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25% off Nuraphone BT Noise Cancelling Headphones $375 Delivered @ Nurasound Amazon AU

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25% off Nuraphone BT Noise Cancelling Headphones $375 Delivered @ Nurasound Amazon AUAffiliate
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NoApostrophePlurals on 25/03/2019 - 07:07 amazon.com.au (566 clicks)
Last edited 25/03/2019 - 13:06 by 2 other users
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25% of the RRP of $499 AUD, down to $375 AUD until 11:59pm 25/03/2019, so up until the end of tonight.

They're on sale quite regularly at 20% or less. Not often they're 25% off, maybe twice or so a year?

I own a pair of these and they are amazing with the custom sound profile, noise cancelling and unique immersion mode that gives you rumbling bass.

Plenty of reviews online and they'll change the way you expect to hear music once you own these.

Copypasta:

Description
DISCOVER YOUR PERFECT SOUND WITH THE AWARD WINNING NURAPHONE. The proud recipient of the Best of Innovation at the CES Innovation Awards for 2018 in the headphone category for most impressive technology. HOW IT WORKS The nuraphone plays a range of tones into the ear, and then measures a very faint sound that your ear generates in response to these tones called the Otoacoustic Emission (OAE). This tiny signal originates in the cochlea and vibrates the ear drum, turning it into a speaker and playing sound back out of your ear. This sound is about 10,000 times smaller than the sound that went in. Encoded in the returning sound wave is information about how well you heard the sound that went in. The nuraphone uses an extremely sensitive microphone to detect this returning sound wave, and a self learning engine built into the nuraphone to create your profile. This all happens automatically and in about 60 seconds. Once the nuraphone has created your hearing profile it sonically molds your music so that it matches your hearing system and delivers all the detail of the music you love. Once personalized you can listen to your favorite music in stunning detail on any device. WHAT DOES MY HEARING PROFILE MEAN? The nura app creates a unique hearing profile that represents how you hear. Your hearing profile has a color which helps you to quickly recognize it belongs to you. The shape of the profile contains all the information about your relative hearing sensitivity to different tones.

Features & details
Personalised sound: The world's only headphone to automatically learn and adapt to how you hear music.
Adjustable bass: Choose your level of Immersion, from low to the front row.
Active Noise Cancellation + Social Mode: Enjoy uniquely quiet listening, or hear conversations and your surroundings with the touch of a button.
In-and-over-ear design: Combines in-ear buds dedicated to melodies with over-ear drivers dedicated to bass you can feel.
Additional features: aptX-HD wireless Bluetooth plus wired options, 4 external microphones for clearest voice calls, 20+ hours wireless battery life, free nuraphone companion app.

Price History at C CamelCamelCamel.
Electrical & Electronics Headphones Nura

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closed Comments

  • profeeder55 on 25/03/2019 - 08:14

    Don't forget the cash back !

  • Danstar on 25/03/2019 - 08:22
    +7

    Almost look like a punishment device :|

    • [Deactivated] on 25/03/2019 - 13:09

      Lol

  • Blottski on 25/03/2019 - 08:39
    +2

    Yep.. they don’t look comfortable at all..

    • C Q on 25/03/2019 - 08:44
      +1

      May surprise you, i hate in-ear headphones but with these sitting right i don't even notice the in-ear part and it produces the nicest sound i have ever had in a pair of headphones. They're definitely not for jogging tho as its more of a looser fit but are perfect for around the house or a noisy environment, can comfortably wear them for hours at a time

  • toliman on 25/03/2019 - 08:46
    +21

    They're great headphones. I got mine for a similar price in the kickstarter, and it's a Melbourne-Based Company.

    If you want something casual, easy and fantastic as a gift, this is what to get someone who's hard to shop for IMO.

    There's also another 25% sale in November/December typically. https://camelcamelcamel.com/nuraphone-Bluetooth-Headphones-P… but typically it's $499 / $399 with referral code.

    But, even with a referral code, it's still a bit overpriced for what it is IMO. They're primarily portable BT headphones with self-calibrating, personalised EQ, which is a feature you won't find anywhere, and it makes an "average" headset, outstanding.

    If you compare this to a "great" headset, it is going to be an apples/oranges comparison. if you have the choice, most people will probably choose the XM3 or QC35 because it's easier to get into, but the nuraphones are better. Regular headphones will have better accoustics, more comfort, less tech etc. so it's not relative. You could get $200 to $250 headphones that sound better, but they won't have the same features.

    The inserts that go into your ear canal are NOT comfortable for long periods, but they make it harder to compare. You would use these if you want to block out the world for an hour or three, the G2 update has ANC passthrough, so you can tap the side button, listen to people/train/sirens/announcements, then tap again, and you're isolated from outside noise again. Great for listening to train announcements, etc.

    if you're using these outdoors for exercise, the band will slip around, so not ideal for jogging. It's doable, but they're also heavy. (They do have a nuraloop in development, which will use the EQ profile from the headset, on a over-ear earphone for exercising/travel, no idea when)

    There's no ON/Off switch, the inserts detect when it's on your head, and turn off when you lift them off your head. The headband adjusts well, and it works well.

    Bluetooth Audio codec support is limited, but it supports AAC, AptX-HD, and falls back to SBC, and your phone/tablet will need to support a better codec, to get better BT sound.

    The proprietary Samsung (Scalable Codec), Qualcomm (AptX, AptX-HD, AptX-LL), Sony (LDAC) and Apple/Mpeg (AAC) are still a minefield. It would be great if nuraphones supported LDAC, but it's an older BT4.0 qualcomm chipset, so it can't update to AptX-LL or LDAC.

    in terms of audio quality, it's LDAC > AptX-HD / Samsung Scalable > AptX > AAC > SBC , but there's also the issue that BT is shared. If your phone doesn't have hardware for LDAC or AptX-LL, it's not going to be supported, and if the bandwidth is shared between multiple paired BT devices, it's going to halve the audio quality. YMMV.

    Few phones/tablets have LDAC, or AptX-HD, so YMMV. there's $40 analogue adapters/amps that do, because they have Bletooth 5.0 support.

    That said, there's a lot of caveats, and you won't get better for $300 let alone $200 on bluetooth headphones unless it's significantly discounted. Both the XM3 and nuraphones are 'best in class', along with the Bose QC35 II's, for what they do.

    Compared to $300 headphones, there's better audio, better comfort, better bass, better sound options, the Fidelio X2 (if you can find them) are my daily use headphones, and they can be worn for 5-12 hours. massdrop occasionally has the

    Sennheiser HD6xx https://www.massdrop.com/buy/massdrop-sennheiser-hd6xx
    Sennheiser HD 58x Jubilee, https://www.massdrop.com/buy/massdrop-x-sennheiser-hd-58x-ju… and the
    Hifiman he4xx Planar Magnetic https://www.massdrop.com/buy/massdrop-x-hifiman-he4xx-planar…

    for the massdrop price, you get better headphones if you just want headphones for games, music, etc.

    Zeos's Youtube Review is quite accurate, if a bit NSFW at times, but it hits the highlights of the "nuraphones experience" , i.e. they have to be tuned/calibrated for your personal hearing every year or so (just because your hearing changes), which takes 3 minutes of playing a tone sequence, and then it's tuned to your profile. The app/headset can store 3 profiles on the headphones, so family can test them out, and experience "Your" hearing calibration setting.

    and it really works fantastically as a smart bluetooth headset for TV, music, video games, and late night listening if your TV supports BT output, or just a tablet/phone.

    As a casual set of headphones, not so much. Travelling, they're fantastic, but, if you're travelling though, You might want the Sony XM3 or XM2's which have better ANC, Active Noise Cancelling. They're also a similar price, and the XM3's are a bit neater to operate.

    https://youtu.be/8XedcW5VP2k - zeos review, occasionally nsfw.

    https://youtu.be/8XedcW5VP2k - red beard nura vs XM3, slightly nsfw.

    • Demarque on 25/03/2019 - 10:10
      +2

      @toliman Thanks for the excellent comment and links to reviews! I had a listen to these at Melbourne Central after getting my Sennheiser PXC 550's replaced at JB. Now I'm thinking I should sell the PXC's and get the Nuraphones as well. I'm super skeptical of the difference between the default EQ setting and the tailored EQ setting from the demo, but I can't deny that the Nuraphones sound amazing.

      Have you tried them much for gaming? And I assume you can still control the EQ/Bass setting of the headphones via the app, even if you're running them via 3.5mm aux cable?

      Cheers

      • toliman on 25/03/2019 - 21:47

        late reply, but here's the skinny.

        (also, wrong link for Zeos Review https://youtu.be/3uxgml0qYr8)

        On games, they're aggressively 'present', as in there's no ambient fall-off with distance or stage presence you get with open headphones. It sounds closer, generally, to the point that you're standing in front of the speakers in a concert, when listening at high volumes. in "Passthrough Mode", you get a bit more ambience, but now you hear the outside world. Left/Right separation is crazy, but if you close your eyes to just listen to effects or for footsteps, it will be hard to point to where an enemy is, or how far away they are. But you'll know as soon as they spawn, through walls, etc, and the background music will kick in to drive your mood, more than the effects.

        This can be a bit overbearing at times, especially if you're comparing against another pair of headphones, or speakers, etc.

        You can fake/mod this with HRTF or Atmos processing, which downmixes 7.1 to 2ch stereo, and you can get this for "free" on PC, by using a $40 BT5.0 transmitter with Apt-X HD, and HeSuVi software, which adds HRTF to headphones, and lets you choose between different EQ, HRTF and room/reverb profiles that usually charge $50 to $5,000 (looking at you, sennheiser) etc.

        If you don't care too much about ambient or distance accuracy, or the game has Dolby Atmos or other HRTF for headphones, it works really well at separation of frequencies, and the bass isn't too distracting. you can't really get "Footstep" accurate modes, but it will be "fun" sound.

        As for the EQ, when the headphones are directly wired, you lose a lot of functionality. making changes requires bluetooth, and also unplugging the headphones, adjusting the "Immersion" which is the bass boost, and setting button/double-tap functions, as well as getting the battery levels.

        Handily the wired connection is magnetic, but the cables are $20 each, so don't lose them. The Apple/lightning connection has an in-line mic for siri which adds to the price, and, i can't remember if the USB-C cable charges, but the regular USB-A cable charges.

        Plugging the headphones in via USB-A, USB-C or USB-micro, or Lightning, switches them into a generic audio device, but doesn't charge the battery. (With the G2 update, it will make a signal tone when they're charging up.)

        You lose a few features when it's in Direct-cabled-Mode, such as the microphone, and track skip/pause, but also disconnects bluetooth and the app. From what I remember, once direct-cabled, most of the functionality dies. Active/Social noise cancelling/passthrough mode, I think works, and you can change profiles, but I could be wrong.

        As noted, there's no Un-DAC'd state, because everything runs through the profile, and switching off the profile, generic mode, is "Beats" quality, i.e. hot garbage.

        The headphones don't work when plugged in without being set up, because the firmware won't let it work unpaired and unprofiled. There's a certain amount of DRM in the app, but you don't need to have it open to switch profiles, you do need it to open to create profiles or change settings, but you can leave it alone for months without changing settings.

        Once they're on your head, there's an 8 second boot up, and it will have 3 verbal alerts "Welcome back, NAME", if it's disconnected, it will say "connect to nuraphone 123" or "bluetooth connected", and "Battery is at 60%" with a 1-2 second delay between each sequence. If you're playing music, it will pause/unpause quickly.

        Treble/Bass is hard to tune specifically, but I usually don't change the "Immersion" level for bass that often.

        It's not a regular 10-band parametric EQ, it's an otoacoustic recording of the ear's ability to absorb sound waves of a specific frequency range. It works in a similar way to Room EQ which is found on expensive Atmos / Dolby HD Speaker Amps (Yamaha YPAO / Pioneer MCACC / Audyssey/DIRAC/ARC) where you stick a microphone in the place where you sit in the room, plug the cable into the Room EQ connection, and 10 minutes of noise, it calculates the room reverb & angles.

        They do get more comfortable once the silicon starts to wear, but the angle and weight are initially oppressive.

        Yes, you can sleep with these on, but at first, the silicon won't move enough to be comfortable for more than 90 minutes to 2 hours. They do loosen up after 3-6 months of use, and you can fall asleep with them on, depending on how masochistic or tired you are. The angle that the earbuds need to maintain in your ear, can be painful at first, or rather, overbearing and confronting. you won't forget they're on your head easily. The outer cones do relax as well, and heat/sweat does build up over time, so it can be helpful to let them 'breathe' or take a 20-30 minute break from listening at first, if they become sweaty or uncomfortable.

        • Demarque on 05/04/2019 - 10:27

          Didn't initially notice your reply but thank you for being so thorough!

          I ended up buying the headphones and have been quite impressed by them except for the loss of profiling between bluetooth and non-bluetooth connection, which is kinda silly. I contacted the Nura customer service and they were fantastic about answering my questions, but it sounds like the kind of functionality that I want won't be coming to this model, but maybe a future model down the line.

          Also, will I get the sound profile features of the headphones if I use a bluetooth audio dongle that has analog audio running to it? Or would it only work if the dongle is connected directly via USB to the computer and is only receiving a digital signal?

          Thanks! :)

    • Hardearnedcash on 25/03/2019 - 18:45
      +1

      I logged in just to say thanks.

      A very informative read. I also observed that $200-250 will get you better quality sounding headphones (if you know what you are looking for and you know what suits your ears in the long run).

      When I had a listen to Nura as part of my headphone search, I found the profile optimisation feature to be the key selling feature and what you are really paying for. With it on, the headphone sounds brilliant but with it off, I have found it to be rather average (audio quality around the $150 mark, e.g. some audio technica’s). So since this feature is built in, what’s the point in stating this?

      Well, if you have the patience to identify what your hearing profile is (e.g. samsung phones does this on audio sensitivity profiling) and the time to match it up with frequency graphes for those $200-$250 mark headphones, you might discover your soul mate is out there waiting to sweep you off your feet.

      Sure you can take the easy ride with Nura who will love most ears but the price of such love is steep. At $350 ish after cash back with Bluetooth, it’s a good deal for most people if comfort works out, but not the best deal if you can spare $100 off it and focus that cash on something else.

      • NoApostrophePlurals on 25/03/2019 - 23:08

        Bad comparison because these also have ANC. Gotta compare oranges to oranges.

        • Hardearnedcash on 26/03/2019 - 18:26

          True but if a headphone can have good isolation (in my case, an earphone). At the end of the day, it’s not what tech the gadget has, it is the result it brings you that matter.

    • whyisave on 25/03/2019 - 19:49

      great comments, feedback & suggestions.

      i've got a pair of Nuraphones too, and i find that i listen to them less,
      but when i did, they really made me re-appreciate all of my old music (lossless .WAV)

      otherwise, for those that are just going to stream and listen to lossy MP3s,
      then you can find cheaper headphones, but still, the Nuraphone will give you the
      best experience with your music, lossy or lossless.

      You won't forget the first time you will listen to music, through a pair of Nuraphones.

  • chickenchipsgravy on 25/03/2019 - 09:06
    +2

    you're paying a premium for well… 'straya designed and developed (manufactured in shenzhen).

  • lestarrr on 25/03/2019 - 09:12
    +2

    Got these during black friday when they were 25% off + Amazon cashback.

    I'd say worth it for around the $370 mark cos it is a quite unique experience, but recommend trying them out first if possible.

    Melbourne Central should still have the testing booth, I spent some time there to ensure they were comfy enough for my somewhat bigger ears.

    Although my Sennheiser 650s are my go to at home, it feels very convenient to sometimes use these as they automatically power up and connect when put on.

    However they are not foldable, thus not the best in terms of mobility unless U wanna deal with the large case it comes with.

    Overall nice pair to have in a headphone collection.

  • [Deactivated] on 25/03/2019 - 09:27

    That is a weird looking contraption.

  • narcoleptic-haze on 25/03/2019 - 09:38

    I really like these, but another thing to consider before purchasing is that these use a proprietary cable/plug, and only comes with a USB-A cable. If you want an analogue cable for some situations, you can buy one separately, but it's not included. They also make a USB-C cable (which I bought) and a lightning cable (with in-line remote). The USB cables allow you to connect to a computer/laptop and use them as a USB audio-device (in addition to charging them) which is nice.

    • whyisave on 25/03/2019 - 19:52

      that analogue cable still relies on your Nuraphone to have enough battery charge, to listen to music.

      so, the analogue cable will be good to plug into devices that don't have Bluetooth, but the Nuraphone is completely reliant on its own powered, rechargeable batteries.

  • punkterfuge on 25/03/2019 - 09:43

    You can't use your own DAC either. The analog input will be converted to digital. I don't think it's passed through.

    • Hardearnedcash on 25/03/2019 - 18:51

      Do you mean it is dac-less contraption?

      • punkterfuge on 25/03/2019 - 19:35

        You can only use the DAC built into the headphones, not an external DAC. As even analog input is converted into digital by the headphones.

  • paraneoplastic on 25/03/2019 - 09:48
    +7

    Bought them and sold them, they do not sound like $400 headphones, rather more akin to ~$100 ones. The EQ is very gimmicky, it tricks you by making the "neutral" signature sound like trash so when you enable your "personalised" signature it sounds amazing (which i partially think is from getting ur date of birth during sign up as younger people tend to like bass heavy, whilst older prefer more highs).

    Just my 2c, and be careful of the copious amounts of paid reviews out there.

    • jalwa on 25/03/2019 - 18:20
      +1

      Totally agree.

      • Hardearnedcash on 25/03/2019 - 18:57

        For the community people who aren’t into headphones yet, it is one way to start the headphone journey to better audio (gateway drug).

    • whyisave on 25/03/2019 - 19:53

      i don't like bass and i didn't give my date of birth during sign up.

      i also thought the same as you did, where the 'neutral' signature was made to sound flat, deliberately,
      so that you would be awe-struck by its fancy EQ profile.

      still, i played .WAV of music that i thought i knew, but it made me re-discover music again.

  • chingy213 on 25/03/2019 - 10:27
    +3

    Headphones with nipples. Sold.

  • Demarque on 25/03/2019 - 11:07

    Thanks OP, just pulled the trigger. Tried them at Melbourne Central and was very impressed. $375 is just about right for me :)

  • [Deactivated] on 25/03/2019 - 13:12
    +1

    I am selling mine. Was an impulse buy and found them a bit gimmicky. Noise cancellation is stupid because when you turn it off the speakers inside play the noise captured through the mics and that noise fades away (with some real noise cancellation) as soon as you turn the function on.

    • Big1 on 25/03/2019 - 13:23

      Are you sure you didn't turn the social mode on? I find the social mode very useful when trying to ear learn songs on the acoustic, it blends in the guitar sound it picks up with the track I'm trying to learn in a clearer way than all other methods I've tried (not using professional mixer, just in my bedroom)

  • jalwa on 25/03/2019 - 18:17
    +1

    Auditioned them in detail and found them gimmicky to the extent of almost being a scam. Personalisation and EQ added noise not superior sound. Audio quality is probably acceptable for below $100. Lack of clarity and detail was appalling. For reference, my current favourites at home are hifiman he-500 and sennheiser hd-650. A massdrop hd-6xx at usd200 would blow this out of the water.

  • neoraiden on 25/03/2019 - 20:54
    +1

    For the people who are saying these are terrible, either you probably didnt get the sound customisation right (maybe too much noise around etc) or you are comparing it to headphones that are completely different.

    These are Bluetooth, noise cancelling headphones, not open back critical listening headphones. You should be comparing these to the xm3 and qc35's as mentioned above.

    The headphones work well for me, are they the best sounding for the price? Depends what sound signature you like, they have better or similar sound quality than any other bluetooth headphone I have tried, but what did it for me was the immersion bass mode - for certain songs it's a bass heads dream, other songs if you set it too high it turns the songs into a hot mess. I still like having the choice.

    If you are judging this by the quality of your headphones which require an amp and a dac, then this isn't for you. If you are comparing to bluetooth headphones then try them and compare with the other bluetooth devices.

  • narcoleptic-haze on 26/03/2019 - 12:03

    For what it's worth I also have a pair of Parrot Zik 3's and the app has some pretty customisable EQ options. I spent some time setting these up how I like them to sound with a profile I created. I then later purchased the Nuraphones and I was very surprised that the automatic EQ function got a very (very) similar sound from the Nura's.

    It's impressive because the whole point of Nura's auto EQ function is to make the headphones sound "good" for the individual listener just by detecting how you perceive sound frequencies, and it seems to have done just that.

    For the average listener who doesn't know how, or isn't interested in manually setting up custom EQ profile (if your headphones even support such a thing), the Nuraphones will in most cases get the sound pretty much bang on with how you like your music to sound.

    And in terms of sound quality comparison, while in general I find them similar to the Parrot Zik's (with my EQ settings), if you really pay attention, the high frequencies are a little 'sweeter' and less grainy on the Nuraphones.

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