I’ll try the apple dongle and see how they respond.
Edit: tried the dongle and it’s actually pretty good. Definitely could get away with this when I don’t won’t to carry around the mojo. So it’s not coming off muddy to me. If you’ve been using a brighter headphone for some time it could be brain burn in. And when you first start using a new headphone I wouldn’t do quick A/B tests. I’d give your mind/ears time to adjust. I typically use a new headphone for a few days straight to get a feel for them. Sometimes even a week. Then I’ll try my others to see how they compare.
I’ve heard the Clear but not the Radiance, for what it’s worth. With that said, the mids, at least based on the measurements, aren’t recessed, so maybe try using PEQ to pull down the large upper bass hump by a few dB? That might clear up the lower mids a bit. Also, the Clear has more energy at 1.5K, so perhaps the you’re not hearing that bump on the Radiance.
No worries. These are a warmer set. Could take a little time for the brain to adjust. Or they may not be for you and that’s ok too! Many of us have sold plenty of headphones lol. Its all preference.
Oh in theory, I love the sound signature! I don’t mind bassy/warm. My favorite IEM is the Legend X! Entirely possible that either a slight tweak to the FR and/or getting used to the sound signature will make the difference.
This. I have the Radiance and noticed a recess a bit in the vocal presence of some tracks. I then got the Noire’s not too long after the Radiance and compared. I ended up listening to the Noire’s longer then the Radiance and allllmost convinced myself that I liked the Noires better and was disappointed to have another failed attempt at a Focal.
Well rewind to last week when I started listening to the Radiance again and my mind has completely changed. Yes the vocals can be pushed back a bit at times, but the punchiness and just engagement of them is addicting now. So much in fact that I am now going to move on from the Noire’s even though I still liked the sound of them. With the Radiance I can get lost in the music and with the Noire I found myself getting too picky. Could be a Planar vs DD thing…but I’ll take enjoyment for 1000 Alex!
I do wish they would make the Radiance a permanent HP for Focal and not a limited production because I consider them a gem in their lineup. To me of course.
@Resolve would you take an LCD-X 2021 with full parametric EQ given unit variation or the OG Focal clear with the 4 band EQ on the new chord mojo (basically just controls treble, bass and sub-bass/air roll off). Pad rolling is an option for the Focal.
I currently own the LCD-X but am kind of tired of playing around with EQ and constantly trying to get the most out of these. Recently ran into some problems with the program I was using to EQ as well. It’s just cumbersome and I feel it does something negative to the technicalities as well.
Moved Aeon X Closed from Tier 3 (high value) to Tier 2 (I’d be happy with these). Reason = its tuning is just too good to not be in the same conversations as other picks there, even though it’s also still high value.
Replaced Celestee with Radiance in No EQ tier, mainly for comfort reasons. But I also found myself dropping the upper mids on Celestee more than I felt the need to boost lower treble on Radiance.
Added the Audeze MM-500 to ‘No EQ tier’ and also tier 3 for open-backs - only reason it’s not higher is because the clamp is tough for me to get past, but for others I expect it should be higher.
This is an amazing thread , full of some great content .
Thanks so much for all of the effort
But the 1266TC, how can you not love these . They are an incredible headphone
Comfort is great once you get used to them and you get the adjustments correct. I have never bought any piece of Hi-Fi equipment that has blown me away like they have
Objectively they’re pretty mediocre, I stand by that.
Subjectively though, all in the eye of the beholder. Not my cup of tea when I had it in house, but then again, it’s not a fair fight being put up against Susvara or Utopia if chasing an accurate/ true to life sound.
There’s a reason so many are in love with these - some people just want to enjoy their music and rock out, so power to those people
Think you can add a section/list on wireless and/or ANC headphones given that you’ve now heard a few of them (ML 5909, Bathys, Airpods Max, and probably some others)?
Why is mm500 in no EQ tier and LCD-5 needs EQ? Is it that LCD-5 needs EQ to justify the additional cost or that LCD-5 is that different tuning-wise from the mm500?
