[makne]

Is eq ing done by installing a program on your laptop etc.

there are many ways to do it but usually, yes

 

[paul30d]

I read somewhere that Elex is 95% Clear for 50% of the price, which makes it (excuse my poor math) ~80% (?) Utopia for 25% of the price?

Pretty much consistent with buying anything "high end". Getting that last 5-10% of performance costs a lot of money.

 

[catscratch]

Is eq ing done by installing a program on your laptop etc.

Yes. I'm no expert on EQ, but the plugin I use is called Equalizer APO and it is a system-wide plugin that runs in the background and affects all audio output in your system. It's not the best, but It sounds decent, is fairly easy to use, and most importantly is free.

Do you have any eq profiles to share with us? I'm always interested in simple ways to sound improvement.
I did try Sonarworks calibration with my Clears recently, but i wasn't the upgrade I hoped it would be (like it was with my Elear).

Just what I pm'd you some time ago. I'll reprint it here.

In APO, I use the following filters:

Peaking filter, 6.0kHz center, -4dB gain, 9.5 q-factor
Peaking filter, 8.7kHz center, -6dB gain, 8.0 q-factor
Peaking filter, 11.1kHz center, -6dB gain, 3.0 q-factor
(Peaking filter, 7.4kHz center, -6dB gain, 10.0 q-factor)

This lowers the peaks in the highs and gives a smoother treble response. However, the overall treble level ends up being recessed (past 3.5kHz or so) and to have a truly flat response, you'll have to add a high-shelf filter to boost the highs and then use the preamp to keep overall level below 0 so you don't go into clipping.

Also, the last 7.4kHz filter is for a peak that is unique to my ears, which is why I put it in parenthesis. It doesn't show up on measurements, but I do hear it on nearly every full-size headphone. I recall an article by Siegfried Linkwitz where he wrote about outer ear resonances like this and sure enough, I seem to have one. So if you try these settings, try them with and without that last filter.

However, my advice about these settings is: don't use them. Instead, come up with your own.

There is a test tone generator found here that I use for this. I use it because it has a frequency slider that makes it very easy to adjust the frequency on the fly. Using this, you sweep the frequency back and forth and listen for changes in volume. This makes it very easy to identify where the peaks in the response are, though dips in the response as well as gradual changes are much harder to hear.

Then, you simply add filters into your EQ to compensate for any obvious peaks or dips, and listen again over that frequency range, and fine-tune them until you don't hear a change in volume. What you're looking for is to be able to sweep throughout the whole audible range and not hear any real changes in volume.

However, In my experience it's not important to get an absolutely flat response, you just have to get close enough. Since dips are less audible than peaks, I generally ignore them. Ultimately, the more EQ you do the more you will degrade sound quality, so you just need to do the bare minimum to get your headphones to sound close to neutral.

Again, I'm not an expert on this, so take it with a grain of salt, and if you've got a better system, I'm all ears.

P.S. That test tone generator is pretty loud, so be careful hitting play the first time!

 

[makne]

Yes. I'm no expert on EQ, but the plugin I use is called Equalizer APO and it is a system-wide plugin that runs in the background and affects all audio output in your system. It's not the best, but It sounds decent, is fairly easy to use, and most importantly is free.



Just what I pm'd you some time ago. I'll reprint it here.

In APO, I use the following filters:

Peaking filter, 6.0kHz center, -4dB gain, 9.5 q-factor
Peaking filter, 8.7kHz center, -6dB gain, 8.0 q-factor
Peaking filter, 11.1kHz center, -6dB gain, 3.0 q-factor
(Peaking filter, 7.4kHz center, -6dB gain, 10.0 q-factor)

This lowers the peaks in the highs and gives a smoother treble response. However, the overall treble level ends up being recessed (past 3.5kHz or so) and to have a truly flat response, you'll have to add a high-shelf filter to boost the highs and then use the preamp to keep overall level below 0 so you don't go into clipping.

Also, the last 7.4kHz filter is for a peak that is unique to my ears, which is why I put it in parenthesis. It doesn't show up on measurements, but I do hear it on nearly every full-size headphone. I recall an article by Siegfried Linkwitz where he wrote about outer ear resonances like this and sure enough, I seem to have one. So if you try these settings, try them with and without that last filter.

However, my advice about these settings is: don't use them. Instead, come up with your own.

There is a test tone generator found here that I use for this. I use it because it has a frequency slider that makes it very easy to adjust the frequency on the fly. Using this, you sweep the frequency back and forth and listen for changes in volume. This makes it very easy to identify where the peaks in the response are, though dips in the response as well as gradual changes are much harder to hear.

Then, you simply add filters into your EQ to compensate for any obvious peaks or dips, and listen again over that frequency range, and fine-tune them until you don't hear a change in volume. What you're looking for is to be able to sweep throughout the whole audible range and not hear any real changes in volume.

However, In my experience it's not important to get an absolutely flat response, you just have to get close enough. Since dips are less audible than peaks, I generally ignore them. Ultimately, the more EQ you do the more you will degrade sound quality, so you just need to do the bare minimum to get your headphones to sound close to neutral.

Again, I'm not an expert on this, so take it with a grain of salt, and if you've got a better system, I'm all ears.

P.S. That test tone generator is pretty loud, so be careful hitting play the first time!

Ah, alright. I did try it, but didn't enjoy it more than the stock sound tbh. Thanks anyway!
I have played around a bit more with eq, and tried sonarworks and playing around with the settings there, but I've arrived at the (at least temporary) conclusion that I prefer the stock sound. Maybe I just prefer the small deviations that the Clear makes from the target curve. The most notable difference between stock sound and what I found to be the best sounding Sonarworks settings, is that the stock sound has a slightly mid-forward sound. Gives a lovely "musicality" or whatever you wanna call it to the midrange, not unlike some of the Focal speakers.

 

[gtbrown50]

Ah, alright. I did try it, but didn't enjoy it more than the stock sound tbh. Thanks anyway!
I have played around a bit more with eq, and tried sonarworks and playing around with the settings there, but I've arrived at the (at least temporary) conclusion that I prefer the stock sound. Maybe I just prefer the small deviations that the Clear makes from the target curve. The most notable difference between stock sound and what I found to be the best sounding Sonarworks settings, is that the stock sound has a slightly mid-forward sound. Gives a lovely "musicality" or whatever you wanna call it to the midrange, not unlike some of the Focal speakers.

When I use my Clear I run it straight out of Roon and into my head. I do eq the Utopias a bit....using a Loki.

 

[makne]

When I use my Clear I run it straight out of Roon and into my head. I do eq the Utopias a bit....using a Loki.

Utopia sounds a bit bright for my taste, so I think I would like to attenuate the treble a bit with a Loki aswell. Clear is just so spot on to my ears, but a bit of eq could be nice for specific tracks

 

[Phronesis]

Utopia sounds a bit bright for my taste, so I think I would like to attenuate the treble a bit with a Loki aswell. Clear is just so spot on to my ears, but a bit of eq could be nice for specific tracks

That was my issue with the Utopia also. It didn't cause me fatigue even after hours of listening, but sounded a bit unnatural to me, sort of like adding salt to an otherwise perfect meal; initially, the salt gives the meal an appealing zing, but after a while it seems a bit much. The Clear gives up a bit of detail compared to the Utopia, but sounds more natural and smooth to me.

I haven't found any need to EQ it, and generally prefer to keep things simple and not mess with EQ. If the EQ is optimized for a particular mood and track, for me it likely will need to be changed again to fit another mood and track, so it becomes like chasing a moving target, which can be a hassle.

 

[makne]

That was my issue with the Utopia also. It didn't cause me fatigue even after hours of listening, but sounded a bit unnatural to me, sort of like adding salt to an otherwise perfect meal; initially, the salt gives the meal an appealing zing, but after a while it seems a bit much. The Clear gives up a bit of detail compared to the Utopia, but sounds more natural and smooth to me.

I haven't found any need to EQ it, and generally prefer to keep things simple and not mess with EQ. If the EQ is optimized for a particular mood and track, for me it likely will need to be changed again to fit another mood and track, so it becomes like chasing a moving target, which can be a hassle.

I don’t mind EQ’ing, actually when I think about it the Clear is my first daily driver that I prefer without any eq (at least any that I’ve found yet). I agree that it can be a hassle if you need to change eq for every track, that’s kinda silly, but I imagine throwing on a couple dB of bass would be nice on some albums/genres. I usually just put them on and forget about eq though, they sound so good to start with

 

[Phronesis]

I don’t mind EQ’ing, actually when I think about it the Clear is my first daily driver that I prefer without any eq (at least any that I’ve found yet). I agree that it can be a hassle if you need to change eq for every track, that’s kinda silly, but I imagine throwing on a couple dB of bass would be nice on some albums/genres. I usually just put them on and forget about eq though, they sound so good to start with

I miss the days when hi-fi gear had simple bass and treble knobs. That's was easy enough to adjust, and I did it routinely. Nowadays, it seems that we typically go either no EQ or full-bore multiband or parametric EQ.

 

[catscratch]

Ah, alright. I did try it, but didn't enjoy it more than the stock sound tbh. Thanks anyway!
I have played around a bit more with eq, and tried sonarworks and playing around with the settings there, but I've arrived at the (at least temporary) conclusion that I prefer the stock sound. Maybe I just prefer the small deviations that the Clear makes from the target curve. The most notable difference between stock sound and what I found to be the best sounding Sonarworks settings, is that the stock sound has a slightly mid-forward sound. Gives a lovely "musicality" or whatever you wanna call it to the midrange, not unlike some of the Focal speakers.

Yes, that's why I recommend making your own profiles. We don't hear the same and my profiles will generally only work for me.

On the other hand, if the stock sound works, then there's no reason to mess with it.

If only I found something I liked 100% with no tweaking required!

 

[makne]

I miss the days when hi-fi gear had simple bass and treble knobs. That's was easy enough to adjust, and I did it routinely. Nowadays, it seems that we typically go either no EQ or full-bore multiband or parametric EQ.

Schiit Loki may be what you want As easy as possible RCA in RCA out, 4 band eq with knobs. Looks good aswell

 

[Tonza]

I decided to buy the Loxjie P20 balanced tube amp as it was so cheap to try how it sounds.

I must say the pairing with Focal Clear is amazing to me. I haven't yet compared with my SS amp Arcam rHead side-by-side as I've kept the Clear connected to P20 all the time. Though keep in mind I have no reference from tubes.

I'll be getting the SU-8 balanced dac to replace ifi nano BL next week so I can try a fully balanced chain.

 

[baiyy1986]

Need a big stand for these babies....

 

[makne]

Need a big stand for these babies....

Woo audio stands come both as a double and as a single. Maybe a double for the two Focals, and then a single for the HD800?

 

[baiyy1986]

Woo audio stands come both as a double and as a single. Maybe a double for the two Focals, and then a single for the HD800?

want something like this....


Or this