Focal Clear MG Impressions

We only had a thread under measurements so I created a new one for all the incoming loaner impressions.

TL;DR: I have the OG Clears and wanted to know which I like better. Definitely OG, the MG neuters the Focal sound too much for my taste. I already have laid back headphones, I want excitement from Focal.

Chain: Pavane | SFD-1 MK II -> Freya S -> Stratus

Headphones compared: Clear MG, Clear (original, aka OG), Atticus (ziricote)

Focals heard: I've owned the Elex twice and now have the OG Clears. Tried the Utopia and Stellia at a meet, both sounded boring, probably poor amp synergy. Maybe I'll get lucky and one of these will become available (again) on a loaner so I can try with the Stratus.

MG
A little darker, slightly less clarity (probably the tuning rather than lack of detail), less sharp and energetic. Still similar to what I think of as the Focal house sound. Perhaps the bass is more elevated or muddy compared with the OG and I think this detracted from clarity.

OG
A bit more energy, possibly fatiguing when not in the mood though less so than the Elex. Voices more forward. Overall the MG and OG are similar and the MG strikes me as more of a tweak than a major overhaul.

Atticus
Noticeably more laid back, less fatiguing, and much lighter (thanks to ziricote + magnesium chassis, normally they're probably close in weight)

Acoustic Folk and Classical (Atticus was not included in this comparison)
Strongly preferred the OG Clears. Instruments are more crisp and the tone is much better. Sometimes I liked vocals a bit better with the MG but OG definitely was best overall. Also liked percussion better with the OG.

Rock, Grunge, or Poor Mastering
Atticus is the clear winner here. I did prefer the MG to the OG but neither are that great with the tracks I tried.

Summary
For clear, well-mastered music I preferred OG. Wall of sound, distorted, grungy, etc I preferred the Atticus with the MG being between the two but closer to OG than Atticus. I also enjoy the Atticus for clear, well-mastered music, that's more mood dependent.

The Atticus is a different flavor, the two Clears are variants. If you want a laid back Focal, the MG is worth considering but I think some ZMF variants handle this better, sometimes at a lower price.

 

hello,

(tl/dr: if these were around when i started this, and i could audition them, with my sources, and my choice of music, i would have been done a long time and money ago. problem is, i would need two pair.)

i am somewhat hesitant to post these impressions, as i am concerned that i will come across as an aged, tone-deaf, poser. all of which is fairly true.

as i have stated ad nauseum, I own mid-fi sources, mid-fi cans, and damaged ears.

that said, the Focal Clear MG (hereafter as FCMG) are the open headphones i would have if i could have only one. driven by either my Asgard 2, Lyr 2, or, as a jack of all trades, an ancient iPod Classic, they deliver what i look for. they disappear and leave the music behind.

the mid-fi treadmill is easy to succumb to. there are many flavors of headphones in the USD$200 to USD$400 price range, and I have a bunch of them. open and closed dynamics, planars, IEM’s, and portables for public transit.

i am a fan of Avril Lavigne, (yeah, I know, i’m too old for this.) “Hot” from the Next Best Thing is a terribly over-produced, compressed assault on the hearing. but, with great lyrical conceit and very, very, sexy. with FCMG, it is totally listenable and FUN, FUN, FUN.

Irene Kral and Alan Broadbent, cut two beautiful albums, Where Is Love? and The Gentle Rain. you can feel the meters max out on both of them as Irene is so closely miced that it almost hurts. with FCMG, she is singing directly into your heart.

Alex de Grassi, Barenaked Ladies, The Beatles, The Doors, Frankie, Laura, Patricia, Uncle Bonsai, Zepplin… all were wonderful.

in our house, we make birthday and December Holiday lists, so as to not be disappointed, Mrs ForBin was born in July. when the FCMG were in the house, she used them at her WFH desk. she has a very stress free and easy job (NOT!!!). it makes me very happy if she has her head inside headphones and is singing along to the crap she likes. that was the way it was with the FCMG. but, even worse, “Forget my birthday, forget Christmas, all I want is these.”

fortunately, she likes the consumer colour way, while i prefer the Pro.

Cheers!

 

I primarily auditioned the Clear MG on a Schiit Modius/Liquid Platinum setup (balanced), though I also listened on Lyr 3 and Bottlehead S.E.X. fed from the Modius SE outputs. I thoroughly enjoyed music on all three amps, and in general found the Clear MG to be clear, detailed, and impactful and commited no real sins. Felt like I heard a slight bass emphasis and a little bit in the highs, but I didn’t feel that anything was overemphasized.

The only other Focal headphones I’ve spent any real time with are the closed back Elegia, which I bought for office use before I went remote. The Clear MG definitely shares a similar house sound with that headphone. As expected given the open design the Clear MG has noticeably better sense of space and air than the Elegia. Also, while I never thought the Elegia had a strong tendency toward a metallic sound, in direct comparison the Clear MG is much smoother in the upper registers, with no noticeable grain or odd timbre.

Other than open vs. closed, the design and comfort was effectively identical between the headphones, with the same good and bad. I could wear the headphones for hours with good comfort, though they also creak a bit just like my Elegias.

Overall I was very pleased with the Focal Clear MG. On the whole I preferred them to anything I have in my collection, including the HD650 which is otherwise my favorite headphone.

 

I'd be curious to know if any younger SBAF members have tried the clear MG.
Myself and a friend of mine can't listen to them for more than 30 mins or so as the upper treble gets incredibly fatiguing.

And then a few others we know that have tried them are totally fine.

So far the only correlating factor seems to be age and whether or not the listener can hear above about 18khz. Obviously small sample size so not exactly conclusive but I'm interested to know if any others under 25 or so have tried clear MG and what they thought

 

Clear MG loaner impressions

Gear: Bifrost 2 > Studio B > Clear MG
My primary headphone is the Auteur

Design/build:
Typical Focal excellence. These are super comfy with very soft ear pads. Heavier than my plastic Sennheisers but lighter than my Auteur. The metal build quality makes it seem like these will last awhile. Idk if the 4pin cable is stock, but it’s appreciated if it is. Can always use a balanced to SE adapter if needed. I really like the case that came with it as well. Makes these a good transportable option (though not portable by any means).

Sound:
I’m not a big fan of the Focal headphones. The Elear was too dark, Elegia too thin, the Clear too forward and the Utopia had an unnatural tone that got to me after awhile. These Clear MG are my favorite to come from Focal.

It’s a bit more laid back in the upper mids than the others. This does take some bite away from guitars and I do wish I could get something between the Clear and Clear MG. However I’ll take a little too laid back than too forward any day.

This also seems to tone down the dynamic quality that some of the other Focals are known for, but not so much that it becomes boring. More like easy listening.

Bass is just right for this headphone. I wouldn’t complain about a little more usually, but with the laid back nature of the upper end I think they hit a good amount with this. No treble peaks that I can hear that become bothersome. Fatigue is generally a non issue with these. One thing to note is that I have to turn them up a bit more than my other headphones (probably due to the laid back nature) which may cause some fatigue after awhile of listening. Ymmv.

Overall they are just okay. They are not offensive but don’t really do anything special either. They don’t really pull me into the music. I can’t really recommend them at $1500. Especially since that’s right around the price of a ZMF Autuer which I think is a fantastic headphone (though has its own unique quirks). If street price settles down to just under $1k like the OG Clear I can see these being more worth the price.

 

I'm a big fan of the original Clears and I ended up keeping them even after purchasing a pair of Utopias. I was generally curious how Focal was going to improve the OGs with the MG. But for me, this was a short demo.

When they arrived I gave them a quick listen on the rpi/RDAC/SW51+ office setup and I only made it about two songs before the mid-bass was just too much. Side note, I'm more sensitive to bass than treble. It was just a booming that reminded me of an early pair of LCD2s that I tried or even 650s with really worn pads. Swapped back over to the Clear OGs and I can listen all day. Odd.

Second try on the main rig, PIAES > Gungnir A2 > Freya S > Starlett. I made it about 5 songs but Daft Punk's "Get Lucky" pretty much ended the demo. Again swapped back to the OGs and had no issues. I think the slight mid-bass bump and the relaxed mids of the MG compared to the OG was just enough to cross my sensitivity threshold.

In addition, the Clear MG just sounded louder to me. I checked the specs and they both have the same impedance and sensitivity, but maybe it's something else. If I set the volume with the OGs I always felt the need to turn the volume down a touch with the MGs. I did a quick/rough volume comparison by playing a 1khz sine wave and checking the dBs with my phone. While not the most accurate measurement, I did confirm they were outputting within .2 dBs of each other.

TL;DR.. Clear MGs are different and not for everyone.

Thanks SBAF for the loaner!

 

Let me begin once again by thanking SBAF for the loaner program in general, and of course the Clear MG in particular. I do get a lot of enjoyment from checking out new gear, especially when I’m able to do so in my own system. I am genuinely appreciative of this community and all it has to offer. I’ll proceed as I did before in more of a short bullet point form (without the bullet points).

For a point of reference, my chain was a mix of lossy and lossless files from my HP PC > Bifrost 2 via Unison > ifi Pro iCAN or ZMF Pendant (OG)> Clear MG.

I really enjoyed my time with the Clear MG (CMG). I think I can understand much of the positive and negative that’s been written already, but as I re-read it appears to be a matter of preference. I am wholeheartedly agreeing with @Erroneous here, and can see how this would be polarizing...it does seem that people either love them or hate are less than thrilled by them. I do wonder if it boils down to an ear canal shape issue or something similar, but you could probably write a thesis on that.

Comfort wise, these are decent on my head. Definitely not a heavy headphone for me (I am fine with ZMFs) and the clamp feels just right to me. Earpads are adequately sized and comfortable. Larger ears and wider heads may or may not agree of course.

I agree with @penguins about the cable, it just seems to not fit the ‘premium aesthetic’ Focal is likely shooting for. It does get the job done, and it is a loooong cable which like the sound signature, some will love & some not so much.

These are easy to drive overall, low gain on my ifi had plenty of juice on tap. I don’t think I went above 9:00 on the volume dial once, even less using the Pendant. I found the Pendant to pair particularly well with the CMG, adding a bit of the tube magic to the mids and drawing me in a bit further.

The bass response is fairly neutral overall, with a nice rise in the sub bass and equally nice extension. Pleasant and not over accentuated for my preferences. Good texture on upright bass, nice resonance without sounding artificial and engaging with EDM. You’re not getting a ZMF, but bass is more present than other Focal headphones excepting the Elear. The bass is definitely tighter and better defined with the CMG.

Mids are very uncomplicated and intelligible, sounding a bit more dry that wet but not brittle. Some vocals edged a bit to far forward to my tastes, but never crossed the line to being painful or annoying. This was pretty track/recording dependent and was only noticeable when actively listening for it.

Highs also occasionally ventured too close to the hot zone when critical listening, only standing out with certain go to test songs that I find particularly revealing. Otherwise the extra “brilliance” never bothered me, or at least what I could hear of it with my aging ears. The scoop in the 5k-9k range didn’t sound pronounced or out of place to me either. What I did hear is a bit of the unnatural tonality that @Erroneous was referring to. I found that the bass sounded tonally accurate, but the treble was a bit off, though I’m not sure I could put a figurative finger on exactly what. Even though I didn’t find it quite as objectionable as he did, it definitely could be a deal-breaker at this price range.

For anyone familiar with the NYC music scene, the headstage is definitely more Bitter End than Beacon Theater, which is saying more small club sounding. Imaging did sound to me to be a very good. I’m not bothered by a small headstage if it is still paints a credible sonic picture and the CMG does.

Bottom line for me is although I did enjoy the CMG quite a bit, it’s not a favorite for my preferences. I was pleasantly surprised that it is a sound signature from Focal that I could mostly live with, which is a first*. Oddly my objections aren’t wishing there were more bite up top, which seems to be the most common complaint. Rather for me in this price range there are other headphones I’d enjoy quite a bit more. Focal did impress me for the most part, but they just didn’t win me over in the end.








*I have yet to hear a properly amped Utopia which I’ve been told could fit the bill, even if I can’t afford the bill.

 

TLDR

When I first put these on my head, I thought I was going to like them. But the more I listened, the more I realized they just weren’t for me. The suckout in the upper mids/lower treble just killed these for me.

Spoiler: Playlist

Anner Bylsma Prélude to Bach’s Suite for solo cello No. 1 in G major
The 5 Browns Malagueña from Andalucia Suite
Pamela Frank/Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra Mozart’s Serenade No. 7 for orchestra in D major
John Williams/John Etheridge Extra Time for 2 Guitars
Duplessy & The Violins of the World Kung Fu
Kaki King Ingots
The Beatles Norwegian Wood
Carl Anderson Heaven on their Minds
James Brown It’s a New Day, Pts. 1-2
Earth Wind & Fire Shining Star
Los Lonely Boys I Don’t Wanna Lose Your Love (Live at Blue Cat Blues)
Led Zeppelin Moby Dick (from How the West was Won)
Daft Punk Giorgio by Moroder
Cream Badge
Ben Harper & The Blind Boys of Alabama Take My Hand
Horace Silver Quintet Finger Poppin’
Maynard Ferguson Birdland
Phil Woods Rain Dance (Live from the Showboat)
Bill Evans Trio Detour Ahead [Take 2]
Ray Charles/Count Basie Orchestra Oh, What a Beautiful Morning
Macy Gray Redemption Song
Joni Mitchell California

Pi2AES -> AES -> SESCOM -> BNC -> Metrum Amethyst -> Mogwai SEv2 + -> ZMF Eikon (Cherry/Eikon Lamb)/Clear MG

I was listening to the Eikons from the 32ohm taps and the CMG’s from the 8 ohm taps. Maybe its because I’m used to the Eikons and their slight hump in the upper mid/lower treble, but I couldn’t get past the upper mid/lower treble dip in the CMG.

On the CMG, electric guitars lost their crunch, cymbals lost their shimmer, and I thought this was especially pronounced on well recorded music. Listening to rock on the CMG, it was like someone turned down the electric guitars (or they were playing in another room). On jazz, the high-hat and cymbals just seemed to disappear into the background

I will say that I didn’t notice the dip nearly as much on poorly recorded “loudness war” music, which seemed to flatten out the dip, leaving only a slight recess. If I strictly listened to today’s poorly recorded music, then I might learn to like the CMG.​

Pi2AES -> AES -> SESCOM -> BNC -> SFD-1 Mkii SE+ -> 3F -> ZMF Auteur (Cocobolo/Eikon Lamb)/Clear MG

I thought the CMG was a similar story on the 3F. I had originally hoped the CMG would complement the Auteur, but they were just too laid back. I will say that they did better on the 3F. Some of the male vocals weren't bad (Ben Harper/Blind Boys of Alabama; Ray Charles) and the drums on Moby Dick were outstanding, but I lost interest when the guitars kicked in after the drum solo.

I can’t say that I noticed any particular synergy with the 3F… but this is the first time I’ve had ears on Focals, so maybe I’m missing something.​

Ergonomics

1. To beat a dead horse – the cables.
2. Unlike most others, I did not find these comfortable at all. I guess I have a really big head, because I thought the clamp was extreme (if this wasn’t a loaner I suppose I could bend the yoke) and the “spring loaded” cups kept pushing on my jawline. The ZMF’s were way more comfortable on my head.
3. To rebeat the dead horse – the SE cable is so short that it’s useless. I ended up using the balanced cable with an XLR to SE adapter on the mogwai (I tossed an old adapter cable in the case).
4. Speaking of the case… really nice.

Conclusion

With the CMG I had no engagement with the music, no desire to listen to one more song. To me, they were one boring listen.

I’m sure the fact that Eikon/Auteur slight hump in the upper mid/lower treble coinciding almost exactly with the CMG dip didn’t help my impressions. It also didn’t help that I had just shipped out @rhythmdevils HE560v4 loaner the day before the CMG arrived (hint… the modded HE560v4 are outstanding, but I was asked to hold my impressions until hearing the modded HE6se).​

 

First off, thanks SBAF for the opportunity to listen to these thanks to the loaner.

Secondly, I don't have much greater insight to add. Given my chain:

RPi + Pi2AES --> BF2 --> Jot2/SW51

Comparing directly (well, exclusively) to Focal Elex, I found the differences to be mostly marginal. The Mgs add some frequency extension without any detriment to the midrange tonality. Both in the bass as well as the treble. Macrodynamic and microdynamic resolution/contrast were nearly indistinguishable between the two. Mg *could* have a slight advantage in peak macrodynamic output, but this could be due to a slight increase in upper frequency response. I.e, slightly "clearer-sounding" (due to resonances up above 20kHz) upper treble might be confused with greater overall dynamic contrast.

Either way, I started to begin to hear a similar overtone/harmonic confusion that has kept me away from Utopia. It's not nearly as prevalent, but there's a touch of it in MG. Could be pleasing for some, mildly grating for others. I'm guessing most folks entering the Focal line blind won't think any more of it than "extended frequency response" but for anyone that knows what Be tweeters sound like, it kind of becomes inescapable, only to a lesser degree than Utopia, and not nearly the deal-killer it is with Utopia as it is for me personally.

Bottom line, for me, is that Elex gets as much right and less wrong than Mg, and for roughly half the price. I'm sticking with Elex. Though, if I'd never heard Elex, I could probably justify buying a pair of Mg used.

 

Clear Mg Loaner Impressions

Thank you SBAF for kindly letting me hear these headphones on the loaner tour, I really appreciate it. I feel most fortunate to be able to participate in these loaners, and I’m grateful to the staff for taking the time to organize them. Thank you.

I’m long overdue in posting these impressions. I had the loaner tour unit a good many weeks ago. I typed up my notes at the time. But I haven’t really known quite how to pitch my impressions: part of the problem is that I lack the experience to be able to offer fairly balanced, measured evaluation of headphones I don’t get along with; I should also stress that I don’t have the best setups for evaluating the Clear Mg. I’d assumed, naively, that my setups would do a decent job with the Clear Mg because they’re good with the original Clear and because both headphones share the same sensitivity and impedance. That wasn’t the case.


Preferences

• I have and love the original Clear. I very much like its tuning and dislike only a couple of things about its sound: it’s slightly hard, crystalline treble and its small headstage.
• The Clear Mg diverge drastically from the sound of the original and surely cater to different tastes than mine.
• What flummoxed me, though, is that I’m also a fan of the Audeze house sound, which the Clear Mg is said to resemble. I have the LCD2-Classic and like it very much.
  • I’d hoped that the Clear Mg might offer the best of both the Focal and Audeze worlds. Alas, that wasn’t to be.

Chain and Caveats

• 2012 Macbook Pro used solely for music playback with Audirvana via USB -> Massdrop x Airist R-2R DAC -> Massdrop Cavalli Tube Hybrid (MCTH) or SW51+
• the SW51+ made for a much better pairing overall, albeit with some bass bloom and flabbiness because of impedance matching issues, I suppose
  • I should add, though, that the Clear Mg’s bass was still a bit bloomy and imprecise with the MCTH
• the bass response was the one good thing about the pairing with the MCTH; conversely, the MCTH makes for an excellent, synergistic (see atomicbob’s post here) pairing with the original Clear
• Most importantly: I’m in my mid-40s and have suffered some age-related and other hearing loss so I can’t say much about treble extension. Even so, I still found the Clear Mg’s treble to be rolled off—or, at least, because I can’t hear the upper treble, it sounds rolled off (lacking in treble air and sparkle) to me. I think this explains my issues with these headphones.

An Attempt at Circumspect, “Measured” Impressions (i.e. trying to set aside how I really feel about the Clear Mg)
Tonality
The Clear Mg’s tuning sounds a good deal better out of the SW51+ than the MCTH. It’s still overly bassy, in part because the mid-bass emphasis is quite strong. Tubas come across as too tubby, and while double basses have a nice amount of heft to them, the bass can be a bit too boomy. There’s a decent amount of sub-bass rumble that suits movie soundtracks nicely. And some bass textures are nice and rich.

Male vocals can be quite forward; they’re on the edge of being overly emphasized, for my taste. Elvis Presley is a pleasure to listen to.

The higher frequencies are a bit wonky. The Clear Mg is a bit rolled off: high-hats and cymbals are too mushy and lacking in zing. Tambourines are likewise oddly dull and muted. You can’t hear piccolos or harps or flutes all that clearly in orchestral music. Also, there isn’t enough air or sparkle. Acoustic guitars don’t sound great. (Please note here my caveat above about not being able to hear upper treble).

This rolled-off tuning would be acceptable if the Clear Mg made for a fatigue-free listen. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case. I suspect the fatigue I’m getting is from an emphasis somewhere in the upper-mids and lower treble. As such, female vocals are very forward, especially sopranos’. The same can be said for alto saxophones. Pianos are often distractingly and irritatingly imbalanced: notes at higher frequencies are more forward than ones lower down the keyboard.

Because of the uneven mids and treble, the timbre of acoustic instruments is far from ideal, so much so that I’d advise against getting the Clear Mg for classical or folk music or jazz. As with my LCD-2 Classic headphones, I’d recommend the Clear Mg for rock and electronic music instead. As you might expect, electric guitars sound great. They have plenty of crunch and even better bite (the Mg bests its predecessor here). Jeff Buckley’s guitar on Hallelujah has a nice chiming sound to it. Power chords are decent but can be overly bassy and chug along too much.

Technicalities
Beyond tuning, there’s a less clean or precise sound than from the original Clear. This is especially noticeable with percussion: the initial strikes aren’t as snappy as they could be. I wonder if this has something to do with the leading edges of notes being too rounded. The problem isn’t necessarily with the SW51+ pairing, I don’t think; it was there with the MCTH as well (and, conversely, while the SW51+ softens the transients of the original Clear slightly, I think, they still sound fine to me). Overall, there’s some muddiness to the sound of the Clear Mg; it lacks the incisiveness of the original.

Macrodynamics are excellent, much as they are with other Focal headphones. The Clear Mg also has a lot of slam as well as plenty of bass impact.

Imaging is decent but less pin-point precise than the original Clear’s. The staging is only okay. There’s not much depth to the sound. The headstage isn’t too small: it’s a bit more spacious than the original Clear although the less precise imaging undermines that greater spaciousness somewhat. I still prefer the staging of the original, which itself isn’t great.


Comparison with the LCD-2 Classic (with just rock and electronic music)
Both from the same chain, with the MCTH; the LCD-2 Classic is with its Reveal plugin. I should add that I’m not all that fond of the LCD2-Classic with the MCTH; it sounded far better out of the Jot 2, when I had it on the loaner tour, and I’m waiting to get a solid state amp that will do the Audeze justice. Even so:

The LCD2-Classic is superior in many ways:

• its bass is tighter and faster and less boomy
  • it’s more textured and realistic with acoustic instruments
  • it also extends more deeply, I think (it was kind of track dependent)
  • I could discern pitch differentiation in the bass regions better on the LCD2-C
  • there’s more of a simulation of air being moved in the bass, even if that’s not what’s happening
• distorted, growling, crunchy electric guitars have more texture, and they reverberate more strongly on the LCD2-Classic
  • electric guitars have a more tactile sound to them
• the LCD2-C’s staging is more open and spacious
  • there’s more width and depth
    • there’s a sense of being at once more enveloped and better surrounded by the music
      • The Clear Mg, by contrast, sounds more closed in, smaller, and congested
        • its instrument separation is poorer, as though it’s more crowded
        • sounds don’t move around within the headstage as well, by which I mean you can’t sense them panning as much from left to right and from front to back, for instance
• the LCD2-Classic has better separation and layering
• surprisingly, the LCD2-Classic has better imaging - and that’s something I always thought it wasn’t all that good at

The Clear Mg surpasses the LCD2-Classic in a few areas

• it has more bass impact
• it slams harder
• electric guitars have more bite

The Clear Mg also has problems the LCD2-Classic doesn’t

• it’s more strident
• it’s more fatiguing
• cymbals are too muted
• some instruments and vocals are overly forward; hammond organs, for example, take over some songs and become the dominant sound

Overall, the Clear Mg comes out of the comparison poorly; on balance, the LCD2-Classic does more things better - and at almost half the price.


Some Intemperate Impressions (or how I really feel about the Clear Mg)
I really didn’t get along well with the Clear Mg. I realize this is a function of my preferences, dodgy hearing, and less than ideal gear combinations. But, even so, I feel as though I ought to be direct here. The Mg’s tuning is odd: the bass is decent enough, if woolly, but then the mids and treble are entirely too uneven and wonky, being at once fatiguingly shouty and rolled off such that a lot of music ends up sounding muddy and indistinct. If the Clear Mg were someone speaking, they’d be mumbling. Making matters worse, the Mg doesn’t sound as fast, snappy or exciting as the original. The small headstage is problematic: there isn’t enough space between instruments; there’s not much depth to the staging, either, which means that sounds pile up vertically but don’t project forward. The music is heard on a plane running directly between the ears and entirely within my head. Combine all this with the lack of treble air and sparkle and the overall sound is congested and claustrophobic. It’s a cliché to describe closed-back headphones as sounding like open-backs; here it’s the other way round.

Listening to classical music or jazz becomes an unpleasant exercise in trying to remember what musical information is missing. Strings, in particular, sound off. Massed strings are even worse: it’s as though they’ve been shoved through some cheap synthesizer and have been transformed into an odd-sounding, single instrument. If you listen to a piano, the frequency response’s oddities are quickly apparent: bassier notes are muddy; other notes are faint, and yet more are so forward they’re all but leaping up at you. I realize the Clear Mg’s tuning isn’t suited for acoustic instruments, just as the LCD2-Classic’s isn’t, either; I mention this, though, because the original Clear had a much better tuning, to my ears.

It’s maddening: at the same time as I feel the need to turn up the volume on the Clear Mg - to compensate for all the missing information - so the sound is shouty and fatiguing, which means that I can’t bear to turn up the volume.


Conclusion
The Clear Mg are good for people who like their vocals forward and their electrical guitars crunchy and bitey and who like lots of little hexagons and the color chestnut. My criticisms of the sound apply most forcefully for acoustic instruments, which isn’t entirely fair, given that similar criticisms can be leveled at my LCD2-Classic; even so, the problems with the tuning and the technicalities still detract from my enjoyment of rock and electronic music.

Focal should have released this as an alternative headphone to the original Clear and kept the original one in production because it’s far better balanced in its tuning and it serves as an excellent all-rounder. The Mg is better suited for certain genres of music and to those with other tastes or preferences than mine (or better gear and ears).

 

Hi friends, I will share my impressions of the Focal Clear MG in this video. This video will focus on the build quality, design, and sound impressions of the Focal Clear MG. I will also compare them from a sound perspective to the Sennheiser HD800s, HEDD Audio HEDDphone, and the Focal Stellia. We will also discuss some synergistic amp pairings for the Focal Clear MG.

 

Heard the Clear Mg at a show yesterday. They were on an iFi stack. These were the little iFi boxes shaped like upside down UFOs. I liked.this combo more than anything else I heard there, which isn't much... Senn typical suspects, Meze something or other (supposedly their now totl model), LCD5 (so bad), some nondescript closed back. What's good about the Clear Mg for me is what it doesn't do... It doesn't do that colored treble thing from my memory of the Utopia. And it doesn't really seem to have that signature Focal sizzle, but also that seemed to be a touch over corrected. Overall, super easy to listen to and enjoyable, colorful (in a good way) sound, enough clarity, snap, and resolution, and not bassy. All gleaned from 7 minutes of listening, so YMMV.

I'm resigned to the fact that I prefer headphone sound to be a touch laid back. While, when it comes to two channel, I seem to prefer a faster, sharper, more detailed sound than a lot of my audio friends. It makes speaker listening sessions feel more intimate somehow. But, I guess whenever I strap transducers to my skull, I just want to chill. Just the music, ma'am. Save your hifi theatrics. Maybe I'll get a pair and try out @brencho 's Ukrainian amp. Long live SBAF.