Sound is somewhat ‘Harmanlike’ just with a slight timbre shift to the ear gain, causing a hint of glare at 3.5khz.
Distortion is kept in check, even at extremely high volumes - I also couldn’t get it to clip even above 107dB
Subjective qualities are good, but maybe not quite as tactile and hard hitting as what you get on some of the other Focal models.
Overall, this is a solid, competent release from Focal. I don’t like it quite as much as the Radiance but there’s not much to complain about acoustically. With this release, it strikes me as Focal trying to produce something a bit more conventional with a broader appeal. While I don’t think it outshines the other ‘good’ closed-back headphones, of which there are few, I’d comfortably place the Azurys in that category.
I really hope they bring some units to canjam to try out. I am still on the hunt for a good closed back I can daily drive on the commute/at work, but also enjoy at home on my setup.
We’ll have units at CanJam SoCal for sure and Focal definitely will as well!
Before Resolve stole them from me, I had the chance to use the Azurys for a couple of days and quite liked them. I generally daily drive IEMs or my Bathys but for me, the Azurys has a better out of the box tuning than the Bathys and it’s also quite a bit lighter.
Not a huge fan of the cable but that’s easily replaced. I’ve already got a pair bookmarked for me when they start shipping. Plus, while Resolve hates fun things, I actually like them and so the colour is right on the mark for me. Bring more fun to audio!
Oh, sorry, I should have specified canjam London, my bad
I currently daily drive airpods pro 2 (mainly because they are convient) but I am definitely looking forward to testing the ZMF Bokeh in London too (ZMF told me they will bring several units for sale and demo)
Anyways, I am really curious to give the Azurys a shot. They definitely look very fun and colorful and that’s always a win in my book. Life is sad and boring. Let my headphones at least be funky (or in my case, usually also my custom cables I get for them)
I am really curious how I vibe with the different take on the focal sound this time. I demo’d the Celestee a while ago in a store and I was very very much underwhelmed about how “muffled sounding” they were.
Really enjoying the Azurys. I have Elegia and Bathys in the stable too, and I sat down to a bit of comparing today. Bathys is a more relaxed headphone with a more diffuse bass, and less overall detail. Elegia is similar detail wise to Azurys to my ear, and wider in the soundstage, but I’m preferring Azurys timbre and overall sound signature to Elegia by a good bit! If I could describe this headphone in two words, it’s vibrant and clear.
Absolutely superb work from Focal imo. Finally a truly portable closed back hifi headphone that doesn’t need a ton of juice to power, or feel heavy and huge in public
Last Friday I tested Azurys and Hadenys and as I am currently looking for closed headphones for myself, I was very interested in the former.
When it comes to build and comfort - everything was at a really high level.
However, I liked the sound more in the Hadenys - I realize that it is a comparison of open and closed-backs, but maybe there is something that can be easily adjusted in the EQ?
Does anyone out there have any recommended EQ settings (I use Qudelix 5K) that could help here?
That’s sort of always the tradeoff - portability vs accommodating mechanical designs. While the Focals are quite comfortable, if you’re sensitive to having pads touch your ears, you may want to consider something like the HD 490 Pro instead. Even that one doesn’t have a massive opening, but certainly it’s a bit more accommodating.
Sennheiser’s HD 490 Pro looks like a great headphone. And it is also on my radar. I believe it has an open back though. So some sound could potentially leak in and out.
Haven’t personally tried it btw. So just goin by the specs…
There are two versions of the HD 490 Pro btw, the “Pro” and the “Pro Plus” which is a bit more expensive. I don’t remember what the differences are though…
Three recent videos discussing some of the merits and sound quality of the HD 490 Pro. The last one with Resolve covers all the 6 series Sennheisers plus the HD 490 Pro…
I don’t think the cups on the HD 620S swivel to a flat position though, like on the HD 490 Pro. Fwiw, here’s a recent review and measurements of the HD 620S by DMS and Resolve…
And also a comparison of the Focal Azurys and Sennheiser HD 620S by DMS…
All the headphones discussed above (including the HD 490 Pro) are basic wired headphones with no noise cancellation features btw. The closed models will isolate better than open models though.
Other mfrs of good wired closed-backs you could look into include DCA, Denon, and Meze. Focal has a couple other models as well that might have slightly larger cups. And Sony also has a few nice closed backs.
If you want to lower your budget, then there are more options to consider. But the quality and comfort will probably go down a bit (or alot, in some cases). Some brands that might be worth a look are AKG (e.g. K371), Shure (e.g. SRH840A, SRH1540), Beyerdynamic (e.g. DT 700 Pro X), Sony, and perhaps also Rode, Austrian Audio and Neumann. I’m less sure about that last three because they’re newer to the headphone market, though not necessarily new to audio in general.
AudioTechnica also makes some nice higher end closed headphones. And some popular lower end gear. The cups on the AT M50X are quite small (and uncomfortable on my ears) though, so I’d suggest passing on that one.
Hi Resolve. Would you be so kind to share your PEQ settings of the Azurys with us? Looking forward to your answer. Thanks for your review, time and effort. Much appreciated. Cheers Fonz
