[Slater]

He said he plugged them into both of his amps

OK, thanks I missed that part. At the time I was watching the video on a tiny phone at 1.5x speed, while I was ‘indisposed’ lol

 

[trellus]

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.

1.) Did you send Josh the final production version or an earlier prototype?

2.) Could his incorrect compensation in which he thought he was correcting a flaw in driver positioning relative to his ears explain the shouty mids? I know not all headphones are that sensitive to driver position and some are very sensitive -- where does the Ora fit in on this spectrum?

 

[robert-eric]

1.) Did you send Josh the final production version or an earlier prototype?

2.) Could his incorrect compensation in which he thought he was correcting a flaw in driver positioning relative to his ears explain the shouty mids? I know not all headphones are that sensitive to driver position and some are very sensitive -- where does the Ora fit in on this spectrum?

Josh received a unit from the pilot run. All the parts are they same but assembled by hand rater than on the assembly line.

The Oras are not very sensitive to driver position, however, in the video josh describes pulling down the headphones to sit just on the top of his ear and that, as a result, there isn't a good seal at the top. MAYBE he is allowing a leak at the top which would definitely affect the sound.

We did do quite a bit of bio-metric research in defining the size of the ear-cup, the tilt of the cups (the lack of tilt is compensate for the very thick earpads), and the headband length. The earpads are almost 1" thick at the point below the ear, there should not be undue pressure there.

 

[omegaorgun]

Josh received a unit from the pilot run. All the parts are they same but assembled by hand rater than on the assembly line.

The Oras are not very sensitive to driver position, however, in the video josh describes pulling down the headphones to sit just on the top of his ear and that, as a result, there isn't a good seal at the top. MAYBE he is allowing a leak at the top which would definitely affect the sound.

We did do quite a bit of bio-metric research in defining the size of the ear-cup, the tilt of the cups (the lack of tilt is compensate for the very thick earpads), and the headband length. The earpads are almost 1" thick at the point below the ear, there should not be undue pressure there.

Josh can have his off days and sometimes I don't always agree with his reviews what I would do is post a frequency response graph. I would also consider sending it to other viewers like Z reviews, dbs tech talks, DMS etc.

I think they look pretty nice and is it possible he got a defective unit?

Edits: apologies for any bad grammar was using text-to-speech in car.

Regards.

 

[omegaorgun]

Not sure why I thought these were Bluetooth!

He said shouty try deep microsuede pads and some unicorn tail damping or something inside to absorb the highs a little.

 

[Slater]

Not sure why I thought these were Bluetooth!

He said shouty try deep microsuede pads and some unicorn tail damping or something inside to absorb the highs a little.

They are Bluetooth. But they can also be used wired with a 3.5mm or direct audio via a usb C

 

[MRM22]

I can't wait to get mine and give my own review. Honestly it is really annoying that the first review is from a guy who doesn't even know how to fit a headphone. If he was finding what he was finding he should have at least called ora for clarification on fit and materials before publishing.

 

[SureSh0t]

I can't wait to get mine and give my own review. Honestly it is really annoying that the first review is from a guy who doesn't even know how to fit a headphone. If he was finding what he was finding he should have at least called ora for clarification on fit and materials before publishing.

I like how you are denigrating a reviewer who is one of the most forgiving next to Zeos, and you haven't even heard the headphone yet..

 

[AlwaysForward]

I can't wait to get mine and give my own review. Honestly it is really annoying that the first review is from a guy who doesn't even know how to fit a headphone. If he was finding what he was finding he should have at least called ora for clarification on fit and materials before publishing.

He knows his headphones. He’s experienced and well calibrated. He’s also honest.

For -any- headphone, they’re designed to perform across a range of fits, once a seal is achieved. Ora even notes this in their measurements.

 

[AlwaysForward]

I like how you are denigrating a reviewer who is one of the most forgiving next to Zeos, and you haven't even heard the headphone yet..

have to strongly disagree about this comparison but I kinda do see how their general criteria is similar in that they rarely refer to scientific principles or frequency response graphs during their assessments

 

[MRM22]

I like how you are denigrating a reviewer who is one of the most forgiving next to Zeos, and you haven't even heard the headphone yet..

I don't know this reviewer as I've only seen one other of his reviews. I know though that he got most of his information wrong about materials and published before double checking his information.. He also somehow got the fit wrong. He may be forgiving but I'm sorry that's not how you do a review. Maybe he's right. Maybe they are terrible but his review is flawed. The fact that he published it without even checking on his facts makes me think he's not a great reviewer. Maybe he had a off day though.

 

[MRM22]

He knows his headphones. He’s experienced and well calibrated. He’s also honest.

For -any- headphone, they’re designed to perform across a range of fits, once a seal is achieved. Ora even notes this in their measurements.

Key is once seal is achieved. He even states that he wasn't sure if it was sealed in the position he had it.

 

[SureSh0t]

I don't know this reviewer as I've only seen one other of his reviews. I know though that he got most of his information wrong about materials and published before double checking his information.. He also somehow got the fit wrong. He may be forgiving but I'm sorry that's not how you do a review. Maybe he's right. Maybe they are terrible but his review is flawed. The fact that he published it without even checking on his facts makes me think he's not a great reviewer. Maybe he had a off day though.

Other than wishful thinking about the headphones I see no reason why we can't be reasonably confident he tried wearing them any way they would fit his head. The range of adjustment (or lack thereof) in the headband is concerning.

I also don't see how minor fit issues would account for all the problems described. His description of what happens with the imaging, the center mix disappearing and the sides being exaggerated, is concerning and sounds very much like reversed polarity. It makes me wonder how different they sound through 3.5 vs usb or bluetooth.

 

[AlwaysForward]

... He even states that he wasn't sure if it was sealed in the position he had it.

Indeed. In context, it’s when he’s describing fit. Understandably. But he did only call out the highest and lowest settings/lengths. The highest touches his lobe and the lowest accentuated pressure towards the bottom making him question the seal. Correct?

it does pose the question of in between & living with it. I guess the backers will have time to debate soon enough.

 

[AlwaysForward]

Other than wishful thinking about the headphones I see no reason why we can't be reasonably confident he tried wearing them any way they would fit his head. The range of adjustment (or lack thereof) in the headband is concerning.

I also don't see how minor fit issues would account for all the problems described. His description of what happens with the imaging, the center mix disappearing and the sides being exaggerated, is concerning and sounds very much like reversed polarity. It makes me wonder how different they sound through 3.5 vs usb or bluetooth.

Yes, Joshua Valour should be pretty confident with headphones and we can reasonably assume that he tested them in a “middle” fitting.

Your comment about phase is interesting. I have to think that’s something they test for in QC. If it’s flawed, what would the fix be?

that would come more from the signal side than driver mount side, no?

I guess if the headphones are passive and active, one could test the analog line input VS the digital side...