[ZetsuBozu0012]

Sounds like a cop out for a failed design. Headphone drivers should not click and pop.

Found a relevant post. Not the one I was looking for originally, but here you go:

I think that's a good question for @focalofficial and Marine. In general you can always hear when a driver it reaching its limitations. No different than a traditional speaker (referencing Dynamic drivers) at the SF meet last year we watched a person take a set of Utopia to point of popping the drivers, popping so hard all of us ran over to him to drop the gain and save the headphones ...it was too late unfortunately. The person somehow didn't appear to hear the popping ....he just bumped his head to the music like it was all good! What is someone's normal could be someone else's quiet and visa versa ......I have seen people that live at 108 db comfortably. I've seen others that think 83 db is painful. I've seen Headphones quit at 103 db, just decide to die and others that have the ability to play, well beyond safe listening levels and seem to have no issue. I think it's safe to say Focal has designed great headphones and they do an excellent job of performing as expected. They've also shown an exemplary response to any issues that arose during its launch and on going. If you relate to cars you'll get this ...it's not good to redline a motor because it will eventually blow up no matter how much you pay for that motor.

I think the crux of the matter here is that many people tend to listen at dangerous volumes when left unchecked. That's perfectly understandable, as headphones playing at higher SPLs will always sound better than the same headphone playing at lower volumes, provided they don't surpass the threshold of pain (i.e. ~120dB, but some feel pain at lower). One also has to consider the extent of hearing loss experienced by said listener, as aural damage makes one less sensitive to higher SPLs— as a consequence of this, these individuals tend to increase the volume even further to make up for their hearing being diminished, or simply because they're less likely to feel pain at dangerous levels.

Provided Focal's headphones are capable of reproducing sound at higher than average, say, 90dB (which can cause permanent hearing damage at ~2 hours), then I'd say it's far from a cop out and more promoting healthy listening habits.


Cheers,

Kevin

P.S.
I have tinnitus from an incident at work where I had to cover a rock concert and was standing right next to massive speakers when the (expletive) sound guys did their check, but it's a mild case; I hear nothing unless the ambient volume is <30dB. By reason of this, my current normal listening level is ~72db (as per an uncalibrated SPL meter app I keep on my mobile), and I start getting uncomfortable at 80dB.

Yes, music sounds "better" at higher volumes, but I don't think it's worth risking any more of my hearing save for some very special tracks, when I'm in the mood for them, or live performances (where I usually have a pair of cheap IEMs in as makeshift earplugs).

 

[DamageInc77]

Current LCD-2, awful, dull, boring sucks the fun out.

So you prefer the pre-fazor model?

 

[xDaveyJ]

So you prefer the pre-fazor model?

There's a lot of inconsistencies with pre 2016 drivers but my old 2011 Pre Fazor and 2.2 I owned I much preferred.

 

[Svatopluk]

I actually enjoyed the sound signature of the HE-560. Unfortunately, detail and separation seemed to be lacking when the listening level was under 80 db which I found to be unacceptable. I'm not sure if that's not a family trait of planar headphones in general as the Oppo PM-2 suffers the same problem.

 

[DamageInc77]

There's a lot of inconsistencies with pre 2016 drivers but my old 2011 Pre Fazor and 2.2 I owned I much preferred.

I actually thought I would sell my LCD-2.2 faster given that many seem to prefer the pre-fazor models.

 

[TWerk]

I actually thought I would sell my LCD-2.2 faster given that many seem to prefer the pre-fazor models.

Things are selling very slowly nowadays (if they are at all) on the classifieds here.

 

[Cruelhand Luke]

I agree, low-mid fi is where the value is at. I've gone through many higher end cans and ended up selling them just because I didn't think they were worth it.

not to hijack the thread, but as a clarification, What model headphones do you have in mind when you say "low mid fi is where the value is"

 

[TWerk]

Lots of options. HD201 sounds good (great for 20!), creative Aurvana live gets a lot of the way to the sound of a thx00 (actually sold thx00 cause they weren't that much better), Koss is known for some great budget options, i also have an older yamaha HP lying around that sounds pretty decent.

I don't listen often to these cheap cans often cause I can afford to spend more (and have spent more) and nailed down the sound signatures I really like with my main cans. It's kind of hard for me to pick up the HD201 when I have my other cans laying around. I still feel SQ is a very appreciable step up in different ways, but it's not like the cheap stuff is at all unlistenable or bad. On the contrary, they sound good.

 

[TWerk]

I'll also add i think it's easier to be majorly disappointed on a headphone purchase that costs 700 dollars rather than one for 25.

 

[GU1DO]

Too lazy to look for the source, but memory says that there's a thread somewhere on here where someone mentions Focal deliberately designed the drivers on their headphones to start "clicking" or "popping" once people approach dangerous listening levels. It's some sort of feature designed to save your hearing, IIRC. Now it's quite possible that the unit you were using had faults causing the safety measure to kick in at lower than expected listening volumes, but it's just as likely that you were cranking it up a bit too loudly or that your source at the time was the source of the sound.

I agree that the lack of presence made it weird-ish, but they're a nice pair of cans to have if you can afford keeping multiple ones around.

Trust me ,, i contacted Moon Audio (from where i got it) , Drew Baird himself told me that it is the limit of the Elear ,, he tried it at his store and he had the same issue
also another member here confirmed this problem with Focal at a meeting in CnaJam ,, they said to him , it is the design of this headphone if driven with heavy tracks
the driver hit the protective grill from inside , i wouldn't care for this problem if they sounded good ,i would kept them for relaxed music ,, but even for that it was not at my standers.

 

[TWerk]

There are also other cans that can put out way more bass slam (cough dx1000 and Ultrasones) than the Elear which have no clicking or popping while doing it. Unacceptable to have the drivers clicking about on bass heavy tracks after spending 700 bucks on it. That would really bother me. But yeah, I didn't run into that problem on my pair and still didn't like them.

 

[GU1DO]

There are also other cans that can put out more bass slam (cough dx1000 and Ultrasones) than the Elear which have no clicking or popping while doing it. Unacceptable to have the drivers clicking about on bass heavy tracks after spending 700 bucks on it. That would really bother me. But yeah, I didn't run into that problem on my pair and still didn't like them.

i paid 1000$ + shipping

 

[Nautrachkfriend]

The Focal Elear was my biggest disappointment next to the HEX.

The Elear sounded like it was missing a large chunk of the sound and had tons of issues.

The HEX just sounded dull.

 

[AudioThief]

Can someone throw some light on why it seems everyone was so disappointed with the Elear while Tyll from InnerFidelity seemed to absolute rave about them? I don't trust Tyll a whole lot (I have TH 900s, hehe) but it seems interesting that his opinion seems to differ so much from what other people think.

 

[TWerk]

i paid 1000$ + shipping

They need a dislike button on here.