[Forsaked]

Who's cables did you go with? Nice setup!

Sky Audio Cables from Ebay, it's one guy from UK who makes them himself.
Got 5 cables from him, every cable i purchased till now from him was very well crafted.

 

[Runrunsmithfly]

Sky Audio Cables from Ebay, it's one guy from UK who makes them himself.
Got 5 cables from him, every cable i purchased till now from him was very well crafted.

Sounds good thanks. Definitely will need new cables, using the cumbersome coiled cable, but want to upgrade from my Asgard 2 to the Asgard 3 next week. Also a lot of new music including a few great box set that I've spent money on. What a crazy hobby/passion.

 

[Slim1970]

Since my custom cables arrived today, my set is now complete!

Probably the best I’ve heard the Clears. The RME‘s onboard headphone output is very underrated as a single ended solution.

 

[Hubert481]

Funny, i also have Clear and ADI-2 DAC FS, and also ADI-2 PRO
.. and ordered a balanced from the same guy
I hope the cable is very flexible.

 

[Forsaked]

Funny, i also have Clear and ADI-2 DAC FS, and also ADI-2 PRO
.. and ordered a balanced from the same guy
I hope the cable is very flexible.

As flexible as Paracord, you could make a ball out of the cable without to fear a litz would break.

 

[starmartyr]

As flexible as Paracord, you could make a ball out of the cable without to fear a litz would break.

When cable shopping i was torn between them and another very similar cable builder from the UK, Wardmodcables. I was also debating on a Hart Audio cables setup. But, my setup changed in the meantime that I was deciding so I didn't pull the trigger, but I'm sure one can't go wrong with either seller!

 

[DivineCurrent]

Funny, i also have Clear and ADI-2 DAC FS, and also ADI-2 PRO
.. and ordered a balanced from the same guy
I hope the cable is very flexible.

I’ve ordered from Reece at Sky Audio as well, the copper litz wire with paracord is super soft and flexible, you won't be disappointed!

 

[blackdragon87]

Who's cables did you go with? Nice setup!

I just bought a forza cable from a member here. should be an nice upgrade over my periapt

 

[JML]

I'm looking into getting a more flexible and shorter balanced cable with an XLR 4-pin connector. I'm finding that it's difficult to find matching connectors and splitters unless I get all Eidolic parts, although I prefer the Neutrik XLR form factor. Does anyone have any suggestions on what looks best with the Clear (not the Pro) and which 3.5mm plugs fit the best?

 

[zeromacro]

I'm looking into getting a more flexible and shorter balanced cable with an XLR 4-pin connector. I'm finding that it's difficult to find matching connectors and splitters unless I get all Eidolic parts, although I prefer the Neutrik XLR form factor. Does anyone have any suggestions on what looks best with the Clear (not the Pro) and which 3.5mm plugs fit the best?

I had mine custom made by customcans.co.uk

They use paracords so it's very light, flexible and coils easily when you put them away. You can choose the connector types and the color of the cables.

 

[starmartyr]

I had mine custom made by customcans.co.uk

They use paracords so it's very light, flexible and coils easily when you put them away. You can choose the connector types and the color of the cables.

Man that looks great, everything matching!

Using a familiar headband protector too, I see

Can I ask if you pick up hum or buzz with your Lyr and the Clears? If that's a second gen with the gain switch then maybe not but just thought I'd ask...

 

[zeromacro]

Man that looks great, everything matching!

Using a familiar headband protector too, I see

Can I ask if you pick up hum or buzz with your Lyr and the Clears? If that's a second gen with the gain switch then maybe not but just thought I'd ask...

Thanks! That blurry picture is my original Lyr, with adapters and TS 2C51's. I get no hums for any of the headphones including the Clears, but it depends on the tubes.

I do get slight humming on another orange globes I own, but had pretty good luck as long as I get matched pairs. Even without the gain switch I prefer the Lyr over the A90. It's more spacious sounding, and more musical.

 

[starmartyr]

Thanks! That blurry picture is my original Lyr, with adapters and TS 2C51's. I get no hums for any of the headphones including the Clears, but it depends on the tubes.

I do get slight humming on another orange globes I own, but had pretty good luck as long as I get matched pairs. Even without the gain switch I prefer the Lyr over the A90. It's more spacious sounding, and more musical.

Interesting! I've got a couple new matched EH6922's, and the hum is noticable on any pair I have, but worst on the Clears. The stock tubes were spent and horribly hummy & noisy when I got it so I picked up new ones right away. Still searching for some better ones too.

I kind of knew I should have went with one of the newer models, or something with less gain but it was cheap and I wanted to dip my toes into tubes a little. I picked up an ifi iematch and it did the trick to kill hum and noise anyway.

I haven't noticed a huge difference between the Lyr and my THX788 though. Maybe it's a subtle difference; I feel like maybe the Lyr just adds some weight/impact... Maybe because it's a hybrid there's less tube sound coming through. But either amp sounds good really, so I can't complain too much!

 

[Ifalna]

It cannot be that a 1.000 EUR headphone and a very well-reviewed Naim product sounds that bad.

Actually, yes it can be.

Your issue is most likely linked to the output impedance of the amp. Focal cans are very sensitive to that, as I found out with my Clear.
Generally speaking: you want a low output impedance to not influence the frequency response of the headphone. A higher impedance can accentuate resonance frequencies and very notably alter the spectral balance.

Currently the output impedances of all your devices are an unknown. Older computer soundcards typically feature higher ones, making the sound warm and lush. Your ears may be accustomed to that and when you plug your Elear into a device with a low output impedance it can sound cold, harsh, distant. You need to listen to reference gear with a known impedance in order to make an assessment.

I would recommend that you listen to your can with a neutral reference amp/DAC that has built in EQ like the RME-Adi-2.
That way, you have a neutral baseline and can shape the sound to your liking.

 

[starmartyr]

Actually, yes it can be.

Your issue is most likely linked to the output impedance of the amp. Focal cans are very sensitive to that, as I found out with my Clear.
Generally speaking: you want a low output impedance to not influence the frequency response of the headphone. A higher impedance can accentuate resonance frequencies and very notably alter the spectral balance.

Currently the output impedances of all your devices are an unknown. Older computer soundcards typically feature higher ones, making the sound warm and lush. Your ears may be accustomed to that and when you plug your Elear into a device with a low output impedance it can sound cold, harsh, distant. You need to listen to reference gear with a known impedance in order to make an assessment.

I would recommend that you listen to your can with a neutral reference amp/DAC that has built in EQ like the RME-Adi-2.
That way, you have a neutral baseline and can shape the sound to your liking.

Very true.

To back this up further, the Focal Arche - which is specifically engineered with presets for each Focal headphone - is confirmed by Focal to not employ EQ but rather merely alter the output impedance the ideal amount for each set.

My guess - and as Ifalna inferred as well - is that these headphones are so sensitive that accordingly they are very reactive to even somewhat small impedance changes.

Most people report that higher than desired output impedance increases bass; sometimes to a pleasing degree (described as "lush" like Ifalna described) or to an unpleasant degree - such as bloated, muddy bass. Others seem to report anemic and congested/unresolving and just plain bad sound out of these jacks, which might be a function of the output either being very underpowered and/or impedance mismatched as well.

Since usually - as others have stated - the jacks on most AVRs/receivers/etc are an afterthought and merely a result of tying the speaker outs to the headphone jack via resistors, they are pretty much unusable for decent headphones.

It's a shame for sure. Most of these companies are decent names and it wouldn't be all that hard - or outside their expertise at all- to add a decent integrated headphone amp to these units. It's pretty much always a cost saving measure but makes no sense on higher priced units.