Focal Clear Measurements and Impressions

Discussion in 'Headphone Measurements' started by purr1n, Dec 20, 2017.

  1. gixxerwimp

    gixxerwimp Professional tricycle rider

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    I'm actually very satisfied now, as described here in the Focal Clear thread. I've since removed the thin layer of melamine after switching to Elex pads and only have one super thin ply of tissue* and a circle of HD650 foam over the driver. My HD650Ms are feeling very abandoned and aside from occasional metallic timbre in the treble, these are pretty much end game for me.

    *The tissue I'm using is likely much thinner than anything most of you have access to. It's the free stuff you get when you fill up your gas tank in Taiwan, and practically dissolves in your hands after you blow your nose into it.
     
  2. Biodegraded

    Biodegraded Friend

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    Taking a necessary break from the Coronavirus discussion to play with graphs and do some thread necro.

    As mentioned on p2 of this thread, the Clear has a pretty extreme impedance curve which will interact with high output-impedance sources to boost bass. The curves below help visualize how they'd respond to:

    ECP T4 (6.3 ohms lo out, 26 ohms hi out)
    Valhalla (4.9 ohms lo out, 14 ohms hi out)
    SW 51+ (27 ohms lo out, 54 ohms hi out)

    Red curve is Clear impedance vs frequency profile, digitized from Innerfidelity.

    [​IMG]
     
  3. crenca

    crenca Friend

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    Great suff @Biodegraded - I would give you two or three thumbs up if I could. One reason that has kept me from taking a deep dive into TOTL tube amps (beyond laziness around the whole NOS tube scene) is that despite the fact that currently I mostly listen to ZMF, my Focal Clear's are still important and a reference for me.

    I can't remember where (and so obviously can't link it), but I recall seeing measurments of the Clear that put it's impedance lower so that the flattening of the curve in that 400>10k region closer to 50.
     
  4. Biodegraded

    Biodegraded Friend

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    Yeah, Tyll shows it as mid-60s but Focal themselves say 55 (but don't show a curve). Wouldn't make a massive difference though.
     
  5. gixxerwimp

    gixxerwimp Professional tricycle rider

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    I definitely prefer my Clears out of the SW51+'s low Z output. High Z makes the bass soundly bloomy.
     
  6. FlySweep

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    Issue with SW51+'s low z out w/ the Elex is that the Elex sound somewhat limp (Modi 3 not helping this, of course). Bass definitely cleaner though. Via high z, the elex mids & treble sound pretty glorious though. More true to life note weight and timbre. Staging gets a bit wonky in high z w/ the focals. I'm convinced they sound right with very low OI amps, albeit other issue inherent to focals become more obvious. Just something you gotta live w/ imo.
     
  7. Gazny

    Gazny MOT: ETA Audio

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    Focal clear.
    I was lucky enough to be able to have an extended loan. Wow, these are pretty well performing headphones. I felt my chain limited these more than anything else I have used.

    Some Preamble before I give my thoughts on these:
    Sources Modi 3, Motu M2, and a cheap sony turn table.
    Power amps: Motu M2, my old thinkpad, Valhalla 2, Asgard 2


    Music impressions:
    I really didn’t expect these to just present so many different sounds during my listening experience. Guess I was used to the 650 mid range. Compared to the 6xx and the Aeolus you really get a huge portion of the mix. Some sounds really show up and are up there in your face(ear?). At times I felt I was hearing more, The bass is great from the get go. I really got a sense of the depth a track can have while being “clear”.

    Kanye West ultralight-beam. A track that really wowed me.The distortion at the end of the track was so obvious. Before hearing on the clears, it escaped me, I passed it up and left it just a vocal harmony. On the clears it was there, it was so rich, so bit crushed I caved. I had to find more tracks with effects that crushed grime into the tracks.

    F The World – Dorian Electra was so messed up(in a good way) and just punched so freaking hard. Such a good 2020 song. F the world cause I love it! The previously difficult to understand chorus was so clean and easy to understand! I felt as if my hearing was restored(Only substituent to be destroyed by my choice in music).

    hand crushed by a mallet (Remix) - 100 gecs

    Maggot Brain – Funkadelic Honestly my treble test, some systems just hurt my ears and the clear was clean and crisp. I got what I was looking for with this track. The hiss of the amps. The strange reverb trails. The tapping on the symbols. Oh yeah, when you hear the tape in the track, just flapping around or it is damaged from some transfer.

    Superorganism ‎– Superorganism: Damn, forgot how heavy this album was. Definitely a fun toe tapper, I might still enjoy the live recording more but this record is just so clean sounding. The synths are so deep, and the chorus between all the tracks is very nice when trying to pick out separate vocals. Reverb just isn’t a noise; it is again to understand. No more reaching for the volume knob to hear the fine details.

    Golden Greats - The Ventures
    Damn this album is amazing. Didn’t know my copy sounded this good. Who knew they added a rocket to the intro.

    Gustav Mahler, Gürzenich-Orchester Köln*, François-Xavier Roth ‎– Symphony No. 5.
    Whoa this was great.


    Songs that didn’t quite get me involved as would like:

    Little Fugue in G Minor, BWV 578 /Jacques Loussier
    The Aeolus just had something special with this song. Not sure what it is but it might be the wood giving me the sense of reverb with the piano, I was looking for more decay with the clear.​

    Amp impressions:
    The Valhalla 2 is not my favorite pairing. Everything felt diffused, as if the music wanted to evaporate. Both gain settings the bass was just not what I expected from the tag lines everyone loves to use.

    Motu M2 muted sound, as if it wanted to escape but was not able to. Just compressed undynamic sounding.

    Asgard 2. Much better than the previous amps. Body to the lower registers. Tamed the top end just a bit to not destroy my ears on Maggot Brain. Hard to not want to turn it up, but I also never had the amp at 6 o'clock. Might have to do more reading for why this is. Even 4' o'clock was nice.

    Why would I not recommend these. Well if you want to have these as your all-day beater, you better have extra pads. These pads will look noticeable different with use. Even the pro red model looks very different. I wouldn’t call these fun, but they are exciting! Being able to listen to music or changes does make these very desirable. Got a new toy? Listen to it with this. Color these any color you’d like. I don’t quite know what the limits of these are but they seem to have huge potential for anyone with lots of chain options or audio nervosa. The clap can be too much at times with my glasses. If your music choice is single mic or dual mic recordings. A little sterile for my tastes.


    Why would I recommend these? If I wanted to step deeper into what I have. Looking for real gains, this might show what gear sounds like. Show some of the flaws or gains you are having. Moving source to source, it becomes obvious where one can grow.


    If I learned anything it is that I really can’t have 1 headphone. I like these for complex music, but a single instrument I would pick up another headphone, the lack of decay had me looking for the Aeolus. Essentially, I like these for E/IDM, Hyper Pop, some analog synths and whatever else was made in Pro Tools. You would be hard pressed to not pick these up if you wanted to hear deeper into the system. If you wanted to just hear the music and sit back you can find tons of other cans like the Aeolus that can bring that wood decay that is just so sweet to all for your well recorded music.
     
    Last edited: Nov 30, 2020

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