Focal Elegia - Closed Back Headphones - Official Thread

[ValentineLuke]

Nice impressions. Very articulate.

[MRHifiReviews]

Thank you! @ValentineLuke

[ValentineLuke]

@MRHifiReviews, my guess is that initial ‘brightness’ may tame down a hair after some play time (break-in, or burn-in).

[MRHifiReviews]

I think you’re probably correct.

[Hansel]

Thanks for the impressions !!! Goot to know the point you made with the Aeon 2C.

[MartinTransporter]

happy you enjoy the Elegia and it found a place next to the DCA AEON 2C!

While it is easy to drive, I found balanced drive benefits it

[MRHifiReviews]

I need to order a balanced cable and try it. My SMSL THX Amp has balanced connection but according to the manufacturer the single ended output has higher power and lower noise floor. I should order one regardless to try with different headphones to see how they respond.

[MRHifiReviews]

@MRHifiReviews

So my initial impressions early on with my listening journey Less than 24 hours with the Elegia are quite good.

-Great detail and speed.
-Nicely done soundstage for a closed back.
-Piano and string orchestral instruments sound lovely.
-Acoustic instruments and vocals paired sound beautiful.
-Required listening volume is much less than any other headphone I own.
-Comfort is solid just like the Elear was.
-Build Quality awesome like all Focal gear.
-At times you forget this is a closed back headphone.
-Closed back for classical if you will.
-Surprisingly good pairing with Dragonfly Red.
-Clean and Clear sound.
-Can appear somewhat bright at times.
-Doesn’t sound as nice with Electric Guitar, and some other more modern instruments as the AEON2C.
-When turned up too loud can be a bit fatiguing to my ears, lower listening volume corrects this.
-Possibly not for treble sensitive individuals.
-Low end isn’t as meaty sounding and rich as the AEON2C.
-Decent isolation while still letting me hear some sounds outside the cups.
-Sound leakage if there is any wasn’t a big deal at all as I listened to them in bed last night with my wife sleeping next to me and she didn’t hear them.

So far these initial impressions reinforce the decision to swap these with the Elear’s as I was wanting another closed back pair that could play exceptionally well with other types of music that the Aeon2C may not pair as well with.

I feel like the Aeon2C and the Elegia are extremely complimentary to ones collection of closed back listening cans as they both do things very well but in different ways. The Elegias strengths seemed better suited to some of the above described instruments and music where as the Aeon 2C flourish with electronic, metal, electric guitar, pop, rock etc.

These impressions were formed listening via IMac, IPad Pro, Iphone through the Qobuz app mostly hi res tracks and some cd quality, SMSL THX SP200 Amp, SMSL SU8 DAC, iFi IDSD Micro Black Label, and the Dragonfly Red.

MR

Edits and added impressions:

1. 2/9/2020
   I would also add that these headphones don’t sound bass shy IMO just overall what seems to be a neutral to mid-forward tuning so the low end just isn’t very emphasized, however listening to Lana Del Ray “Lust for Life Album” you can here the hit of the drivers when songs hit for the lower end, it’s just not the star of the show, but wow her vocals sound so nicely rendered. Sexy as hell.
2. Making sure to get a good seal with the Elegia is more important than Aeon2C as the ear pads need a little more adjustment for me to make sure the lower end is fully enabled by proper seal. AEON2C ear pads seal very easily due to the style and construction of them. Definitely wouldn’t recommend wearing glasses with the Elegia unless you are sitting the ear pieces on top of the ear pads.
3. It might be interesting to hear how they sound with a more smoothed off Dragonfly Cobalt as I have read the cobalt tames treble some.
4. While the Aeon2C wins the size portability war the Elegia wins the amplification battle as really having very good sound from just a USB Dragonfly Red dongle vs the iFi IDSD Micro Black Label being needed for the AEON2C for them to sound very good. This gives an advantage to the Elegia in the portability discussion.

Some updated impressions from this morning, I will update as more things come up leading to a more indepth comparison vs the AEON2C and overall experiences with both.

MR

[TylersEclectic]

I’ve actually really been enjoying the Elegia from my Razer THX USB-C DAC dingle-dongle from my pad with both Spotify premium and Qobuz the past couple nights. Sound is surprisingly good! That is all… please continue your with your normal posting and reading/viewing pleasure…

[MRHifiReviews]

So I was producing and directing a video commercial today and guess what headphones I brought to monitor audio with?

[ValentineLuke]

Focal Elegia?

I really need to get a pair of Focal’s…

[MRHifiReviews]

Honestly for that use case they were really good for field work with video recording. I didn’t think I would ever use the Elegia for that purpose but they are so easy to drive, comfortable, pack up nicely in the case and very clean sounding so I could easily discern vocals during the interviews. Plus they made me look way cooler than I am hahah. I wonder if @Resolve edits his videos with the Elegia, I could see them also for that use case as they are a fairly neutral closed back set of headphones.

[TylersEclectic]

They are my go to for when we do the live stream and will probably be my headphone of choice when I eventually cut my teeth on YouTube, with my own channel… just need to figure out how to shoot video better and flesh out talking points… my ADHD tends to make me ramble lol

[ValentineLuke]

Looking forward to your channel!

You have so much experience with so many products in the space, I know it’ll be great with whatever format you decide upon.

And you can always count on positive feedback from many of us here.

[MartinTransporter]

just start and it for sure will work fine.
As long as content is intersting and fun … your audio is not all over the place…
B-Roll is a bit overrated these days

[TylersEclectic]

The hotel we are in has some dope backgrounds for my edc and two new bottles for my collection…which picture do you all like the best?

Or my favorite…

[ValentineLuke]

Agreed, number 2.

[MRHifiReviews]

#2 also!!

[jb77]

Third vote for picture #2

[ProfFalkin]

@TylersEclectic

which picture do you all like the best?

I like the one where I’m drinking that whiskey.

… Ok, fine, # 2.