[HungryPanda]

I'm a bit disheartened, no email or tracking yet

 

[Slater]

I'm a bit disheartened, no email or tracking yet

Are you watching the post? Perhaps it’s already on its way?

 

[Midgetguy]

Interesting, very good to know. Hopefully, it didn’t permanently damage anything.

I hope not. Usually electronics look for particular signals they they're looking for and if it doesn't match, then it just doesn't try at all so hopefully what happened was it saw a hi-amperage charging signal and just stopped doing anything because it was higher than spec.

Are you watching the post? Perhaps it’s already on its way?

Postman probably took it . Especially since they deliver so much stuff to the Panda anyway, they probably thought swiping one of them wouldn't hurt haha.

 

[gikigill]

Backer 1009 here. No joy yet.

 

[Roll]

Just saw this review:

ORA Sound GQ Review: Graphene induced Soundstage

https://www.ibtimes.com/ora-sound-gq-review-graphene-induced-soundstage-2948485

 

[Slater]

Hey Slater, how do you like them aftermarket pads?

I like them a lot. Much better than the stock pads.

Obviously, someone else’s results may vary from mine. But I’ll try and break it down as I see it.

1. The Brainwavz HM5 sheepskin pads are luxurious feeling, as anyone who has sheepskin pads knows. They provide a tight seal, and the bassiest sound. The soundstage is fairly closed in, which isn’t that big of a deal and expected because these are closed headphones.

2. The HM5 non-angled pleather are similar to the stock pads, and the biggest advantage is more comfort due to the oval shape vs pear shape of the stock pads. The Brainwavz foam is also much more comfortable than the stock pads due to the Brainwavz pads using premium memory foam.

3. I don’t have easy access to my Brainwavz angled pleather pads right now, because my state is on lockdown so I can’t get to them at the moment. Sorry

4. The Brainwavz hybrid velour/pleather fenestrated pads sound excellent IMO. One of my top 2 choices. Same deal as the other pads with regards to comfort, and the big advantage is your ears don’t get hot like they do with pleather. The sound has just the right amount of balance IMO, but bear in mind that I prefer Harman tuning. As expected for a partially velour pad, the low end is more than an all velour pad but less than a sheepskin or velour pad. I think it’s just right. Also, the overall sound with the hybrid pad seems to be very clean and the soundstage is great.

5. The “Senitek fabric” pad is close to the hybrid pad, and my other top 2 choice. This one is a 3rd party (non Brainwavz) pad. It used to be known as the “Senitek Fabric” on Amazon, but I don’t believe they’re available anymore. You can get them directly from Aliexpress here:



They’re great quality, unique material that looks like tweed fabric but feels like a micro fiber suede or synthetic alcantara. Good soundstage and similar sound to the hybrid pad. A very unique pad, and I have a stash of a bunch of them in case they become no longer available. They’ve saved a lot of headphones, and I think they should be in everyone’s pad rolling kit



6. The all-velour pad has the flattest sound of the bunch (as expected), but really isn’t my cup of tea. That’s my personal tastes though, as I don’t like all velour pads on most headphones. It seems to accentuate the midrange a little too much for my liking, making it sound too forward IMO. But I think the reason is because the low end is reduced, so it accentuates the other frequencies especially the peaks that are already present. I’m sure others will like the velour pad though, especially those that feel the Ora is way too bassy and ‘consumer’ sounding.

Final thoughts:
Actually, other than the sheepskin pads, all of the Defean pads are very good quality and equivalent to Brainwavz pads (only at a much better price). I wouldn’t be surprised if they manufactured them for Brainwavz. Good stitching, and they use actual memory foam as well. So if you are looking to pad roll and don’t already have a collection of Brainwavz HM5 pads, order up one of each of the Defean pads.



The bottom line is that pad rolling the Ora is very much worth it, as it allows the sound to be tweaked from stock. I will add that the Ora only has channel indicators on the stock pads. It would have been nice for them to put indicators on the inside of the sliders. I mention it because once you swap to some 3rd party pads it’s easy to get confused about what channel is what. You can always remember that the physical control button is on the L cup and the touch control is on the R cup. Or you can add you own channel indicator, such as a small mark on the slider.

I hope that helps!

PS - you’ll have to carefully stretch the HM5 pads over the stock cups. It’s easiest to start at the pointy bottom of the cup. Put the pad around the point, and then gently work the pad all the way around the cup.

Also note that the back of the pad does cover the 3.5mm and usb C port, so you will have to figure out something for access to those ports. You can just ‘move’ the material out of the way when you need to plug in a cable, or you can trim a little bit of the material away with scissors. It’s just the back portion of the pad so it doesn’t hurt anything. But I thought I would mention it so there’s no surprises.

 

[Seazer]

Just saw this review:

ORA Sound GQ Review: Graphene induced Soundstage

https://www.ibtimes.com/ora-sound-gq-review-graphene-induced-soundstage-2948485

"However after listening to the headphone for a longer period of time, I noticed that more than a balanced sound, it sounded like each frequency was spaced out, but at the same time was firing at the same time: like a multi-balanced armature driver IEM. The sound signature sounded like a symphony of various instruments playing in synchronization, and you're able to distinguish where each of the sounds was coming from. I was pretty taken aback at the fact that this effect could be achieved with a single dynamic driver - when many other headphones are trying to achieve the same feat with multiple speaker set ups."

While I'm not sure I agree with this reviewers preference of adding a bass boost eq (to each their own though), this description right here is spot on. I get some multi-BA iem vibes with its separation and sense of space. This is why I keep saying these are amazing for gaming, you can really pick out exactly where sounds are coming from and their distance in the space.

 

[Seazer]

I like them a lot. Much better than the stock pads.

Obviously, someone else’s results may vary from mine. But I’ll try and break it down as I see it.

1. The Brainwavz HM5 sheepskin pads are luxurious feeling, as anyone who has sheepskin pads knows. They provide a tight seal, and the bassiest sound. The soundstage is fairly closed in, which isn’t that big of a deal and expected because these are closed headphones.

2. The HM5 non-angled pleather are similar to the stock pads, and the biggest advantage is more comfort due to the oval shape vs pear shape of the stock pads. The Brainwavz foam is also much more comfortable than the stock pads due to the Brainwavz pads using premium memory foam.

3. I don’t have easy access to my Brainwavz angled pleather pads right now, because my state is on lockdown so I can’t get to them at the moment. Sorry

4. The Brainwavz hybrid velour/pleather fenestrated pads sound excellent IMO. One of my top 2 choices. Same deal as the other pads with regards to comfort, and the big advantage is your ears don’t get hot like they do with pleather. The sound has just the right amount of balance IMO, but bear in mind that I prefer Harman tuning. As expected for a partially velour pad, the low end is more than an all velour pad but less than a sheepskin or velour pad. I think it’s just right. Also, the overall sound with the hybrid pad seems to be very clean and the soundstage is great.

5. The “Senitek fabric” pad is close to the hybrid pad, and my other top 2 choice. This one is a 3rd party (non Brainwavz) pad. It used to be known as the “Senitek Fabric” on Amazon, but I don’t believe they’re available anymore. You can get them directly from Aliexpress here:



They’re great quality, unique material that looks like tweed fabric but feels like a micro fiber suede or synthetic alcantara. Good soundstage and similar sound to the hybrid pad. A very unique pad, and I have a stash of a bunch of them in case they become no longer available. They’ve saved a lot of headphones, and I think they should be in everyone’s pad rolling kit



6. The all-velour pad has the flattest sound of the bunch (as expected), but really isn’t my cup of tea. That’s my personal tastes though, as I don’t like all velour pads on most headphones. It seems to accentuate the midrange a little too much for my liking, making it sound too forward IMO. But I think the reason is because the low end is reduced, so it accentuates the other frequencies especially the peaks that are already present. I’m sure others will like the velour pad though, especially those that feel the Ora is way too bassy and ‘consumer’ sounding.

Final thoughts:
Actually, other than the sheepskin pads, all of the Defean pads are very good quality and equivalent to Brainwavz pads (only at a much better price). I wouldn’t be surprised if they manufactured them for Brainwavz. Good stitching, and they use actual memory foam as well. So if you are looking to pad roll and don’t already have a collection of Brainwavz HM5 pads, order up one of each of the Defean pads.



The bottom line is that pad rolling the Ora is very much worth it, as it allows the sound to be tweaked from stock. I will add that the Ora only has channel indicators on the stock pads. It would have been nice for them to put indicators on the inside of the sliders. I mention it because once you swap to some 3rd party pads it’s easy to get confused about what channel is what. You can always remember that the physical control button is on the L cup and the touch control is on the R cup. Or you can add you own channel indicator, such as a small mark on the slider.

I hope that helps!

PS - you’ll have to carefully stretch the HM5 pads over the stock cups. It’s easiest to start at the pointy bottom of the cup. Put the pad around the point, and then gently work the pad all the way around the cup.

Also note that the back of the pad does cover the 3.5mm and usb C port, so you will have to figure out something for access to those ports. You can just ‘move’ the material out of the way when you need to plug in a cable, or you can trim a little bit of the material away with scissors. It’s just the back portion of the pad so it doesn’t hurt anything. But I thought I would mention it so there’s no surprises.

How hard is it to remove the stock pads? I'm afraid of damaging them since there currently aren't any stock replacements. If it's easy to replace at least I can rest easy knowing brainwavz hm5 pleather pads sounds close to the stock. I only use these wired though so it concerns me that you say the pads cover the port. Does it break the seal if you shove it out of the way to plug in a 3.5mm cable?

 

[Slater]

How hard is it to remove the stock pads? I'm afraid of damaging them since there currently aren't any stock replacements. If it's easy to replace at least I can rest easy knowing brainwavz hm5 pleather pads sounds close to the stock. I only use these wired though so it concerns me that you say the pads cover the port. Does it break the seal if you shove it out of the way to plug in a 3.5mm cable?

They are a twist lock design. You simply turn them a few mms and they pop off. To put the stock pads on, line the notches up and twist them a few mms to lock them back on.

It’s so easy, a small child could do it.

No, it does not break the seal when you move the pad material out of the way to plug in a 3.5mm. I can say that would get old and irritating real quick though.

At a minimum, you could use a hole punch and punch a hole exactly where the 3.5mm port goes. It wouldn’t affect the ability to use the HM5 pad on another headphone; because it’s on the back of the earpad no one would ever know.

If you’ve ever seen HM5 pad mods on the Philips SHP9500, the problem is the same. You often run into this on any headphone where you have to attach a replacement 3rd party earpad around the whole earcup. It’s a common issue with a simple solution.

 

[Slater]

Ok, I wanted to provide an update to the pads.

I settled on the h̶y̶b̶r̶i̶d̶ ̶v̶e̶l̶o̶u̶r̶/̶p̶l̶e̶a̶t̶h̶e̶r̶ Senitek fabric pads, so I went ahead and notched them to allow full access to the ports.

Here you can see where I snipped a small rectangular section from the very back of each earpad. To determine how much I needed to cut, I installed the earpads on the Oras and then traced an outline using a pencil. Then I simply removed the pads and cut the traced marks with scissors.



Reinstall the pads and done!

 

[DanT]

Here a photo of the original twist pad. Basically, there is a plastic plate and the pad is glued to the plate. I see that it would be fairly easy to produce aftermarket plate with the proper tools. I have a laser cutter at my job that can fairly easily cut a plate, well my employer closed down for COVID 19, so it's a no go anytime soon. But I'm sure other people/companies have the proper cutting tools to produce aftermarket plates.

 

[bbfoto]

ORA Sound GrapheneQ April 1, 2020 UPDATE (from the Kickstarter page):

Hello Backers,

What a crazy, scary time to be alive. Our thoughts and best wishes go out to all of you. We hope you and your loved ones are all safe and healthy. Ora owes you all a serious debt of gratitude and, of course, some headphones.

We have a couple bits of big news!

First, Ora very recently shipped out ~800 more headphones so if you have not received your GQs yet, check your spam folder for a tracking number! Since there have been reports that folks aren’t getting their tracking #s, we are also providing this list of the tracking #s for the units that just shipped, by anonymized email addresses. Remember though: these just shipped, please allow the system a day to recognize the tracking.

The second bit of news is that the Dudamel Foundation has provided the HD digital download! The file is available to all our backers here: Johan Strauss’ Tritsch Tratsch Triqui Truiqui, performed by Gustavo Dudamel, Paul Desenne and the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela. It is a little less content than we were anticipating but it is a very cool track and it sounds particularly great over the GQ headphones. A big thanks to the Dudamel Foundation for donating this!

So, as of now, Ora still has a few hundred more headphones to deliver. If you are one of the unfortunate folks that is still waiting, we are sincerely sorry. On the advice of our shipping logistics partner we are holding off on shipping to a couple regions due to the volatile situations in those locations. We are also battling with our supply chains to ensure there are enough parts to finish out the manufacturing run. Ora is close but it’s looking like this may drag out a bit longer.

The conditions in Montreal have been escalating with our city proving to be the biggest COVID hotspot in Canada. The Quebec government has imposed a mandatory shutdown of all non-essential businesses. This has made day-to-day operations difficult. Those of you that have young children will know that “working from home” is not always as simple as it sounds. We are doing our best to keep on top of your questions and emails, however, please understand that our response time may be longer than normal. If you need to contact us for any reason, please email Ora at support@ora-sound.com.

On a more positive note, we have gotten a couple more excellent reviews of the GQ headphones. If you’ve got some spare time on your hands, check out these articles and remember to wash your hands!

https://www.ibtimes.com/ora-sound-gq-review-graphene-induced-soundstage-2948485

https://www.zmescience.com/science/...EUD67oHwCxYuz-t6tyij9Y5iEILypHSkLPiWQn96LVhjI

All the best!
The Ora Team.

 

[HungryPanda]

bollocks I'm not on the list.........

 

[Slater]

bollocks I'm not on the list.........

 

[gikigill]

My name is on the tracking sheet and tracking seems to be active as of yesterday. Looking forward to these.