[Budda1]

Back xlr are not same.


6.3 and 4.4 are same signal tho.

How is it not the same ?

 

[iamoneagain]

The single ended vs the balance out sound different due to their wiring with the grounding separated. It’s mostly effects the soundstage being wider and better separation on the balanced. Otherwise they’re the same volume and tone.

But how is wifi vs Ethernet different? Other that Ethernet providing a solid connection no matter what. But this unit has one of the best wifi signals and have never had an issue in my place. Would think the different connections would make no difference in sound?

 

[Kopf]

Hey guys,

I have the Focal Elear which I bought in the year it has been released and I am still very happy with it. I originally tested it with Naim CD player and Chord Hugo TT and it sounded great in all areas, treble, mids, bass, soundstage, dynamics. I was happy with all aspects important to me. Compared it at time with a wide variance of models, eg. Sennheiser HD 800s, Beyerdynamic DT1990/T1, Hifiman 560/1000 and others.

But my electronics at home are ... well, meh . I was using Harman Amp and CD player, bass and soundstage good, mids a bit veiled and some sibilance. At that time I developed a liking to listen to streamed music via my old Acer Multi Media Notebook which sounded way better than with my Harman equipment which is driving my Dynaudio Countour speakers.

With my HP Notebook the Elear sounds completely broken, sibilant, metallic, no bass, strange mids, 1-dimensional, no soundstage like a 10 EUR headphone.

With my iphone and Dragon Fly Red DAC there is no sibilance, voices clear but narrow soundstage, lacking bass and lacking dynamics.

It's told that Focal Headphones are easy to drive, that might be true for the power needed but apparently electronics have a huge impact on the sound quality of this headphone ranging from absolutely broken to fantastic.

I was considering to upgrade my equipment with Naim Uniti Nova to drive my Dynaudio Contour speakers and listened to it with a range of Speakers like Avantgarde Accoustic horn speakers (good sounding), T+A Talis (great), Focal Kanta (meh sounding), Focal Sopra (great!), and other cheaper models which I didn't like.

I wanted to drive my Focal Elear with the Naim Uniti Nova as well but the sound was so completely broken again as with my HP Notebook. I was so disappointed because the Nova sounds great with my speakers and several others I listened to.

At that time the Naim Atom HE was not existing.

Now my question is: did someone listen with Naim Atom HE and Focal Elear and what is your impression?

Best!

 

[Melting735]

Hey guys,

I have the Focal Elear which I bought in the year it has been released and I am still very happy with it. I originally tested it with Naim CD player and Chord Hugo TT and it sounded great in all areas, treble, mids, bass, soundstage, dynamics. I was happy with all aspects important to me. Compared it at time with a wide variance of models, eg. Sennheiser HD 800s, Beyerdynamic DT1990/T1, Hifiman 560/1000 and others.

But my electronics at home are ... well, meh . I was using Harman Amp and CD player, bass and soundstage good, mids a bit veiled and some sibilance. At that time I developed a liking to listen to streamed music via my old Acer Multi Media Notebook which sounded way better than with my Harman equipment which is driving my Dynaudio Countour speakers.

With my HP Notebook the Elear sounds completely broken, sibilant, metallic, no bass, strange mids, 1-dimensional, no soundstage like a 10 EUR headphone.

With my iphone and Dragon Fly Red DAC there is no sibilance, voices clear but narrow soundstage, lacking bass and lacking dynamics.

It's told that Focal Headphones are easy to drive, that might be true for the power needed but apparently electronics have a huge impact on the sound quality of this headphone ranging from absolutely broken to fantastic.

I was considering to upgrade my equipment with Naim Uniti Nova to drive my Dynaudio Contour speakers and listened to it with a range of Speakers like Avantgarde Accoustic horn speakers (good sounding), T+A Talis (great), Focal Kanta (meh sounding), Focal Sopra (great!), and other cheaper models which I didn't like.

I wanted to drive my Focal Elear with the Naim Uniti Nova as well but the sound was so completely broken again as with my HP Notebook. I was so disappointed because the Nova sounds great with my speakers and several others I listened to.

At that time the Naim Atom HE was not existing.

Now my question is: did someone listen with Naim Atom HE and Focal Elear and what is your impression?

Best!

I haven't heard Elear, but Atom HE drove all my focal cans well. I have no doubt that it can push your Elear to the max performance.

 

[u2u2]

Now my question is: did someone listen with Naim Atom HE and Focal Elear and what is your impression?

Best!

I have the Atom HE and Focal Elear, Stellia, og Utopia, among other headphones. The Atom HE is a solid performer, the Elears not so much. While I enjoyed the Elears when I bought them I rarely use or enjoy them anymore. At purchase time they were a step up, now a big step backwards. IMHO you will not be satisfied with an Elear/Atom HE pairing...

 

[MRHiFiReviews]

Experience the Magic of Naim Uniti Atom Headphone Edition!

 

[iamoneagain]

Experience the Magic of Naim Uniti Atom Headphone Edition!

How would say the Naim HE compares to the Ferrum stack? I see you carry that as well, so may make a trip up there and do a comparison. Using Caldera open and got to give it a short listen at last SoCal CanJam and liked what I heard. Just wasn’t sure how much improvement it provides over the Naim.

 

[SalR406]

How would say the Naim HE compares to the Ferrum stack? I see you carry that as well, so may make a trip up there and do a comparison. Using Caldera open and got to give it a short listen at last SoCal CanJam and liked what I heard. Just wasn’t sure how much improvement it provides over the Naim.

My experience is limited to CanJam shows. I haven't owned either stack. I'm not TSAV - just chiming in with my own impressions:

• Advantage Naim: Build quality, cool volume knob, nice display screen that shows album art/info, includes network input/streaming endpoint, Roon Ready, all-in-one box, lower price, active community forum
• Advantage Ferrum: Much stronger headphone amp (for better performance with hard-to-drive headphones), power supply choices, multi-box approach gives future flexibility, DAC might be marginally better

If it were me, I'd stay with the Naim unless I felt my headphones really required more power. Good luck with your choice!

 

[iamoneagain]

My experience is limited to CanJam shows. I haven't owned either stack. I'm not TSAV - just chiming in with my own impressions:

• Advantage Naim: Build quality, cool volume knob, nice display screen that shows album art/info, includes network input/streaming endpoint, Roon Ready, all-in-one box, lower price, active community forum
• Advantage Ferrum: Much stronger headphone amp (for better performance with hard-to-drive headphones), power supply choices, multi-box approach gives future flexibility, DAC might be marginally better

If it were me, I'd stay with the Naim unless I felt my headphones really required more power. Good luck with your choice!

That’s sort of the feeling I got after the last CanJam. I’d need to listen at non meet conditions. Other option is to use Naim as a preamp into the Ferrum but is it really worth all that money for what may be a small improvement and ruin the all in one setup. My Caldera open headphones seem pretty to drive as well. Feels dynamic with the Naim.

 

[Melting735]

IMO Naim works best as a standalone unit. The sound is very musical and special, and its convenience is just unbeatable. However, my experience using Naim as a preamp was not so good.
If budget is allowed, I would say Ferrum stack has more potential, but Naim is kinda unbeatable at its price. You only need to spend $2k on used market and you will get streamer + DAC + amp and no need to worry about cables and synergy.

 

[TDHEAD]

IMO Naim works best as a standalone unit. The sound is very musical and special, and its convenience is just unbeatable. However, my experience using Naim as a preamp was not so good.
If budget is allowed, I would say Ferrum stack has more potential, but Naim is kinda unbeatable at its price. You only need to spend $2k on used market and you will get streamer + DAC + amp and no need to worry about cables and synergy.

I also had the NAIM, for the money it really outstanding and ever so convenient . It was my entry into headphones with the Focal Utopia paired with it.

 

[iamoneagain]

I also had the NAIM, for the money it really outstanding and ever so convenient . It was my entry into headphones with the Focal Utopia paired with it.

Yeah, I got it to go the Utopia but find it works quiet well the Caldera. My issue has less to do with price than space and convenience. I really like the small footprint and really only found Ferrum stack to be about same amount of space. I’m really happy with the sound but keep hearing how separates can improve things. But before spending any money, would make more sense to do a real comparison. Looks like Source AV has both setups, maybe later this year I can make the trek up there.

 

[MRHiFiReviews]

How would say the Naim HE compares to the Ferrum stack? I see you carry that as well, so may make a trip up there and do a comparison. Using Caldera open and got to give it a short listen at last SoCal CanJam and liked what I heard. Just wasn’t sure how much improvement it provides over the Naim.

Ferrum Stack is more neutral to my ears, also extracting more detail.

 

[iamoneagain]

Thanks. In my short listen I sort of felt like the Ferrum stack may have been more detailed. Now being more technically capable doesn’t always mean more enjoyable. I previously owned a Chord Dave/mscaler with Focal Utopia and currently enjoy my Naim HE and Caldera just as much, if not more. But I was impressed with Ferrum stack, so will give another listen at some point in the future.

Too bad the Oor doesn’t have a remote. Not sure if roon can control its volume the way it does with Naim.

 

[Melting735]

Too bad the Oor doesn’t have a remote. Not sure if roon can control its volume the way it does with Naim.

Roon can always control the digital volume, but as a trade you will lose bit-perfect