Focal Elear and Utopia Impressions at Source AV

I might not be familiar enough with your tastes to give a recomendation for you, but I think the Elear will match best with competent transformer coupled gear. (Notice that the Mcintosh is actually a solid state amp with a transformer/autofromer, wink wink)

For everyone asking about gear matching, this is pretty a equivalent to the Sennheiser stuff in terms of impedance curve characteristics and moving coil rezolooshun. Biggest difference is that it's a lower impedance coil. Same rules apply as you would with driving an HD6xx/HD800

 

Hmm, well, my pico Power will probably do a decent job of driving the Elear in a pinch. Failing that, I'll probably pick up an Asgard 2 or repurchase the Vali 2. The "low" (28 ohms) setting on my Sonett seems likely to be too high for optimal usage, but maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised. Never thought that I'd enjoy the IEC (120 ohm) setting, but I actually prefer that with my HD 600.

 

I'd think 28R is unacceptably high. If we're at 330R at 50 Hz and 90R at 300 Hz and we want < +1dB FR variance from source impedance, then at least my back of the napkin says keep the amp less than ~10-12R. I'd prefer less.

 

I have little doubt that you're correct about that. Thankfully, I don't think I'll have to open my wallet up again for a new amp right away. The pico Power (0.2 ohms) should be up to the task of driving the Elear decently, albeit not with the kind of authority that it probably warrants. But its neutral character should be a good fit. Hopefully!

Driving a $1k headphone with a portable amp, FTW.

 

My brain isn't quite deciphering 'too dynamic' and 'more laid back' and how they're related to one another. Is there like an HE-400 type thing going on here, where a big drop in the upper midrange/lower treble makes it laid back, but the massive bass and treble spike make it dynamic sounding?

I guess the HD800 sort of has that thing going on too, with laid-back upper midrange, but dynamic treble.

 

^
too dynamic: has nothing to do with frequency balance but ....dynamics=rising and droppings of sound levels; the louds and the softs
Laid back: has everything to do with frequency balance, this head phone is said to have not much in the presence region and a subdued treble

The word smooth can apply to either its dynamic aggression or tonality.

I have a hunch at what may make a good amplifier for the Elear if it is too dynamic (never enough dynamics for me) but if someone were to want a spacious pairing that can tame it a bit they may like...

https://www.massdrop.com/buy/airist-audio-heron-5-amplifier
AIRIST HERON 5

- very graceful
- decently clear
- lacks bass slam and tonal weight
- no bass bloat
- verrryy spacious for a solid state but mostly wide with not much depth at all, decent height
- Almost spot on midrange tonality
- Not etchy or bright
- low impedance jack works fine
- very airy without boosting the highs... this is a rare trait, that a solid state can be neither bright but open sounding is pretty cool
- can hamper the dynamics of an aggressive headphone (not my tastes) because it is a little too soft and lacks body/physicality
- lacks micro/macro dynamics and busy songs get messy

 

When I refer to it as a 'French TH900' or 'face woofer' that isn't to say this headphone has nothing but bass. The bass is definitely emphasized and I think throws the balance of the mids off. IMO you can't simply go exclusively by the FR to determine how emphasized bass is. The bass on this HP lingers a bit, and as I mentioned I think that puts a veil on the overall sound. To anybody who has heard a SR-Lambda: would you ever call that headphone bassy? The bass on that goes flat past 20Hz yet it sounds more on the bass light side of things because there's not much lingering. The bass hits and goes away quickly, leading to more clarity and perceived balance compared to the rest of the spectrum. This is what I meant when I said the Elear bass was 'overbearing'.

Another issue is the balance of the mid bass to lower mids in comparison to the upper mids and higher. If you listen to any rock with this headphone I think you'll notice the bass guitar and kick drum are more prominent than other instruments. Looking at Tyll's measurements, this HP starts rolling off at 1.25kHz and is almost -10dB or worse from 3k on up. I know treble measurements can be super misleading, but that's definitely how it sounded to me, hence why I said it sounds like a 'full range speaker that can't really do full range'.

Although the FR doesn't look that out of whack when comparing the bass relative to the mids, it's the rest of the FR that is throwing things off. You might think a headphone can do mids well just because the midrange response is relatively flat, but that's misleading. That's definitely true of the fundamental, and often the first few overtones depending on the note, but the higher overtones will be muted. This is a really big deal when analyzing the tonality of a HP, and probably why none of us think the mids on this HP sound as 'correct' as the HD650 - this headphone is masking a lot of harmonic information based solely on the FR, while the HD650 does not. The muted overtones were apparent to me, and very obvious while listening to classical piano pieces.

I think now's a good time to remember that taking and interpreting headphone measurements is very tricky. There's a ton of info in those graphs to process, and they only tell you so much of the entire picture, even when fully understood IMO.

I dunno, I kinda just walked in and plugged it into the nearest amp. Somebody was using the amp to the right of the Sony player. I didn't realize it was the WA5 until it was too late. I've never been a fan of that amp for the reasons you describe.

 

If it's too dynamic, try it with Audio GD Master 11 amp. M11 or I guess by extension M9 is neutral with responses that are slower than other amp that I have tried.

 

I'm interested to see how these compare to Focal's past closed offerings, particular the Spirit Classic. If I remember correctly, Tyll also described them as being very dynamic, with the Classic also described as being laid back and not fatiguing.

 

Hi there !! and sorry for my bad english...

I'm a german headphone freak and a big fan of the Sennheiser HD650 and I think, the Elear can be a massive upgrade to the Senn.
Aside from that I'm very active in the german hifi-forum.de.
In germany both of them (Elear + Utopia) are expected in the middle of august, the german distributor told me.
@Tyll Hertsens:
When will you test the Elear in detail.?
Or is there a comparison with the Utopia planned.?

Thanks very much und greetings from Germany
Schlappen

 

Well said! The impedance curve is similar in shape to that of the Sennheiser HD598, although the 300-Ohm peak for the HD598 is at 100Hz and the nominal impedance is 50Hz, so the effect on the HD598 may be even greater. (I am using Tyll Heystens's measurements at InnerFidelity.com.) The HD598 emphasizes the bass range with high-impedance headphone amplifiers. Some actually like this effect---I personally do not FWIW. The HD600 and HD650 also show an impedance bump at 100Hz, but it is relatively much smaller.

 

Might have been stated by someone else earlier, but I hope the Elear sounds more like an enhanced/funner HD600 rather than HD650. (I think I might be ready to let the HD650 go..)

I preordered through Crutchfield; any idea when Focal will be shipping to distributors?

 

I contacted TTVJ and they said likely next month.

There should be at least one set of both Elear and Utopia at the SF meet this weekend. I am looking forward to trying both on my own amp.

 

H

Then likely not enough time to compare directly with the HE1000 I have right now. It's growing on me but If I can't get used to its hot treble, the HEK will go back. Maybe a decent deal at $2,100 new (Adorama) but it really is built like a toy. Should have "fragile" stickers on it. Sound-wise there's a lot I like but depending on album (or genre i.e. metal) it can be either somewhat lifeless or have unbearable high frequency response. (Still have the HD600 for accuracy and LCD-X for fun.)

I'm ultimately looking for an HD600 with wider soundstage and more low-end grunt. Wonder if the Elear will fit that bill.

 

having just heard them, they are definitely more of a super 650 then a 600. They also remind me a bit of an LCD 2 with less lower treble emphasis and similar midrange

 

Just spent about 2 1/2 hours at the Source A/V listening to all the headphones both planar and dynamic. Impressions to come: it's about a 3 hour drive home... I ended up being more impressed with the Elear then I thought I would be. And Jason Lord is a class act. Full stop.

 

Thanks to Jason and Wayne at the Source A/V! After a couple hours of going between the Elear, Utopia, Beyer T1 v2, Dharma D1000, HD800S, and Mr Speakers Ether (open), I've come to a few conclusions: The Elear is a very capable, great sounding headphone, the Utopia seems to be priced to sound signature rather than any other attribute (i.e. resolution, speed, etc) even though it sounds great in it's own right, and I think I may prefer the Elear to My Audeze LCD2f.
I made a point of listening to the Elears out of the Cavalli Liquid carbon, as I wanted a relatively neutral amp with low output impedance, as I'd read wildly different impressions both here and at Head-fi as to the sound signature differing vastly with different amps. My first impression is that the Elear is a warm, but not dark headphone. It's fast, has tons of detail, but the FR is sculpted in such a way that you still have access to tons of detail without having a huge upper midrange lower treble spike. In fact the treble is one of the things I like best on these cans. The treble is definitely there, but there is no lower emphasis and plenty of air in the top octave to give a good sense of spacial placement.
I compared these with the Senn HD650s on hand and the Audeze LCD-Xs. The mids feel very similar to the HD650s imo, but with greater resolution and clarity. I've always had problems with the Senns on metal albums like Mastodon's The Hunter or Metallica's load where there is complex, dualing-guitar midrange. And before you get your panties in a bunch, I understand these are not "audiophile" approved listening. Nevertheless, The Elears handled these compressed, yet complex tunes with aplomb; never unravelling or getting confused. On Classical, such as Beethoven's Fifth conducted by Carlos Kleiber, The Elears sounded like they had a bit more presence than the Senns or Audezes. I found that in general, the Elears on a neutralish amp sound very exciting, controlled and refined. I didn't detect any huge bass hump or spiky treble or even any wild dynamic range, as I'd heard. They are dynamic, don't get me wrong, but not "too dynamic" imo. I listened to a lot of Rush, Van halen, Opeth, Tears for Fears, and a little Volto!, and these things were buttery smooth with everything I through at them.
I do have one concern for my home rig though. Maybe @Marvey or @OJneg can chime in. My Ampsandsound Kenzie has an output impedance of 32 ohms on the low impedance jack, 600 on the second (strictly for Beyers, pretty much). I'm afraid that 32 ohms might jack up the performance of the Elears with a matching voice coil impedance. Any thoughts?

 

As far as THD goes, Justin doesn't publish those specs for whatever reason. All I can say is it's a clean, grippy sounding amp. Thx Marv for the info. I suppose its better that it peaks at 50hz and not 100. I may just have to give a try, whatever the outcome.