Currently Perceived “End Game”

I wonder if a different port/filter would help with the excitement?

But I totally get what you’re saying. You want to enjoy your music more so than analyze it.

Yeah my tastes definitely veer more to “fun sounding” than analytical…to each their own and all that.

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You mean there are other people who share my obses…, err desire to gather interesting headphones on these forums?! Well I’ll be damned.

Seriously now, I only have a few units that are or were at one time considered to be the absolute TOTL among their peers and yet, none of those sound anywhere near what their looks would suggest and all of them except a single one (Focal Utopia) are uncomfortable. It’s almost as if poor ergonomics were a prerequisite to claim the title. It took me years to realize that the expression “TOTL” had often more to do with good money than good sound. You don’t always get what you pay for

When it comes to high-end cans it’s usually the mid-range or even the BOTL among them that sound best. For example, I have never heard anyone honestly admit that they preferred the Utopia over the Elear, even those who aren’t aware that the Elear project was about producing a sort of bare-bones debugged version of the Utopia that would not include the more esoteric elements of the latter in favour of more traditional materials, and yet remain fully worthy of the term “high-end”. The Elear is not only better sounding (imho), but also sported a killer look that is still a reference among high-end cans. It’s no coincidence that the new Elegia looks almost identical save for the closed back.

End game… yeah in my younger years I did believe in the existence of a Holy Can that would put any other headphone to shame until I eventually realized that such a creature could only be myth material, sort of like a dragon. I now use the term “most desirable” instead. Currently my most desirable headphone is one that I have not yet seen “in the flesh” let alone listened to. I find it frustrating that the Hifiman Shangri-La costs $64,000 USD (almost $100,000 CDN). For those here who aren’t yet aware of it, it happens to be Hifiman’s TOTL. It’s a made-to-order electrostatic design that comes with its own lamp amplifier (at that insane price it’s the least HFM could do lol). The little I know about them is enough for me to make them a “most desirable” item.

So no, they are most likely not the Holy Can but some people in the know say they are damn near. On the other hand I have some hesitation regarding Hifiman products and the Susvara that cost me over $8,000 do not sound that great with my musical preferences. For HFM that sum is merely mid-range but for me there’s nothing “mid” about that kind of money. I bought them for the collector in me (that means I was impressed with their striking aesthetics) not the audiophile me. I hope the Shangri-La doesn’t come with more bugs than is usual for ESP’s. Whoa dude, what the heck am I doing? This is all for naught since I’ll never be able to afford them anyway. :grin:

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I like to think of it as an appreciation of headphones…

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@ValentineLuke - I saw Mudhoney in SF in '94 - only tickets I could get were dinner and show at some place I can’t remember - Filet Mingnon + Mudhoney! Was watching them start the show from the upper level while cutting my steak.

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Nice!

Well, I can tell you that I VASTLY prefer the Utopia over the Elear, so there goes that …

Nothing I could do to the Elear, be it custom EQ, True-Fi, swapping pads, makes it as good, let alone preferable. No doubt some people prefer it, but I’m not one of them … and that’s coming from a place where I have owned ALL of Focal’s headphones at the same time.

Literally the only reason I kept the Elear after the Clear was released, was because I wanted, for some bizarre reason, to have the whole set, together, for direct comparison. And I only bought it in the first place because it was an “open-box” unit on sale for $549.

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Based on either owning or listening to the entire Focal line-up I personally would rank them as such from least preferred to most preferred:

6: Elear
5: Elex
4: Elegia
3: Clear
2: Stellia
1: Utopia

To note I’ve owned all but the Stellia and Utopia. But, I’ve listened to both of those fairly extensively, at least for me to get an idea where they fall for me, but, not enough to give a proper review/impression of them.

Also, of the ones I’ve owned, I only still own the Elegia! It is in my opinion tragically underrated by people, I assume this is due to the Reddit crowd pooping on it with out actually either hearing it, or only listening to it for a very short period of time.

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That’d be the same order I’d rank them in, both technically and for enjoyability (assuming no pad swapping was going on).

Though I never cared for the feel of the pads, nor the aesthetic, of the Elex (my picture, shows my preferred aesthetics here, from least favorite on the left, to favorite on the right).

I think the Elegia, which is probably the closest-to-actual-neutral closed-back you can buy, suffers because in general people (or whatever the closest facsimile is on Reddit) seem to associate closed-back with loadsabass … and they don’t get that with the Elegia.

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How does the sound compare between the Elear rolled with Clear pads vs the Elegia? @TylersEclectic

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I’m not @TylersEclectic … and I’m much too lazy to write up a comparison right now, but if you want to compare the frequency responses of every Focal headphone/pad combination, I have a thread for that here.

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What Torq has highlighted is the jump off point for where I would begin researching the difference. Also, I think Torq nails it on the head regarding why people(or the Reddit inquisitioners) dislike the Elegia, it is a neutral headphone with more in common with the Clears than the Elears.

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Thanks Ian! I wondered because I have been listening more and more to closed back cans out of necessity lately and my Elear’s don’t see much use because of that. I have been enjoying the Aeon2C quite a bit. When I do listen to open cans I find myself going back to the Ananda’s or 6XX for whatever reason vs the Elear’s with the clear pads. So I wondered if swapping them could be a good move to still get that Focal sound signature but a closed version, to prevent sound bleed and waking up my daughter or bothering my wife in the same room. I wondered how much the stage and imaging suffered as I’m not really big into measurements yet.

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That might be enjoyable, but then again that could also mean very little bass. I will look at the sound measurements. I really need to just get the loaner pair and give them a listen.

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I highly enjoy them as a go to closed, but yeah they can be a bit bass lite. But not unenjoyable

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Yeah I need to listen to them, only way to really know. Do you experience any ear fatigue with them from them being closed back? Or do you find them fatiguing for longer listening sessions? Sometimes the Elear can be a bit fatiguing to me.

Back to the topic this is why I just don’t see a perceived end game for me, as I just haven’t heard enough headphones yet!

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I have actually not had fatigue with them that I can recall, and I’ve listened to them for extended periods of time for multiple days in a row(at work).

I’m at my perceived endgame at this point, only thing I see now are niche or sidegrades to my home setup… or portable setups that can get me as close to my at home setup as possible…?

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Yeah, you have great kit! I think the biggest thing I didn’t realize was when I started was how important having A couple good closed back options would be vs. having several open back options. With having my daughters room right next to my home office even with open backs she can sometimes hear them and I don’t want to disturb her when she sleeps. Still learning exactly what my listening needs are.

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Friends don’t let friends r/headphones.

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hey Marcello!

so good to see, it is also others. :wave:

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