Focal Elear and Utopia Impressions at Source AV

Since everybody is talking about a midbass bump, is it safe to assume that even the mcintosh has a couple of ohms of output impedance? Tylls measurements as we've established show a huge impedance spike around the midbass but no midbass bump at all.

Looking at the measurements it seems like they shouldn't be midbassy at all from a low Z amp.

 

I wonder if the Elear just doesn't scale as well as the HD650? Could it be possible that the Elear is far more "system picky" then the HD650?

I'll personally stop wondering if this headphone can be a "super HD650" until someone can say the mids of the Elear can hang....

 

This could still be a "super HD650" is mids weren't quite as good (but close), but had tighter full bass, faster response, and a more prominent top end.

Also glad to see a hint of skepticism. Hopefully this will hold me back from trying to scrounge up the $ for an extra day or so...

 

I preferred the ELEAR as well. I thought the Utopia, on the Cavalli LAu (one of my references at-home) and the Questyle Gold Stack was more resolving, more audiophile-friendly - but, IMHO - not NEARLY what I think 4K should get me! I FINALLY heard an Audeze LCD-4 that blew me away! But it wasn't at Audeze!!

The Elear + LAu and Gold Stack had better pacing and rhythmic sway. It didn't have that upper-end bloom and sparkle of the Utopia - but overall it was just more excitable, more engaging for me. And for 1K? I love my ETHER & ETHER-C - but that things comfy, light and damn stylish!
I'm lookin' forward to more time with it.

 

Given the first hand impressions of a few of the Seniors here, I can now comfortably take a pass on the Elear...the only one that I was considering. For me it all comes down to whether it would be an upgrade to the hd650. And now it seems that the answer in short is, no it isn't.

I was already skeptical about the weight/heft of the headphone. Already I often choose the 650 because of it's comfort most of the time even over more expensive/better headphones that are on my desk. And now that some light has been shed on the mids between 650 and Elear, I feel that I can move on with a clear conscience. The emotional aspect of listening to music (engagement) resides in the mid range, at least for me. The 650 does mids effortlessly, even with a modest setup. But then it will impress even a veteran audiophile when you pair it with a more capable chain.

I'd certainly like to get an opportunity to hear the Elear some day. But it's off my list of run out and buy.

 

HD650 bass is distortiongalore and overall grey blackground. Elear improves on these by a fair margin (at least going by measurements). FR can be corrected to certain extent by mods but technicalities are inherent. Calling Elear an improved HD650 is fair i think.

 

Be careful with that T90. "Bright" doesn't begin to describe them. Definitely give them a good listen before you buy. Lots of sibilance and painful, artificially enhanced treble.

 

I think one of the reasons we're seeing disparate opinion is that the Elear is quite unusual sounding and somewhat disorienting at first because of it. My current impression is that they're too dynamic sounding. Piano keys are eye-blinkingly percussive to me. Seems like getting the volume set right is touchy.

 

very interesting reviews and hype happening but, still i wonder if 4k is really worth it in the long run? wouldn't the sr-009 be a better buy? yea it's hitting 4k territory and will need a separate energizer for it to use with power amps but, that shouldn't be a big deal for most people since they should already have maybe one or two i'm guessing especially if someone has a 4k budget for a pair of headphones for the hobby.

i mean it seems the hd800 is still a good deal at 1k besides it's slight fr flaws which can easily be corrected with not much effort but, it's a diffused-field headphone and people keep forgetting that. i wonder if the utopia was designed in a free-field type of way like the stax are which shows a more smooth flatter response usually overall. me personally still find even 1k a lot of money just for headphones but can understand if it'll be a top performer and last for years on end. i mean i thought i never spend over 1k on a power amp before ever in my life but, i did and, found it to actually to supersede expectations so, i can probably end up with same impressions maybe when i finally have money saved aside for end game headphones so to say. but, for 4k though while i know it's not as bad say the abyss at 5k or something else in price, it's still very high. for 4k i would already have a jbl m2 complete build in a fancy wood enclosure with money to spare but, then again, that's not really apples and oranges so to say.

 

I'm guessing the initial sales of the utopia will go to a few focal fanboys across the world, and to a few headphone freaks (like us). Assuming focal doesn't get laughed off the island (which is looking less likely), the vast majority of utopia sales will be to people who see $4k as tip money as I pointed out earlier, when a person is spending $50k-$250k on a stereo, it will be relatively easy for the dealer to either entice the deal with a utopia, as a discounted add on, or just ask the "price is no object" buyer if they would like headphone too. After a year, it will be interest to hear (if Jason will tell us) who the Utopias are being sold to.

 

I have heard them, and the original t1. My trouble spot is in the lower treble, and they don't bother me much. I'm just not looking for another dark headphone. Just for contrast with my LCDs. It just seems strange to me that so many high-end headphones nowadays have scooped out upper mids when that is a sonic sweet spot. I will be checking out the focal headphones this weekend up in the Bay Area at a HF meet, So I'll definitely see...

 

So. Compared to the rest of the market it seems that the Utopia is completely overpriced and the Elear is not.

 

I think I might agree. Just not used to it. Gonna have to spend quite a bit of time in brain accommodation mode.

 

That sounds marvelous for my music preferences. That is actually my number one sought after quality in headphones and why the Edition X is such a fail for my tastes. Drums on the Edition X turned to pitter patter. Screams turned to seriousness. If it had this action it would have been satisfactory. This will be tonally similar to the X but opposite in engagement factor no?

It is hard for me to imagine them being more percussive than the Kennerton Vali though. The kennerton has solid tight bass, smooth highs, mediocre sound stage, but supremely vivid dynamics and an overly developed midrange proper. I can't wait to shoot them out. Elear already has the one up in comfort though.

 

Out of sub 1-K non-SS amps, it sounds like the Elear would be a big win on the Valhalla 2, with its low output impedance, or a well-designed hybrid such as CTH, EHHA, Mjolnir 2, and so on.

 

Marv and OJ, do you think Elear will pair well with BW+Gungnir Multibit?