Innovation is always welcome, but it takes on a special meaning when it comes from an Indian company. Indian startup Rapture Innovation Labs’ debut pair of headphones, quirkily named Sonic Lamb, boasts features which are quite special, and the best part is that the innovation is actually meaningful and comes with real benefits. The four pillars of this innovation are labelled ‘hear’, ‘feel’, ‘immerse’, and ‘beast’. Intrigued? Let me elaborate. 
As a concept, the idea is quite simple, really. The guys at Rapture Innovation basically want you to not just listen to the sound, but feel it as well. So they went ahead and fitted a subwoofer inside their headphones. The Sonic Lamb headphones feature a proprietary 27mm Impulse driver that uses body conduction to reproduce the physical sensation of sound. This works in conjunction with the 40mm dynamic driver which uses air conduction, along with specially designed ear pads (dubbed “Wooferpads”) to emulate a subwoofer. The aim is to deliver an immersive audio experience and one that teleports you right into the centre of the music stage or action.
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Design
Now looks-wise, the Sonic Lamb headphones look quite ho-hum, especially the Obsidian black colourway sent to me for review. They do have a Moonstone White version and an Ember Gray that sports funky-looking orange accents… and one of these might be more apt if you want something a bit more standout in terms of looks. The design is fairly typical — these are on-ear headphones with a flexible headband (lined with soft cushioning on the inside), ear cups that swivel, and sport thick, luxuriously cushy and soft ear pads. These pads are user-replaceable and spare ones should be made available for purchase on the official website.
The right ear cup has a power-cum-pairing button and volume adjustment keys, while the left ear cup sports a Type-C port for charging and a 2.5mm port for the detachable boom mic (included in the pack). The hardware buttons do need a bit of improvement I think, as they feel a bit mushy and sit quite flush with the main body and aren’t easy to locate by feel alone. The right ear cup also has a rotating dial, which is placed at the bottom and is easily accessible. And this dial is what enables the magic, switching between the different immersion modes. Worth mentioning that the Sonic Lamb headphones come in environment-friendly packaging, and a carry case is included as well.
Features
Powered by the Qualcomm QCC 3034 chip and working over Bluetooth 5.1, the Sonic Lamb headphones offer support for aptX, aptX HD, AAC and SBC codecs. They come with two internal mics, in addition to the detachable boom microphone. Unfortunately, there’s no active noise cancellation on offer here, which is a bit of a bummer at this price point.
Hear, Feel, Immerse and Beast. These are four different levels of immersion, and as you can make out from the names, Hear is level 1 while Beast is level 4. And it’s worth mentioning that these modes are quite aptly-named too, especially the beast mode.
Sound quality
Starting with level 1, the Hear mode is for calls and meetings, podcasts etc, and also works well with classical and instrumental. It delivers clean, crisp sound, great for vocals. The Feel mode moves it up a notch, with subwoofer system getting in on the action, promising balanced sound for rock and jazz genres. And this is where the music starts feeling a bit more energetic, with the bass kicking in, and good separation. Rotating the dial up to level 3, the Immerse mode is said to be the holy grail for bassheads, and those who enjoy electronic, hip-hop and rap should appreciate the bass on offer here. The mode does justice to its Immerse label, and adds another dimension to the audio. But push the dial up to Beast mode and you’ll realise why it’s called that… it’s just made for gaming and movies, getting you into the thick of action by delivering explosions and rumbles, to your ears, making you feel the vibrations as they happen in front of you on the screen. Truth be told, this mode can get a bit fatiguing after a while, and might not be apt for prolonged listening. That’s when you can dial down to Immerse or lower modes and continue enjoying the audio.
When I first tried on the Sonic Lamb headphones, I thought it’d be nice to have some sort of indication (possibly in the form of audio alerts) to let the user know which mode they’re in as the dial is being rotated, but after using the device for a while, I don’t think that’s needed. The thing is that the different levels of immersion on offer here not only work differently for different genres and use cases, but could also vary depending upon user preferences. There’s no companion app yet, but I’m told that’s in the pipeline and should be available soon, and hopefully, should allow more control and personalisation options. In terms of battery life, the Sonic Lamb headphones are rated to last up to 24 hours in hear mode, 14 hours in feel mode, 10 hours in immerse mode, and up to 7 hours in beast mode on a single charge.
Verdict
At an inaugural price of Rs 15,999, with final pricing set at Rs 19,999, the Sonic Lamb headphones challenge and take on premium rivals, packing in great sound quality topped off by interesting, useful innovation. And that’s what makes them so special. Worth a listen for sure.
Editor’s rating: 8 / 10
Pros:
- Comfortable to wear
- Balanced audio
- Personalised, immersive sound
Cons:
- Lacks ANC
- No companion app yet
- Hardware buttons feel mushy
