-to-hear-the-difference subtle, this is sledgehammer-between-the-eyes (ears) obvious. Ymmv.

Then there is nothing else left to do except start listening. First impressions are of a very appealing sound, well extended yet smooth and non-fatiguing. The overall balance seems “light” to my ears, as if the EQ has been pushed up a bit in the upper midrange/low treble. Detail is good, although not as “fine grained” or “silky” as the best I have heard, although whether this is an inherent part of their sound signature or related to the source material or listening chain remains to be seen. Toggling the correction on and off makes such a huge difference that at times it seems like a “nerf” switch, with correction off some tracks sound like the well known “transistor radio playing in another room”. Re-engaging correction unleashes such a torrent of information across the frequency range, that comparisons are pretty much meaningless. What I am really looking forward to is comparing these - correction engaged - directly with my other cans! The soundstaging also seems excellent, extending well outside the head in a reasonably natural way. In fact nothing in the sound draws attention to itself in a negative way, first impressions are that I can live with these cans - very happily!

So far the Nuras have behaved impeccably. They switch on automatically and welcome you when you put them on and switch off when you take them off. Volume control, correction-toggling and battery charge reporting via the phone all work flawlessly. It is too early to report conclusively on battery life but if the iPhone battery gauge is to be believed they are hardly drawing anything! I have yet to hear any pops, dropouts or glitches while listening.

Comfort is very good. They are nice and light and sit securely on the head following your head movements without drawing any attention to themselves. The cups are soft and seal well, providing good isolation from background noise, although not quite on the same level as active noise-cancelling ‘phones. Being silicone they are a bit sweaty - however this is something I only notice when I take them off. The band is nicely padded (no pressure point), has a wide adjustment range and seems to exert exactly the right clamping force. The tips are also soft and sit reasonably lightly in the outer ear. Although one never quite forgets about them they don’t cause me any pain or discomfort, even after my longest listening session so far - ca 6 hrs.

Unfortunately I am travelling for the next week-or-so, so comparisons with my reference cans, and the cans I own which are closest in price (Oppo PM-3 and AT ATH-ESW9) will have to wait. I should also note that all listening so far has been via Bluetooth from CD-resolution Tidal-sourced material on an iPhone. I have not yet been able to listen via the cable or via any of my familiar sources/headphone amps so critical evaluation will have to wait.

Nevertheless, first impressions are very positive, well beyond my expectations, both relative to price and the fact that this is a start-up company’s first product. Huge kudos to the Nura team for producing such an innovative, polished and fine-sounding headphone with a real luxury feel straight off the bat. Thank you, you deserve all the success that comes your way!

I’ll write up some more impressions when I have been able to put a few more hours on them and have had the chance to listen to familiar material via the wired connection in a familiar system and compare with some other cans, comparably priced and TOTL.

PS Customers receive a referral link that offers a 20% discount. Anyone with money burning a hole in their pocket (although please don’t base a purchase decision solely on these impressions!) is welcome to use mine: http://fbuy.me/hF5nk

 

[Nerdybeng]

Finally received mine after a long - but totally worthwhile, wait! Coincidentally, my Cayin i5, which was held up at customs for about a month because I got it at such an unbelievably low price (~USD288), arrived on the very same day!
Fated to be a good match! And then I found out that the Nura app couldn't be installed on Cayin i5's old Android version...
Its unique earbud plus earcup design really requires a good fit to bring out the best sound. The earbuds are oval with one-size-doesn't-fit-all huge flanges - bigger than the biggest that come with any typical iem. I guess they don't have to go as deep in as iems, but still... They are flexibly attached to the cup, so the angle and depth can change to fit you - or not After a few days of use, my ears have more or less gotten used to them, but in the beginning my ear canals felt very violated. I guess they are no longer Nura virgins, and can enjoy the action better now. Still, every so often, I've gotta give the cups a good squeeze to adjust the earbud position. I found that I have to tighten the band to get a good seal, and so that the hefty weight doesn't press down into my war canals over time.
The cables are of premium quality, but the connector to the phone is proprietary, so don't lose yours. The cables do detach at the slightest tug though, so some care is needed. Even though you can get micro-usb, USB-C or lightning connectors on the other end too, they seem not to be data friendly. Otoacoustic emmission mapping works only through bluetooth. Same for immersion mode adjustment. The nice configurable touch buttons also only work when no cable is connected. Quite a bummer. Cayin i5 can handle bluetooth, but I'm mainly using the 3.5mm for flac playback.
The Nura app (on my HTC) warned that I did not get a good seal, no matter how many times I tried. Still, I got it to grudgingly go ahead with the mapping. Some burn-in is necessary for the sound to open up.
The sound is wow, omg. I suspect part of the reason is that I'm able to go to a higher volume without feeling uncomfortable for some reason, so I'm getting more details. Maybe that's the magical effect of the mapping. My profile shows greater sensitivity to lower frequencies. Perhaps that's why on most cans I can only tolerate a lower volume overall, thus losing details in higher bands.
The combination of earbuds for mids and highs, and the ear cup for bass is ingenious and does wonders for soundstaging. If the fit is good, you get the best of both worlds. The bass can get really punchy from the earcups, especially if you turn up the Immersion mode towards "front-row". You can feel the cups vibrating - in a good way.
Compared to my Sennheisser HD 598, the sound is really different. The 598 feels really laid back, and lacks the intimacy of iems. The Nura's just feel really rich all round, and yet not in an overwhelming way, but perfectly balanced. I haven't had a chance to do proper comparisons though.
I suspect these are not for everyone, simply because the seal might not work as well for both your ears, and the overall comfort differs for different people.
They're not perfect for me either. Still, the sound is dope.
And I'm really impressed that the retail price is $399, as they promised. I'm sure that there'll be some other discount in future, but for now I'm happy to have gotten a good deal!

 

[zorniki]

I've read a few reviews now on various sites.
And I was curious how people on here would judge them, based on the overall hype they received via their Kickstarter page.

I am an early bird backer as well, not by any means a professional listener, but an avid follower of audio tech.
I must say, that the Nuraphones far exceeded my expectations, especially when I've paid as "little" as 249$ for it.

I find the process of getting the nuras tuned to your hearing really easy and direct. Once you manage to get your seal properly adjusted - that took me a good 5 mins to be honest - it's just a matter of 60 secs until you're good to go.
The trick was to wiggle the outer cup forward and backwards until the iem part felt locked in. Once you feel that protruding part of the iem lock into place, you're good to go. It's pretty easy after a couple of tries.
Unlike another reviewer here stated, it very much makes a lot of difference who's wearing them. My wife's signature looks and sounds very different from mine tbh.

The sound itself is very detailed compared to the phones I've used and heard so far.
The soundstage is incredible and really wide. Highs are crisp and not too stingy, while mids are soft and warm. The bass is another story altogether. Punchy and well textured. Once cranking up the immersion mode, it's time to start up a game or movie, because that's when this headphone really shines. Immersion mode lets you feel the bass, as if it was coming from a dedicated subwoofer, giving the impression of a front row seat in a cinema or a live concert (which I truly love about it!). Live CDs are now even more fun to listen to.

So once you get the seal right, I suspect you won't be disappointed. Again, your results may vary.

 

[petiot]

Ok, I finally received the Nura. I dont post much but during the long wait to receive those I came across this thread and though I d contribute.

I watched this Nura video () few times and convinced myself that such genuine reactions could only be triggered by something really special. Well, the magic did not really happened for me, unfortunately.

The Nura are good headphones: fabrication and material quality is good, and the design is simple (not necessarily a bad thing). And the whole experience is interesting: the voice instructions, set up, hearing test etc. I did have many crashes with the app though, and got stuck once with headphones that were running through the "set up" test sound (the one you hear when checking if the nura are placed well in your hear) without anyway to shut them up. It took me a while to find out that I needed to switch off bluetooth on the device to get out of the loop.

Also, finding the right position for the headphones (making the cups turn black in the app during the first phase of the set up) was not straightforward for me. I found out that I had to wear the cup much lower than I thought and push the head band toward the back (to point the inner ear things up) to finally get the app to go to the next step.

Now the sound. They sound good overall to be honest. After going through the whole calibration process, I started listening to my favourite tracks, the one I know like the back of my hand (or the inside of my ear!). I am always in the quest for new/better IEMs or headphones and recently purchased and returned few of them amongst which the P5 from B&W. The Nura does reminded me of the P5 sound signature, which is ok for 120 UK£, but not so much for 3 times that price.

The Nura sound good overall, but this is definitely not a game changer or a revolution in any ways, like some seem to believe. Definitely not, although I really wanted to believe so. I suspect many of the people who are "blown away" have never experienced proper headphones or IEMs. I remember the first time I listened to a proper pair of IEMs (the Super fi 5), I was properly blown away, but that was because I came from cheap Sony buds.

On the Nura the Bass are rich and impactful (immersion mode at almost minimum) and the soundstage is quite large I thought. Highs are accurate and not harsh. But I thought the mids are dry and thin in some ways, and definitely do not make justice to vocals (I had the same impression with the the P5 serie2).
The haptic bass (immersion mode) is sort of fun. It make the silicon vibrate against your skin, which is ... just fun but no more. And it only happens if you crank the whole slider to the max, at which point the sound is ridiculously distorted. So fun but without interest.

I came to ask myself why some people find the Nura so amazing. One possible/logical explanation is that if your hearing sensitivity is equal (high or low) across the whole frequency spectrum, then the customisation process is moot, and you end up hearing the true sound signature of the Nura. I have no way to validate this, apart from the fact that my hearing profile in the nura app is like a blue disk well within a pink disc (except for a blob at 2-3 o'clock) which according to Nura's website means I am basically deaf across the whole range of frequencies! The audiologist earring tests I do every year say otherwise. BTW, I did the calibration 5 times and always ended up with the same result. Which also means the Nura calibration process is solid.

I did A/B testing with the UE 900S which are my default/travel IEMs. They are not top IEM but cost 150 UK£ less than the Nura. I found them more coloured in the mids for sure, but much more natural to listen to ,and with a better/cleaner separation and sense of space overall.

So all in all, the Nura magic did not happen for me although I convinced myself that Nura really came up with something ground breaking. But deep inside, I had my doubts, which is why I am not disappointed. I think the true quest is finding the right headphones for you. The Nura might be for some, but not for me!

UPDATE:
A couple more hours of listening and it turns out that the comfort initially good, is not great after a couple of hours. The "things" in the cup apply quite a bit of pressure on some parts of the ear. You do feel soar after removing the headphones.

 

[phase0]

I used to have the Super fi 5. Your comments help put this in more perspective. It's sounding more like what I expected but I was still curious about Nura. I don't think they're going to unseat anything in the high-end but in the lower/mid tier it may be competitive and if nothing else it's an interesting approach.

 

[tekkster]

I've had the nura headphones for a few days.

They're all right.

They have two distinct drivers, and bass is easily boosted through the "distance to front row" function. I keep it pretty left of center (farther away from front row). It really just seems like a bass boost.

For the price, it's pretty darn awesome. It takes a while to get used to them, but they're actually pretty good for a mobile solution: Smart phone -> BT -> Nura.

I'm not up on the audiophile lingo, so I probably get the descriptive words wrong, but they are great compared to a lot of $100-$400 headphones.

The biggest impression I walk away with is:

- They're slow compared to more expensive headphones. I think the common term is "attack and decay", not sure. but everything seems more rounded? softer? smoother? Like, the snare drum isn't quite as quick or maybe sharp is the word I'm looking for.
I wouldn't say they're amazingly better than the QC35. And what's wrong with the QC35 anyway? Those sound pretty good too. But I digress.
- The dual driver thing is kinda cool. You can really tell there are two in there, and you can clearly tell where one driver ends and the other begins.
- The bass is also...kinda slow'ish. Which, again, isn't necessarily a bad thing. There's no fatigue. I can listen for hours.
The bass can get really big. But it's kinda, I dunno, muddy? loose? Can be dominating, when I choose in the level to decide how close you sit to the front row, I set mine to about 1/5 (so pretty close to the left, or farther away from "front row". When pushing to the middle or near the right, it distorts like crazy.
- Near the left on the "distance to front row" lever, though, bass is on a more even keel to the mids and highs. Distortion isn't really that noticeable around that range.
- The mids are just a tad recessed, and nothing wrong with that. Actually makes the music a little more "fun". And for some songs, I can't tell as much. Sara Bareilles' King of Anything from the Kaleidoscope Heart album is so prominent that having it recessed a little doesn't make her voice sound less prominent. so the dip isn't severe. Her voice sound just a tad off though, a tad deeper. Might be related to the treble roll-off. I know that when recording my own voice on my F8, if I turn on the HPF filter to remove low rumblings from an air conditioner from the recording, my voice sounds higher. The higher I set the roll off frequency to remove more rumbling, the higher my voice sounds. So I feel like the same kind of thing is happening to Sara's vocals. A treble rolloff filter is naturally lowering her voice a touch, maybe. I dunno. Just guessing.
- The same is true for all the treble instruments. Everything seems to be just a touch lower. that's not a bad thing at all. It makes violins and some electric guitar sounds much smoother, softer, relaxing to listen to. Lindsey Stirling's Take Flight (Orchestral version), plays very easy. The high guitar treble of Stevie Ray Vaughan's stuff feels a tough lower frequency too. But makes it feel a lot of fun.

Kinda surprised at the detail layered in these headphones. The way the bass is, I expect the detail to be a lot less than it is. Nice surprise.

Spacing is narrow, of course. As expected. But, still, within the range of what I would call narrow, it's wider than one would think.

These are not analytical headphones. Something like the M50x is flatter.

These headphones won't really replace higher end audiophile headphones or open backs. But for a simple, BT, mobile solution, they're pretty fun, convenient, come in a great case, and seem sturdy/long lasting.

----

My only complaint is that for me, at least, getting a good seal is a bit of a pain in the butt. I wish there was a way to manually create greater structural integrity of the inner ear portion, just while placing the headphones on, to get a good seal. Once the seal is set, a switch to change back to have more give is fine. Otherwise, I'm futzing with them for a while.

Will it replace my current mobile solution? I like the Senn PXC 550 a lot as a wireless solution for business trips. The Meze 99 for hanging out around my neighborhood. The PM3 or Cascade for further travel. And at home I tend to use open-backs. I'm struggling to think of a scenario where I would choose the Nura over these other headphones, and I just can't think of one.

 

[LuckyNat]

It's a shame there are a few short threads on these, rather than one..

I take it the nuraphones do a version of "room compensation" for ear canals? Basically does a calibrated frequency or noise sweep and measures the response back - can compensate for any resonances and anti-resonances due to the shape of your ears just like engineers do at venues with cablibration mics and white-noise sweeps.

Looking into otoacoustic emisions on wikipedea make these sound more interesting though - perhaps they really do test hearing response..

Are there many reviews from people who are used to high-end headphones (other than the above), like from the main review outlets ?

I really like the idea of the bone conduction (they call it skin conduction) part for the immersion mode though. But it would seem a shame if all of this calibration and addition of bone conduction use in the end just used inferior drivers .