Focal Elear and Utopia

Couple of days with the Utopia. EC BW2 amp and Yggdrasil source (thanks @MrButchi !). Keep in mind I'm formatted to something (BHSE + 009 in that case), and like all of us with a short time review, I'm focusing on what's different / far from I'm used to. It's harder to look for strengths your rig doesn't have !

+ Very good looking, comfy, well built. Maybe not $4k feeling, but serious business. A bit heavy maybe ?
+ Fast. VERY fast. Maybe too fast !
+ Very good impact. It kicks hard
+ Crispy clear sound
+ Everything's very well separated, you don't have to push up the volume to hear all the things in the mix
+ Well layered soundstage. Not that large, but great instruments separation helps a lot
+ Detail retrieval is very good. Maybe not HD800's level (I've soon to compare), but not that far

- Too bright for my tastes. Any tape noise has too much presence / level
- Something "dzingy" in the highs, think strange resonance on cymbals
- Crispiness + speed = something robotic in the sound, think square signals from chiptune / vocoder
- Bass too shy. Very tight, but lacks volume / grandeur / texture
- Dynamic a bit restricted. They kick hard but the gradation beetween soft and impactful music is not that large

All around very proficient headphones, it sounds impressive at first, like most of 2-channels demos I've encountered...but definitely too bright for me. I've the feeling a larger driver (only 40 mm right now) would be my perfect balance : less speed, warmer tuning, more volume, more dynamic.

2 cents.

Ali

 

Elear impressions, with and without EQ, prepare for things you've already read!

+Bass is great, good texture, fast, low distortion, just the right amount (in my opinion)
+Sound is very grainfree.
+Fast but I don't think it comes that close to HD800 speed, I really don't. Sure beats the 650, most dynamics and planars, speed is the main reason I was considering keeping them.
+Dynamics are good but felt overhyped to me, I really think it's the tonality that makes people turn the volume up, perceiving them as more dynamic than they are. Especially as it felt less dynamic right away when very lightly boosting the upper mids.
+10khz wasn't that big of a deal to me, barely noticeable.
+Resolves well, certainly better than most but I'm not amazed.
+Clear, very clear.
+@Marvey complained about the midbass, I think it's perfectly fine the midbass on HD650 is worse in my experience, it's the treble that is unbalanced. Although given the oppertunity I still dropped 166 hz with 1.7 db 1.4 Q. While putting a shelf at 50hz to boost everything below it with 1 db.
-It's established by now that the cable is bulky and fairly rubbish, at least there was zero microphonics.
+Really like the comfort of these, sure they are heavier but I really like that headband which makes up for it. The pads also feel good (although @Hands testing show that they might not help the sound)
+Jesus Christ these are easy to drive. Almost annoyingly easy to drive, thank god I don't have a stepped attenuator.
+These feel luxurious (disregarding the cable of course)

?I did NOT like these with any output impedance. No comprehensive reason why, I just heard right away that wasn't for me.

-Upper mids are indeed ass with EQ that goes away (Although I had some trouble finding the right balance it was enough to get my recordings sounding right again)
-The treble roughness is real, it's very real. Even if you EQ up the uppermids lightly and then try to drop the rest of the treble using a shelf it will still sound rough.

My final EQ profile ended up being 166hz bump 1.7 db 1.4 Q, 52hz high shelf -1 db, 4200hz 2.2 db bump 1.4Q, 14000 hz highshelf -2 db. Had to drop the upper treble after boosting the upper mids.

Edit: Also played with some EQ around 6khz but overlapping EQ usually results in fuckery and this was no exception. Tonality wise I don't think it was a downgrade though.

I'll likely sell them, the treble and uppermids is bothering me too much and I can't seem to EQ it right. As usual I've probably missed something

 

i sold my pair after a few days. The treble was annoying, worse than with moddedd HD800. I thought I maybe had just a few bad says and wanted to try it again but if others feel / hear the same it might not be worth buying it again. I'm curious if my ordered Ether will do any better

 

If you can listen to them again, listen to them again. For the love of god don't make decisions based on my shitty impressions.

 

I keep getting buyer's anxiety over the Elear's uneven treble, then I realize that my HD700's are just sitting right beside my monitor.

It'd be interesting to see what the modders start coming out with for the Elears as things move forwards. I'm not nearly technically inclined enough to give a definitive statement or anything, but given how pad swapping already changes the tonality of the Elear/Utopias, I wouldn't be shocked to find out from someone that the treble was a resonance issue and that some HM5 pads help alleviate it.

 

Hello there music friends!
I've just read 50 pages of this focal discussion and I just couldn't find a overall recomendation about elear.

I have noticed a lot of friends complaining about bizarre sounds presentations, like instruments that were off the soundstage.... something like that

Maybe, in some music genres... EDM, reagge... is it possible to do not bother with those flaws?

I have a Hd 800 and shure 846 and was looking after something different but worthwhile

Thanks

 

I'm (likely) getting mine this week, so I can do some hands-on testing for you. Are there any certain songs that you would like me to try?

 

That's really kind!

Well there are some tracks that I cannot listen in the sennheiser hd800
Would be very gratefull to read your impressions with Elear.

Tron legacy - the son of Flynn
Infected mushroom - ratio smatio
Infected mushroom - bombat

 

Hey, I need something to try them out with. Might as well get some music I'm not super familiar with to be able to do 'new' impressions with what I already have

Edit: I already had Daft Punk's discography before, but now I'll be adding Infected Mushroom to my "Get stuff done" playlist. Thanks!

 

Immediate impressions:
Even opening these things is an experience. The box is well constructed, and has a pleasant weight even without the headphones in it. Solid, sturdy, premium feeling materials. The only thing they could add to make it even better is some LED's that light up when you open them up and a small recorder that plays "Ave Maria".

Next, the cable. Yes, it's long. It's pretty nice if you want to listen to your setup in your bed though. It's also pretty nice if you want to listen to your setup in your bathroom. Seriously though, 4 meters of cable is quite a lot. The length is borderline unwieldy, but not quite 'too long' for general usage. Just something you have to be aware of. They're well constructed and feel substantial as well. I just wish that Focal had seen fit to cover them with some sort of fabric, instead of just having plain rubber.

The headphones are beautiful. They feel premium, they look premium. And once again, the weight isn't heavy for me, but I can see how these might not be great for some people. They're comfortable sitting on my head, but the earcups are a tiny bit small for me- I can feel the top of my ears touching the pads.

So far, Focal has shown that they know how much perception and presentation matters to a customer's experience. Whoever works in Focal's design department for human factors/ergonomics probably gets paid quite handsomely. Graceful sculpting, attention to minute details, and a substantial 'feel' to them, all things that I appreciate, I can only imagine the sheer man hours that went in behind the scenes to produce these and the Utopia.

I'll be editing this and adding my impression of how they actually sound later this week. I want a bit to get used to these things, and then go back to compare them to my Monks and HD700's.

Music impressions:
Brass instruments are truly lovely with these, wow. Violins sound a bit... tinny and hollow for my tastes, same with pianos. Presentation is indeed 'intimate'; the soundstage feels neither narrow nor wide, but rather 'close', like you're standing right up against a stage with your back to it. Cellos, however... my oh my, I'd keep these just for the way they do everything 'right' with Cellos for my tastes. Female vocals are more realistic than the HD700s, which give them an almost haunting edge (I actually prefer the slightly un-realistic presentation of female vocals the HD700's give, but I digress).

Using the tracks suggested by @David De Lucena you can really get a sense for what people mean when they say that these headphones have a great heft to their bass. These things do stock what my EQ'd HD700's could do; produce a tasty level of oomf.

Instruments grab your attention. Hell, they demand your attention at times. These are not laid back headphones for studying late at night, these are headphones that will keep you engaged on the music until the sun rises. There's pleasant emphasis throughout, but you can still hear the fine details if you look for them; lips smacking together, the reverb of string instruments, those sorts of things. The combination makes them actually seem slightly more detailed than the HD700's, as I'm noticing a thing or two on tracks that I didn't see before.

My teeth aren't jattering around and blood isn't dripping from my ears from the bass, but the combination of currently present bass and the Elears needing your attention like an emotional teenager... I feel like there's almost more than ample level of bass for my tastes. May have to give the frankenfilter cable that came with them a try to see if it's more to my tastes toned down.

Their tuning, so far, encourages me to continually and slowly want to raise the volume on my Vali 2. Want is the keyword, I'm waiting to mentally adjust to their sound signature and a few other things before I mess around with the volume too much.

The cables are again, kind of silly, but in a "If they work they're not stupid" fashion. It's not just the length, they're pretty hefty too. To give people an idea of how thick and heavy these cables are, you could probably bludgeon someone to death with the cables.

Comparisons with the HD700s to come later. Lets see if the Elears can convince me that the HD700's truly deserve to be the kicked dog of the headphone world!

 

Nice picture !

 

Did you feel the elears has to much bass for your taste?

 

I'm starting to get used to it more, and I would say I like the amount of bass they have.

The only situation where it might be 'too much', is for some classical music, where it can further drown out the string section. Otherwise, especially for the type of music you posted, it's fantastic

 

It's not that the Elear have too much bass; it's that they have no upper mids so instruments sound ridiculous. I wouldn't bother with the Elear unless you're willing to try the mods. I kept mine for only a couple days and haven't once regretted getting rid of them. Hope to hear a modded pair some day maybe and eat my hat.

 

How's comfort for long listening sessions, Falling?

 

http://www.superbestaudiofriends.or...06428/&q=comfort&t=post&o=date&c[thread]=2270

 

I've tried that, you just get the weird fanboy echo chamber all up in yo' face, aggressively pecking at you until you give up and stop. Let them stew and spend their money on random crap if they must- there's no helping some people.

Still, Utopia is a fine headphone- a little shouty up high, but an impressive bit of work. Not sure it's worth anything near the asking price, but it's a hell of a piece of work. I do wish the Elear had a similar tuning, I'd have picked a pair up straight away.

 

Pretty good. There's noticeable pressure and weight, but I listened to these things for like 3 hours non-stop without an issue. I could see headaches being possible for people who are more sensitive to pressure around the ear area, so if you're one of these people I'd recommend you to (gently) stretch them, or find alternative pads.

 

Somewhat refreshing to read a balanced review for a change. I'm sure they are fantastic, but there's a bit of hype going on. I'm guilty myself since I ordered them even without being able to try them (Focal seems to have neglected Europe bigtime compared to what the US dealers got. Yesterday I noticed they were even available on Amazon.com and cheaper.... while here, good luck finding pairs easily). It took so much time to even have an estimation of delivery that I decided to cancel and try to find some later to check out first.

Anyway, seems you've hit your tipping point on diminishing returns. They're good, but you feel the benefit you're getting enough to justify the effort ($). Nothing wrong with that. I'm still going to check them out when possible, but at this time sure won't go one with that order at MSRP.