[PeteSTRADAMUS]

From my perspective: I love the bass of the elear and the bass on the Focal Clears is noticeably less then that of the elear, but that's talking about quantity as
@ILLMATIC9108 says. The clears have a tighter more accurrate bass that still has very enjoyable impact!
Maybe the bass is the only part where the clear slighty loses against the elear,
but trust me, you are going to enjoy these cans!

I agree dude. They have this nice, smooth, enjoyable sound.

 

[BunnyNamedCraig]

Got my Focal Clear using it with Sony WM1Z and 4.4mm balanced in. Very impressed. On the Chord Dave at home, it's much better in dynamic, but I can definitely live with the Sony DAP for portable use. Should I consider Hugo 2 for office use? I want to keep using the Sony DAP as a source. Will the Violectric V280 with USB Dac a good match? I saw a lot of feedback on V280 as amp, but not heard much on their DAC.

Any other options I should explore? This is my office use setup and trying to keep it simple.

you definitely should consider Hugo 2 for office use, especially if you like Chord DACs! People are MORE than comfortable using the Hugo 2 as a desktop DAC. I think for the office it would be end game.

 

[CrisW]

Anybody pairing the clears with a schiit jotunheim or an oppo 105 and can tell me something about the performance?

Thx,

Cris

 

[ctaxxxx]

Now I'm not sure if I should

Initial impressions, might change after more burn in and listening but for folks eager for some feedback from new owners these are my thoughts now:

The Clears are comfortable but the HD800S's are unbeatable in the comfort department. With the Clears you're wearing a nice comfy headphone with soft pads. With the HD800 you can't even tell they're on. I don't know why everyone doesn't do big earcups like on the Sennheisers.

If you like a big 3d image with spacey stuff all around you then you want the HD800's. They are the undisputed King of the 'big image' and I doubt that will change soon. Very nice on symphonic music.

In the 'texture, tone, and resolution' category I'm giving the win to the Focals. When you're listening to an oboe, flute, guitar, whatever, on the Clears it really sounds like an oboe, etc. I can't over-state how nice this is. It's quite addictive and if I had to own only the HD800S or the Clear this quality is what would make it a tough choice. I do not think of the HD800S's as a 'thin sounding' headphone but compared to the Clears... maybe a little bit.

For me Focals win in the quality and amount of bass, hands down, but this may be up to personal preference.

Focals win the packaging and accessories category, easily. Love these cables and the carrying case is a nice extra.

The Focals win the 'value for the money' category at their $1500 MSRP. I really think the HD800S's should be priced closer to the Focals, but what do I know.

Well, that's my initial reaction to these. Are they better than the HD800S's? It depends on what you like. Are they a real, honest-to-God, worthwhile competitor to the HD800S's and a worthy contender in the $1500 to $2k price range? Hell yes.

Edit: Just remembered one more thing - the Clears easily win in the 'dynamics' category.

How does the treble compare? I liked the sense of air from the original HD800, but it was a little bright. The HD800S over did it with smoothing out the treble. If the Clear is something in between those two, that would be perfect.

Honestly, now I'm just seeing if I should just save for the Clear's, or the rumored HD820 (closed back in a somewhat noisy apartment is nice). I won't be able to buy either until early next year anyway.

 

[jinrawke]

From my perspective: I love the bass of the elear and the bass on the Focal Clears is noticeably less then that of the elear, but that's talking about quantity as
@ILLMATIC9108 says. The clears have a tighter more accurrate bass that still has very enjoyable impact!
Maybe the bass is the only part where the clear slighty loses against the elear,
but trust me, you are going to enjoy these cans!

I completely agree When I was at Source AV, @TSAVJason actually mentioned to me that I would really like the bass on the Clears and boy was he right.

Have this on repeat right now - https://listen.tidal.com/album/77324454 . Just the right amount of bass for me.

 

[Hydrored]

Listened to them for about an hour today, I'll save my impressions for another week

 

[ribosradagast]

Listened to them for about an hour today, I'll save my impressions for another week

What a tease! Not even a two-sentence summary??

 

[Hydrored]

Comfort is outstanding, cables are great, love the case, listening to Rain by Candlebox I prefer the Utopia, listening to Litost by X Ambassadors I prefer the Clear, I don't believe this is a Utopia killer.

I will have to do many more hours of listening to figure out if I will keep or sell the Clears, take my opinion with a grain of salt.

 

[Jodet]

If I could buy a cable like these with the neutrik xlr connector and Sennheiser plugs on the headphone side for my HD800S's I would do it.

These are the nicest cables I've ever used.

 

[nanaholic]

Listened to them for about an hour today, I'll save my impressions for another week

I see you have the Z1R as well so just a question - does the Z1R stock 4.4mm cable fit the Clear?

 

[Hydrored]

No it does not due to the screw on connector

 

[Shureman]

you definitely should consider Hugo 2 for office use, especially if you like Chord DACs! People are MORE than comfortable using the Hugo 2 as a desktop DAC. I think for the office it would be end game.

Thanks Craig, I will head over to a local shop and give it a try.

 

[Shureman]

Here is my setup. I have a local guy made this cable with balance plug. It's a nice step up from the stock cable in 3.5mm

IMG_0180 by Yat Lee, on Flickr

 

[Ojisan]

Thanks to all the help/info on this thread, I pulled the trigger on Clear and HD800. Eventually, one will stay.

Still burning it in so I can comment later if anyone is interested. Will compare with my baseline Stax SRS3100 and HD600, all through Yggy (balanced) to Jot (Stax using pre-out of Jot). What I can say now is (as you probably heard already) that Clear is built like a tank! I have never touched a planar before so this is the heaviest headphone I have ever put on. A really solid quality which I'm sure adds to the stable sound. I was questioning the few hundred $$$ in quality and accessories but after touching it myself, I believe it. Analogous to picking up a MacBook Pro after holding a plastic laptop

On a quick listen, I would say that Clear is right up there with HD800, with a few trade-offs. I now understand why HD800 has been the king for so long but I also think its an amazing step by Focal to make something so good in this price range. In short, Clear sounds like a well amp'ed speaker (as opposed to good speakers with cheap AVR) with full bodied sound and fast transients (approaching Stax/electrostats). Having not heard Elear/Utopia, I'm amazed by the punchy dynamics. Good stuff!

Off to smoke some BBQ now while these cans burn in Happy thanksgiving to those doing thanksgiving.

 

[Jalo]

Ordered the Clear and hoping to get it in the next few days. With regard to cable, what do people like copper or silver variety? Does the Clear need the warm of the copper to increase the bass or give more body or the silver to make the treble shine?