I have yet to hear anything like the Utopia even the Clear OG was vastly different IMO. Love it or hate it the Utopia has a very unique sound to it.
Very interesting, thank you for your observations. It makes me even more tempted to order one of the Clear OG final run! My setup is in the same family as yours too, Bifrost 2 + Lyr 3. I was also considering the Sennheiser HD8xx from Drop. Any feedback on Clear OG vs 800s? (8xx nearly the same) Decisions, decisions…
I thought the OG clear with the LYR3/Bifrost 2 sounded awesome
Clear Mg Padgate?
Bought new Focal Clears in February this year and discovered foam density in one pad different than the other. Returned them and Focal shipped me the Focal Clear Mg the week after they were launched. They had the same problem! Focal shipped me a new set of pads and now all is well.
Glad Focal is taking care of you!!
I don’t feel grateful to them for correcting what is essentially disgraceful quality control on their part. I decided to post after having recently seen a couple of reviews giving contrasting opinions of the sound changes in the new Clear MG’s. I suggest everyone who owns the new Clears (as well as the originals) to check the earpads. One of my pads was so soft the inner grill was resting on my ear. Obviously what you hear is influenced by the pads, made much worse if the pads don’t even match!
I picked up a demo loaner unit from Tyler/Headphones.com yesterday of the Mg Pro and I surprisingly had it on my head for many continuous hours last night.
My initial reaction was that it was warmer, meatier, and also veiled compared to other Focal headphones, and especially against the HD600 and Susvara. The HD600 sounded much thinner, but also more open and airy (not typically what I’d say the HD600 is…)
That said, despite the small veil, I enjoyed listening to this for hours. It was very comfortable, as well as the laid back presentation was engaging enough but also easy to relax to (or in my case, work to). It reminded me a bit of the Elegia in that sense. It didn’t have the super punchy dynamics of the Elex or Clear even, and didn’t have that crazy resolution of the Utopia, but it was just a laid back presentation.
The Elegia is a tad mushy though, which I don’t find the case with the Mg Pro, however, like the Elegia, it isn’t as crisp as the Elex was to me, from memory. While it’s thicker sounding, it doesn’t punch as hard, which came as a bit of a surprise given these are Focals. That said, they’re still dynamic sounding and enjoyable, though a lot more intimate than I expected, though not as forward as Utopias, again, from memory.
It’s not my normal tuning preferences, because I do feel like there’s a bit of veil in the upper mids/presence region, but I can quickly adjust to it, as proven by my 3-4 hours of continuous listening last night. It works better with male vocals than female due to that veil for me, but again, I can deal with it.
So far, impressions are generally positive, though I do think if I had to have one right now, the original Clear would be a better choice, though given my current stable of headphones, this one could make more sense for me personally.
Ok obligatory graphs:
And link to the Focal Mg Pro on my new graph comparison tool:
https://headphones.audiodiscourse.com/?share=Antdroid%20Target,Clear%20Mg%20Pro
Nice impressions, and thank you for posting your measurements.
I also noticed a ‘touch’ of veil when I first received them. I solved this with a Silver after market cable (a Norne that wasn’t inexpensive, but worth it). Not the cheapest solution, but it helped.
Another thing that can bring forward vocal region would be pairing the MG’s with a tube amp. They’re pretty transparent to source, so that also makes them picky, imo.
I’m glad to hear that you enjoyed them.
Oh and welcome to the forum @ckc when you get a second introduce yourself to the community on the new member thread. Cheers.
Thanks for posting this. First let me preface what I am about to say with this: I’ve not heard the new Clear MG, so take this with a huge grain of salt! With that out of the way, sound preference is subjective for sure, but in my opinion, based on the reviews and measurements, this seems to be a downgrade from the Original Clear; if you’re a measurements junky, the graph supports this. The fact that they aren’t as Dynamic as something like the Elex further supports my opinion. What a shame!
With that said, since the Elegia is no longer in production, the Clear MG does fill a void that Focal had, in that they didn’t really have an open-back with a laid back, meatier presentation. Perhaps that was their thought process behind changing the sound signature to a “smoother” or “darker” style.
There is no substitute for actually hearing something with your own ears - so again, this is purely based on what I’ve read and the various measurements.
I reached a similar conclusion without hearing the MG. However, be aware that a slight tonal difference can transform what is heard versus what is present. Humans experience auditory masking, so a slight bump here could affect perceptions of a lot of other stuff there.
The OG Clear (mine) is indeed clear, and largely carries over the character of the DAC and amp. Some comparisons may not be useful if a reviewer used different hardware for each review. (I find my Clear to boom with a Burr-Brown DAC, but open and airy on an AKM 4490).
The new Clear MG are transparent, even more so IMO then the OG clear. Forget about the measurements for a sec and hear me out. I can make the Clear Mg push one direction or another warmer or colder based on the amp I feed them. If the amp I give them has good impact they present good impact. I think @generic is spot on, what I hear with the Clear MG will be significantly based on the DAC and Amp as they are transparent to the source. So if I feed them an Echo 2 they slam, the mid range and vocal regions become even more life like, if I feed them a Jot 2 I hear a more neutral intimate sound. I guess what I am trying to say is they receive audible influence quite well based on your gear, taking into account impedance ratings and your gear.
What amps and Dac did you base your impressions off of @antdroid I definitely respect your impressions and love your write ups just wanted to know what you feed them to get your impressions so far?
I think the original Clear OG was dope and is still one of my favorite Focal Headphones but the new Clear MG is very good as well. I wish I had a pair of the OG clear on hand to give you a proper non measurement sound impression take, but unfortunately I don’t. If you own the clear OG already you are in good hands, but the sound from the MG to my ears has some better qualities then the OG going off audio memory starting with a better more open sounding stage, better imaging, better vocal presentation and IMO a more balanced sound overall. Again this is from audio memory so until I can A/B take this with a grain of salt. Some may find the new MG isn’t as good, or may find it’s better but again you won’t know until you try for yourselves and based on all the talked about issues with the pads and different measurements I would take some of those measurements as simply a data point and not gospel. I think you said it best, when you said this Brandon!! @Nuance
I just pulled the trigger on the Clear Mg after reading your feedback and watching your video. I am feeling a bit apprehensive given the mixed reviews and the supposed pad issues, but I am taking a shot anyways and hoping that my experience is more lined up with the positive reviews I’ve come across.
I pretty new to the audiophile world and do not have a lot of experience with that many headphones yet so this purchase is quite a milestone for me. I was also considering the either the Auteur or Aeolus but chose the Clear Mg for now because it is easier to drive and I don’t have a lot of amp/dacs to play around with as of yet. I would like to also get my hands on those headphones (any many others) at some point when I learn more about this rabbit hole I seem to have fallen into.
Can’t wait to get my new toy!
I’m closer to you than most posters in terms of experience in this world, but I can only tell you that the Clear MG is an absolute pleasure, and I’m starting to dive in, myself, trying out different amps/DACs/tubes. I hope you enjoy the new Clears as much as I do.
Mainly chord qutest with audiolab 6000a (my UK stack) and also topping a30 pro/d30 pro (chifi stack)
Try it off tubes when you get a chance.
That’s awesome. I feel more excited than nervous now, so thank you for that. I can’t wait to try them!
Don’t currently have a tube amp to try it on, but if I have a chance I will. Focals typically add more mid-bass and warmth with tubes or high impedance amps. Not sure I’d want more than what is given already, but worth a shot when I get a chance.
You’re 100% correct! I think the thing that’s most concerning is the varying measurements. Experiences and preference are subjective, and they could be based on almost anything, but there were just more similarities in measurements with the OG Clear.
I personally think this could be related to the pad variances. If you look at Crinacle’s measurement of the OG Clear with the MG pads, the OG measures very similarly to the new MG. I wish he had put the OG pads on the Clear MG and measured that - would have been interesting to see if the new MG measured more like the original.
Awesome man, I hope you love them! What amp/Dac are you going to use with them?