The nuraphone headphones have been heralded as a reinvention of wearable audio, tossing aside the fixed ideas we have about how headphones should feel, act and be worn. So our music library has greeted them to see if they can usher in a quality and experience headphones have not reached until now.

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Design

Uncomplicated is the order of everything design wise. A gracile stainless steel headband connects to each aluminium ear cup; and this marks the spot where convention is torn to pieces by a headphone and earphone fusion referred to as ‘Inova’. A few different sized tips are supplied within the box, and when you get the correct ones for your ears, they feel just like headphones to wear, because the support from the ear cups relieves the pressure from the in-ear silicone tips compared to an ordinary pair of earphones. Interestingly, this very design choice makes the nuraphone headphones an insurgent amongst other audio choices, but it will also have the effect of upsetting headphone purists who will never be caught sticking anything in their ears. For us it’s not a difficult problem as this new design is a restful and uncomplicated in its approach. The headband achieves the right balance between thickness and firmness for a light impression on the head. The same can be said about the ear cups, which are favourably soft against the face, despite being made from that unconventional hypoallergenic silicone. 

However, due to using silicone as the material for the ear pads, a necessary active cooling system (‘TeslaFlow’) has been implemented. This is intended to push warm air out of the ear cups and draw cool air in. With extensive usage under our belt, this seems fairly effective over 2-3hr listening stretches in very warm 25° environments. Furthermore, whilst it is certainly generous of nuraphone to include such a comprehensive carry-case within the box, we’ve sadly felt absolutely no need to make use of it; the reason being that the build quality of these headphones is second to none and they shrug off what could be the negative effects of being thrown into a crowded backpack or left to be dragged around on hectically organised desks. Everything about the assembly build quality is tight, they have a generous degree of natural flexibility and the sliders are fantastic.

Controls & the nuraphone App

Not a single physical button or multi-functional pad style format is to be found. Instead, on the butt of each headphone side is a touch sensitive area, and via the nuraphone App each can be independently user programmed to register single and double taps to control all of the standard music playback functionalities such as play, pause, skip, volume, etc. But more interestingly you can assign them to register special functions, such as the ability to toggle social mode - so you can even choose to hear your surroundings. The inbuilt microphones do a phenomenal active noise cancellation and this is definitely assisted by the in-ear design. But the opposite is also true and possibly more impressive. With social mode the nuraphone headphones pick up external audio and play it into your ears. So you can have a coherent conversion with multiple people in the same room whilst listening to music at around 50% volume; it’s very odd. Not to forget immersion mode, which allows the user to adjust the level of bass felt. The touch controls have reassuring tactical haptic feedback and overall are a refreshing and truly un-intrusive thoughtful implementation of a control scheme for headphones. Our only gripe is that the double tap gestures need greater work so they are consecutively correctly recognised.

The ideals of the simplicity of the design come further into focus when you consider there are no physical buttons or switches. So, with much thanks to sensors, the nuraphone headphones turn on and off automatically depending upon whether they’re being worn or not. On popping them on for the first time we saw a neat cue, similar to the Sonos speaker ecosystem, whereby the headphones tune a personalised sound profile based on how you hear by using AI. You can create multiple sound profiles for different users and there’s a significant disparity between the default pale sounding setting and the personalised profile.

Sound Performance

As previously touched on, Inova is the architecture that is patented for the fusion. Put simply, the core audio travels in-ear and the outer-ear drivers distribute the lower end bass frequencies. Upon first experiencing this it can only be described as outrageously unorthodox. Yet after a few minutes of picking through our music library, we get it. The combination of in-ear and over-ear sound will generally be a profoundly more convincing experience when compared to headphone offerings floating around the same price point. This is mainly because it’s no longer a discussion about just sound but instead brings into question the overall experience, something that feels lacking when putting certain £1000+ headphones on afterwards. This enriched experience is achieved by the nuraphone headphones offering a broad audio involvement that acknowledges more than just one human sense, thanks to the over-ear bass drivers which send vibrations across your face as if you were sat in front of an amp turned up to eleven. Married with the in-ear audio channels, a song like ‘Peer Pressure’ by L Devine features concentrated rhythmic bass beats throughout and sparky vocals, yet is utterly coherent. The high to mid range sounds as if there’s a football stadium sized distance involved and, of course, the bass has a unique independence which is absolutely unafraid to go all the way without being intrusive (with our settings). There’s a raucous power emitted from this track that some headphones can smudge, but the nuraphone headphones have a driver setup with totally fixed control.

Unusually we can say that the amount of bass on offer will suit everyone’s taste. If you want a party on your head, then just increase the amount of ‘immersion’ within the App (this is real bass too) and the opposite is true for less. Our pair is adjusted to just below the midway point and it’s absolutely wild, with any more they turn into a head massager and we feel the sound climbs away from itself. ‘Come-On-A-My-House’ by Jeff Goldblum & Imelda May is a live performance, and the natural unedited sound of all the instrumentals as a collective live recording exhibits how the nuraphone headphones perform such qualities in the best of lights. Instrumental elements like the bass that flurries down into the shoulders, vocals that are so crystal and, in conjunction with inconspicuous details like Imelda’s lips touching, can be heard above the resonating depth of bass. Then we arrive at the soundstage, and nuraphone recommend listening to the instrumental tune ‘Watermelon Man’ (remastered) by Erroll Garner as an example that shows off what these drivers can do. The separation of sensations picked out, and the rich qualities of excitement through the power of stereo separation during this live concert, puts it right inside these headphones. The piano is clearly tilted sideways to the left and on the right the drums and brass section curve around, with only louder brass performances channeling noticeably into the left. It should therefore go without saying that TV and movie watching is another qualified attribute of the nuraphone headphones.

Where things become unclear is when we plug in. There are no two ways about it, audio via the aux jack sounds better. We’ve connected the nuraphone headphones wirelessly via Bluetooth 5.0 to a MacBook Pro and iPhone 11 with personal App based sound profiles disabled and enabled. Everything we’ve said above is absolutely applicable to the audio experience enjoyed over Bluetooth, but it’s even better over a wired connection and volume levels are louder too. This is quite surprising due to the advances of the newer versions of Bluetooth presenting audio from recent headphones we’ve reviewed at an effective equal footing to wired connections.

Verdict

The nuraphone headphones are a redefining moment for wearable audio. Harnessing a greater experience that acknowledges more than just one human sense by broadcasting to touch and sound, they produce richly enjoyable personalised audio performances that do justice to entire eclectic libraries. They’re like nothing else on the market. What other headphones at or around the £349 price point can genuinely compare or present an attractive alternative feature set? The simplicity of the design, with the almost perfect touch controls, a gracile yet intelligently crafted hardy aesthetic for real day to day use and auto on functionality, make these headphones a seamless proposition for any lifestyle. Our only concern is the difference between wired and wireless modes. Buy on Amazon

(All images edited using DxO PhotoLab 3)