BEST Elear review on the internet so far, 10/10. I actually preferred the Elear to the Clear, haven't had a chance to check out the Elex. Focal Elear Headphone Review June 14, 2016 February 27, 2018 AudioHead 23 Comments Elear , Focal , Headphone Focal has been in the speaker business for more than 35 years, but it wasn’t until recently that they decided to take the leap into headphone development. This is because, ultimately, the Elear has a “chunky” sound. Comparison: Focal Elear vs. Sennheiser HD800/Hifiman HE-500/ZMF Omni|1 - I know that the Elear’s sonic characteristics may be a deal-breaker for some, especially the small soundstage and the fact that the imaging is nothing special. Note that HE-500 is a rather hard to drive planar headphone that really needs a lot of power (particularly current). Due to this, I can safely say that I can get an enjoyable listen with most genres of music. Though I do sometimes have to write reviews with limited time particularly if reviewing for a company or a loaner, but that is not ideal. I don’t find the bass wanting with most genres of music I throw at it, including electronic and dance-pop music. Everything else is lacking compared to HD800. The latest of these headphones, and among the more expensive, are the Focal Elear … It also makes it easier to EQ and compensate. but your site in my top 3 (other than head-fi) i loved how you compared it to HE-6. Sometimes, I will literally keep my hand on the volume knob throughout a song and make adjustments during certain sections. Elear is 1k usd don't pay more than that. It is nice as a stand though. I actually posted about that experience here a while ago. HD800 is far more balanced and clean sounding. Thanks for sharing as always, and welcome back! Luckily, Focal backs up their image with ample substance. The Elear, to put it simply, does not. This also really makes timbre feel off if you listen to a lot of natural instruments like violins, pianos, acoustic guitar, etc. However, though TH-X00 mids are clean and clear, they are overshadowed by the bass and feel less forward in the mix. These things can be remedied with source gear to an extent. Absolutely great review. REVIEW – When I was given the chance to review Focal’s new Elegia headphone, my first thought was to compare it to the slightly more expensive Elear headphone I … I consider it more U-shaped. As the heartbeat referencing bass drum slowly gets louder, all the samples of clockwork, machinery and voices are spread on top as the song builds in suspense. Since these are at similar price points I think LCD2C wins out all around, except that Elear’s sound is much more lively and exciting, which I often find more engaging compared to LCD2C’s more relaxed and laid back style. Overall, I really like the look and build of all the Focal headphones and think they look quite distinct. So while Elear has fairly smooth lower mids until 3 kHz it isn’t really a V-shaped headphone, but it tends to benefit form the same types of genres pairings that V-shaped headphones do. That is really just a throwback comment for the older members in the community. The earpads are memory foam and not a struggle to wear or tame. Read full InnerFidelity review here: http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/enter-next-generation-focal-elear-headphone Talking about dedication and a will to help others and to input. Regardless, I'll explain it a bit here for you or anyone else reading that isn't familiar so you understand the context of that comment. Variety is the spice of life. As mentioned before, the batche reproduction of sound makes it so one single instrument or melody does not take centre-stage nearly as much. Very, very dynamic. Not only is the upper mid problem taken care of but it does it while feeling more clear, smoother, and more refined. Sorry, this post was deleted by the person who originally posted it. In my eyes, the Elear is like if the Elex got into an angry drunken bar fight. I've got a quite a few TOTL cans and my HD6XX is still cherished and will never leave my collection. I recently acquired an Elear with Utopia pads and case because of the awesome deal going online right now. Focal has knocked it out of the park here! I could continue with examples, but I’m sure you get the point. Over the last few weeks, we’ve been checking out some of Focal’s best and most impressive headphones, including the much-loved Focal Utopia headphones, the closed-back Focal Stellia headphones, and the slightly more affordable Focal Clear headphones.Now, we’re taking a look at a pair of headphones that are even more affordable — the Focal Elegia headphones. Bass: Bass is probably the standout feature of Elear. I think that few hundred is much better spent getting a secondary can if you don't have one already. Treble: Treble is actually very clean and clear with really great transient response. About me: I've been in this hobby for a while now and I have at least auditioned most mid-fi and TOTL headphones and own quite a few too. Of course, this is nowhere near the capability of the HD800 – but the trade-off of that is that the Sennheiser headphones can get quite painful and strident at times. Tyll's review and the beginning of the Elear controversy happened about 3 years ago now, I'm not sure if you were around the headphone community back then. If I had to pick one that is somewhat similar to it, it would be the ZMF Omni. I'm going to be looking for an aftermarket cable that terminates in a 4pin XLR for my Liquid Carbon myself. However, stick on Elex pads and I think that combo beats out LCD2C. Bon Iver, Lake Street Dive, Ray LaMontagne, Ben Howard, James Vincent McMorrow, Shakey Graves), and blues/jazz/R&B rock (e.g. I can definitely see why people would prefer Elear over Clear. What I mean by this is that the Elear pushes music out to the listener in an almost startlingly, at first, quick manner. If you truly are happy with your Elear+Utopia pad combo I wouldn't drive yourself crazy wondering about Elex or Clear. This is not to say that the Elear is turning around the mixing and mastering (particularly the chosen volume of different instruments) process and brickwalling each instrument to a point where there is no dynamic range in a song. What the Elear does instead is reproduce sound in what seems like batches, with each second of listening presenting a number of sounds in equal measure. That’s all fine and good, but it isn’t what I’m about at all. HE-500 is big and clunky, tank-like, and looks more dated these days. i do not mind spending the extra money, as ive seen them sell for much lower than msrp new, but. This cable is 13ft/4m and shielded so thick you would think the answers to the meaning of life are hidden within. Elear has some of the most macrodynamic3 bass response I have ever heard. But going off memory I think Clear is way more similar to Elex than it is to stock Elear or Utopia. Be inspired by the sound of a high-fidelity system with a pair of Elear headphones, for hours of listening pleasure. Questions like: Do the clears handle volume better? Glad you enjoyed the review. Despite not owning them anymore, I would say it’s similar to the Sennheiser HD600 and Hifiman HE-400i in this regard. Intro. Inspired by the best technology and acoustic research that went into designing Utopia, our flagship headphones, they offer truly exceptional performance. Elear is better if you favor a more open sound. However, that also makes Elear much heavier than HD800 and far less comfortable to me. Since I hear the cable is garbage, what replacement cable do you recommend? I do this with my UM Mentor V3 on the IEM side as well. Are the clears actually less fatiguing? The treble of the Elear is never sibilant, to my ears, and I am quite grateful for that. The instrument that stands out the most on the Elear is the piano, particularly a grand piano. While some models go for a workmanlike design, you’ll find nothing of the sort here – even at this price. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but as I said earlier – I found the Elear to look more distinguished than the Utopia even. The only full-sized headphone in my possession that I can say that about is the lighter HD800 - making it an achievement of the Elear’s design that it can manage this with its heavier weight. When I had them side-by-side, you can definitely feel a difference in firmness/“compressability”(?) The mixture of the aforementioned ingredients has made the Elear the most fun listening experience for me from any full-sized headphone that I have owned since I entered this hobby with the purchase of a Beyerdynamic DT990 600 ohm in 2012. But I hate writing reviews of headphones immediately after getting them since I feel like it takes time to live with them for a while to really understand the nuances. The headphone needs to be returned. 3 years ago His reviews are pretty good (though I always prefer a written review). HE-500 mids are quite nice, more forward, and smoothly transition to treble. 1990s are what made me realize i'm treble sensitive. As primarily a headphones guy, I had never even heard of Focal before this summer. A quick browse through Focal’s website shows that they want to position themselves as a luxury brand, and stylish above all. Some people find Elear to be quite comfortable, but it is only okay for me. But I have a slightly small head that is just a bit pointy at the top so I get a hotspot on the top of my head during extended listening. Elear is a low impedance dynamic that can be driven by any amp and doesn't scale much with more capable gear. Someone offered me to trade that for my HE-500 but I haven't heard back from them. It is more detailed, has a much bigger soundstage, better imaging, and offers a much more natural and cohesive sound. People really valued Tyll's WoF (I would argue his WoF had a lot of marketing influence at the high end and could make or break companies) and I think most reviewers then and still to this day understand and support his choices for all the headphones he chose, even if a particular headphone wasn't their personal preference. There’s more to it than that, but I’ll let the man explain himself. Treble is where these headphones take different approaches. Staging: The staging of Elear is quite small and similar to HD650. Yes, the weight. Now I just gotta sit back and wait for the "perfect headphone" to release which has been prophesied by the community for decades. It sounds closer to neutral and more refined. Fostex TH-X00/EMU Teak: This is a semi-open headphone not trying to be neutral. With Elex pads, Elear evens out in tonal balance which puts it closer to HD650, but it still has much more treble energy for better or worse. This is one of the several characteristics of the headphone that would disqualify it from being called “neutral” or from being used in a recording studio for mixing music – with the trade-off being that it makes the chorus of The Hills by The Weeknd sound so full and present. The headphones are largely built from met… Check that out! So once people got a hold of Elear everyone was disappointed and confused. Focal cans, while flat(ish) compared to the LCD line, are pretty fun to listen to from my experience. And Elear+Elex pads is still a much more dynamic and aggressive presentation compared to HD650. I find that more pop/electronic genres can sound good if bass and mid treble are particularly emphasized. However, it is further up the graph that the treble returns with a vengeance – making the Elear the headphones with the most snap I have owned yet, that isn’t V-shaped. Thanks! Elear feels more premium, looks more sleek, and just presents better. Far from it, song dynamics are well presented – you just have to get used to how it’s done. High quality post as usual, Tacos. Yes. Haha yeah it is kind of a weird headphone stand. With the three pairs of Focal open-back pads you effectively own 3 slightly different signatures..which is pretty cool imho. Every week I debate on whether selling my Audeze LCD 2.2 fazor and getting this. Mids are warmer in Elear than TH-X00, but TH-X00 is more smooth and clean in the upper mids even though it is just slightly recessed. Dynamics and fast transients are awesome. I heard the Elear at CanJam earlier this year. I sold the Utopia pads so I no longer have them. Of the current headphones I own, my favorites are (in no particular order) HD800 (SDR modded), Auteur, Atticus, Stax SR404, HE-500, and HD6XX. i love the bass on HE-6. However, its dynamic nature provides for an interesting listening experience where an intimate soundstage can still feel rather full and detailed. It is just this oddball headphone that didn't make sense. It also has more room (soundstage) to work with so the entire orchestra is well-represented. I notice I have a hard time setting my volume levels if I am trying to listen to a mix of different genre music. This deserves the "High Quality" tag, no doubt about it! The Elear emits a premium aura from it in its black, grey and silver colour scheme. This is because, once again, the Elear loves to take every instrument in a song and throw it at the listener – reemphasized. I also want to emphasize that this is all personal preference and I just really gravitate toward mid forward, natural timbre headphones since that is most the music I listen to. It has much more sub-bass and mid-bass than Elear. The Elear is an open-back , over-ear headphone. Everyone was saying Elear was going to be the "HD650 killer" and then Tyll put it on the wall of fame and hype grew even more. Elear can hit with a faster attack, but decay is also faster so it feels more poignant. Again, I'm not saying Elear isn't enjoyable and I'm not crapping on people that own the headphone, I have owned it myself for nearly 2 years now, probably longer than most. Bass quantity is also north of neutral and definitely has a wide hump that bleeds just into the mids to give a warm signature1 (similar to HD650). But HE-500 is more controlled, tight, and clean in that region. Since Elear is sold for pretty cheap these days, I highly recommend grabbing Elex pads and with that you have a really competent headphone that can compete with anything in that price range, and even with some TOTL cans. Focal introduces Elear, for true audiophiles and music lovers who want to rediscover their favorite tracks with the finest of detail.Open new fields of emotion and feeling, by experiencing the intimacy of a personal listening session with Elear. I don't feel the need to disassemble mine. A place for discussion, news, reviews and DIY projects related to portable audio, headphones, headphone amplifiers and DACs. There are changes to the surround and motor system aiming to optimise dynamics and detail reso… I spent longer than I’d like to admit trying to make the HE-500 more comfortable, so an out-of-box comfortable listening experience is something I applaud. The HD800 has crisper presentation of orchestral strings for sure. I don't. Focal Elegia ($899usd) vs Focal Elear (now $700-750ish): As stated elsewhere, I rather enjoy pulling the Elear out for a run to clear my thoughts between reviews. The Focal Clear headphones are unmistakably Focal. Focal Elex: Basically Elex just fixes all my complaints with Elear. The Z1R might solve that. This could affect your total cost for HE-500. at least that is how i perceive it. This is not a laid back headphone, like the Omni, and it takes no prisoners in its sound reproduction. My favorite living film director probably is Alfonso Cuaron. The snare drum on some headphones with a warmer tone, or slightly dark nature, leads to an unsatisfying “thud” sound on the snare. But I think HE-500 is the better all around headphone compared to Elear. I love mine. Sennheiser HD800: These headphones are incredibly different. Loudspeaker: 137⁄64“ (40mm) Aluminum-Magnesium "M" shape dome, Connectors: 1 x 01/4“ (6.35mm) stereo Jack connector 2 x 09⁄64“ (3.5mm) Jack, Carrying case: 1253⁄64“x1015⁄64“x629⁄64“ (326x260x164mm), I remember thinking at the London Can Jam that the Elear looked better aesthetically than the Utopia, preferring the former’s demure nature over the latter’s bombastic grill opening in the cups and spotted earpads. Treble is more rolled in HD650 and it lacks the air and separation that Elear has, but that also makes it a smoother listen. They were fun cans for me. But this also makes Elear a more fatiguing listen too, both from its bass weight and treble brightness. That’s to say, while they have a number of different design elements than other Focal headphones, including color offerings, they carry that classic Focal headphones look, the beautiful mesh grills on each ear cup, and so on. I always notice how certain instruments sound best on certain headphones that I’ve reviewed in the past: the HD800 being especially great at strings and orchestral recordings, the Hifiman HE-500 being especially good at vocals and the Omni standing out for how it showcases acoustic guitars. Elear looks and feels like a proper 1000$ headphone. The EQ settings on the sub here for the Elear also make the Elear sound even better, it's an incredible difference and I liked the Elear even without EQ. Elear are audiophile open-backed headphones manufactured in France by Focal. It's going to depend on what sound signature you enjoy the most. I spoke with Nicolas Debard at the London Can Jam in August and he told me that the Utopia and Elear were created with their in-house construction of an “M-shaped dome.” This was done in order to maintain the usage of electrodynamic drivers while offering an experience that is similar to speakers. And they don’t just look expensive, they feel it too. My music preferences are broad and I try to incorporate a bit of everything, but currently I listen to mostly indie pop/rock (e.g. But the mids of HD650 are far superior to Elear. Bass is very detailed and snappy in the bass kicks. Like I said, the Elear is just more uneven in tonal balance, but that doesn't make it a terrible headphone. It is fast, very fast – and more than likely to surprise you at first until you are used to it. Great review. John Mayer Trio, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Tom Misch, Gary Clark Jr, Devon Gilfillian). In summary – the Focal Elear is a great-sounding headphone! Disclaimer: Focal’s PR agency sent us the Focal Elear on loan for this review. He really needs to figure out the focus on his camera though. You've gained a follower. Even though LCD2C’s upper mids are recessed, it does so in a very smooth and linear slope and not like the cliff in Elear. Focal Elear Review So I know Focal Elear isn't exactly new or exciting these days and this is a "late" review. I was actually surprised that the sub-bass extension is quite similar to that of the ZMF Omni, which is a semi-closed headphone that is heavily dependent on a good seal to perform in this regard. Open-backed Over-Ear headphones . I found that, with most headphones, I would find that a certain instrument or vocal in the mix was most pronounced – with the rest of the mix falling behind to give that particular melody space to carry the song overall. Frankly, we wouldn’t have been surprised to see a price tag twice the size on these over-ears. It isn't quite at "basshead" levels of bass like say Fostex TH-X00, but it is still pretty thunderous. Comfort: Being metal, Elear is definitely a heavy headphone, probably heavier than it looks from pictures. “Made in France” is printed boldly, in French of course, on both sides along with the name “Elear” and “Aluminium-Magnesium.”. They are NOT Clear pads. The only nit to pick would be the cable, it’s very long and thick. between the two with the Clear being the more firm of the two. If you are treble sensitive at all Elear might be one you need to audition first to be safe. Too often high-end products neglect appearances; if you’re spending this sort of money, we think you should get a product th… The dip also makes the Elear a little dark in presentation compared to the HE-500 and especially the HD800 – and not quite unlike the Sennheiser HD600 and HD650. It isn’t terrible and I can adjust to it and sort of shift the headphone position around to find a better fit, but it takes a bit fiddling around every once in a while across longer listening sessions. Elex pads are hard to come by. I made the decision that day to pursue the Elear, as the Utopia was far out of my reach, and to dissect its sound reproduction for myself. FIRST HIGH-END CLOSED-BACK HEADPHONES BY FOCAL To enjoy an incredible listening experience in total privacy, without worrying about a noisy environment disturbing this moment of pleasure: this is the promise made and kept by Elegia.In these high-end circum-aural closed-back headphones, we have combined the best of our skilfully created technologies, developed and … Now I have tried using EQ on Elear and I can definitely use it to help bring the upper mids more forward. Today’s review focuses on the home area, where we will dive into the middle of three models in the series, the Focal Elear. If you have a medium sized head that is perfectly round this shouldn’t be an issue as the padding should evenly distribute the weight across your head. However, upper mids/low treble is where things start to fall apart. It also feels more comfortable to me due to the suspension band system and pleather pads. Treble brightness is about even with Elear, but HE-500 feels more cohesive in its sound. Is that the 2016 one? The attack on the key hits is immense and startling, and you can feel a piano riff in the chest if it is emphasized in a song’s production enough. Th-X00 has more bloom. One of the unusual design elements of Focal loudspeakers is the frequent use of “inverted dome” tweeters, in which the dome tweeter is concave outwards rather than the more usual convex outwards. The weight of the headphones themselves do not bother me so much either, but keep in mind that I was recently promoted to captain in the great war against heavy headphones. This is something that I noticed in the ZMF Omni as well, but the HD800 is the best headphone I have owned in terms of tackling this tricky area on the frequency chart – leading to such recordings ringing out clearly. My pair shipped out today, so hyped. Are the clears actually less fatiguing? To get the bass and mids where I like, the 1990s pierce in the treble region and I can do about 2 songs before I'm done. Also, if you aren't used to really mid forward headphones like Sennheisers you might not notice it as much. I don't find Elear to sound all that different on the various solid states so my impressions are consistent with any of those sources. It just isn't wall of fame worthy and I never understood its inclusion. However, the Elear has a dynamic quality to it that has been absent in all my previous headphones, with the Sennheiser HD800 coming closest. This could possibly partially explain the better imaging/soundstage of that headphone compared to Elex. This creates a heavier, meatier, and thicker bass body. It sounds like you have a few hundred lying around if you are willing to consider a trade + cash to get Clear? When you take the headphones out of the box, you’ll immediately be dazzled with the metallic look and great feel. Essentially, these are the closed-back version of the Utopias. The problem is that while it does raise the volume level of those frequencies, it doesn’t really fix the feeling that it is hazy and lifeless. Completely agree with your viewpoint. If I listen to it with the HD800, the machinery and voices are swirling around with a sharp and clear presentation – due to the HD800’s massive soundstage and imaging. I actually posted about that experience here a while ago. This is not true except for bass performance. So who is Elear for? Or if you really want to save up and go big, I personally consider ZMF Verite to be the "best" (for me). But it does have pretty thick padding on the headband as well as plush earpads that feel like a velour/cloth type of material. Keep in mind that the Omni held this position before Focal released this beast of a headphone. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts, RME/887/ZDT Jr>Auteur/Atticus/HD800(SDR)/Elex/LCD2C/Verum1/HD6XX, Benchmark DAC3 HGC | Audeze LCD-4 | DT-1990, AirPods Max|LCD-500|Ananda|HD800|HD6XX|"Elex"|SR-404. (1) Review: Focal Elear Headphones (2) Can Jam London 2016: Talking about the Focal Utopia and Elear with Nicolas Debard|3 - I'll post the text here, but if you want the full experience (photos and other video links), then I invite you to check out my site. I suspect if you are happy with Elear over Clear you wouldn't care much about Elex. What is that headphone stand and why does it have a USB port on the side? One of my all-time favorites. I don't think it will be unlistenable for anyone, but it could be just a bit fatiguing. If anyone's looking for a seller, Gramophone on newegg has a 30 day refund w/ no restocking fee. But I still think this is minor to the point you can only hear this difference if you are doing a side-by-side comparison. Elear is thicker, warmer sounding in bass with a bit more impact. It shares a lot of the technology found in the Focal Utopia , which many people consider to be the very best headphone in the world today. I think Elear+Elex pads puts it in a similar level as HE-500. Elear is better for a more lively and fun sound. I saw a post on the front page of r/headphones today of someone who bought an inexpensive aftermarket cable. Elear has more air and separation up top with a brighter overall sound. Kind of wonder if buying Dekoni velour pads would have similar changes for the Elear as the Elex pads did. I even did some back-to-back listening with Elear (stock pads), Clear, and Utopia. Clear pads are much more dense and plush. I'm not sure why you would say something like - "I like Tyll, but these headphones don't belong on his personal wall of fame". i am from head-fi. The Clear pads sounded a tad better to me. Imaging is better than average as Elear feels like a fast driver as its great transient response makes it easy to place instruments, though because of the smaller stage instruments feel closely layered next to each other. The USB ports are there because it can be a USB hub that you connect to your computer and it also has a 3.5mm jack, though I haven't bothered trying it out. Turns out that so did everybody else. Those were my benchmark headphones. I don’t have a preference for any specific sound signature or have any sensitivities to particular frequency ranges. Last summer, a high-end speaker company out of France shocked the audiophile world with two of the best pairs of high-end headphones, the $1,000 Focal Elear and $4,000 Focal … The attack is quite sharp with quick decay. This would make for an interesting experience with the HD800 sometimes, where a drum beat’s cymbal pattern would land squarely on the frequency chart of the headphones that emphasized treble – leading it to sound a great deal more pronounced than, I would imagine, even the personnel in the mixing room at the time of recording intended. The reason for the Elear’s incredibly fast ascent into the audiophile headphone firmament is clear: we think its easily the best value to be found right now in high-end headphones. This is where I think both Elex/Clear are much improved. I use a mix of FLAC and Spotify premium streaming for testing. Cymbal crashes are snappy and sizzle. Focal Elear open-back wired headphones reviewExcellent sound qualityBeautiful designA little heavy9Overall ScoreSound9Design9.5Comfort8.5Value9We review a ton of consumer-focused headphones here at Headphone Review, but every now and then we get access to something truly special.

Phoenix Fd Cinema 4d, Chinese Crested Male Vs Female, How To Burn Holes In Plastic, Equity Derivatives Trader, Mosquito Mountain Scramble,