[Paulo Abreu]

Absolutely, love my Clear. There is only one other headphone on the solar system that still makes me curious, Stellia

 

[Tekunda]

So are these headphones better than elear, elex and elegia? I'm thinking of getting one of them. I like metal but also rock, classical and jazz. Not sure which to go for.

These are exactly the genres of music I listen to as well with my Clear. What dac/amp do you plan to use with your headphones?

 

[jooonnn]

So are these headphones better than elear, elex and elegia? I'm thinking of getting one of them. I like metal but also rock, classical and jazz. Not sure which to go for.

Subjectively (i consider my ears to be “rookie ears”) i think the clears are noticeably better to my ears than the elear and elex. I recently went through a ton of online debating on which focal set to buy and whether popular comments like the “elex was basically the clear”’ or if the “elex was more fatiguing than the clear” etc were worth considering.

What i can say after auditioning the elear, elex, clear, utopia on many amps at E-Earphones Tokyo over several days, and even owning the clear, elear, elex, and stellia:

I prefer and kept my Focal Stellia the moment i tried them. I waited a couple weeks for the “honeymoon” period to wear off and nope, still prefer them strongly over any of the lineup. They do everything the clear can do, but with noticeably better detail and separation. Beryllium brings a “wet” and intense treble yet sweet and non-fatiguing sound at low volumes and high volumes. The speed and delicacy of guitar plucks on acoustic and the floating vocals it can separate from the backgrounds..... ugh.....I could talk forever about this headphone honestly. The utopia open backs are awesome, but id choose the Stellia every time for overall usability and value, and i prefer its ability to play every genre well.

The Clear, a close second in terms of value. i am on the fence whether to keep this pair since i use the stellias exclusively now. I think the detail and separation is noticeably better, yet smoother on the clear than both the elex and elear. They feel a little better on the head actually than the elear/elex as well. It feels they have a slightly improved or better build quality over the elex. The low end is more extended sounding on the Clear as well. Majorhifi is pretty spot on when the Clear blends notes more texturally while the Beryllium headphones define them. Like the Stellia, the clears sound great with every genre.

The elear is a fun sounding headphone but can get fatiguing if you listen loudly. The same goes for the Elex. The elex is “brighter” and “livelier” than both elear and clear, and actually sounds a hair more spacious than the Clear. Athough it is more spacious, i do feel the Clear has better detail. If i was on a budget, id choose the elex or the elear with swapped pads any day. I rate the Elex as arguably the better deal on paper than the clear, but i feel the nuances the Clear brings are worth the money to a hobbyist like me, who is looking to keep a 1 or 2 headphone collection at most. The extra price paid for the extra accessories of the clear, the looks (which are much better in person), ability to play most genres well, and the improved feel and build quality are worth the premium to me over the elear/elex.


Feel free to ask any more questions! I spent months debating these!

 

[kith86]

Subjectively (i consider my ears to be “rookie ears”) i think the clears are noticeably better to my ears than the elear and elex. I recently went through a ton of online debating on which focal set to buy and whether popular comments like the “elex was basically the clear”’ or if the “elex was more fatiguing than the clear” etc were worth considering.

What i can say after auditioning the elear, elex, clear, utopia on many amps at E-Earphones Tokyo over several days, and even owning the clear, elear, elex, and stellia:

I prefer and kept my Focal Stellia the moment i tried them. I waited a couple weeks for the “honeymoon” period to wear off and nope, still prefer them strongly over any of the lineup. They do everything the clear can do, but with noticeably better detail and separation. Beryllium brings a “wet” and intense treble yet sweet and non-fatiguing sound at low volumes and high volumes. The speed and delicacy of guitar plucks on acoustic and the floating vocals it can separate from the backgrounds..... ugh.....I could talk forever about this headphone honestly. The utopia open backs are awesome, but id choose the Stellia every time for overall usability and value, and i prefer its ability to play every genre well.

The Clear, a close second in terms of value. i am on the fence whether to keep this pair since i use the stellias exclusively now. I think the detail and separation is noticeably better, yet smoother on the clear than both the elex and elear. They feel a little better on the head actually than the elear/elex as well. It feels they have a slightly improved or better build quality over the elex. The low end is more extended sounding on the Clear as well. Majorhifi is pretty spot on when the Clear blends notes more texturally while the Beryllium headphones define them. Like the Stellia, the clears sound great with every genre.

The elear is a fun sounding headphone but can get fatiguing if you listen loudly. The same goes for the Elex. The elex is “brighter” and “livelier” than both elear and clear, and actually sounds a hair more spacious than the Clear. Athough it is more spacious, i do feel the Clear has better detail. If i was on a budget, id choose the elex or the elear with swapped pads any day. I rate the Elex as arguably the better deal on paper than the clear, but i feel the nuances the Clear brings are worth the money to a hobbyist like me, who is looking to keep a 1 or 2 headphone collection at most. The extra price paid for the extra accessories of the clear, the looks (which are much better in person), ability to play most genres well, and the improved feel and build quality are worth the premium to me over the elear/elex.


Feel free to ask any more questions! I spent months debating these!

Interesting, i;m also targeted the clear recently but i have my doubt...

If based on the value of money, in my country the clear price is almost double the price of elear, it's worthed to get based on that i wonder, for overview let's say in my country elear cost 550 dollar and clear cost 1100 dollar (all of the used one not brand new), should i pour extra 550 usd dollar money to get the clear instead, i researched intensely, that's the cheapest price i found, is the different 550 usd can be justified, i can have 2 elear with the price of clear, what do u think ?

 

[Paulo Abreu]

Interesting, i;m also targeted the clear recently but i have my doubt...

... i can have 2 elear with the price of clear, what do u think ?

2 elears won't give you the quality of Clear. So, my advice, get a Porsche 911 4s instead of two Renault Megane

 

[koover]

Interesting, i;m also targeted the clear recently but i have my doubt...

If based on the value of money, in my country the clear price is almost double the price of elear, it's worthed to get based on that i wonder, for overview let's say in my country elear cost 550 dollar and clear cost 1100 dollar (all of the used one not brand new), should i pour extra 550 usd dollar money to get the clear instead, i researched intensely, that's the cheapest price i found, is the different 550 usd can be justified, i can have 2 elear with the price of clear, what do u think ?

It’s all a matter of taste so always keep that in kind when asking what you should do. No one would feel good about themselves if you made a purchase based off another’s personal preference and you landed up unhappy. It’s best to test drive them if you can before purchasing. With that said....

I owned the Elear and briefly auditioned the Elex and in a heartbeat I can say the Clear is head and shoulders above the Elear at least. I didn’t have enough time on the Elex but what I heard, it did sound pretty good. The Elear is fun but it fatigued me quickly, had a weird metallic type sound in the upper mids/lower treble, the mids were pushed way back to my ears at least and the bass could get loose at times but still were fun. It was just?......off.
The Clear on the other hand checked off all the boxes for me. Tight/punchy/fast bass, smooth mids and spot on treble, never sibilant. The soundstage is pretty small if that’s important to you (it is to me....somewhat but not a deal breaker) and it’s one of the most dynamic sounding headphones out there without killing your ears after an hour or so.
If I REALLY love something, money is secondary if I love the headphone and I continue to be happy for months and years on end with said headphone.

 

[Tekunda]

Interesting, i;m also targeted the clear recently but i have my doubt...

If based on the value of money, in my country the clear price is almost double the price of elear, it's worthed to get based on that i wonder, for overview let's say in my country elear cost 550 dollar and clear cost 1100 dollar (all of the used one not brand new), should i pour extra 550 usd dollar money to get the clear instead, i researched intensely, that's the cheapest price i found, is the different 550 usd can be justified, i can have 2 elear with the price of clear, what do u think ?

How much is import tax in your country if you buy second hand from Europe or the US?

 

[kith86]

How much is import tax in your country if you buy second hand from Europe or the US?

It depends, especially if the item sent by DHL/FED EX/TNT or UPS, the worst case will be 50% of the item price or in rare case it can be 70% of the item price, but normally it's only between 25-30% of the item price if using standard service via Post office (USPS for example), not express via private courier like i mention, if i imported things, i usually avoid express private courier services, and without official value invoice information of the item price, they can decide whatever the market value they wanted to applied to the item without my consent or seller consent.

Luckily, there's some online retailer that wanted to cover the cost of import fee, basically the seller paid the import fee in advance (i had import fee overview upon checking out, item price + the fee), online retailer, like ebay or amazon (on certain item), and my calculation based on that, so yeah, about average 25% of value item usually, especially if the value is more than $75, with import fee got covered, i dont need to pay any import tax.

 

[kith86]

Update : I just got info from the seller, the clear that he listed is not from authorized dealer (probably no invoice or any documentation), only headphone, box and the cable, also this unit bought in earlier 2018 so warranty is off as well (as far as i know only 1 year warranty on this unit), do this worth to buy still for that price i just wonder... do the ownership documentation is important for this headphone... since it's not cheap for me...

 

[catscratch]

Avoid. I think you need the original proof of purchase for the warranty to be transferable, and without it you'll have to pay for repairs out of pocket - and Focal's spare parts are really expensive. Instead, buy from an authorized seller, or wait for the right deal if buying used.

 

[Musiccc]

How is the sound stage of Clear comparing it to the Senn HD600?

 

[kith86]

Avoid. I think you need the original proof of purchase for the warranty to be transferable, and without it you'll have to pay for repairs out of pocket - and Focal's spare parts are really expensive. Instead, buy from an authorized seller, or wait for the right deal if buying used.

Thank you so much, i will hold off until i find suitable authorized seller , yeah, the earpads sparepart for example, also so expensive, even the third party one (dekoni) is cheaper than the original stock pads

 

[Roderick]

Any experiences from Clear owners that initially did not like them much, but ended up with them anyway. Thing is I feel Clear's are more like "I give up" than "end game" headphones. Clear's are damn fine. Very close to perfect in most regards. However they're not exceptionally good at anything. It's a headphone without glaring faults (well, soundstage though, blah). So I think it is one to choose if you just cant go through the never ending upgraditis no more.

Anyone else feel like this? Do you feel like you gave up something when "settling" for Clears?

 

[parimento1]

Any experiences from Clear owners that initially did not like them much, but ended up with them anyway. Thing is I feel Clear's are more like "I give up" than "end game" headphones. Clear's are damn fine. Very close to perfect in most regards. However they're not exceptionally good at anything. It's a headphone without glaring faults (well, soundstage though, blah). So I think it is one to choose if you just cant go through the never ending upgraditis no more.

Anyone else feel like this? Do you feel like you gave up something when "settling" for Clears?

I went to CanJam in February and tried on almost every headphone there. When I put these on they just sounded "right." Not even the Utopia sounded as natural as these. I suppose that's why they sell the professional version for studio monitoring. They are THAT good.

 

[phthora]

Any experiences from Clear owners that initially did not like them much, but ended up with them anyway. Thing is I feel Clear's are more like "I give up" than "end game" headphones. Clear's are damn fine. Very close to perfect in most regards. However they're not exceptionally good at anything. It's a headphone without glaring faults (well, soundstage though, blah). So I think it is one to choose if you just cant go through the never ending upgraditis no more.

Anyone else feel like this? Do you feel like you gave up something when "settling" for Clears?

Absolutely not my experience. I heard them at a meet-up, love them immediately, and bought them hours later. I have never heard anything else that was such an instant must-have. That love has only grown with me, and the Clear has made it very difficult to consider upgrading. Even the Utopia doesn't sound quite as good to me. The idea that they are simply "without glaring faults" and "not exceptionally good at anything" or that someone is "settling" for the Clear is, frankly, ridiculous to me. But, if you feel that way, they likely won't make you happy long-term. I wouldn't expect them to sound better somehow. Take the money and get something you really love.