Focal Elear and Utopia

LOL.
I cut the cable almost half-way yesterday (re-termination), when comparing to my HE-6's Vanquish, which is the perfect size for me...

I'm left with a 2m of cable to do the XLR to 1/4" adapter. Where should I cut?

 

Not to tempt you more but apparently the discount code "Friends10" seems to work on the Elear on headphone.com. But they don't have stock. But that basically saves $100.

 

are there balanced cable options that don't require soldering?

 

I will pit the Elear in a "no holds barred" contest against my modded HD800 & HE1000...

Winner take all glory,
looser will be shamed.

Fight bought scheduled next week.

 

loser.
bout.

who's the judge?

 

A biased one lol

 

Actually you know I'm kidding right?
The good news is that I base my judging observations on headphone comparisons,
Which all can relate to,
rather than specific music or other descriptions without a reference point.
So you will get a good feel of what's going on instead of euphemisms.
I'm not a bad guy.

 

I caved for Elear. Now depending on impressions and how life/work shake out I'll keep the gamma3 and maybe add a joti or look for a good transportable setup (any other suggestions aside from zx2/pha3 guys?) - or maybe I'll go with HD650 for the third or fourth time if Elear doesn't do it lol.

 

Every can I heard on a Jotun was so controlled they didn't sound the same.
Jotun literally forces them to behave well..

 

Hi everyone, I've had the Elear for about a month now and finally feel comfortable providing impressions.

I'm new here, so I apologize if my terminology's a little inconsistent - still getting a feel for the place.

* Build quality's great, and I prefer the Elear's weight distribution over that of my HD800 -- despite the latter being significantly lighter, it feels imbalanced in comparison because its weight's concentrated in its massive earcups while being light everywhere else. The Elear feels more coherent in its weight distribution. If you've had LCDs on your head, you'll have no problem with the Elear.

* The stock cable is far too long. You could fashion a plumber's snake out of the thing and have cable left over.

* The sound... is a matter of taste. Bass is well extended and has impressive slam, but the midbass hump is likely to be too much for some, and coupled with the upper mid suckout that's been well documented here, it's not going to be everyone's cup of tea. I don't find treble sibilance to be an issue, at least not compared to a stock or EQ'd HD800, but its forwardness can get fatiguing on occasion if you're coming from a more laid-back headphone like an HD650.

* The "Super HD650" label is a bit of a misnomer for the Elear, in my opinion. I can understand why it's been given that label -- its bass extension, dynamics and forward presentation are more immediately noticeable and exciting, but the 650 sounds smoother, and more tonally balanced and coherent as a whole. The Elear doesn't improve on every aspect of the HD650's sound, so it's not a direct upgrade. Some people will still prefer the HD650, while others will feel that the Elear improves on the HD650 in their preferred areas enough that the upper mid dip won't bother them.

* Still trying to find an ideal amp for the Elear, I don't think it matches well with my Schiit stack because it makes an already forward headphone sound a bit too forward, and my Valhalla 2 is on loan. Waiting on the Jotunheim to arrive in Canada.

 

Interested in people's definition of a "forward" character in terms of the Elear. I've always considered forwardness to represent a push in the midrange, but a number of people I think consider the Elear to be slightly recessed in the mids (myself included - but only based on a brief show demo). Just curious, for those people describing the Elear as forward, whether you're referring to this same thing or something else?

 

I think you can still have both. The dip for the Elear is 4-5k so upper mids. Lower mids & mids are slightly sloping down, and even a little hump at 1k. Bass heavy and Mid forward. Pretty good combo, and bass shelf circuit helps tame to sound more natural.

 

Ok cool cheers. Hoping to have some quiet time with the Elear soon & I'll listen out for this.

 

Any SBAF mini meets planned in the UK? This is the one thing we lack compared to the community in the U.S

Canjam London was way too noisy to evaluate the Focals. I was very disappointed.

 

Well I'm currently organizing my third UK HF Meet for 2017 (check out the thread on here & HF), at which all are welcome.

Outside of that, it'd be great to get a quorum of UK SBAF'ers together for a mini (most likely) meet sometime. I could probably get hold of some good stuff from a couple of contacts in the business if we gave a bit of notice. Not sure how many of us there are on here tbh. Perhaps a post in the relevant section of the forum is a good place to start....

 

If there's enough of us to be quorate, that'd be nice. I'd love a chance to listen to stuff like the Elear in sensible conditions, in a relatively asshole-free environment.

 

Yeah I don't find the Elear forward sounding either, outside of the fact that its soundstage isn't the largest. Its laid-back upper-midrange and lower treble transition around 4-5k softens a lot of the harmonic energy that would otherwise make a headphone aggressive sounding to me. I think it's a rather laid-back sounding headphone.

 

The problem is the music is too "in your head". That forward feeling can also be the vocals stuck inside, and not getting the staging one would want. You know, without the feeling of them being in front of you, like the whole band leaning on your forhead. If @Hands is correct about Jot just amplifying that feeling, then I guess I'll take that $400 and start saving for a big boy tube amp, maybe a ZDS?

Also on the topic of being a super-HD650, I disagree. Their like sisters in "The Taming of the Shrew". the Elear is Katherina. She the wild child, that kicks you in the junk when she can. And the HD650 is Bianca. She has it all together, and is very prim and proper. But both are very rewarding if you can marry them.

I want the Elear to compliment my HD650 not replace. I'm just starting to think finding one amp to rule them both, might require me to move quite a bit up the food chain...

 

So, you're looking for a misogynistic amp to get that bitch in line?

The Schiit Petruchio. Come to wive, thrive, and tame those highs.