NuraTrue Pro
MSRP $329.00
“For those with a compatible phone, you can’t beat the sound.”
Pros
- aptX Lossless codec
- Superb sound
- Excellent app help
- Wireless charging
- Bluetooth Multipoint
Cons
- Expensive
- Few telephones help aptX Lossless
- Mediocre name high quality
In 2022, Nura debuted the $329 NuraTrue Pro — its second set of wi-fi earbuds. I obtained an opportunity to strive them out, however I didn’t write a full evaluation. Why? As a lot as I used to be capable of check options like energetic noise canceling and Nura’s proprietary tuning system that measures how your ears reply to sound, the NuraTrue Pro have been the first wi-fi earbuds to help Qualcomm’s aptX Lossless Bluetooth codec, and I had no method to check it.
Like all Bluetooth codecs, aptX Lossless must be supported on each ends — the earbuds and the cellphone — and I didn’t have an aptX Lossless smartphone. A number of weeks in the past, nonetheless, Nura took pity on me and despatched me an Asus Zenfone 9, and I used to be lastly capable of put the NuraTrue Pro by way of their paces.
As it seems, I in all probability might have written the full evaluation with out the Zenfone. Here’s why.
The low-down on lossless
First, a fast recap on aptX Lossless and why it’s best to care. Bluetooth audio at all times has used what’s referred to as “lossy” compression. It doesn’t matter in case your gadgets work with AAC, aptX, LDAC, aptX HD, or any variety of different Bluetooth codecs — they’re all lossy, which signifies that a few of the authentic info from the music enjoying in your cellphone was being sacrificed with the intention to match down the pretty slim wi-fi pipe that’s Bluetooth.
AptX Lossless is the first codec to vow that it’s going to protect each one and 0 that makes up your favourite songs, with help for 16-bit/44.1kHz, in any other case referred to as “CD quality.” For those that care so much about pristine audio high quality, that is sort of an enormous deal.
There are two issues with aptX Lossless. The first is that solely a choose few Snapdragon Sound-equipped telephones help it. (Good luck determining which of them do.) Second is that it seems that a few of our present lossy choices already are actually good. So good in actual fact, that once I ran a blind comparability utilizing the NuraTrue Pro to take heed to quite a lot of tracks the place the benefits of Lossless ought to have been noticeable, I struggled to inform the distinction between the lossless and lossy variations.
Take the Pepsi problem
To carry out the check, I took benefit of the NuraTrue Pro’s Bluetooth Multipoint capabilities to attach them concurrently to 2 telephones without delay. Sitting in a quiet room, with the quantity set to 60% on every machine, my daughter volunteered as DJ and pressed play and pause on every observe, by no means telling me which cellphone I used to be listening to. For all I knew, she might have been utilizing the similar cellphone for every observe or a special cellphone. My job was to take heed to the similar 15- to 20-second clip from a particular observe twice, after which inform her which one sounded higher to me.
My first comparability was between the Asus Zenfone 9 and an iPhone 14. The iPhone makes use of the AAC codec when accessible, and the NuraTrue Pro helps AAC. It is an efficient codec, however it’s been round a very long time and it has a tough restrict on its bitrate when used with Bluetooth of 320 kilobits per second (Kbps). To put that in perspective, aptX Lossless makes use of greater than 300% extra bandwidth at 1 megabit per second (1,000 Kbps). Not surprisingly, I might hear a distinction between them. It wasn’t night time and day, however for those who listened carefully, aptX Lossless persistently delivered extra element and fewer harshness than AAC. Of the six or so check tracks, I used to be capable of choose the Lossless model 100% of the time, without having to re-listen to the two variations.
My second comparability proved means more durable. This time the Zenfone 9 was up in opposition to a Xiaomi 12 Pro outfitted with aptX Adaptive. Quick sidebar: aptX Lossless is definitely a particular mode that some aptX Adaptive telephones can use, so you’ll possible by no means see “aptX Lossless” listed in your machine’s Bluetooth menu. More on that extremely dangerous design in a second.
Related: What is aptX? Cutting by way of the litter of Qualcomm’s codecs
Even although aptX Adaptive is lossy, it’s a a lot newer and extra environment friendly codec than AAC, and it additionally (as its title suggests) can adapt to the high quality of your cellphone/earbuds’ Bluetooth connection. When issues are zipping alongside, Adaptive can use as much as 660Kbps. It additionally (for the audiophiles on the market) can help as much as 24-bit/96kHz.
The level right here is that aptX Adaptive was, till not too long ago, one in all the greatest Bluetooth codecs you may use, and bumping as much as aptX Lossless represents a a lot smaller leap in high quality than going from AAC to aptX Lossless.
The proof? Using the similar check tracks, my accuracy dropped to 60% and on a number of events, it felt like pure guesswork. It’s fully doable that if we had saved at it lengthy sufficient, that success charge would have dropped additional.
My conclusion is that aptX Lossless can completely ship higher audio, particularly for those who’re used to a codec like AAC. If you’re an iPhone consumer rocking a set of NuraTrue Pro, and you turn to an Asus Zenfone 9, I promise you’ll hear an enchancment. However, that benefit will get so much narrower for those who’re already utilizing an aptX Adaptive-capable cellphone.
Is it actually lossless?
But right here’s my actual beef with aptX Lossless — and to be clear, this a Qualcomm drawback, not a Nura drawback: It’s simply too laborious to know when your earbuds are utilizing the aptX Lossless codec. Nura tries to handle it inside the Nura app. With music enjoying, you’ll be able to choose the menu possibility and at the high of the subsequent display, you’ll see “Connected to NuraTrue Pro,” adopted by AAC, or aptX Adaptive HQ 44.1K (that is truly aptX Lossless), or aptX Adaptive HQ 48K, which I consider is aptX Adaptive doing its lossy, 24-bit mode at 48Khz (kinda laborious to say).
There’s no means it must be this difficult, and there’s no means it ought to rely so closely on a third social gathering app. Phones outfitted with aptX Lossless ought to have a transparent means of indicating when that’s the codec getting used — it’s the lacking speedometer drawback I’ve described not too long ago.
Superb sound
It’s value noting that the NuraTrue Pro, except for their lossless audio capabilities, are simply typically nice earbuds. So lest you type the fallacious impression from that comparability above, let me state for the report that you’ll love listening to them even in case you are restricted to an iPhone’s AAC codec.
The key to getting the most out of the NuraTrue Pro is to make use of the free Nura app to create a customized sound profile. It solely takes a couple of minutes to arrange and in contrast to another tuning methods, there’s no A/B testing to see which EQ balances you favor or listening assessments. The earbuds pump quite a lot of check tones into your ear and some moments later you’re all accomplished.
Once the course of is full, you’ll be able to swap personalization on and off to listen to the distinction. For me, the distinction was profound, however don’t make the mistake of pondering that different earbuds that don’t have Nura’s system will sound like the “off” model — it’s not so simple as that.
You can, if you’d like, tune the NuraTrue Pro even additional. An “immersion” stage slider successfully provides you totally different quantities of bass increase — from only a wee bit to nice huge pounding ranges. It can get overwhelming quick. For an much more highly effective bass response, strive the included foam eartips.
Nura has additionally jumped on the spatial audio development (thanks, Apple) with an optionally available Spatial Audio mode. It’s powered by Dirac Virtuo, the similar spatial processing used on the Sudio E2. But there should be a distinction in the means Nura has carried out it. On the Sudio, it was noticeable and at occasions fairly gratifying. Not a lot on the NuraTrue Pro. I attempted it on quite a lot of tracks and located it made little or no distinction to the sound. It’s nothing like what a Dolby Atmos model of a track can do when it comes to a 3D really feel, and it’s not as able to a 3D simulator as the spatial impact provided by LG, 1More, or Soundcore.
If you’re extra of a purist, the ProEQ tab provides you a five-channel set of particular person frequencies to work with, and I discovered that there was so much you may do with it. My solely criticism: there’s no method to save an EQ method that you simply actually like whilst you experiment with different combos.
When dialed in to my tastes, the NuraTrue Pro have been a deal with. They create a beneficiant soundstage with good precision, and it was simple to chill and get misplaced in the sound. The bass is tight and at occasions even musical, and I discovered the midranges and highs possessed loads of element, with no noticeable distortion even at quantity ranges properly greater than I believe is protected for any long-term listening. In quick, they will simply go toe-to-toe with the greatest wi-fi earbuds like the Sony WF-1000XM4, Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II, Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 S2, and Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 3.
ANC, calling, controls, and battery life
The similar isn’t true for energetic noise cancellation. It can undoubtedly take the edge off annoying exterior sounds, and it appears to be particularly efficient at curbing greater frequencies, however if you’d like a real blanket of silence, you’ll get higher outcomes from the AirPods Pro Gen 2, Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II, and Sony WH-1000XM4. That mentioned, transparency mode (Nura calls it “social mode”) is superb each by itself and whenever you’re utilizing it for cellphone calls to listen to your individual voice extra clearly.
It’s not fairly as much as par with the AirPods Pro Gen 2, in that the mics appear to have their acquire (quantity) set a bit on the excessive facet, which creates a small quantity of noise even when issues are quiet, however that’s removed from a deal breaker.
I’m an enormous fan of the means these earbuds match. I discovered them very comfy for a number of hours of steady use. Not solely does the disc form of the exterior housing offer you glorious grip as you twist the buds into place, however you additionally get a selection of anchors. The preinstalled wings are low-profile and but they provide superb stability, whereas the optionally available bigger wings create much more contact, making certain that solely the most aggressive, high-impact actions will be capable of dislodge them. Not that the NuraTrue Pro are supposed to be exercise companions — with solely an IPX4 water-resistance ranking, they’ll undoubtedly deal with a little bit of sweat, however hold them properly away from the bathe.
Unfortunately, name high quality is a disappointment, particularly when open air or anyplace the place there’s a whole lot of background noise. When I initially tried these earbuds, I felt they did a good job, however these have been pre-production models. The full manufacturing model I used to be despatched for this evaluation don’t carry out as properly. They handily masks competing noises, however in doing so that they drastically cut back the readability of your voice in the course of. It’s not an unusual failing in a set of wi-fi earbuds, however at this worth, it feels so much much less forgivable — and it’s a real thriller on condition that the NuraTrue Pro possess an enormous variety of mics (4 per earbud, together with one bone-conduction unit). When issues are acceptably quiet, the efficiency is a lot better, however it nonetheless can’t compete with the AirPods Pro Gen 2 or the Jabra Elite 7 Pro.
The controls, so far as contact controls go, are superb. One benefit to the NuraTrue Pro’s uncommon disc-shaped design is that it affords a big goal space for tapping. Most of the time, I had no drawback with accuracy. I even have to present Nura huge props for letting us customise these controls any means we please. With 4 gestures per facet (faucet, double-tap, triple-tap, plus double-tap-and-hold) you’ve obtained eight controls to work with. Moreover, you’ll be able to assign any of the earbuds’ options to any gesture, together with immersion and spatial audio.
Battery life, at a claimed eight hours per cost (with an extra 24 hours in the case) is excellent. I discovered that with the quantity set round 50%, and ANC turned on, you may get very shut to those numbers, with a small lower as you ramp quantity ranges up. You get a good fast cost of 1 additional hour of playtime for 5 minutes of charging.
The backside line: the NuraTrue Pro sound superb with or with out aptX Lossless they usually pack sufficient options to make them worthy opponents to the greatest earbuds on the market. Trouble is, at $329, they price significantly greater than most of those different earbuds, and it’s not clear to me that their lossless audio capabilities provide an considerable sufficient increase to sound high quality to justify that premium. Still, for those who get pleasure from figuring out that what you’re listening to is exactly what you’re enjoying, there’s nothing on the market that may match the NuraTrue Pro’s CD high quality declare (but).
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