Yes, I agree silver is much brighter. Like you I didn’t find this to be a good thing.
I ordered these on Sunday and they have already arrived. Pretty amazing. Can’t wait to break them in a bit and give them a serious listen. This is far from my first pair of headphones, but it’s my first pair over $500.
I was considering the Celestee, but when I saw these on-sale with the iFi bundle for just a few bucks more, I could not pass them up.
Edit: I will be using Heart Audio cables with these. I’ve become a fan of their modular system.
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As I mentioned, I’m new to Focal headphones. It’s too early to say what I think of these regarding sound quality, although they certainly sound very nice.
The only significant issue I’m having with them at the moment is around fit. Unlike all of my other headphones, including the Sennheiser HD600 and HD650, the ear cups are held to their yokes with a curiously forceful springs that prevent them from sitting flush to on the sides of my head. The spring compels rotation of the cups such that the bottoms are forced together and the tops are pried apart. As a result, there’s a lot of pressure on my jaw and something less than a good seal around the tops of my ears. The force of these springs, which I guess are internal to the cups, is remarkable!
I’ll skim this thread again, but I’m curious to know if I’m alone in discovering this and (crucially) if there’s any way to adjust the tension. The cups in my Sennheiser headphones tip forward and back in their yokes with no resistance and fit beautifully. I don’t understand the purpose of these powerful springs in the Focals.
Note: I’m not talking about the headband spring. Rather it’s individual springs in each cup that compel them to tilt into alignment with the yokes and away from a more logical parallel position that’s required for a human to ware them. Thanks.
Edit: After doing some research, according to this thread, the springs are fairly easy to remove. Not sure how difficult they would be to put back in, but I may give it a try. This is such a strange design decision. How is it beneficial to have more than twice the clamping force at the bottom of the cups as at the top??! There’s no way to get a good seal like that. I don’t think my head is particularly unusually shaped.
Edit 2: Another fitting strategy that I’m trying is to press my index fingers on the tops of the cups, rotating them forward in the yokes as much as possible while putting them on such that the tops of the cups contact my head above my ears. I then gradually releasing them. This approach uses friction between the tops of the pads and my head to pull the headphones down and also resist the force yoke springs on my jaw. Perhaps it just takes some practice?
Edit 3: Heart Audio Cable and Interconnects has arrived. This color matches the Radiance quite nicely.
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So help me out here folks.
I’m looking at this as an closed back all rounder for work and something different from the noire.
Others on list:
Zmf Atticus
Possibly an atrium (but I’m thinking it might be too tame).
I have both the Radiance and the Atticus. And the Atrium. Between the three, I think the Radiance is best for work. It sounds great, though not as thick and warm as the Atticus. Very fun though. The Radiance is easier to drive, and is more portable. (I prefer listening to the ZMFs off of a desktop amp, as they sound better that way.) I tend to use the Radiance off of a DAP or a dongle DAC/AMP. When working I tend to listen to acoustic rock, blues, and jazz, so my headphone preferences align to those genres. Good luck!
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You’re the best. I don’t mind getting a small amp for work tbh. But I could run the radiance off my Walkman and use it at home if I wanted.
Hey there, I also have the Atticus and was considering both the Radiance and Atrium (closed ideally) as a complement. Would you say they are more similar than not? Or is there still enough between them to be complementary? Would love to hear any insights you might be able to share. Thanks!
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Interesting question. I am looking forward to trying (and probably buying) the Atrium Closed. Not having heard it, but having read some reviews, I do expect it to be closer to the Atticus’s sound than the Radiance is. I did a quick A/B comparison of the Atticus and Radiance this morning to refresh my memory on whether they are complementary or not. I did not EQ. I find the Atticus sound to be warm and rich, appropriate for sitting in a comfortable chair, listening to music in front of a fire place (or glowing tube amp). I confirmed my recollection that the Radiance is spicier - more articulate with more (tasteful) treble and overall greater range - than the Atticus. I also find the Radiance to be easier to just throw on, plug in, and go than the Atticus. So I would say that the 2 are complementary in both sound and use case, for me (YMMV and all that). Another way of considering this is if I do the Gedankenexperiment of trimming my headphone collection, the reason for letting either go would not be because it was rendered unnecessary by the other.
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Sounds like you can’t go wrong with either one. I have an aeolous anyway. And I’ve heard the radiance is decent for metal too(main genre). I’m interested in looking into the atrium just because but I’m worried it might be too “relaxed”
Hey, thank for your quick reply and for taking the time to A/B them. Love your description of the Atticus which is bang on the money- comfy chair, tube glow (Project Ember II in my case, with BHC on its way for my first build).all the way.
Really like your description of the Radiance, and great point about the ease of use compared to the Atticus which is definitely a sit down listen.
Man, I must get off these boards as my wallet suffers with too much temptation! Thanks for the steer, and enjoy the listening.
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I’m really trying to get a feel for the ZMF line, and I understand the fear of being too relaxed. I love my Atticus, but sometimes want a bit more bite in the treble…I saw someone on another forum compare the VC to the Atticus (and HD 650), and the Atrium to the Auteur (and HD 600); the VC-Atticus comparison surprised me a bit, based on all my readings…guess I will have to just save up to try for myself at some point 
I’m going to AXPONA and live about 45 mins away from Zach’s headquarters lol. I’ll try to give some insight into the atrium closed
Oh, lucky you 
Have a blast- and would love to hear impressions if you get a chance. Cheers!
Okay. I’m back from axpona. For my musical taste the closed was amazing. Now keep in mind it was on some super system I could never replicate. Dcs 
. Buuuuuutttt it does have great bass, good speed and sound for distorted guitars. The bass hits hard for rap, almost a tad too hard. I preferred female vocals vs male vocals. It only does okay for jazz.
I preferred the AC vs the AO. I was not able to demo a radiance.
Side note. Way better on the suede pads.
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How are the Hart cables?
Thanks for the reply and for checking them out. While I really like the descriptions of the radiance, the more I hear of these impressions of the Atrium Closed the more I think it best to save up and go for that - better to wait and take a big step rather than move more quickly - and then take another step up anyway later on.
Thanks for the impressions.
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I think it might be a better compliment to my DCA’s
OK, I am saving for the AC’s too :).
This is a stupid hobby. Yesterday I threw away 50x flavor of the day IEMs (and a few headphones) because they are superseded by newer, better and have no rational value to anyone else. I know that I would have been better served to save >$3K and use it to buy something great (but I was weak/impatient).
So this advice will save someone (and cost headphones.com :)) thousands: listen to what you have for the next 3 years, save $100/mo, then buy the best you can afford, rinse and repeat. (Admittedly I am an abject failure at following my own advice.)
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Luckily we don’t carry FOTM IEMs, just IEMs that we think will have long life cycles so your advice won’t cost us anything! It’s great advice and what we often recommend to our customers as well. The amount of waste that goes into the ever-changing sub $200 IEM market is pretty tremendous and we’d much rather things changed to purchases of considered goods! Less but better!
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Well stated. And 100% agree!