Focal Clear

Discussion in 'Headphones' started by The Alchemist, Nov 15, 2017.

  1. Besnia

    Besnia Facebook Friend

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    I absolutely agree. That's why clarity is the most important factor for me. As for it being fatiguing, I also found the treble rather sharp and snappy. I don't know if you believe that cables make any difference or not, but if you don't have a warranty, you may (or not) consider trying it. I changed the internal wiring (10-12cm) with a silver/paladium/wolfram alloy solid-core conductor and made a 1.5m cable of the same material. It's more accurate sounding now in a sense that the picture has a bit higher resolution and contrast (particularly noticeable in the treble region), and not that the tonal balance has shifted in any way. The improvement is subjectively small, but significant enough to make Utopia a lot less fatiguing for long listening sessions. A good quality silver-clad solid-core copper conductor will probably do a good job too.

    Utopia is really an accurate sounding headphone and even minor changes in the audio gear make noticeable difference.
     
  2. SteelCannon

    SteelCannon Friend

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    Utopia is a dry, tonally troubled headphone. But it has an amazing sense of space, is extremely resolving and has great clarity. I can understand why people like it, and would pick it over an hd800 or hd800s, but not over an hd650.


    The clear is being shilled out of control, but if it retains most of the space and resolve of the utopia without the tonal issues it will be worth a listen. Regardless, it may be smart to bide's one time until further inevitable price drops.
     
  3. Melvillian

    Melvillian Friend

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    To my ears, the Clear has a beautiful headstage, not sure if that’s what you mean. It’s nt wide, but it doesn’t feel crammed. It does lack some depth. It’s not as resolving as the Utopia though. Like the Elear, it has an inherent warmth that sort of glosses over some things, whereas the Utopia is uncompromising and aggressive.

    Not sure if the Clear is being “shilled”. It really is good. This is coming from someone who was so disappointed with the Elear
     
    Last edited: Jan 2, 2018
  4. Maxx134

    Maxx134 Dunning–Kruger effect poster boy

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    The HD800S has same ability to climb as the HD800, so if amped extremely well it will surpass Utopia in overall sound.
    The HEKV2 is cheaper used, and moded surpasses Utopia in the extremes (even trebles & lower end bass).


    Have you seen this review?:
    http://earphiles.org/2017/12/focal-clear-review/
     
    Last edited: Nov 5, 2018
  5. TMRaven

    TMRaven Friend

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    He gives the Clear a higher comfort rating than the Aeon Open. Not very trustworthy!
     
  6. songmic

    songmic Gear cycler East Asia edition

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    Before trying to argue that Clear is overall better than Utopia just because Tyll prefers the former that he knocked the latter off his proverbial wall, think about how he did the same with HD650 in favor of HD600. Both are great headphones no doubt, but I'm sure there are a bunch of you who prefer the HD650 to HD600 even in stock form. I never agreed with a lot of headphones that went up Innerfidelity WoF including Elear, SR-009, Ether, LCD-X and so on. And I disagree with the majority of headphone amps there too (although, many of the amps were reviewed by people other than Tyll).

    The Clear was only recently released and its full potential may not have been unlocked yet. The Clear may be less amp finicky than Utopia as long as it's not a OTL amp with high output Z, but I'm skeptical whether it could scale as high as Utopia on $$$ amps like the top offerings from DNA or EC.
     
  7. DigMe

    DigMe Friend

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    I’m actually on the can as I read this so you’re wrong in that regard.
     
  8. gbeast

    gbeast Mighty Moral Power Ranger

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    The clamp of the Clear is not too tight like the AFO

    We have different shaped heads. Its all relative to the wearer. This comment is pretty stupid. As is all of this talk about the Clear being on the same level of a well amped HD800 and a Utopia.

    The Clear only stands out because of its tonal balance. Its only a small step up from the Elear in technicalities. It's closer to the Elear than it is the Utopia in performance.

    Even with its balance being better on the Clear, the Utopia delivers much better staging, and still sounds more realistic.

    All of this hype is outa hand.
     
    Last edited: Jan 2, 2018
  9. DigMe

    DigMe Friend

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    @Tyll Hertsens - I need you to explain the difference in two highly scientific headphone terms:

    What is the difference between "zazzy" and "tizzy"?
     
  10. Riotvan

    Riotvan Snoofer in the Woofer

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    I think tizzy pertains to graininess/edge caused by a (small)treble peak. Never could figure out zazzy though...
     
    Last edited: Jan 2, 2018
  11. dmckean44

    dmckean44 In a Sherwood S6040CP relationship

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    I'm guessing zazzy is just a boosted high end.
     
  12. Tyll Hertsens

    Tyll Hertsens Grandpappy of the hobby - Special Friend

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    About 42Hz.
     
  13. rott

    rott Secretly hates other millenials - Friend

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    Hmm...the answer to just about everything...
     
  14. Jinxy245

    Jinxy245 Vegan Puss

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    Life, the universe and everything, no?
     
  15. I_want_all_the_tacos

    I_want_all_the_tacos Friend

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    I'm curious why you feel the Clear doesn't deserve the hype? You recently updated your Clear review and ended up giving it your redphiled seal of approval, which to me seems analogous to Tyll's WoF. But you don't feel the Clear should be getting so much attention? I actually really like all your reviews and feel your impressions mirror my own spot on for all the same gear. I loved both Clear and Utopia during audition and have debated with myself if the Utopia is worth the extra premium over Clear. I definitely think Clear is better tonally balanced, but Utopia is special with the resolving abilities and 3D soundstage/imaging it does.
     
  16. gbeast

    gbeast Mighty Moral Power Ranger

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    It's a great headphone.

    I think some hype is warranted but some of the posts I have read have been a bit over the top thats all. So I think if I worded my post like: "Some of the claims made regarding the Clear are over the top" instead then it would have made more sense.
     
  17. SoupRKnowva

    SoupRKnowva Official SBAF South Korean Ambassador

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    Yeah, i think we had similar impressions of the Utopia, I thought it sounded "off", and the Elear just didn't really impress me. I'm intrigued by the Clear though, I'll probably stop at the focal dealer down the street from me tomorrow and see if they have one to demo.
     
  18. Melvillian

    Melvillian Friend

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    Some of the Utopia hate is also over the top.

    The Clear is what the Elear should have been. I’ve been meaning to leave some impressions. Will hopefully do so tomorrow
     
  19. slankoe

    slankoe Tongue tastes of LH butthole

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    When I switched to my HE-560, I still enjoyed them. I noticed the full body from the music was missing, but soundstage seemed better defined due to the increased clarity in the treble area, while other lower notes were recessed a bit. However the Focal Clear soundstage is different. It's odd, not as wide as HE-560, more like a Sennheiser HD650 in terms of size. But it makes very vivid images out of the music in a way that is more realistic than HE-560, and slightly edges out the HD 650 in regards to stage. I'm totally butchering it, but that's my best way to describe what's going on. The Utopia has the same feature, but upped to the max. The soundstage of the Utopia compared tot he Clear is way deeper, more tangible, and gives you that super-vivid imagery. One thing that makes it so appealing for me, is that the Clear does this but maybe at around 60% the amazing way the Utopia does. Long term listenability of the Utopia was good, I am less sensitive than most to treble spikes (for me, upper midrange valley is a common nemisis). However the Clear have been on my head for 5 days straight, I have not gone out much except for on New Year's eve. Mostly been enjoying the music for about two

    Bass quality, and the lack of distortion, along with the soundstage presentation makes this a very well-rounded headphone for me to own long-term. I think the HD800 is better in regards to general technicalities than the Clear

    But I might rather wait for a true successor to the Utopia. That thing is a freakin' beauty.
     
  20. brencho

    brencho Friend

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    c'mon guys this thread has turned to shit. we can do better than argue about the degree to which there may or may not be hype (too much, too little, just enough?), whether its being shilled or not, and whether something deserves to be listed or not listed on a WoF or what have you. this is especially true for folks that haven't even heard the thing yet, which probably happens to be most people. i'd love to read more impressions to go along with the measurements @Marvey posted.

    speaking of which LOL, i got to hear @Melvillian's pair of Clears today so here are some very brief impressions from a similarly brief listening session. Chain was EAR Dac to EC Zana Deux. The OI on the ZD is 12, so I was worried about elevated or bloated bass from the OTL. bass levels were on the higher side compared to my usual HD600, but it wasn't soft or limp. this is probably my biggest worry for long term use and i only listened for like an hour at most, so hopefully will get to listen more over the next few weeks/months.

    otherwise, they were really nice sounding headphones. definitely clearer and cleaner sounding than my HD600/650, very dynamic with lots of gradations and subtleties in sound, impactful and punchy compared to lots/most headphones out there but less so than the more aggressive Utopia. the treble didn't seem as rough as the Elears when i heard those a long time ago, which is great news. also had some of the magical 3d soundstage of the Utopia where instruments have good separation and dimensionality and texture. soundstage was more similar than different to the utopia and elear judging from memory with utopia having the most telescopic kind of depth to them.

    all in all they worked well for me and did a lot of stuff really well, with the caveat that i worry about elevated bass, so time will tell how that pans out (like, maybe i've spent too much time with the HD600 an need to adjust, could also be a ZD idiosyncracy). btw, this didn't bother me at all with jazz (most of what i listen to anyway) and acoustic stuff, but on other genres or with vocal tracks the bass could maybe overpower, but again time will tell. anyway, grain of salt due to brief listening but hope to get more time with them, cause they're definitely nice.
     

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