The key feature to note here is the shifted ear gain that can come across as a 3.5khz peak. But apart from that, this is quite impressive for an open-back headphone.
The following should be considered less perceptually relevant data unless things are very wrong
Measures similarly to Azurys, but I prefer the Hadenys. It has smoother mids, and I hear that 3.5khz quirk as more of a timbre feature than anything fatiguing or glaring.
Important to note - it is quite rare to find an open back headphone with a bass shelf that rises up into the sub bass like the Hadenys does. Usually they elevate much higher up in frequency and can’t achieve this kind of elevation.
Distortion is also better than the HD 6 series headphones, on the better end of moving coil headphones even if not as good as competing planars. Still, this will have no problem with EQ should you want to. They also don’t clip at 107dB like some of the older Focals do, so boosting the bass through EQ or high OI sources shouldn’t cause that issue.
Extremely lightweight and comfortable, around 300g. Much lighter than Focal’s previous headphones.
Subjectively good but not quite as hard hitting on the attack as the Clear, Elex or Utopia, likely due to the increased overall bass presence. At the same time, these new ones sound more spacious in part due to not having the 1.5khz forward character of the older models.
Overall I’m quite impressed by the Hadenys. It doesn’t supplant the HD 600 series in terms of natural timbre, nor does it keep up with the Clear for its sense of tactility and intensity. But its overall response is likely to garner a more broad appeal. It’s a competent, well-tuned open back headphone with a bass shelf in the right spot to keep the mids clean sounding. It also responds well to EQ for those wanting to dial things in. I’ll post my profile for these shortly.
@Resolve did swap the Bathys pads onto them and measured them he may not have had a proper seal the clip. He did not feel the Bathys ear pads made a difference that was positive though.
However, the Hadenys is one that he thinks is quite good without EQ. He’s just an EQ nerd so he needs to EQ everything, even in his dreams
Wow! For me at least, that was the best headphone review video I have ever seen! I love the section on EQ, especially as you talk about what you are correcting and why. Then you spend a good amount of time discussing how these new headphones compare to other headphones on the market.
Not to mention a shoutout to my favorite band
Bravo!
I have to admit, it makes me wish you did a video (or forum post) on EQing the Focal Clear. The whats and whys would be very useful to know.
There seems to be quite a bit of 3rd harmonic distortion from 150 Hz downwards, which is potentially audible compared to second order distortion. Is the 600/650 like this at 110 dB? Not that I would be listening that loud anyway, but I’m curious.
Honestly think these look absolutely great, as someone who has owned all the Focals at some point or another these do seem to fulfill something new.
Under 300g is really nice, and the form factor, while still having the Clear Mg driver. I wonder if the driver has the same range of motion as the full size Clear? I think that comparison will be very interesting. What a price too, £599 is cheap for Focal, yet this seems very good after that touch of EQ…Bravo Focal for keeping it fresh.
@Resolve any good case for getting these if you already own the Elex and use EQ?
Listening to your review (missed the visuals, since i was at work) it sounds like a few steps forward and a few steps back. Or a “sidegrade” in audiophile parlance.
Smoother treble, better comfort and soundstage would be pluses, but the biggest draw of the Elex for me is the dynamics (which seem diminished here?).
My comfort issues with the Elex are minor, and the pads are my favorite ever feel wise (haven’t had them long enough to know how they’ll hold up, but I’ve already pre-ordered a couple more pairs, lol).
Under 5% at 110dB is quite good for dynamic driver headphones. The HD 6 series easily exceeds 10% here.
Under normal listening conditions it would be closer to 1%. I’ll need to post the other volumes, I just happened to be on a flight when all of this went live.
They use the same mechanism as the Bathys ear pads so the clips are definitely still a little flimsy. It’s not a big deal if you aren’t consistently taking off the ear pads but for those that do so often, that’s probably an area with some extra ear pads will be needed.
Ahh these pads are micro fibre with memory foam. They’ll likely last longer than the Bathys pads but they’re also going to be more prone to discolouration since they aren’t black so there is a trade off there.
Luckily, if the Bathys ear pad prices are the same for the Hadenys / Azurys they should only come in at $60 a pair instead of $200!
For anyone looking for more information on the Focal Hadenys or Focal Azurys, @Fc-Construct just published an in-depth review and comparison piece. If you’re looking to see how these headphones compare with the likes of the Sennheiser HD 600 series or the Focal Elex, definitely recommend giving it a read!
I had the opportunity to listen to these at a headphone cafe. The pads are very comfortable, but I already have a preference towards cloth over leather as is.
The FR was very much to my presence besides a scoop somewhere that I can’t identify but is not serious.
The one thing that stood out to me are vocals. I was already enjoying it with electronic music, but when I put on some acoustic vocals, damn that sounds so…“rich” is the only way I can describe it. I put on my own music and damn I never sounded so good. Better (or maybe more fun sounding?) vocals than the HD 600 imo.
I personally prefer this over the Clear and the Celestee. It’s been too long since I tried the Utopia to judge on that.
