[HTSkywalker]

It's technicalities are inferior. That's a fact. If I didn't have the gear I have. I'd pick the Clears instead. Because they're so efficient. My LG smartphone could drive them to decent levels.

Sennheiser uses Violectric amps for their R&D, testing and tuning and they also brings out the best in the HD800S.

 

[HTSkywalker]

LOL. YouTube reviewers. I see what's going on here.

If one wants "technicalities", sure HD800 trumps all, but get a (A grade) Clear on a synergetic amp / dac combo, and it easily plays in the same league as an HD800 from a great matching tube amp, minus obviously the famous HD800 "liquidity" and "wow" wide staging factors. Clear wins in the "master of non, jack of all" category, it's just way more balanced and sounds always right, dynamic and fun with any record. I really can't point on any lack of detail in the Clear vs the HD800. And also, unlike the HD800, the Clear have "punch". The HD800 in comparison are simply too muted or light in the lower harmonics regardless of EQ or tubes or whatever. I'm pretty sure the Clear wins in full audio spectrum dynamics while the HD800 may be more technically capable in higher mids and treble harmonics resolve but at cost of sounding light/muted in lower harmonics. As for which one can be made to sound better with EQ, well let's just say I never succeeded in EQ-ing the HD800 to sound as good overall as the Clear sound without any EQ, must be that Focal "punch" and dynamics that does it for me, idk.

Still, the HD800 are regarded as the best for what they do, and have a different purpose in one's head-fi setup than the Clear usually have. Used with a dedicated setup (most often tubes) and a complementary headphone setup, usually planar magnetic. At least that's my case.

The Hifiman Arya can compete well when it comes to this price level, while the soundstage may comes as 2nd to the HD800S the bass is much more present and it's not power hungry and IMO it beats the Clear

 

[Ichos]

I have and I prefer the Clear over either HD800 variant.

Clear has more physical impact and "meat on its bones". HD800 variants sound anemic in comparison IMO.

100% agree

 

[descloud]

It's technicalities are inferior. That's a fact

Do you maybe have verifiable evidence to claim such as facts?

I had the Clear and currently have an HD800 SDR mod. Disregarding build and other tangibles - where I find the Clear does slightly better: dynamics, bass impact enjoyment, tonality. Where I find the HD800 SDR mod does slightly better: head stage and imaging, detail and resolution.

Of course, the above statements are my own findings and experience, not exactly definitive facts. I don't have the appropriate tools (nor the motivation) to prove my points above with valid data.

 

[HTSkywalker]

At this price level all cans have their "reason de vivre" and it comes to user preference as no 1 can "rules them all" unless we went to the insanely priced concept models and up to a certain extent most cans have their known advantages and disadvantages and one of the most controversial lineup are the Audeze cans.
Best thing would be to test in a store and decide accordingly,

 

[Warrenk]

OK just got my clears after all the delays of the euro tunnel and covid crap etc, was supposed to have got them on the 23rd.

1st impressions nice balance going on. Running it through my rme unit.

I don't need a huge sound stage as I will also be using the to mix trance music.

I like the clarity of each instrument, from bass up to percussion.

I dont feel their 2 wide but perfect if you want a true representative of a nice mix of a song. Without it sounding to 3d.

To me you can hear all the dynamics of each instrument including how big the reverb size and tail is and delay for certain instruments.

So far so good.

 

[Kopf]

Dear Warrenk, just read that you are using a rme unit. Which one you are using? The rme DAC fs? I am asking because I read about it and being interested in it. Wanted the skim through the 500 pages here and the rme thread. I do not have the Clear but the Elear which I currently mainly use directly plugged into an old Acer Multimedia notebook and it already sounds fantastic to my ears/brain . I originally reviewed the Elear, the Utopia and amongst a lot of others like HD800s,Hifiman 560/1000, several Beyers, with Naim CD player, Chord Hugo TT and Marantz DAC. With this gear the Elear sounded great. At that time the Clear was not yet "invented". At home i plugged my Elear in an old Harman Kardon amp and everything was there as well, dynamics, punch, clear voices but unfortunatly some sibilance with some recordings. Listening to the same recordings with NAIM CD and Hugo TT there was not the slightest sibilance and the full frequency range was perfect for me. Because nowadays I do seldom listen to my old CDs I am planning to buy new equipment in order to stream music when listening with my new Dynaudio Contour 20i. I was about to buy the Naim Uniti Nova for running the Dynaudios and my Elear. My friend has the Naim Uniti Star which drives his Avantgarde Acoustic horn speakers. I plugged my Elear into the Uniti Star but the result was surprisingly shocking! Limited bass, flat sounding, metallic, basically everything sounded horrible. I do not know how this can be because the Elear sounds even wonderful when directly plugged into my Samsung Galaxy phone. That's why I am now looking for a separate headphone amp. Sorry for my lpng post. What rme product are you using and how does the Clear sound with it? Best regards from Germany Dirk

 

[NuclearRedfield]

Glad to hear as the 800S is the king of soundstage and coupled with the right gear nothing can match it when it comes to classical music and acoustics.
How do you like the bass on it as it maybe it’s weakest point but nothing to scratch its elite ranking.

I honestly don't think the bass is bad on the HD800s. It just passes my fresh hold for good. I like how tight and straight to the point so to speak it is and it's more true to the original recording.

 

[NuclearRedfield]

I would rethink the Clear as a final can not for the audio quality though, for the crappy manufacturing and non existing support.
But if you are set on it, make sure to buy from a renowned supplier for them to honor the warranty.

The Clears are plagued with issues. Thankfully, my unit doesn't suffer from the 40hz clipping at low volumes.

 

[addicted2music]

I have the Clears and got to try the HD 800 for an extensive period. I give the resolution to the HD 800s, but the clears do come close. Clears sacrifice a bit of technicalities for a musical sound. Clears sound slightly lush and full bodied. I am in love with its sound. Unfortunately, the HD 800s sound dry and thin for me. I couldn't enjoy them as much as I enjoy the Clears.

 

[Kopf]

When I read that the HD 800s sound more resolving I wonder if this is really true or if this impression is only their because it has that treble spike pronouncing a certain area of the upper frequency range, like some Beyerdynamic HPs have. I also listend to the HD800s with Hugo TT and it took me only seconds to decide that this one is not the right one for me. But due to the fact that there are so many lovers of this HP I spent an hour with it, comparing mainly with Clear/Utopia/Hifiman1000. Might be that it simply does not work well with Chord products. But I did not listen to classic music, only Pop & Rock and an audiophile collection CD. About the wider soundstage I did not care. With the music and equipment I listened I even did not recognize. Would probably be different with classic/orchestra.

 

[HTSkywalker]

The Clears are plagued with issues. Thankfully, my unit doesn't suffer from the 40hz clipping at low volumes.

Beware on attacking any Focal product as the firewall may kick in anytime

 

[Warrenk]

Hi dirk,

I have the rme babyface pro fs, I know this is not their flagship dac, the adi-2 pro fs but what you do get in it is

The same steady clock fs circuit thats in the adi-2 pro fs

And also the same output op-amps headphones amps found in it as well, which will give you the rme transparent sound that they do so well.


So I get the best of both worlds low latency and nice amps for mixing music.

 

[pbarach]

The Clears are plagued with issues.

Really? On this forum you see the posts from people who have had trouble. They are in the minority. Most people who post here (including me) are happy with their Clears. Also, you cannot assume that the people posting to head-fi are a representative sample of Clear owners.

Recently, I needed a new vacuum cleaner. I found a model that was highly rated in non-Amazon reviews, then went to Amazon to buy it. The overall score was nearly five stars (top-quality). But reading through the reviews, there were some buyers who thought it was the worst piece of junk ever, while others loved it. The haters would probably say that their vacuum cleaner was "plagued with issues."

 

[roskodan]

Actually, they kind of are, pads and headband degrade in a really unpleasant manner, a lot of reports about clipping, rattling and out of the norm brightness. I really feel lucky mine have only the degrading pads and headband issue.