Nuraphone Review: Not just one among many

It is not easy to call any headphone experience unique these days. Even though there is more diversity in headphone choices than ever, generally headphones only vary from their competitors in minor ways, and almost all have the same experience. But same cannot be said about the Nuraphone.

Sporting 5 patents, this is an ambitious product aimed at differentiating itself from the rest of the cans out there.

Here are 4 features that are unique to the Nuraphone:

Unique feature #1: In ear or Over the ear? All of the above

Coined by the Nuraphone team as Inova, it is probably the first eyebrow raising visual feature of these headphones that you will notice. The almost alien futuristic appearance is a combination of ear buds and over-the-ear cups that delivers sound to your ear in two ways: the high, mid and low frequency through the buds, and the ultra-low frequency through the cups - simultaneously.

Physically it takes some getting used to, because it's not every day someone puts on headphones over their earbuds while listening to music. But once one gets over the new sensation, two things happen: You now have one of the most effective passive noise isolating headphones in the market, with two layers of silicon seal for the outside noise to go through; and you now have clean delivery of sound frequencies from two independent sources, where the low bass can be tweaked independently from the rest of the frequency spectrum.

My personal word of advice after using the Nuraphone for the last few days is: choose your tips. The Nuraphone comes with the largest earbud tip attached, but there are also Medium and Small tips included. A lot of the odd sensation of the buds can be minimized when the tip matches your ear size, along with a better seal and sound.

Unique feature #2: A headphone that listens to your ears

What 4 of the 5 patents in the Nuraphone entails is a tech developed to detect your ear's unique ability to listen to a spectrum of sounds, and tweaking the output of the headphones to match each pairs of ears to ensure that the user get the most out of the sound output as possible.

The concept itself isn't entirely new. Some HTC phones deploy what they call U Sonic, for instance, where the headphone emits a sound and picks up the minuscule sound that your ears emits back to determine your own listening sound signature.

But when such ambitious claims are made, the question that typically comes to mind is: Is it a gimmick? The science behind the method of testing one's hearing is real, and the Nuraphone's hardware with its dual silicon seal and sensitive microphones are definitely an advantage.

This all lead to a pleasantly surprising result. After the Nuraphone set the customized sound for me, I was happy enough to go ahead and turned off all the equalization that I typically use in my music player - that is, except for how much bass I wanted, which leads to the next unique feature.

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Unique feature #3: Subwoofers that only you can hear (feel)

As the father of Custom In-ear Monitor Jerry Harvey said in an interview with Google, "No one ever tells me 'I don't want an accurate frequency response', but they always ask me how much bass does an earpiece have in it." Nuraphone responds to the modern bass-thirst with its over-the-ear cup, and bass adjustment. Bass boost is not new, but Nura is not aiming for just boost, but to "delivers sub sonic and low-frequency vibrations to the listener's skin stimulating a vibrotactile response." In other words, the ear-cups literally create bass that vibrates not just your ear drums, but your head!

How does this pan out in reality? The Nura app bass adjustment is labelled: 'Immersion Mode' which goes from 'low' to 'front row'. The max setting is called front row, because essentially that is what having the bass on full blast sounds like - being in the front row, being shaken by the booming bass coming from the stacks on a live stage. In short, the Nuraphone has enough bass to satisfy anyone who wishes to drown themselves in some bass heavy music, or as I have discovered, if you want to have a cinematic experience where you want to feel the battalion tanks rolling across the field: these cans will do that for you. Comparing the Nuraphone with other headphones, it is the difference between a 2 speaker set up, and a 2.1 speaker set up - with or without a subwoofer unit.

Your world may be rumbling between the two ear cups, but those around you will be oblivious to it. The Nuraphone has surprisingly little to no sound leakage. This is attributed mainly to its earbud + ear cup design, and is especially impressive when you look carefully at the thin walled cushions on the cups that are drastically different from the thick-walled leathery design of most modern headphones.

Unique feature #4: A headphone that teaches you how to use itself properly

When your mind is occupied with the latest Q3 business report you received this morning, the last thing you want is to go through a tedious process of learning how to use your new highly-customizable tech. But Nuraphone streamlines the process by offering a full video and audio instruction that leads you through the personalization process.

One of the moments that impressed me the most, is in the first step in customizing the listening profile. The Nura app displayed an image of the headphone, and shows a seal percentage of each ear cup.

When I first put on the Nuraphone, I could feel that the left earbud was not fully sitting properly in my left ear, and I was curious if the app could pick that up. Surprisingly, not only did it pick that up, it instructed for adjustment of the cup until the bud finally sat in the right position.

Using the Nuraphone is also an intuitive experience, which turns itself on when you put it on, and turns off when you remove the headphone. Upon putting on the headphone, a voice also greets you by your profile name and reports an update on the battery status.

The polished step-by-step set up and use of the Nuraphone akin to a personal trainer walking you through the process of maximizing your use of its functions - never once needing to pick up an instructional manual.

Who is the Nuraphone for?

The Nuraphone's utilitarian appearance coupled with unique functionality suits those who wishes to look professional - yet have a desire for innovative tech that pushes the boundary of the listening experience. For those who enjoy its customized sound, booming bass, hard wearing metal/silicon construction and intuitive operation, the Nuraphone might just be your best travelling companion.

David is a tech enthusiast/writer who is often on the move and is on a mission to explore ways to make his overhaul flights more enjoyable. This is a contribution to an ongoing IBTimes review series on gadgets for Business Travellers.

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