# Focal Elex - Official Thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Official Headphone Model Discussion\ **Tags:** focal, massdrop\ **Created:** [May 30, 2018, 9:48pm UTC](https://forum.headphones.com/t/focal-elex-official-thread/1618 "2018-05-30T21:48:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 70
**Author:** ![generic](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.headphones.com/generic/32/61169_2.png) [@generic](https://forum.headphones.com/u/generic)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2020, 11:30am UTC](https://forum.headphones.com/t/focal-elex-official-thread/1618/70 "2020-11-04T11:30:51Z")
> [@SleepyRhythms](#): > > Elex pads are also wonderful for different reasons. Less of a bottom end emphasis in favor of the treble opening up. The two units I have are separate worlds of tuning not sounding at all like the other. > [@Resolve](#): > > this one I have here measures almost identically to the Clear as well Following my recent back-to-back testing, I find it very hard to believe this follows from the pads alone. My Elex has random, piercing treble (especially on single-ended). Icepicks in the ear piercing. For tolerable use I must put it on a tube amp or (per use with SS amps) aggressively turn down treble and/or upper mid range via EQ. My ears are quite sensitive in the 12K to 13K range, so YMMV. I don’t always hear a specific tone per se, but routinely feel very uncomfortable pain sensations or hiss with \>8K noise. My Clear has a very hard time being piercing on any amp (again, single-ended are worse) – its potential issues include grain, edginess, flat dynamics, and fuzziness rather than icepicks. The issues are the opposite of the Elex, and as if the drivers flex too much or move randomly with dirty input. My Elex is very dynamic and tuned more like the Utopia than the Clear, but with much less precise control than either the Utopia or Clear. Some time back I concluded the Elex drivers sounded physically ‘heavier’ than the Clear drivers. Once they start moving they don’t stop, and they tend to collapse treble frequencies into narrow bands. They were extremely metallic for the first 20-30 hours (search old posts on this site), and still retain a trumpet-like character with similar overtones. Furthermore, the volume differences between s-o-f-t and L-O-U-D sounds were comical at first. Compare this to the snapping feel of pushing on the ‘pop-up’ vacuum safety top on a jar – with a little electrical input the Elex generated little sound and then with more input they suddenly generated a lot of sound. My Clear was never remotely like this. Perhaps Focal reduced the moving mass or stiffness of the Elex drivers but kept the same coil and electrical properties? --- _[View the full topic](https://forum.headphones.com/t/focal-elex-official-thread/1618)._