[PhilW]

Now we can sit back and enjoy the music and forget about listening to the driving technologies.

This is where focal got it right from the off. These headphones are exactly that. Not the most detailed not the most accurate bass, however they are wholly musical and tremendously enjoyable regardless of source component. I love the Clear and for ease of matching would almost beat my all time favourite utopia.

 

[NoMythsAudio]

Tonally pleasing and surpasses the HD650 to me

I'm confused. Is the Clear not like 3 times the price of HD650?
Not criticizing, just genuinely confused at the comparison between the two and declaring the Clear as the winner.

 

[gLer]

I'm confused. Is the Clear not like 3 times the price of HD650?
Not criticizing, just genuinely confused at the comparison between the two and declaring the Clear as the winner.

Many head-fiers still consider the HD600/650 the gold standard of audio, especially for their present day price, because they (arguably) still do many things ‘better’ (timbre, tonality, balance) than many headphones costing many times the price, and they’re also known to scale with better sources. So just about every headphone is eventually compared to either one of the Senns as a ‘super HD6x0’ or as a poor attempt at one.

Personally I don’t think either Senn holds a candle to modern headphones (all of the Focals are vastly more capable and satisfying in almost every department, in my opinion), and yet the stigma persists. Go figure.

 

[Soundizer]

I'm confused. Is the Clear not like 3 times the price of HD650?
Not criticizing, just genuinely confused at the comparison between the two and declaring the Clear as the winner.

Yes you are right, but the 1 single magical quality of the 650 is tonality to many regardless of price.
In all other regards the 650 does not come even close and even more expensive £3000 headphones are far behind the Clear.

To my ears only as this is subjective, but strong enough opinion for me to have paid £1,400 for them.

By the way in the UK Clear has been more than 5 x price of HD650;
HD650 = £233 when it was selling on Amazon UK vs £1,395 for Focal Clear.

 

[B.inthe6ix]

My 2 cents : The HD 600 is an analytical instrument. The Clear is not. (it is colouring the perception.)
I have had only 3 full size headphones in the past 40 years or so. > Senn. "HD 540 Reference", Senn. Hd 600 (2 pr) & now the Clear.
Listening to high quality analogue production (vinyl) through an audiophile turntable / tonearm / MC cartridge coupled with a very *fast* Bryston 3B power amp / point 5 preamp is an experience that will justify claiming the 600 to be *EXQUISITE*. That detail & low level information ( not low frequency information) is something not to be forgotten for the remaining years of one's life.
BUT - detail & LLI gets boring after a number of years. It becomes *an irritant* for lack of a better articulation. There is nothing inherently comforting or musical about trying to constantly analyze audio. This is where the Clear smacks you upside the head > IT'S MUSICAL. It puts fun back into the mix. It also conveys a *cohesive balance* to the whole *picture* being presented, as opposed to the *conventional* soundstage of the 600. It doesn't dismiss it - only that it becomes something so memorably different that one is hard pressed to describe it.
I have played bass guitar for a very long time & as hard as it may be to understand from that perspective, I HATE bass response in a headphone - hence my love of the 600's. The Clear has caught me by surprise & altered my previous sensibility regarding what is enjoyable in headphone listening. It has that captivating musical balance that overrides the tendency to want to segregate the stage. The bass response now becomes integrated with the whole musical entity, while allowing the rest of the musical segments there own place in that entity.
B.

 

[SilverEars]

Sennheiser is popular and they can sell, and have demonstrated to sell high volumes. With their excellent industrial design, it has worked out very well in reducing price and upping the performance gotten for price.

With this said, I can't say the same for Focal in terms of performance for pricing. Clear is clearly over-priced per performance.

 

[B.inthe6ix]

Post removed.

 

[Phronesis]

Sennheiser is popular and they can sell, and have demonstrated to sell high volumes. With their excellent industrial design, it has worked out very well in reducing price and upping the performance gotten for price.

With this said, I can't say the same for Focal in terms of performance for pricing. Clear is clearly over-priced per performance.

Many, including myself, disagree with that opinion.

 

[makne]

Sennheiser is popular and they can sell, and have demonstrated to sell high volumes. With their excellent industrial design, it has worked out very well in reducing price and upping the performance gotten for price.

With this said, I can't say the same for Focal in terms of performance for pricing. Clear is clearly over-priced per performance.

I wonder what other headphones in the same price range outperforms the Clear, to justify that statement

 

[LCMusicLover]

I wonder what other headphones in the same price range outperforms the Clear, to justify that statement

Or,

i wonder what other headphones at significantly lower prices perform (nearly) as well as the Clear.

Generally accepted answers to either of those questions would support the hypothesis that the Clear is over-priced.

Of course, one immediately runs into the 'your ears, my ears' problem with such subjective propositions.

 

[Phronesis]

Or,


Generally accepted answers to either of those questions would support the hypothesis that the Clear is over-priced.

Of course, one immediately runs into the 'your ears, my ears' problem with such subjective propositions.

I'm not aware of any such "general accepted answers." Please give examples. If there are options out there which are substantially better than the Clear, priced below or above it, my wallet is open and ready.

 

[LCMusicLover]

I'm not aware of any such "general accepted answers." Please give examples. If there are options out there which are substantially better than the Clear, priced below or above it, my wallet is open and ready.

Sorry that I wasn't clear. What I meant was that IF folks could come up with such answers, meaning options which are in the same price range and better or at a lower price and (nearly) as good, THAT would support the 'overpriced' assertion. I'm skeptical that such options exist, but other folks ears might disagree with mine. I mean everybody has their favorite, right?

 

[Soundizer]

Considering how different ears are and our brains, it is great that we don’t all like the same thing otherwise what a boring world it would be.

 

[LCMusicLover]

Considering how different ears are and our brains, it is great that we don’t all like the same thing otherwise what a boring world it would be.

So true. And the audio business would be like the restaurant business in 'Demolition Man':

Now all headphones are ...

...you fill in the blank

 

[Matro5]

Every so often I like to duck in here and report how darn good these things sound. Currently enjoying the new Iron and Wine EP, Weed Garden, via TIDAL. The mandolin and the chorus that kicks in around are 1:35 are just sublime.