[Guidostrunk]

Stellia pads cause too much warmth or thickness to sound.

Nope. Not to my ears.

Edit: I just noticed you said Stellia pads. Are you referring to the Dekonis I was referencing? Or the actual Stellia pads? Just wanted to clear that up.

Cheers!

 

[Guidostrunk]

Nope. Not to my ears.

Edit: I just noticed you said Stellia pads. Are you referring to the Dekonis I was referencing? Or the actual Stellia pads? Just wanted to clear that up.

Cheers!

I followed up with an edit.

 

[arielext]

graphs linked were the dekoni stellia pads ... as in quoted.

 

[Guidostrunk]

graphs linked were the dekoni stellia pads ... as in quoted.

Yep.

 

[SilverEars]

Sorry for the confusion guys. I meant the Dekoni Stellia pads. My point was that whatever pads was used for the black measurement warms up or thickens the sound too much. That's how I read the graph. I'm usually not wrong in reading tonalities from measurements.

 

[descloud]

I'm not a graph guy whatsoever. This graph is from the link posted yesterday regarding the Dekoni Limited Stellia pads. This is the DLS pads on the Clear vs stock. Can anyone explain this graph? My interpretation is more bass and more treble. Maybe a V shape? Idk?

Not sure if I'm reading this graph right that the point of reference was 800Hz, but if I take it at face value, it does seem like the Dekoni Stellia pads have the entire range below 1kHz elevated before it dips around the 1.5kHz, which from my persepctive usually adds weight to the lower octaves, mostly stringed and vocals that hit that range. Further, the peaks near the 6khz and around the 8kHz usually adds that extra "sizzle" quality in cymbals, snare hits, and consonant range from my experience. This combined with the elevated frequency range below 1kHz can come across as warm with a treble spike, not particularly V-shaped from how I see it, but could be for others. Do note that tonal description can vary among members here - so best to find another member that has similar findings to you with other headphones for a better representation of tonality.

In addition, when I had the OG Clear (which is supposed to be the same as the Clear Pro FR highlighted in red here), I feel that the 8kHz - 10kHz is a bit subdued and too smoothed out on this measurement compared to how I hear it and how I've seen other measurements. Then again, it's likely using a different rig than the rest of the measurements I've seen around and not normalized to compare against Harman like how Crinacle or oratory does their measurements. Just my two cents and nicely sharing this graph.

 

[Mightygrey]

Whats everyones take on EQ:ing the Clear? Or do you prefer stock? I'd like something a little more laid back.

The Oratory1990 parametric eq setting for the Clear does this quite well.

 

[Guidostrunk]

Not sure if I'm reading this graph right that the point of reference was 800Hz, but if I take it at face value, it does seem like the Dekoni Stellia pads have the entire range below 1kHz elevated before it dips around the 1.5kHz, which from my persepctive usually adds weight to the lower octaves, mostly stringed and vocals that hit that range. Further, the peaks near the 6khz and around the 8kHz usually adds that extra "sizzle" quality in cymbals, snare hits, and consonant range from my experience. This combined with the elevated frequency range below 1kHz can come across as warm with a treble spike, not particularly V-shaped from how I see it, but could be for others. Do note that tonal description can vary among members here - so best to find another member that has similar findings to you with other headphones for a better representation of tonality.

In addition, when I had the OG Clear (which is supposed to be the same as the Clear Pro FR highlighted in red here), I feel that the 8kHz - 10kHz is a bit subdued and too smoothed out on this measurement compared to how I hear it and how I've seen other measurements. Then again, it's likely using a different rig than the rest of the measurements I've seen around and not normalized to compare against Harman like how Crinacle or oratory does their measurements. Just my two cents and nicely sharing this graph.

I really know nothing about graphs. Someone commented below my original post and mentioned something about overlapping the two and said there wasn't much difference from stock.

To me I hear a small boost from the vocals downward. Everything seems smoother through the mids up to the highest treble registries. What I mean by smooth is in it's transition. Nothing sounds peaky anymore which wasn't evident until I got the Stelias and did the comparison against stock. That's when I heard peaks with stock.

I don't find the sound thick ,fat, v shaped or whatever. It just sounds more realistic, just as detailed, and fixed the shortcomings of the stock pads.

Who knows. I don't have Golden ears. Worked in the construction industry my whole life. Just trying to explain what my ears are telling me.
One thing is for sure. I prefer the Stelias over stock. They're $100 cheaper for a pair and can already tell they'll last a hell of a lot longer Lol.

Cheers.

 

[sebek]

Focal Clear OG and Focal Clear Professional sound exactly the same, right?

Are Focal Clear Professional cables ok? Good?

Has anyone listened to Focal Clear Professional with Chord Mojo and Dragonfly Cobalt? Good match?

 

[roskodan]

I've the Hugo, compared to my desktop amps it's good sounding, good technicalities, but it doesn't allow much headroom for PEQ. The Audioquest Dragonfly Cobalt got trashed in ASR review, and the power rating doesn't look it would satisfy the Clear considering my Hugo is already on the limit in that regard vs my desktop amps.

 

[Clemmaster]

The Audioquest Dragonfly Cobalt got trashed in ASR review

So... there's a good chance it sounds good?

 

[davehg]

So... there's a good chance it sounds good?

Funny. I’ve read a few reviews of ASR. it’s interesting to see the numbers Amir posts but I get the distinct impression he doesn’t quite understand the relationship between his test results and what those results translate to when used with real gear. More of a test bench jockey. I much prefer the testing done by John Atkinson at Stereophile, who is far more learned and savvy in the relationship between test bench results and what this means in real life with real gear. plus, anyone whose listened to phones and has experience with HD650s knows they aren’t a great match with lower powered USB dongles.

Buying audio gear purely by the numbers is always a fools errand, it would keep you away from some of the best sounding tube amps, as well as other good sounding gear. While I enjoy it when my gear tests well, I let my ears decide if something sounds good to me.

 

[sebek]

So... there's a good chance it sounds good?

I think the same thing lol

If I see something not recommended on ASR I am almost certain that it sounds great ... and in fact the Dragonfly Cobalt I find it excellent.

 

[roskodan]

If the standards of what is excellent are low enough, everything is excellent. I'm sure someone who has experience with hundreds or thousands of devices, has higher standards, both subjective and objective. Same as with any aspect of life experience. Of course, subjectively, excellence can be anything.

 

[sebek]

I also have a Mojo, I have had Schiit devices well rated and appreciated by a lot of users, mid to high end daps. Dragonfly Cobalt has an excellent SQ and is obtusely criticized mostly by folks who have never even heard and trust it blindly of what ASR says

And I also tried some Topping and a lot of cheaper junk recommended by them like Apple dongle, Tempotec Sonata, Meizu ...

The idea I got is that ASR reviews should be taken a little backwards ... recommended is generally pretty crap, not recommended sounds great and can be bought with confidence.