[Seazer]

Using a S10 5G with BT 5.0 and tried Aptx, AAC, LDAC and it just doesnt work. Not a problem as I mostly use wired.

The ORA doesn't support LDAC and the S20 doesn't have Aptx-HD so sadly the best Bluetooth you can get with it is Aptx, which is a pretty large step down from Aptx-HD and LDAC. I agree Aptx is not great with it, I mainly use them wired. If I can get my hands o na device with Aptx-HD I'd be curious as to how these handle it

 

[mel5582]

I have them hooked up to a Marantz DAC or ES100 for LDAC connectivity. 40+ hours in, still grabbing these for some listening at night.

 

[gikigill]

The ORA doesn't support LDAC and the S20 doesn't have Aptx-HD so sadly the best Bluetooth you can get with it is Aptx, which is a pretty large step down from Aptx-HD and LDAC. I agree Aptx is not great with it, I mainly use them wired. If I can get my hands o na device with Aptx-HD I'd be curious as to how these handle it

Tried these with a ifi iMicro Black Label and the results are pretty good. Bass is surprisingly clean and reminds me of a baby TH900 in bass quality although quantity is just a bit more than neutral. Next they will be going up against a Focal Elegia and Shure 1540.

 

[wric01]

Changed the earpads(brainwave hybrid) and bass is reduced(tough but careful stretch). More neutral now. They can take a ton of power without distorting. Been using it as a tweeter (they fold out siting on a bottle container)on desktop along with speakers(as part of break in process with classical music). Amazing imaging and spatial feel to mid&high frequencies.

 

[Slater]

Changed the earpads(brainwave hybrid) and bass is reduced(tough but careful stretch). More neutral now. They can take a ton of power without distorting. Been using it as a tweeter (they fold out siting on a bottle container)on desktop along with speakers(as part of break in process with classical music). Amazing imaging and spatial feel to mid&high frequencies.

Nice to see another Ora pad roller

For me the Hybrid pads were a close tossup with fabric pads, but in the end the fabric pads won out. Since I don’t listen to classical, I prefer my low end a bit north of neutral.

I agree, the HM5 pads are a tight fit to stretch over the teardrop shaped Ora cups. But that is what allows for an airtight seal. If the pads were loose fitting, they would not be a valid replacement for the stock pads.

I found that it’s easiest to start the pad on the bottom (pointy part) of the Ora cup, and then work the pad over the rounded portion (finishing at the very top of the cup at the headband).

 

[wric01]

The ORA doesn't support LDAC and the S20 doesn't have Aptx-HD so sadly the best Bluetooth you can get with it is Aptx, which is a pretty large step down from Aptx-HD and LDAC. I agree Aptx is not great with it, I mainly use them wired. If I can get my hands o na device with Aptx-HD I'd be curious as to how these handle it

Aptx-HD is spectacular on ora, I can't tell the difference with my 24bit 96hz flac.
Only dsd on wire is better. Get a lg v30 phone with dac 200$ nowadays with dts x and more fun options:android root and software mods:ainur sauron iii, viper4 audio etc.. Must buy:usb audio pro player 8$ bit perfect playback app.

 

[MRM22]

Nice to see another Ora pad roller

For me the Hybrid pads were a close tossup with fabric pads, but in the end the fabric pads won out. Since I don’t listen to classical, I prefer my low end a bit north of neutral.

I agree, the HM5 pads are a tight fit to stretch over the teardrop shaped Ora cups. But that is what allows for an airtight seal. If the pads were loose fitting, they would not be a valid replacement for the stock pads.

I found that it’s easiest to start the pad on the bottom (pointy part) of the Ora cup, and then work the pad over the rounded portion (finishing at the very top of the cup at the headband).

I just got mine and are very happy. I did order the hybrid and fabric pads you recommended to try as well but too bad shipping from China is even longer now and I'm waiting still. It will give me lots of time to get used to the stock sound.

 

[DixieLandBlues]

Quick question for anyone whose headphones were shipped though Stone3PL - did your tracking info ever update to say anything other than "in transit"? That's all the info I have received from my tracking number for two weeks now, so am just curious.

 

[SureSh0t]

Just got here.

Packaging, accessories, physical design are quite disappointing and a joke for the retail price.

Headband padding is thin and the shape is such that only a small portion sits on a large to medium sized head only takes about half an hour for them to hurt. My head is maybe just north of average and the cups just barely fit right at full extension. Cups which only swivel one way (backwards). Not a lot of room for average sized ears either. Things are cramped here.

For those of you saying you like the bass, congratulations! You were a crypto Beats fan all along. The bass shelf is massive and listening to Kendrick the cups physically rumble. Bass quantity and extension is all here. But is it detailed? Without EQ it's hard for me to say with this ridiculous tuning. I suspect transients/dynamics will sound more crisp when it's toned down but given how it rendered "DNA" compared to the Focal-like Next and the precise Sony EX-1000, it won't expose hip hop production bass tricks like those other two. It's not bad or sloppy, the driver isn't clipping or distorting at high loudness but I don't sense anything extra special yet.

The shelf ruins continuity with the mids and there's a slight nasally shout in 2-3k region which I'm always very sensitive to. If the slope of the mids were reversed it would probably sound a lot better. Nothing terrible just another thing to pin on mediocre tuning.

It sounds like half of the treble region is sucked out and spikes before 10k. There is definitely some breath missing from vocals. It seems like in their effort for a V or W signature they failed to keep the broad Harman treble rise intact.

These guys probably know how to make a good headphone driver. But they don't know how to make headphones very well. For the price tag and all the promises this is mildly disappointing.

We'll see how much EQ can do for it.

 

[jsmiller58]

Just tried mine for the first time. Will take some time and listening and comparing to other cans to decide how I feel about the sound. But the headband... WHAT IN THE WORLD WERE THEY THINKING? I can get past the padding. But the extension, or should I say lack thereof... Just screams they never tried on the prototype before they went to production... And the plastic, oh so much plastic for the price we paid...

 

[SDBiotek]

Just tried mine for the first time. Will take some time and listening and comparing to other cans to decide how I feel about the sound. But the headband... WHAT IN THE WORLD WERE THEY THINKING? I can get past the padding. But the extension, or should I say lack thereof... Just screams they never tried on the prototype before they went to production... And the plastic, oh so much plastic for the price we paid...

It's been mentioned a few times in this thread,but is buried: try wearing it with the headband tilted towards the back of your head. Generally you do not need to extend the yokes as much that way, and you may find a better deal around your ears.

 

[Slater]

And the plastic, oh so much plastic for the price we paid...

Only the cups and baffle are plastic. Everything else is metal.

And since the baffles on most headphones are also plastic, really the only ‘extra’ plastic on the Ora compared to some other headphones are the wood-style cups.

While it would have been nice to have metal or real wood cups, I don’t really think that would have mattered much.

What would have been much more important to me?

• Cups with legit tilt/pivot articulated yokes.
• Genuine sheepskin leather on headband and pads.
• Open vs closed cup design.
• And of course more headband extension adjustment.

 

[jsmiller58]

It's been mentioned a few times in this thread,but is buried: try wearing it with the headband tilted towards the back of your head. Generally you do not need to extend the yokes as much that way, and you may find a better deal around your ears.

Yup, wearing it that way - the ear shape wouldn’t work with the headband tilted forward. Even tilted backwards I have no margin and the cups touch the bottom of my ears. I don’t think that there is much argument that the extension is insufficient - if it were sufficient there wouldn‘t be this many complaints about it

 

[jsmiller58]

Only the cups and baffle are plastic. Everything else is metal.

And since the baffles on most headphones are also plastic, really the only ‘extra’ plastic on the Ora compared to some other headphones are the wood-style cups.

While it would have been nice to have metal or real wood cups, I don’t really think that would have mattered much.

What would have been much more important to me?

• Cups with legit tilt/pivot articulated yokes.
• Genuine sheepskin leather on headband and pads.
• Open vs closed cup design.
• And of course more headband extension adjustment.

Agree with your points about what are more important to you - those would be good.

I will still hold to my comments about plastic... you may well be right about the prevalence of plastic in other headphones, but I would say that the IMPRESSION I have is that there is more plastic on this than my Elex, Sundara, Phantom, CX, AFC, and Eikon headphones.

 

[Midgetguy]

Agree with your points about what are more important to you - those would be good.

I will still hold to my comments about plastic... you may well be right about the prevalence of plastic in other headphones, but I would say that the IMPRESSION I have is that there is more plastic on this than my Elex, Sundara, Phantom, CX, AFC, and Eikon headphones.

It's definitely the finish. The cups are obviously going to be like that because what they used is a resin material, so obviously it'll look like plastic. The yokes are metal, but they use this glossy dull finish which just looks like plastic. It doesn't have the anodized or brushed sort of finish that I like to see with metal. It's solid enough and the structure doesn't feel plastic, but I can agree with you that it looks plastic.