Thanks for this, @ValentineLuke.
I wonder if the OG Clear will end up getting discontinued; my concern is less that the headphones disappear from the lineup than that Focal will stop selling the pads. Ugh, I’d prefer not to fork out for a replacement pair just to be on the safe side…
For some day Clear OG disappeared from the Headphones line up on Focal website.
Last week I’ve checked the website and they’re there again.
Probably the launch of the Clear MG has been delayed.
As for the professional line new Clears will replace the older ones.
Don’t worry about it…just replace the headphone itself with the new clear! 
If you’re paying that much for pads why not buy the new headphone instead! 
Yeah, I’m not sure wether or not Focal will still offer Clear pads.
The new MG pads are a bit shallower, so they are different.
Seriously.
The smart move might be to wait until an early adopter sells his or her new Clear MG, buy it, and sell my own OG Clear and hope that the difference isn’t too much greater than the $200 for the pads. I have a feeling it won’t work out that way… 
I have backup pads for my Stellia and Dekoni pads. We never know how long Focal will offer replacement parts.
Yeah, it’s too bad Focal doesn’t price its accessories as generously as Sennheiser does, and it’s too bad that Sennheiser hasn’t kept up with Focal in releasing new, exciting high-end headphones in recent years.
I have a feeling I’m going to be investing in both HD 800 and Clear pads soon. The rub is that I’ll probably be able to get a decade longer out of the same investment for the Senn pads… ugh.
Discoloration aside, how long do Focal pads typically last before the foam gives out? 5 years or 50,000 miles?
Probably depends on a person’s usage…mine is still going after 2 years but I replaced em not too long ago. I mainly use mine during the night not during the day for my usage. I’m sure others’ experiences vary.
My Stellia only made it a year. They were light before.
P.S. Appreciating Drew today. NOLA legend.
Oof, and the Stellia pads are even pricer, iirc.
Yes, hats off to Drew. He’ll be sorely missed. He helped get us through some tough times.
Would I be right in thinking that, apart from the color, the original Focal Clear Pro’s pads are the same as the regular, original Clear’s?
I believe so…
Thank you, @ValentineLuke, I really appreciate the help, both for this and for the info about the new MG pads being shallower.
(I wonder if the OG Clear with red pads on them would be sexy?)
Pads will be the same according to Focal representatives. It will change only the colour. Consider that changing colour can bring to a very minor difference in the feeling of the pads when new (different colours differently impact on the material making it feel softer/harder at first). It is something totally not perceivable.
I have the original Clear Pros and remember reading that the sole difference between them and the original Clear was the pads (the former having been tweaked to deliver a slightly more ‘reference’ frequency response). I’ll see if I can find the source…
I can’t find the original source, but did find this on headfi. It seems even Focal haven’t been consistent regarding the differences:
No explicit reference to pad differences though.
Thanks for the help, everyone. What are the chances that, if the pads are different, the deltas between their sound are smaller than my ability to discern them?!
@Resolve, maybe if you have the original Clear on hand you could try the MG pads on them?
I’m curious to see how that will affect the OG Clear.
Did you ever post them?
Last month I ordered replacement pads for my Focal Clear from headphone.com because my old pads were looking a little beat/dirty.
The new pads I received are noticeably different in size, material, and density. The old pads are a good deal wider and the material is more pleasing. The new pads feel less premium to the touch.
The pads also sound a little different. It’s been really hard to make any noteworthy comparisons in terms of frequency response because it takes so long to replace the pads. There may be no difference in frequency response. But there does seem to be a difference in imaging/soundstage. The smaller new pads make the sound feel a little too close compared to my old pads that leave a little more room to breathe around the sound. This could 100% be psychological but I do believe I’m hearing a difference. Unfortunately, I have no way to measure and compare the pads objectively.
Here are some pictures of the new and old pads side by side.
Maybe the old pads have just expanded because they’ve absorbed oils from my hair over the last year or something? Let me know what you think!
I think the plan is to return the new pads and hope that I can find a pair that’s more like my current ones 
Hopefully @Resolve will measure them and compare them to the old pads when they get back to headphones.com!
