[AlwaysForward]

Forget the headphones...

Scientific breakthrough alert: Ora just created a 250mm graphene oxide wafer, the largest ever produced!
Posted on
https://www.facebook.com/orasound/

It’s seriously exciting. They are improving size and performance all the time with their next gen materials.

 

[AlwaysForward]

Well damn. Joshua Valour’s review is pretty negative. Time to lower expectations:



I’m really surprised with the comments about resolution & frequency response since they were so well detailed through measurements. The updates even noted tuning the acoustics of the system. I just can’t imagine how that didn’t seem to work out in production. What a major bummer.

 

[Slater]

Sorry, but everything wasn’t supposed to be cheap plastic that’s going to eventually snap in 2.

It was all supposed to be premium materials - aluminum yokes, aluminum hinges, sheepskin leather headband and pads, etc.

This is from Ora themselves:



I am extremely disappointed if that video is true. Ora will have some explaining to do as to why we were bait and switched.

 

[Terozzzz]

Well damn. Joshua Valour’s review is pretty negative. Time to lower expectations:



I’m really surprised with the comments about resolution & frequency response since they were so well detailed through measurements. The updates even noted tuning the acoustics of the system. I just can’t imagine how that didn’t seem to work out in production. What a major bummer.

Well that didnt go well, at all. Damn i was lucky, almost pulled the trigger cos how highly they spoke about them but damn, Joshua wont be that much off with hes review. I waiting their answer to the critic, this feels bad, very bad in every way.
Almost feel like we all were scammed.

 

[SDBiotek]

I wouldn't draw conclusions based on one video review, of a unit that does not match the build details from Ora, but I agree it raises some doubt.

 

[Slater]

I wouldn't draw conclusions based on one video review, of a unit that does not match the build details from Ora, but I agree it raises some doubt.

So, they're mere weeks away from shipping the final headphones to all of their backers, and you're saying they recently sent an audio reviewer a poor quality, poorly tuned, totally non-spec (build material) headphone to do a critical review of?

If that's the type of business decisions Ora makes, then we really are in trouble...

 

[HungryPanda]

This looks like we will be very dissappointed

 

[AlwaysForward]

I mean, yeah, we’ll be able to draw our own conclusions sooner than later. These were so well researched and documented each step of the way. Again, I’m just shocked at how that review contrasts ORA’s materials.

Which would be one thing if it was like most kick starters but these guys are researchers and engineers first, salesmen second. They’re used to scientific rigor and well defined specs.

I really had trust in their science and how they were well established in both the lab science of the driver and also had speaker design / acoustics experiences as well.

 

[Slater]

You guys can count on me to give a full teardown review with material analysis and detailed photos. I will have mine fully taken apart 10 minutes after I remove it from the box.

If it comes down to it, I'll just extract the drivers and use them in a different shell (retuning as necessary).

Perhaps something premium built, like the M&D MH40, KEF M500, Meizu HD50, Sennheiser HD630VB, Fidelio X2, Philips A5 Pro, etc.

Or heck, I could even use the semi-open Chinese headphone Ora used for their original prototype (readily available for roughly $50-$70). It should be very familiar to many of us, and is made with real wood and metal. Throw some lambskin pads on and call it a day:




I'm gonna have to find some way to salvage it if it turns out to be a Titanic. I don't care about all the Bluetooth crap - I was planning on always using them wired all along.

Update: Ora verified below that the yokes/hinges are indeed aluminum.

 

[robert-eric]

Wow. I am truly shocked. We sent Josh the headphones for review since he had posted a highly skeptical video about the campaign - we thought we would win him over with the sound quality.... Apparently not.

I've played the final production version of the headphones for Grammy winners George Massenburg, Richard King, Brian Losch, Gustavo Dudamel, among many other folks who's opinions I trust and everyone has been very impressed by how they sound.

For the record, the yoke and slider ARE aluminum and are very robust. They are powder-costed rather than anodized because we could better-match the colour of the touch-plates. I wonder if Josh will post a correction.

Also, the driver is not small. It is a standard 40mm size. The same size used in almost all the other headphones he compares to.

Finally, The off-centre driver position is intentional (based on research a colleague of mine did for Ossic). Josh should not be trying to pull down the position of the headphones based on where the driver is located. Rather the ear-pads should fit around the ears allowing the driver to sit slightly forward and angled towards the pinna.

I can't speak to what he is hearing. I personally doubt most others will have such a negative response. We have several other pairs out for review so hopefully there will be some alternate opinions to refer to soon.

 

[Slater]

Wow. I am truly shocked. We sent Josh the headphones for review since he had posted a highly skeptical video about the campaign - we thought we would win him over with the sound quality.... Apparently not.

I've played the final production version of the headphones for Grammy winners George Massenburg, Richard King, Brian Losch, Gustavo Dudamel, among many other folks who's opinions I trust and everyone has been very impressed by how they sound.

For the record, the yoke and slider ARE aluminum and are very robust. They are powder-costed rather than anodized because we could better-match the colour of the touch-plates. I wonder if Josh will post a correction.

Also, the driver is not small. It is a standard 40mm size. The same size used in almost all the other headphones he compares to.

Finally, The off-centre driver position is intentional (based on research a colleague of mine did for Ossic). Josh should not be trying to pull down the position of the headphones based on where the driver is located. Rather the ear-pads should fit around the ears allowing the driver to sit slightly forward and angled towards the pinna.

I can't speak to what he is hearing. I personally doubt most others will have such a negative response. We have several other pairs out for review so hopefully there will be some alternate opinions to refer to soon.

Thanks for verifying the yokes are are indeed aluminum. That makes me feel much better.

Are the headband and earpads still genuine, natural, sheepskin leather? Not “protein leather”, fabric-backed pleather, etc?

Also, if I remember correctly (and I could be confused with another headphone), the Oras have some built-in EQ modes? Perhaps he inadvertently had them set to an EQ mode that he didn’t like the sound of.

As far as his comment about the Ora drivers being small, I assume he was referring to them being small in relationship to 50mm drivers (which some people feel is the ‘ideal’ headphone driver size).

 

[robert-eric]

Thanks for verifying the yokes are are indeed aluminum. That makes me feel much better.

Are the headband and earpads still genuine, natural, sheepskin leather? Not “protein leather”, fabric-backed pleather, etc?

Also, if I remember correctly (and I could be confused with another headphone), the Oras have some built-in EQ modes? Perhaps he inadvertently had them set to an EQ mode that he didn’t like the sound of.

Hey Slater,

The earpads and headband do use Korean "Protein Leather". This was on the specific advice of Paul Barton from PSB who told us that real leather has problems with breathability and longevity.

There is no user adjustable EQ on the headphones. In passive mode, when using an external preamp and a wire, there are no electronics in the signal path. It is possible that Josh didn't properly re-attach the earpads after opening them up but I don't want to speculate.

 

[Slater]

Hey Slater,

The earpads and headband do use Korean "Protein Leather". This was on the specific advice of Paul Barton from PSB who told us that real leather has problems with breathability and longevity.

There is no user adjustable EQ on the headphones. In passive mode, when using an external preamp and a wire, there are no electronics in the signal path. It is possible that Josh didn't properly re-attach the earpads after opening them up but I don't want to speculate.

OK, thanks for sharing and explaining the reasoning behind the material change.

My experience with sheepskin differs than PSBs, especially when leather is properly cared for. What’s done is done though.

I wouldn’t have minded the headband not being sheepskin, but it would have been nice to have genuine sheepskin ear pads (since that premise was what the backers who ordered the headphones expected). And then perhaps including a 2nd pair of protein pads could be included in the box, since they are so easy to change out.

Basically consider how Master and Dynamic offers their headphones. They come with a set of user-replaceable pads, but they have different pads that can be ordered. For example, for my recent MH40s, they came stock with sheepskin pads, but I ordered a spare pair of pads in Alcantara.

Depending on how I feel about the stock Ora pads when they arrive, I may just sew my own pair of sheepskin pads.

As far as the sound/EQ, I don’t remember him even using them wired in his review (at least on camera). I sure hope he didn’t base his entire evaluation of the sound quality of the headphones using only Bluetooth. If so, that would not be fair to the Ora.

 

[HungryPanda]

He said he plugged them into both of his amps

 

[AlwaysForward]

Wow. I am truly shocked. We sent Josh the headphones for review since he had posted a highly skeptical video about the campaign - we thought we would win him over with the sound quality.... Apparently not.

I've played the final production version of the headphones for Grammy winners George Massenburg, Richard King, Brian Losch, Gustavo Dudamel, among many other folks who's opinions I trust and everyone has been very impressed by how they sound.

For the record, the yoke and slider ARE aluminum and are very robust. They are powder-costed rather than anodized because we could better-match the colour of the touch-plates. I wonder if Josh will post a correction.

Also, the driver is not small. It is a standard 40mm size. The same size used in almost all the other headphones he compares to.

Finally, The off-centre driver position is intentional (based on research a colleague of mine did for Ossic). Josh should not be trying to pull down the position of the headphones based on where the driver is located. Rather the ear-pads should fit around the ears allowing the driver to sit slightly forward and angled towards the pinna.

I can't speak to what he is hearing. I personally doubt most others will have such a negative response. We have several other pairs out for review so hopefully there will be some alternate opinions to refer to soon.

I’m encouraged by this response and will hold on to hope for them to deliver on expectations.

I hope his review coming out so quickly doesn’t bias others in their own individual assessments.