[SilverEars]

Well, if the 400i, 560, HEXv2, and HEKv1 are any indication, I believe you are correct. It was the amazing treble that drew me to the Clear and prompted me to buy them over a high-end HiFiMan. Completely unlike anything else I own. The OP didn't mention treble specifically, but I tend to find planar treble a bit grainy and ragged (when it's not simply rolled off hard or dipped oddly) compared to a similar tier dynamic. I also find it hard to believe that the Clear gets blown away by anything, but his enthusiasm for the Arya does pique my interest.

I know 560 is a bit bright, never heard the 400i, but I didn't think HEKV1's treble was that bad, particularly not bad like 560's harshiness to my ears, but could have used some refinement. HEXV2 is pretty much a relax headphone. There's absolutely no sibilence or harshness to my ears, but there is reduction in trasparency to the sound. Bass isn't so articulated as the HEK series. People that prefer brighter headphones would discribe it as dark. It is a quite smooth sounding headphone, reminding me of HD650/6XX tonally.

Also, HEXV2 is wamer than HEKV1, as HEK V1 didn't have really any liquidity in the mids. HEXV2 fills that mids void with warmth, and generally sounds quite relaxxed. It doesn't get forward or offend at all.

 

[Tekunda]

I do love the Clear, but its the mids that make me consider selling it. I find them too eleveated or shouty. Instead of enjoying the vocals on some of my favorite tracks, I'm like 'stop yelling at me!'. Aside from mid levels (lol, somehow have to think of HK suddenly), it's also the slightly metallic nature that puts me off. They just don't sound very natural to my ears. Anyway, this is complaining on a micro level, the Clear are still fantastic cans IMO.

It is always interesting that two people listening to the same headphone will come to contrary conclusions.
I just love the smoothness of the Clear's midrange and I feel much more comfortable with hifiandmusicsource. com description of the Clear's midrange:
"They are rounded, smooth and totally under control. Mid ranges, vocals are crisp and clear. There is no harshness to the higher end notes delivered, have a close listen to ‘Maybe’ by The Three Degrees"
I would never dare to contradict you when it comes to your experience with the Clear, rather I am much more curious to learn why people have such conflicting experiences.

 

[Doctordoom16]

A poster claimed that the Arya blow the Clear straight out of the water.
I do not agree! I am a Clear owner with about 150 hours playing time on them, with lots of classical symphonic and extreme bass heavy - let me only say Goa trance - music being played.
So imagine strong dynamic attacks on the mechanical integrity of the drivers.
Only now the Clear are showing off what they are really capable of. It seems that these drivers need those very heavy bass attacks to loosen up.
The soundstage is much bigger now, the tonality of a double bass is to die for.
Yesterday I listened to an album of Richie Kotzen "The Essential Richie Kotzen"
Now I can truly claim that the Clear blew me out of the water. His soul-heavy voice and his super fast guitar riffs are a Revelation on the Clear.
I truly believe that in order to evaluate the Clear properly, you need a pair which sufficiently has loosened up mechanically. A pair of Clear right out of the box or with just a few hours of playing time on them is almost like night and day. I am sure that more Clear owners have come to the same conclusions I have experienced.

That poster listened to both the clear and Arya and gave us his opinion. You on the other hand make no mention of listening to the Arya . You obviously lke your clears as do I, but like you I have not heard the Arya so can not say the clears are better or worse . I am intrigued by the Arya after hearing reviews and won't love to do a side by side w my clear. Then I'll say one is better than the other, or at least better for me

 

[Benno1988]

If you could only have one set of cans. In this price range. And you lived somewhere where you can't audition anything.

Would you opt for the Clears?

Asking for a friend of a friend's (.....me).

 

[gb21011971]

I would answer your question with 2 answers: One for open, one for closed, because apples and pears and stuff....

Open: Arya
Closed: EtherCX

 

[Tekunda]

That poster listened to both the clear and Arya and gave us his opinion. You on the other hand make no mention of listening to the Arya . You obviously lke your clears as do I, but like you I have not heard the Arya so can not say the clears are better or worse . I am intrigued by the Arya after hearing reviews and won't love to do a side by side w my clear. Then I'll say one is better than the other, or at least better for me

I have indeed forgotten to mention that I have listened to both the Arya and the Susvara on a Niimbus 4+ amp.
I enjoyed the smoothness of the Arya, but preferred the Susvara, although both were lacking the more pronounced bass of the Clear. I am not a bass head, but IMHO bass is the foundation of a musical piece.
The bass is embedded within a framework of a piece and if I find the bass lacking too much in a headphone, this headphone is not for me, no matter how good the mid- and upper range is.
And this applies to both the the Arya and the Susvara. (Although I heard that the bass will open up much more on the Susvara, if you connect to Susvara to an, at least 150 watts, speaker amp).
On the other hand I feel the Clear come pretty close to the tonality of Final Audio D8000 and I could see me enjoying the Final Audio D8000 as much as the Clear, if it weren't for the differnce in price, the Clear is €1500 and the Focal €3500 here in Germany.
The next two headphones I plan to audition are the Abyss Phi 1266 TC and the Raal requisite Sr - 1a.
Probably I will be able to audition the Abyss at the Munic highend show in May, but the Raal are not available in Germany yet, so no idea when I will have a chance to spend some time with the Raal.
And then there is still the famous Jecklin Float in its second iteration:
https://www.quad-musik.de/index.php/de/produkte/jecklin-float-qa

If I can't find those at the Munich show, I might travel to the South of Germany, to the famous Lake Constance, where the are being produced.

 

[Tekunda]

If you could only have one set of cans. In this price range. And you lived somewhere where you can't audition anything.

Would you opt for the Clears?

Asking for a friend of a friend's (.....me).

I would, a strong yes, but like I said before, before your final judgement comes down on the Clear, you must give the Clear about 150 hours. (Just my personal opinion)

 

[gb21011971]

The bass of the Arya and the Clear are different. Difficult to say objectively, which one is better. It's a matter of taste probably. I think both have a technically good bass, i.e. very clean, fast decay, resolving and not bleeding into mids. The difference is that the Clear's emphasis more on mid bass and the Arya more on deeper frequencies. Zeos likened the Clear to Beats because of its mid bass boom, which I think is a ridiculous statement, but the bass focus is indeed on different bass frequencies in both headphones. But saying the Arya is lacking bass IMO is not correct. I think it even has slightly more than the Clear. It is just different. Personally I like the deeper, drier and more structured bass of planar drivers more. But that's up to everyone's ears.

 

[SilverEars]

The bass of the Arya and the Clear are different. Difficult to say objectively, which one is better. It's a matter of taste probably. I think both have a technically good bass, i.e. very clean, fast decay, resolving and not bleeding into mids. The difference is that the Clear's emphasis more on mid bass and the Arya more on deeper frequencies. Zeos likened the Clear to Beats because of its mid bass boom, which I think is a ridiculous statement, but the bass focus is indeed on different bass frequencies in both headphones. But saying the Arya is lacking bass IMO is not correct. I think it even has slightly more than the Clear. It is just different. Personally I like the deeper, drier and more structured bass of planar drivers more. But that's up to everyone's ears.

I dont' see why Zeos was comparing Beats and Clears in the first place. Beats have terrible bass, and Clear should be tight bass in comparison. The last Beats I've heard was the Studio 3, and it has lower-mids bass bloom that creates masking of mids in the sounds as it was an example of too warm sounding. Beat's bass isn't comparable to Clear's. Besides, Clear is an open headphone that Beats is not.

I gave up on Zeos as he's not going to provide good impressions of sound. I sometimes watch for entertainment value, but not for sound impressions. As one of the poster has pointed out, there's issue with reviewers trying to turn-out many reviews everyday. They don't get familar with the headphones.

 

[gb21011971]

Did Zeos really say that? Likened to Beats? Beats have terrible bass, and Clear should be tight bass in comparison. The last Beats I've heard was the Studio 3, and it has lower-mids bass bloom that creates masking of mids in the sounds as it was an example of too warm sounding. Beat's bass isn't comparable to Clear's. Besides, Clear is an open headphone that Beats is not.

I gave up on Zeos as he's not going to provide good impressions of sound. I sometimes watch for entertainment value, but not for sound impressions. As one of the poster has pointed out, there's issue with reviewers trying to turn-out many reviews everyday. They don't get familar with the headphones.

at 9.30

I know...I almost felt personally insulted. "Rap star headphones", "Beats of the Focal line".

 

[Soundizer]

Anyone ever tried risking a headphone purchase on ebay? I am contemplating it as seen a used set for £899 on ebay UK, which is much less than shop prices at £1,300+. Plus it still has 6 months Warranty left.

 

[Mh996]

That’s not an unheard of price for a used pair. I purchased mine used for $950, though from a website and not ebay. eBay and PayPal will insure your purchase, so you won’t get sent an empty box. And as far as I’m aware, there haven’t been any fake Clears (unlike Sennheiser’s IE800, which has a huge number of fake models, some of which are actually quite convincing). I think purchasing Clears from eBay is an ok decision. Just check the seller rating to see if they have any past transactions. One thing to note, though, is that Focal doesn’t have a transferable warranty. So those remaining 6 months are null and void, as far as Focal is concerned.

 

[wenbinbin2010]

Picked up a used pair of Focal Clears yesterday, only to discover that they are in filthy condition. I've managed to take apart the grill for cleaning, but I'm not sure how to best clean the earpads and headband. The problem isn't dirt or stains, but that the earpads and headband smell like terrible body odor, probably from sweat. Would soaking the earpads and the headband in soapy water ruin the material?

 

[Tekunda]

That’s not an unheard of price for a used pair. I purchased mine used for $950, though from a website and not ebay. eBay and PayPal will insure your purchase, so you won’t get sent an empty box. And as far as I’m aware, there haven’t been any fake Clears (unlike Sennheiser’s IE800, which has a huge number of fake models, some of which are actually quite convincing). I think purchasing Clears from eBay is an ok decision. Just check the seller rating to see if they have any past transactions. One thing to note, though, is that Focal doesn’t have a transferable warranty. So those remaining 6 months are null and void, as far as Focal is concerned.

Focal has extended their warranty to five years and it is transferable now!

 

[Doctordoom16]

Picked up a used pair of Focal Clears yesterday, only to discover that they are in filthy condition. I've managed to take apart the grill for cleaning, but I'm not sure how to best clean the earpads and headband. The problem isn't dirt or stains, but that the earpads and headband smell like terrible body odor, probably from sweat. Would soaking the earpads and the headband in soapy water ruin the material?

And that's why the material choice was so bad on focals part . Someone mentioned an alacanda cleaner .maybe Google and that might work .