[catscratch]

Everywhere on this forum people are talking about Zeos. It's amazing how much influence he really has. I'll just point out that the amp he used has an output impedance of 164 ohms. Granted it's a current-drive amp, so maybe it's a different situation, but I wouldn't be surprised if that was the cause. Certainly my Clears don't sound like Beats, unless Beats have a very neutral FR, good resolution, smooth transients, excellent separation, and top-notch impact and dynamics. In which case, kudos to them, they must be doing something right.

 

[torii]

Everywhere on this forum people are talking about Zeos. It's amazing how much influence he really has. I'll just point out that the amp he used has an output impedance of 164 ohms.

watching a zeos vid of his suped up police crasher maybe the most I laughed on a youtube vid when his muffler system fell off...think everyone knows he isnt a savant. but he is enjoyable to watch/follow...and lately he has too much patreon money to review good stuff...cause he couldnt with a straight face keep on saying how great the chinese junk is

 

[CreditingKarma]

Oh my god. I watched Zeo's review the night before I placed my order. I had spent weeks and weeks researching cause I have been completely unable to find any place near me (near Chicago) that demo's them at all, even though my local HiFi shop is a Focal dealer (weird, I know) and then I see his review and I admit that after having been completely sold on purchasing these phones for Christmas it honestly threw me off and I started considering going for the Elex instead, which I know is still a great set of cans but the Clears just seemed like the cans for me from review after review and this is one time I'd be able to afford them. And so ya, that damn review threw me off until I realized that his review did not in any way reflect MOST of the stuff I'd read about them and NOBODY had mentioned the bass being that heavy. Granted, while Zeo is certainly an entertaining reviewer (despite his videos making me a little motion sick) this wouldn't be the first time that I didn't agree with his take on a piece of gear. So I went through a few more reviews and realized that they all painted a totally different picture. I'm listening as I write this and MAN am I glad I wasn't swayed. They seem to get better every time I put them on my head.

Simply Stereo in Hoffman estates has the entire focal line to audition. I went there and tested the clear and utopia. I ended up walking out with the clearance and could not be happier.

If you didn't get a chance to come out to the recent ZMFestivus try to make it next year it was great and there was lots of great gear there too. A group of us might be putting together a small meet in the Chicago area and will place it on the chicago meet thread. If you can make it to axpona they had a great headphone section last year. Also all of the dream set ups for two channel as well.

 

[lukeslens]

Simply Stereo in Hoffman estates has the entire focal line to audition. I went there and tested the clear and utopia. I ended up walking out with the clearance and could not be happier.

If you didn't get a chance to come out to the recent ZMFestivus try to make it next year it was great and there was lots of great gear there too. A group of us might be putting together a small meet in the Chicago area and will place it on the chicago meet thread. If you can make it to axpona they had a great headphone section last year. Also all of the dream set ups for two channel as well.

Oh man, I've not heard of Simply Stereo. I live in Champaign-Urbana, though I do a lot of work in Chicago. Might have to trek up there to check out the other models just out of curiosity.

2019 will be my first Axpona and I'm absolutely thrilled. Hadn't heard of ZMFestivus but will keep an eye on it, not to mention checking out the Chicago meet thread which I hadn't seen as well (fairly new user).

 

[boxster233]

I have Elegia, Clear and Utopia headphones. I don't abuse them, but among what I listen to is some nice bass electronica and hard rock. I also listen to many other types of music. My point is I'm likely pretty average in my music taste and do not baby any thing in my system. I haven't had any issue with any Focal headphone, except an assembly problem with the Uptopia which I fixed myself (extra screw rattling in the left earpiece which I opened and removed).

My advice; enjoy the Clears, treat them like any other high end electronic device and don't distract yourself worrying about failures.

What are your thoughts on elegia compared to clear? I just got clears and can see myself wanted closed back option later.

 

[gtbrown50]

What are your thoughts on elegia compared to clear? I just got clears and can see myself wanted closed back option later.

I'm not ready to come to a conclusion on the Elegia, but I am, so far, finding the mids a little too forward.

I feel the Clear are better balanced, they pound the bass and sparkle the highs when called upon. The Elegia don't lay it all out to hear, if you want to hear the bass you have to listen a bit for it. Its there, but not in a balanced manner as with the Clears.

BUT I only have a few hours on the Elegia, so again I'm not ready to go beyond these initial impressions.

I like them, but I also have the LCD-XC and Ether Flow C 1.1 to consider. My current rankings would be Ether, LCD then Focal.

Stay tuned, its still early.

 

[ubs28]

Well, one thing I have learned is that 99.9% of the reviewers are garbage. I'm pretty certain some are even paid to write "reviews" or they must be deaf (like What-Fi for example or whatever they are called). The only reviewer who was somewhat okay has left the building unfortunately.

Best is to just try all those headphones on many different setups (you'll find that the setup impacts how a headphone performs) and ignore "reviewers". Who cares what this guy called Zeos says? If it sounds good on your setup, that is all what matters in the end.

 

[LCMusicLover]

...Best is to just try all those headphones on many different setups...

Not so easy for those of us who live far from big cities. For us, reviews and end-user feedback form a significant part of the purchase process.

 

[baiyy1986]

Not so easy for those of us who live far from big cities. For us, reviews and end-user feedback form a significant part of the purchase process.

This is how the business come.
Consumer need reviewer.
I am so surprise Hifi reviewer so different from other tech review. People rather perfer funny and full of crap.
I don’t mind reviewer post some nice pictures or nice video to make product more attractive, it is part of the advertising, but when they demonstrate the performance those people should be detail and try as hard as to be subjective.

 

[SHAMuuu]

Everywhere on this forum people are talking about Zeos. It's amazing how much influence he really has. I'll just point out that the amp he used has an output impedance of 164 ohms. Granted it's a current-drive amp, so maybe it's a different situation, but I wouldn't be surprised if that was the cause. Certainly my Clears don't sound like Beats, unless Beats have a very neutral FR, good resolution, smooth transients, excellent separation, and top-notch impact and dynamics. In which case, kudos to them, they must be doing something right.

A war almost broke out.



lolz

 

[MrPanda]

A war almost broke out.



lolz

The whole trilogy on Focal was Z’s lowpoint for me. Clears have very little in common with Beats, which are obviously a much lower resolution phone with really different sound and behavior. I hope he hasn’t gone over to the dark side or damaged his hearing.

 

[FocalOfficial]

I think they're quite good especially w/ recent $1K sales. I see Clear as >90% of Utopia sound for <50% the price.

Dear all,


Be careful Clear MSRP is not $999 but $1,499. There may be exceptional offers but we recommend you to keep in mind MSRPs to compare several models.


Kind regards,
Marine, Community Manager Focal

 

[koover]

A war almost broke out.



lolz

He’s a really sensitive guy. I think I might actually like him. Lol.

 

[LCMusicLover]

Dear all,

Be careful Clear MSRP is not $999 but $1,499. There may be exceptional offers but we recommend you to keep in mind MSRPs to compare several models.


Kind regards,
Marine, Community Manager Focal

Really? We should ignore what we actually pay and focus on the MSRP?

 

[koover]

^^^^^*
I didn’t take it that way. I took it that there’s great deals out there but don’t think that’s the every day low price, especially comparing to like priced MSRP headphones.