[adeadcrab]

Exactly, which is the reason why I didn't pull the trigger on the Dekoni pads, which don't have the inside 'diffusion' fabric. Although the site that cannot be named recommends them as being better than the stock ones for the Utopia.

The Utopia pads are similar in design to the dekoni fenestrated sheepskin. You can mod the dekoni pads by reaming the fenestrations to reduce the (imo excessive) midrange and bass reflections, I like this modded pair a lot to fill out the various low-end and midrange valleys on the Elex.

 

[dontfeedphils]

I'm not happy with the Clear pads' quality, therefore I'm not letting them rip me off of $200 bucks, when one can get Utopia pads for the same price.

Elex pads are made by Focal, same as Clear pads. Materials look exactly the same except for the outer fabric.

How is the sound different from the stock pads on a Clear? Pleas let us know, since you and the MotT are so set on scaring people from purchasing $60 bucks worth of pads.

Are they different like in the case of the Elear pads on a Utopia. Where both Tyll and Jude preferred the much cheaper Elear pads with the Utopia vs Utopia's stock pads?
www.innerfidelity.com/content/effects-switching-pads-focal-utopia-and-elear-0

Please enlighten us with some facts instead of just doing the 'haters gonna hate' routine.

First, I don't know who pissed in your cheerios this morning, but it wasn't me, so dial back the aggression please. Thanks.

You seem to be under the impression that Utopia pads are superior for some reason. I'm not sure why though as they're not better or worse, they're just used for different headphones because those headphones were tuned to those pads.

They're made of different materials, so they will naturally sound different than the Clear pads. How different, what the differences are, and whether or not these differences are good or bad will depend on the individual and their preferences.

I'm not trying to "scare" anyone. People can buy what they want and it certainly doesn't impact or bother me, why would it? I'm just saying that different pads will change the sound. Case in point, the Elex are basically Elear with different pads.

 

[LCMusicLover]

...recommends them as being better than the stock ones for the Utopia.

Not in my experience. Tried Dekoni pads (fenestrated sheepskin) and immediately thought they ate a significant bit of the detail and messed up the bass. On the other hand, the Elex pads seem like a reasonable alternative on Utopia. I actually preferred them (from my SS amps) prior to getting my Lazuli Reference cable. Tamed a bit of the 'sharpness' of Utopia and elevated the bass slightly.

 

[roskodan]

Reading through the comments at DROP Elex Pads page, I came across these measurements being mentioned. From forum.headphones.com managing editor and founding member (and fellow head-fi member) @Torq. Crazy head-fi fauna under his roof .

Maybe @Torq can chip in about the differences between Clear with stock pads vs Clear with Elex pads.

 

[Torq]

Maybe @Torq can chip in about the differences between Clear with stock pads vs Clear with Elex pads.

Elex Pads on the Clear do not sound the same as the Clear pads on the Clear, nor do they measure the same. The general shape of their frequency response is very similar, but Elex pads on the Clear result in them sounding brighter and less even in the mids, along with a slight loss of bass energy and an odd tendencey to "unsettle" some female vocals.

Here's a plot of just the Clear and the Clear with the Elex pads, uncompensated (RAW), with the vertical axis expanded to more precisely show the differences:

And the same plot, but with HEQ compensation:

The literal differences don't look that large, but they're enough to tell that you're not listening to the same thing, even just swapping them back and forth immediately - especially if you listen to a decently wide range of genres.

Now, there are enough differences in hearing response, rigs, and personal preferences that some people might actually prefer the Clear with the Elex pads on them.

I am not one of them, however.

I didn't really care for the feel of the Elex pads either.

Incidentally, measurements were all done at the same time:

Finally, I ran the Focal Clears in my office rig for a little over a year. Neither the pads nor the headband ever discolored or stained. And the one person I know that managed to splash Pepsi on his set was able to clean them up just fine using "Sonax" (which was a couple of days after he splashed them). If they looked any different to mine after he did that, I couldn't tell - there was no issue with lint or pilling.

 

[dontfeedphils]

Elex Pads on the Clear do not sound the same as the Clear pads on the Clear, nor do they measure the same. The general shape of their frequency response is very similar, but Elex pads on the Clear result in them sounding brighter and less even in the mids, along with a slight loss of bass energy and an odd tendencey to "unsettle" some female vocals.

Here's a plot of just the Clear and the Clear with the Elex pads, uncompensated (RAW), with the vertical axis expanded to more precisely show the differences:



And the same plot, but with HEQ compensation:



The literal differences don't look that large, but they're enough to tell that you're not listening to the same thing, even just swapping them back and forth immediately - especially if you listen to a decently wide range of genres.

Now, there are enough differences in hearing response, rigs, and personal preferences that some people might actually prefer the Clear with the Elex pads on them.

I am not one of them, however.

I didn't really care for the feel of the Elex pads either.

Incidentally, measurements were all done at the same time:



Finally, I ran the Focal Clears in my office rig for a little over a year. Neither the pads nor the headband ever discolored or stained. And the one person I know that managed to splash Pepsi on his set was able to clean them up just fine using "Sonax" (which was a couple of days after he splashed them). If they looked any different to mine after he did that, I couldn't tell - there was no issue with lint or pilling.

Informative post, thanks.

 

[adydula]

Warning!

I have Focal Clears and bought the Sonax alcantara upholstery cleaner and cleaned my Clear light grey pads and it discolored the earpads to a much deeper shade of grey...

So be careful when you use this cleaner, it states on the can to do a colorfast test to make sure you dont have this issue....well its hard to do a small spot and after reading how well this
product works, I was very surprised that the Sonax had the detrimental affect on my earpads...

I agree with this reply:
"Now, there are enough differences in hearing response, rigs, and personal preferences that some people might actually prefer the Clear with the Elex pads on them."

But I must add I also dont think many people will really objectively be able to tell the difference. Thats my opinion.

The replacement pads on drop.com look exactly like the clear pads sans the color.

There is no non-perforated layer that rests on the ear itself. which may account for the above posters measurements and notes.

Alex

Note: Even thought the cleaning with Sonax changed the color of my Clear earpads there was no other issues, like lint or piling...at least they smell clean!! and mine did stain after 2 months of wear..just from the oils on my skin/hair etc....fact. or I wouldnt have wasted $18 for a can of Sonax. YMMV

 

[roskodan]

Well, they sold out in less than 24h, can't wait to try them in 6 months time, if they manage to keep everything on schedule .

The Clear pads thing is purely cosmetic, but still kind of makes me wonder if they knew about it, maybe they changed something and now they don't have this problem anymore. Mine has a very early s/n.

 

[adydula]

Understand what your saying and agree....I really do not think based on the above graphs these slight changes are earth shaking and will matter "that" much in reality. Yes there will be some slight diffrences, but IMO not really a huge issue.

What I did was to wash the earpads twice more to blend in the rest of the color so at least its uniform....its possible that drop might have the clear light grey pads in the future, but its a crap shoot at this time.

The Dekoni perforated lambskins look like they might be a good alternative but again the color isnt what I really like and thusly want.

Alex

 

[Vampa]

Hi guys. Now that you are talking about pads, anyone can please recommend me any vegan pads for the Clear? I have seen that Dekoni has some, but unfortunately none for Focal.

 

[roskodan]

Well the stock pads on the Clear are vegan, you'll have to be more specific on the material you looking for.

 

[Tekunda]

Since the Clear pads are detachable and on my pair the Alcantara has started to come loose from the plastic ring after a year of daily use, I got the following idea:
Once the Alcantara has become too dirty start by removing all of the Alcantara material and you will see a black ring of foam.
Now you buy fenestrated Alcantara by the meter (I found it on Ebay for Mercedes and BMW upholstery) and you wrap the foam ring with the new Alcantara and voila, you have brand new pads for far less than the original Focal pads.

 

[Paulo Abreu]

Since the Clear pads are detachable and on my pair the Alcantara has started to come loose from the plastic ring after a year of daily use, I got the following idea:
Once the Alcantara has become too dirty start by removing all of the Alcantara material and you will see a black ring of foam.
Now you buy fenestrated Alcantara by the meter (I found it on Ebay for Mercedes and BMW upholstery) and you wrap the foam ring with the new Alcantara and voila, you have brand new pads for far less than the original Focal pads.

Fine, but that is the tricky part !
As the black ring of foam doesn´t seem difficult also, this post could be translated as "Easy, you build yourself a new set of Clear Pads"

 

[adydula]

I had that same idea and requested a price and sample from a person here in the US, but he told me he couldnt get the material anymore?

Would you please post some pictures of your final results....I was thinking I would have to cut out similar patterns after carefully deconstructing a set of earpads then
have to carefully sew them all together to get them to work?

Alex

 

[Tekunda]

I had that same idea and requested a price and sample from a person here in the US, but he told me he couldnt get the material anymore?

Would you please post some pictures of your final results....I was thinking I would have to cut out similar patterns after carefully deconstructing a set of earpads then
have to carefully sew them all together to get them to work?

Alex

Here in Germany we have hundreds of sewing shops because of the ongoing immigration from Arab countries.
So actually I have planned to deconstruct the pads, buy the material and take the material plus pads to a few of these sewing shops and see if they can do the job, and if not, I will do it myself, not sewing but instead using cloth glue.
(I have not decontructed a pad yet, so I don't know if originally they are sown or glued together?)
I will of course upload a few pictures if I succeed, but since I am quite busy with other things for the moment, it might take a few weeks before I start with this project.