VR Ears was successfully crowdfunded back in May, garnering nearly $200,000 over the course of its month-long Kickstarter campaign. Now the developers Rebuff Reality say its off-ear speaker accessory for VR headsets will ship out a few months later than previously planned.

The project’s Kickstarter says VR Ears offers “high performance audio” via its premium off-ear speakers and built-in Digital Amplifier and Signal Processor.

Featuring a clip-on design, it also supports a wide array of devices including Oculus Rift, Rift S, Oculus Quest, Quest 2, HTC Vive, Vive Pro, Vive Cosmos, PSVR, Valve Index, and Pimax 8K’s rigid headstrap variant.

VR Ears was slated to start shipping in December of this year, however now the Miami-based team says it will officially begin shipping on July 15th, 2021.

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The creators cite difficulties making hardware improvements during the global supply chain disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Here’s the full statement to Kickstarter backers from Rebuff Reality:

Hi VR Ears Backers,

We have had a long journey this year making a ton of improvements to the design and audio performance of VR Ears, while at the same time dealing with the impact COVID-19 has had on the global supply chain. We are finally ready to begin the tooling process and release a firm shipment date. VR Ears will ship July 15, 2021, with full support for Oculus Quest 2, forward compatibility for all leading VR headsets, and standalone with our HeadStrap accessory.

We know this is not what you were hoping for, we feel the same way. All the funds we’ve gathered have been put to good use improving the product in the best way possible. We take to heart all the support the community has given us this year, just as we have done for TrackStrap, VR Power, VR Shell, and all our other products. VR Ears will be simply awesome. After using VR Ears, you won’t know how you lived without them, and won’t be able to go back to anything else.

Stay tuned for more updates as the tooling and validation process moves forward.

Rebuff Your Reality,

Joe Sciacchetano

Founder and CEO

It’s important to note that the tooling and validations processes come with their own challenges, so it’s slightly puzzling how Rebuff Reality can give such a precise release date this far ahead of having the final product in hand.

Granted, the company has prior experience in manufacturing, as it offers a line of products such as VR Power, an external battery pack and counterweight for Quest and Quest 2, and VR Shell, an exterior faceplate protector for the original Quest. Still, it would have been a nice accessory for some VR users hoping to upgrade to an audio system similar to what Valve Index features natively.

For latecomers to the Kickstarter, Rebuff Reality has an IndieGogo currently taking pre-orders. Early Bird tiers are still available at a 40% discount off its $150 MSRP, which comes to $89 (€75) for a pair of VR Ears and a single set of clips.

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Scott Hayden
Well before the first modern XR products hit the market, Scott recognized the potential of the technology and set out to understand and document its growth. He has been professionally reporting on the space for nearly a decade as Editor at Road to VR, authoring more than 3,500 articles on the topic. Scott brings that seasoned insight to his reporting from major industry events across the globe.
  • Adrian Meredith

    I smell another kickstarter bankrupcy

    • Bob

      Anything from Kickstarter isn’t to be taken seriously. The sheer amount of crap that gets churned out (or not) from this place is quite hilarious actually. So many little teams with such bright bright ideas that almost always fail upon execution of these ideas as reality kicks in because nothing is at it seems when it comes to thinking of something and actually making it happen. If it does happen then it’s usually rushed and eventually forgotten about as the money runs dry due to unnecessary overspending.

  • mellott124

    When I saw this, it seemed like they’re falling behind the curve. This puts the delivery a year out from the original Kickstarter end date. That’s not too bad in terms of a project but there are other solutions. DAS is one great one. And there’s already another headphone solution like theirs from engineeredaf.com. To be honest, I completely forgot about this until they just delivered their VR power unit to me this week and I realized I already moved to a DAS for my Quest 1 and it doesn’t really fit. For Quest 2, I’m using the Oculus straps with battery, although it may fail, and I’m thinking about going to DAS there too so there isn’t a need for these headphones anymore. I did like the VR Ears solution when I tried it at CES. Seemed like it was almost done at that point.

    Just my opinion. Obviously there’s a non-engineeredaf.com or DAS path for them.

    • Sean

      I had the DAS on Quest 1 and then moved it to Quest 2. I was never super impressed with the headphones on that strap so I ordered the VR ears just recently because they had a December release date. A week later, they sent this email about July 21. Wasn’t real happy and asked if they could refund. They said no.

      I guess all I can do now is hope they actual deliver in July and I can upgrade the Das audio with them.

  • Dave

    Haha this is so funny. I think with all the additions you need for the Quest 2 to use as a comfortable desktop VR headset this might be the one which pushes the prices way past the HP Reverb G2. Well I think the solution is obvious guys!

  • sfmike

    The magic of Kickstarter. I fell for it again.