Focal Elear and Utopia

I also used to listen to Infected Mushroom when I had the HD800 and it was really nice. Infected Mushroom have pretty good recordings that should sound fine with HD800.

 

What I said above is still valid, but the more I listen, the more their particular virtues set in. Tube choice is very important when listening with the Utopia. A warmer amp suits me. And they still have plenty of air, but there is more "meat on the bones".
Btw, if you purchase them through The Source AV, you get an extended five year warranty.

 

does TSAV offer discounted pricing or you gotta pay full retail?
most of the higher end credit cards offer 1 yr of extended warranty

 

Focal does not allow discounts on their premium headphones. But if you buy them from Jason at the source, the total plus tax comes out to 4 grand. So I'm pretty sure he eats a few hundred dollars in tax

 

What kind of music did you use with Elear ?

 

Thank! Do you have some recommendations?

 

Please learn how to use the various filters in our search function (e.g., keywords, searching a specific thread/forum, and filtering posts by username) so we don't go around in circles. My impressions in this thread.

 

Sorry to bother!
Thanks

 

I never heard any schiit gear, which schiit amp would be a good match for the elear? I was thinking about Jotunheim but I read it is a bright sounding amp so it maybe could be too bright for the also bright sounding elear?

 

Sadly. none of the Schiit amps will automagically correct the Elear's scooped-out tuning.

 

Elear is really not a bright headphone. it has a mild treble resonance depending on what you're listening to, and it's very dynamic. The Jot is definitely an option for it. If you want to drive it balanced, you could also use the Mjolnir 2: a great sounding amp.

 

Just adding to this, Marv recommended using specific tubes in conjunction with a tube amp, or a Jotunheim to help 'tame' the Elear's issues. The stock tubes that Schiit use are fairly neutral compared to other tubes, and you'd most likely want to find one that was rather mid-forward and with smooth highs. I forget exactly what he said, but it was something along the lines of the Jotunheim offering good control for its bass to stop it from drowning out the mids so much.

The highs are slightly uneven, but I wouldn't call the Elears a 'bright' headphone.

Some members here have expressed good luck with using a tube pre-amp into the Jotunheim for the Elears, which is likely the route that I'll end up going as well.

 

yes, not really a bright headphone, my fault, bit due to its 9kHz peak a neutral headphone leaning a little bit towards the bright side. At least my HD650 is not as bright so I thought Jot could be to much regarding the Elear's treble peak, but I don't know, I'm just asking.

 

I run the Utopias balanced out of the M2, using RCA/Siemens Gold pin tubes. They have a really rich mid range, and softer but still extended treble, without any harshness. The NOS GE tubes that come stock have a bright spot in the treble. You might really like it with the Elears, but balanced only: The M2 sounds really compromised single ended.

 

Added some EQ to the Elears. Note that I'm using the stock tube on the Vali 2, and I mostly tuned it by ear and looking at the measurements off InnerFidelity

4,500hz, Gain + 4.0db, Q 3
6,500hz, Gain + 1.5db, Q 5
10,000hz, Gain - 2.0db, Q 5
Pre-amp - 6.0db

It's brought the violins more into the forefront and made them sound less hollow and artificial. Same thing for guitars and piano, more crunch and weight to their tones. I think I'll be sticking with these settings unless some other things strike me as 'wrong'.

edit: Side update, female vocals are more to my preference as well. Happy accident!

If I could offer my impressions, it's that the Elears can sound 'inorganic' at times. Uneven treble, hollow mids, and lots (for some, too much) of bass can make it feel like it's trying to do a caricature of music at times, exaggerating things that people immediately look for and shoving them in your face, but missing the fine details that make you come back time and time again to deeply appreciate something.

That's not to say that these headphones are bad by any means; I've found my endgame here. But that doesn't mean there's not room for improvement at the same time, and hopefully in the coming years people find relatively easy fixes for these things, akin to the various HD800 modifications.

 

That's good information for me to remember for the future. I'm planning on ordering a set of Elear's in a few weeks and will most likely be pairing them with a Mjolnir 2 down the road.

 

Glad I could help! There's the obvious caveat that my tastes may not be the same as your tastes, but with my messing around with EQ experiments so far the Elears seem to handle anything you throw at them quite well.

Let us know how you like them off the Mjolnir!