[Paulo Abreu]

Let me add some famous last words please:
In order to apply for Focal's 5 years warranty, you need the original sales receipt.
So if people buy secondhand, they need to make sure that the original receipt is being included with their purchase.
E.g. if you were the 4th person to buy a pair of Clear secondhand and the headphones are 3 years old, in order to apply for warranty repair (since there would still be 2 years of warranty left on these headphones) you would definitely need the original sales receipt of the very first purchase. Otherwise Focal will probably not honor the extended warranty period, as this is what Marine, Focal's Community Manager, writesin her post, which I quoted above.

Perfect, I don't doubt that. But I did register my Clears on Focal website together with the invoice and received this document (a crop of 1st page):

 

[Tekunda]

Perfect, I don't doubt that. But I did register my Clears on Focal website together with the invoice and received this document (a crop of 1st page):

When did you register the headphones?
From your attachment it looks like the Clear were bought in 2017.
Did you also register the headphones in 2017?
The warranty period was changed in late 2018.
That does not mean though that headphones bought before late 2018 (like yours) would not benefit from the warranty extension.
Marine wrote several posts back then and made that clear, that the extension will aplly to all headphones, no matter when they were bought.
But since in 2017 it was not known of course that Focal will extend the warranty period, your warranty receipt of 2017 only shows 2 years.

 

[up late]

Let me add some famous last words please:
In order to apply for Focal's 5 years warranty, you need the original sales receipt.
So if people buy secondhand, they need to make sure that the original receipt is being included with their purchase.
E.g. if you were the 4th person to buy a pair of Clear secondhand and the headphones are 3 years old, in order to apply for warranty repair (since there would still be 2 years of warranty left on these headphones) you would definitely need the original sales receipt of the very first purchase. Otherwise Focal will probably not honor the extended warranty period, as this is what Marine, Focal's Community Manager, writesin her post, which I quoted above.

that's not an unreasonable expectation for focal to have of a fourth-hand owner of its product who wants to make a warranty claim imo. focal is in the business of manufacturing and selling new headphones after all.

 

[Paulo Abreu]

When did you register the headphones?
From your attachment it looks like the Clear were bought in 2017.
Did you also register the headphones in 2017?
The warranty period was changed in late 2018.
That does not mean though that headphones bought before late 2018 (like yours) would not benefit from the warranty extension.
Marine wrote several posts back then and made that clear, that the extension will aplly to all headphones, no matter when they were bought.
But since in 2017 it was not known of course that Focal will extend the warranty period, your warranty receipt of 2017 only shows 2 years.

I didn't know that change in the warranty period on 2018, Yes, it was bought and registered on that date, early November 2017.
Thanks for the valuable info!

Regards

 

[Tekunda]

I didn't know that change in the warranty period on 2018, Yes, it was bought and registered on that date, early November 2017.
Thanks for the valuable info!

Regards

The reason why Focal extended the warranty period was, that when the Utopia came out, quite a few Utopia drivers broke down in the beginning and since Focal had a name to loose and it would have been unfair for other Focal headphone owners, they extended the warranty period to 5 years for everybody who can produce the very first purchase receipt (or a copy thereof) of any Focal headphone brand.

 

[TSAVJason]

The reason why Focal extended the warranty period was, that when the Utopia came out, quite a few Utopia drivers broke down in the beginning and since Focal had a name to loose and it would have been unfair for other Focal headphone owners, they extended the warranty period to 5 years for everybody who can produce the very first purchase receipt (or a copy thereof) of any Focal headphone brand.

I’ll help you with your understanding of that. It was always 5 years on Utopia if purchased at a Focal Authorized “Displaying” dealer. It was just a few months back that Focal made this a uniform and for more than just the first owner. Only those Focal “Premium” headphones NOT purchased from an authorized dealer have any warranty jeopardy.

 

[Enigma29]

Well, I return to this thread to leave the short review I promised to. Albeit later because I honestly have been spending all my free time listening to them almost nonstop.

My setup is a Marantz HD-DAC1 on Medium Gain into the Focal Clears with Foobar on WASAPI (event) and FLAC files.
My previous setups were an O2ODAC with Senn HD 598's then Beyer T90's then DT 1990 Pro's and most recently Beyer T1's that I returned within 2 weeks and used the money to fund the Clears.

I suppose there really isn't much point comparing them to my previous mid-fi purchases, but the T1 warrants some comparison:
The T1 has "more" bass - it's not as tight and not as precise as the Clears but there IS more of it.
Treble - while still bright there is no annoying spike on the Clears as is on the T1's.
Comfort - both are amazingly comfortable to me, maybe the Clears edge them out a little (though it did take me like two days to get used to the way the Clears clamp with the spring loaded cups).
Instrument separation - the T1 is better at it but because of the treble it's hard to appreciate it on the T1's. And if you DO eq the treble spike down then this separation gets diminished (in my experience).
Quality - the T1 shares the same general form factor as the T90, etc. The headband isn't leather and while very soft I'd wage it wears down easily. I'd definitely trust the Clears over the T1's in a post-warranty scenario.

All-in-all there isn't anything that the T1's do in particular that would make me feel like I'm giving something up by picking up the Clears. There is a LOT the Clears do that makes them VERY worthwhile, even at the asking price.

To the Clears themselves, wow.
Sitting here listening to them and writing this review I'm still not sure what specific thing it is that I like so much. It's sort of this whole-package experience that just ends up sounding amazing.
I searched my entire music library trying to find the one song they'd buckle on as was often the case with my previous purchases, but not this one. It soldiers through everything and when there is something that sounds off it's down to the source file and not the headphones (there was a lot of file replacing going on in the first 3 days of owning them) these truly are every bit as good as people make them up to be.
The comfort is immense, there was a rainy Saturday here and I think I racked up something like 8 hours of on-head time in one day, zero discomfort and I'd forget they're even on when listening to my favorite albums.

I really do mean I tried everything with these to see if there's SOMETHING they can't do:
Rock (Pink Floyd, RHCP, Queen) - Slow guitars sound amazing, so crisp and detailed absolutely stunning, male vocalists, vocalists in general sound just perfect.
Metal (HammerFall, Avenged Sevenfold, Rammstein, Megadeth, Nightwish, Iron Maiden) - Also amazing, all transitions every riff and every hit of the drum. Especially impressed with Tarja's vocals (forever loyal).
Pop (R.E.M., Travis, Gorillaz, Depeche Mode) - The clarity of the small details is especially amazing, but they're also not too forward like on the T1's or other Beyer phones, something I actually like a lot, sounds more "intended".
Rap (Ice Cube, Cypress Hill, Eminem, Mattafix) - Surprising amount of bass where it needs to be, but doesn't bleed over, very behaved and overall a really really nice experience.
Synthwave (DWTD, Droid Bishop, Furi OST, Thomas Barrandon) - Probably the thing that surprised me the most, it handles the sharp sounds so well I could recommend them just on the performance in this genre.
Instrumental/Orchestral (Movie/Game soundtracks, NieR: Automata OST) - Again just so precise and soft vocals are incredibly sublime, perfect in every way to my ears.
Trance (OceanLab, other vocal trance tracks) - This headphone really loves vocals and with the other mentioned strengths they perform perfectly here as well.
J-Pop (various anime openings and soundtracks) - Usually the flaw of any headphone, due to the busyness of these songs and usually very bright recordings (absolutely un-listenable on the T1's) but to my surprise even here they keep their shine and clarity, the only time I feel fatigue listening to this genre is if the volume is too high or if the track is way too busy. But there's never any distortion. Female vocalists sound REALLY good on these headphones as mentioned before.

The more I listen to them the more I like them, it's like every day I find something else I really like about them and it's been a joy to listen to and own them. They look, feel and sound premium. Its a steep price to be sure but I don't feel as if I spent a lot on nothing (definitely had this feeling with the T1). I did end up making a little headband cover out of some leather I had lying around, no idea if they do stain or not, but I'd rather not live to see it happen.

The warranty thing going on, apparently it is 5 years even though the site isn't updated, sites not being updated is something very very common, especially for brands that generally do their business face to face. Currently when you register a headphone it still says 2 years but I asked my dealer and it is 5.

They have the highest recommendation I can give with my experience.

 

[koover]

Well, I return to this thread to leave the short review I promised to. Albeit later because I honestly have been spending all my free time listening to them almost nonstop.

My setup is a Marantz HD-DAC1 on Medium Gain into the Focal Clears with Foobar on WASAPI (event) and FLAC files.
My previous setups were an O2ODAC with Senn HD 598's then Beyer T90's then DT 1990 Pro's and most recently Beyer T1's that I returned within 2 weeks and used the money to fund the Clears.

I suppose there really isn't much point comparing them to my previous mid-fi purchases, but the T1 warrants some comparison:
The T1 has "more" bass - it's not as tight and not as precise as the Clears but there IS more of it.
Treble - while still bright there is no annoying spike on the Clears as is on the T1's.
Comfort - both are amazingly comfortable to me, maybe the Clears edge them out a little (though it did take me like two days to get used to the way the Clears clamp with the spring loaded cups).
Instrument separation - the T1 is better at it but because of the treble it's hard to appreciate it on the T1's. And if you DO eq the treble spike down then this separation gets diminished (in my experience).
Quality - the T1 shares the same general form factor as the T90, etc. The headband isn't leather and while very soft I'd wage it wears down easily. I'd definitely trust the Clears over the T1's in a post-warranty scenario.

All-in-all there isn't anything that the T1's do in particular that would make me feel like I'm giving something up by picking up the Clears. There is a LOT the Clears do that makes them VERY worthwhile, even at the asking price.

To the Clears themselves, wow.
Sitting here listening to them and writing this review I'm still not sure what specific thing it is that I like so much. It's sort of this whole-package experience that just ends up sounding amazing.
I searched my entire music library trying to find the one song they'd buckle on as was often the case with my previous purchases, but not this one. It soldiers through everything and when there is something that sounds off it's down to the source file and not the headphones (there was a lot of file replacing going on in the first 3 days of owning them) these truly are every bit as good as people make them up to be.
The comfort is immense, there was a rainy Saturday here and I think I racked up something like 8 hours of on-head time in one day, zero discomfort and I'd forget they're even on when listening to my favorite albums.

I really do mean I tried everything with these to see if there's SOMETHING they can't do:
Rock (Pink Floyd, RHCP, Queen) - Slow guitars sound amazing, so crisp and detailed absolutely stunning, male vocalists, vocalists in general sound just perfect.
Metal (HammerFall, Avenged Sevenfold, Rammstein, Megadeth, Nightwish, Iron Maiden) - Also amazing, all transitions every riff and every hit of the drum. Especially impressed with Tarja's vocals (forever loyal).
Pop (R.E.M., Travis, Gorillaz, Depeche Mode) - The clarity of the small details is especially amazing, but they're also not too forward like on the T1's or other Beyer phones, something I actually like a lot, sounds more "intended".
Rap (Ice Cube, Cypress Hill, Eminem, Mattafix) - Surprising amount of bass where it needs to be, but doesn't bleed over, very behaved and overall a really really nice experience.
Synthwave (DWTD, Droid Bishop, Furi OST, Thomas Barrandon) - Probably the thing that surprised me the most, it handles the sharp sounds so well I could recommend them just on the performance in this genre.
Instrumental/Orchestral (Movie/Game soundtracks, NieR: Automata OST) - Again just so precise and soft vocals are incredibly sublime, perfect in every way to my ears.
Trance (OceanLab, other vocal trance tracks) - This headphone really loves vocals and with the other mentioned strengths they perform perfectly here as well.
J-Pop (various anime openings and soundtracks) - Usually the flaw of any headphone, due to the busyness of these songs and usually very bright recordings (absolutely un-listenable on the T1's) but to my surprise even here they keep their shine and clarity, the only time I feel fatigue listening to this genre is if the volume is too high or if the track is way too busy. But there's never any distortion. Female vocalists sound REALLY good on these headphones as mentioned before.

The more I listen to them the more I like them, it's like every day I find something else I really like about them and it's been a joy to listen to and own them. They look, feel and sound premium. Its a steep price to be sure but I don't feel as if I spent a lot on nothing (definitely had this feeling with the T1). I did end up making a little headband cover out of some leather I had lying around, no idea if they do stain or not, but I'd rather not live to see it happen.

The warranty thing going on, apparently it is 5 years even though the site isn't updated, sites not being updated is something very very common, especially for brands that generally do their business face to face. Currently when you register a headphone it still says 2 years but I asked my dealer and it is 5.

They have the highest recommendation I can give with my experience.

Nice little write up.
I pretty much agree with you as they’re one of my favorite headphones in my stall for the reasons you noted.

 

[Musiccc]

Focal Clear may not fit bigger ears, something to consider. New pads 25mm x 49mm x 59mm.

 

[TSAVJason]

Focal Clear may not fit bigger ears, something to consider. New pads 25mm x 49mm x 59mm.

I immediately envisioned an elephant trying to use an over ear. They are a close fit though.

 

[Musiccc]

I immediately envisioned an elephant trying to use an over ear. They are a close fit though.

49mm x 59mm qualifies as elephant ears, wow, the whole world is full of elephants.

 

[TSAVJason]

49mm x 59mm qualifies as elephant ears, wow, the whole world is full of elephants.

Hahahaha I have a vivid and humorous imagination .... no offense was intended

 

[pbarach]

My setup is a Marantz HD-DAC1 on Medium Gain into the Focal Clears with Foobar on WASAPI (event) and FLAC files.

I have the Marantz and Focal Clears as well. I'm using LOW gain; what seems different to you about the MEDIUM setting? All I notice is that the output is louder on MEDIUM.

 

[Virinder]

I suggest that you try out the Dekoni pads. That's what I did with my Clear and the highs are very slightly tamed and everything else is just about unchanged. But with very slightly tamed highs there is a perception sometimes that some detail is slightly tamed too, but that goes with the territory. Other times there seems to be no change in the sound. But it's nice to know that I can switch back to the stock pads anytime I want for the "stock" sound. I think the Dekoni pads will do it for you. The Dekoni pads I used were the Elite Hybrid for $99. I had tried the Fenestrated Sheepskin (I think that's it -- the ones with the holes in them for $99, like the original Focal pads} -- but I felt that these attenuated the bass quite a bit and returned them. I have been very satisfied with the Elite Hybrid. Opinions may differ, however.

Thanks for the replies, everyone! After waffling for a while between the Elear pads and the various Dekoni pads, I found a pair of discounted Elear pads and decided to buy those. I'm happy with the pairing! I think there's a very slight loss of detail, but I no longer find the headphones fatiguing (and there's also a slight bass boost as well). I still prefer the look of the stock Clear pads (because of the color), but these don't look too bad either!

 

[koover]

^^^^^^
It’s simply amazing how we all hear so differently. I don’t find anything about the Clears fatiguing but again, that’s me. I actually think the upper mids and lower treble is pretty smooth and if there’s any sibilance, it’s ALL from the way the track was laid down. Also, they’re no basshead HP’s but it’s tight and punchy.
I don’t know, I think this is one fine headphone and could be considered an all arounder for me.
I’m just glad you found some pads so you can keep them and enjoy.