Founded in 2016 by Luke Campbell and Dragan Petrovic, Nura created one of the most effective personalized sound headphone solutions and managed to become one of the most popular crowdfunding projects in the audio space at launch time. The original Nura Headphones successfully promoted the concept of personalized hearing profiles and at the same time, proved the advantages of integrating a microprocessor platform that allowed uploading new sound profiles, and load firmware updates. Nura managed to surpass the typical startup manufacturing challenges, and eventually expanded the original Nura Headphones to support active noise cancellation (ANC) with an update - another first for the industry.
The successful Australian startup evolved to become a recognized brand in the personal audio space when it later launched the Nura True - a TWS with ANC design that boosted the company's personalization technology to a whole new level. The Melbourne-based company became recognized in a very competitive category, showing how a combination of strong design, a well-designed mobile app, agile marketing, and targeted product differentiators could enable new players to compete with the largest of the consumer electronic companies.
In 2022, Nura returns to announce a new crowdfunding project, this time for the NuraTrue Pro wireless noise-canceling earbuds, promoted with the additional differentiation of being one of the first expected to arrive in the market with support for Qualcomm's aptX Lossless codec over Bluetooth. While it is unlikely that Nura will be the first to ship earbuds with aptX Lossless, the concept is effective in appealing to a more demanding audience that is looking for better audio quality.
The combination of Nura's sound personalization - based on existing hearing research and measuring each user's hearing, adapting the frequency response matched to each listener - with aptX Lossless transmission on a TWS form-factor seems convincing enough for backers, and the project has already met and largely surpassed its funding goals on Kickstarter.
Now, Nura is confidently adding a new strong argument to the NuraTrue Pro earbuds by adding a new feature that is also top of mind for consumers: spatial audio. The Dirac Virtuo spatial audio solution adds a new dimension to the earbuds' sound, turning the listening audio experience into a speaker-like immersive sound experience.
"The NuraTrue Pro delivers uncompromised sound fidelity with its cutting edge technologies and innovative design," says Mats Oberg, Chief Commercial Officer, Dirac. "Dirac Virtuo elevates the experience further with its uncompromised spatialization. We ensure that standard stereo sound is spatialized with high accuracy, bringing out the spatial cues that already exist in stereo recordings. Users enjoy an immersive audiophile-grade sound with standard stereo content, without requiring any specific streaming platform."
The Dirac Virtuo solution employs a high-resolution binaural room impulse response technology to restore speaker crosstalk and correct the stereo soundstage. With Dirac Virtuo, sound seemingly comes from a pair of premium stereo speakers in front of the listener, rather than from inside their head – creating a truer, more accurate stereo soundstage than regular headphones can deliver.
"In designing the NuraTrue Pro, we adopted a ‘no compromise’ philosophy that applies to all aspects of the product, from audio performance through to product design and user experience," explains Luke Campbell, CEO and co-founder at Nura. "In keeping with that philosophy, it is natural for us to adopt Dirac Virtuo to deliver the highly demanded spatial audio to our users, crafting a premium experience that ensures nothing gets between you and what matters most, your music."
Dirac Virtuo is also supported by the headphone industry’s most common chipsets and frameworks, including Qualcomm, BES, and MediaTek. By enabling spatial audio natively in wireless headphones, Dirac ensures brands like Nura can differentiate their offerings in a highly competitive market, and consumers can enjoy immersive, high-quality sound from standard stereo content – for elevated music listening, gaming, and movie watching experiences.
In addition to Dirac Virtuo, lossless audio over Bluetooth, and Nura's Personalized Sound technology, the new NuraTrue Pro wireless earbuds also feature the new Nura ProEQ for manual EQ fine-tuning within the companion app; four microphones including a bone conduction sensor for clear voice calls; wireless charging through any Qi-compatible charging device; and up to eight hours of playback on a single charge, with an additional 24 hours from the included charging case.
www.dirac.com
www.nurasound.com
