[DaemonSire]

I hope Clear professional is more neutral.

I am still uncertain, but after careful listening, Upper-mid and lower-treble is slightly shouty. Initially, I thought macro/micro dynamics is too aggressive to my ears, but it seems like it is because of a slight dip in the upper-mid and lower-treble. I think fluidity slightly suffers in those regions.

Mentioned above that they will sound identical and it is the colour-scheme + accessories that are different

 

[franz12]

Mentioned above that they will sound identical and it is the colour-scheme + accessories that are different

The extra pads may change some SQ. We will see.

 

[SilverEars]

I don't know why, but I like the look of the perforated pads. What is the purpose of the perforation?

 

[BigAinCA]

Pro is $1 cheaper

https://www.focal.com/headphones/clear-professional/

$1499


Personally, not a fan of the pinkish red they used.

Actually that is Euro. It is showing $1699 USD which is $200 more than I paid for the Vaniila Clear

 

[StageOne]

So, I've been looking to upgrade from my venerable HiFiman 400S headphones. I've been reading this thread and considering the Clears. Can anyone give me a comparison between the 2?
FYI, I use a Onkyo DP-X1 as a source and listen to jazz & rock.

I have both the Clear and the 400S. The strongest area of the 400S to me is the midrange/vocals and if the Clears have a weak part that would be it. Some vocals depending on the recording can seem a touch recessed, but nothing like the Elears. Everywhere else the Clears are superior.

 

[DaemonSire]

Actually that is Euro. It is showing $1699 USD which is $200 more than I paid for the Vaniila Clear

For me it is showing the same price in $ vs € (see Spoiler tag)

Spoiler

 

[givemetacos]

I hope Clear professional is more neutral.

I am still uncertain, but after careful listening, Upper-mid and lower-treble is slightly shouty. Initially, I thought macro/micro dynamics is too aggressive to my ears, but it seems like it is because of a slight dip in the upper-mid and lower-treble. I think fluidity slightly suffers in those regions.

Yeah all the FR graphs show that the Clear still has a slight upper mid/low treble dip compared to more mid forward headphones like HD600/650. It isn't nearly as pronounced as Elear, but it is still there relative to other headphones. I have actually heard other impressions mention that the mid to treble transition is not ideal. Because of this, a few people have reported that really busy and complex parts of songs can sometimes feel a little congested or smoothed over. That seems to be the one area that get the most criticism, though it does seem fairly minor and track specific, and tends to vary in how people hear that region differently.

Graph for reference:

 

[TSAVJason]

I don't know why, but I like the look of the perforated pads. What is the purpose of the perforation?

Tuning.

 

[franz12]

Yeah all the FR graphs show that the Clear still has a slight upper mid/low treble dip compared to more mid forward headphones like HD600/650. It isn't nearly as pronounced as Elear, but it is still there relative to other headphones. I have actually heard other impressions mention that the mid to treble transition is not ideal. Because of this, a few people have reported that really busy and complex parts of songs can sometimes feel a little congested or smoothed over. That seems to be the one area that get the most criticism, though it does seem fairly minor and track specific, and tends to vary in how people hear that region differently.

Yes, it is quite track specific, but it is still there. In a song which has the heavy presence of female vocal, it is fairly noticeable. But in other songs, it goes pretty much under radar.

 

[TSAVJason]

The extra pads may change some SQ. We will see.

It’s just a extra set of pads nothing more

 

[TSAVJason]

Actually that is Euro. It is showing $1699 USD which is $200 more than I paid for the Vaniila Clear

This morning it was confirmed the MSRP is $1699 for the pro and $1499 for the Clear we know already. I did see a post of a typo (I think) at a lower price for the pro

 

[BigAinCA]

Edited - TSAVJason pretty much answered the issue on pricing...

 

[SilverEars]

Yeah all the FR graphs show that the Clear still has a slight upper mid/low treble dip compared to more mid forward headphones like HD600/650. It isn't nearly as pronounced as Elear, but it is still there relative to other headphones. I have actually heard other impressions mention that the mid to treble transition is not ideal. Because of this, a few people have reported that really busy and complex parts of songs can sometimes feel a little congested or smoothed over. That seems to be the one area that get the most criticism, though it does seem fairly minor and track specific, and tends to vary in how people hear that region differently.

Graph for reference:

I like graph overlays for comparisons. LOL.

I can see why I think HD650 sounds a bit dark or people referred to veiled. It's the 8-10k. I think the the region from 7-10k determined the brightness of the headphones. 600 would be on the brighter side to my ears.

Lately, I've been hearing an iem that had significant sibilance, and it was the 8k peak.

 

[SilverEars]

Is there any overlay of Clear/Utopia/Elear?

 

[vrln]

This morning it was confirmed the MSRP is $1699 for the pro and $1499 for the Clear we know already. I did see a post of a typo (I think) at a lower price for the pro

Looks like I made the right choice when I decided not to wait and ordered the Clears early this week Just a different paint job that´s potentially more difficult to sell on in the used market if needed...