My Nuraphones' left earcup split apart due to the battery swelling up. It's basically a little spicy pillow now, unsafe to use. And support isn't really able to help me since these things are years past warranty. I still asked in a follow-up email if they'll do a paid repair or let me purchase a refurbished pair or something. But eh, I dunno if I want to spend a few hundred bucks on another pair (by my own doing, or if they offer). Waiting to see what they say.

The problem with anything still on market (say, as a replacement) is that they're probably old unsold stock (I don't know when Nura stopped manufacturing these). And if LiPo batteries are left critically discharged for too long, they become way more susceptible to swelling issues (or worse) in the future. And of course we have the whole Masimo acquisition of Nura thing - rendering the lifetime of the Nuraphone in question even. Who knows how long the app and customization stuff will work, given how much phone-home stuff goes on with these devices.

Anyway, it's not easy finding a replacement battery. The original is an 802550 (8.0mm x 25mm x 50mm) 3-pin/wire battery at 3.7v 1200mah, 4.44wh. Dimensions are fairly strict, but maybe you can go with a 102250 (2mm thicker) and still get it all to fit... but I have to think about it a bit. I have no idea if two-wire batteries will work, too. But these are way more common.

So, I was also generally wondering about alternative headphones - is there anything else as capable as the Nuraphone? I fell in love with the deep sub-bass and bass capabilities of these things, while they had amazingly clear mids and highs. I appreciate the sound profile stuff as well, but maybe I don't necessarily need it, and can EQ things myself.

I'm not sure any headphones out there are going to sound like these (or better), though - the closest thing to these that I own are the WH-1000XM5s, but as good as they are, they are not really that close when it comes to the sub-bass and bass reproduction. I also own Denon AH-D5000s and Monoprice M1070s... which hilariously are both also regarded as all having excellent sub-bass reproduction. And yet, the Nuras are king so far, from my many hours of experience across these.

I feel like these are truly irreplaceable so far. It's pretty saddening... and the whole battery thing is so offputting, honestly. If you really think about it, typical wired headphones can easily last 10 years. But the batteries definitely won't (and ignoring the safety issues and fire hazards from that).