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Focal Clear headphones
Mar 14, 2021 at 1:44 PM Post #9,182 of 12,588
WhiteFox01 said:
I really enjoyed the Focal Clears, but I'm curious to hear people's impressions between these and the elex as I haven't heard the elex.
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Most impressions I've seen around is that the Elex and Clear are very similar in tuning and technicalities with some differences. I recall Resolve from the headphone show gave some brief differences of the Elex and Clear on his Clear review on his old channel. I wouldn't say you're missing out really, other than missing on saving dollars because diminishing returns plays high past the $1k price tag IMO.
 
Mar 14, 2021 at 1:45 PM Post #9,183 of 12,588
descloud said:
Most impressions I've seen around is that the Elex and Clear are very similar in tuning and technicalities with some differences. I recall Resolve from the headphone show gave some brief differences of the Elex and Clear on his Clear review on his old channel. I wouldn't say you're missing out really, other than missing on saving dollars because diminishing returns plays high past the $1k price tag IMO.
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That's the general consensus I've heard. Clear is better, but not better enough to justify paying nearly $1000 more.
 
Mar 14, 2021 at 5:56 PM Post #9,184 of 12,588
Focal Clear MG product sheet:

https://www.focal.com/sites/www.focal.fr/files/shared/catalog/document/fp_clear_mg_en.pdf

70001E03-5D0E-4020-A845-0BDD26C81212.jpeg
 
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Mar 14, 2021 at 8:22 PM Post #9,188 of 12,588
WhiteFox01 said:
I really enjoyed the Focal Clears, but I'm curious to hear people's impressions between these and the elex as I haven't heard the elex.
Click to expand...

From my experience the clears were slightly more muddy in busy tracks. But this was so subtle that I could chalk it up to driver to driver variance.

I ended up keeping the clear because I had to replace the elex once before due to driver failure and didn't like that the pads were so unavailable. But I do miss the black color scheme :)
 
Mar 15, 2021 at 1:46 AM Post #9,190 of 12,588
Elex is a bit brigher than the Clear but the highs seem less peaky (though they don't necessarily measure that way). It's also a bit less resolving and slightly grainier, but it does have a larger stage.

Elex is very nice but not necessarily better than the Clear, and Drop's lack of support makes it a bit more iffy. If I didn't hear so many stories of driver failure - and if mine didn't die due to intermittent cable connections - I'd be more willing to recommend it.
 
Mar 15, 2021 at 6:10 AM Post #9,191 of 12,588
Focal Clear with the Sony TA-ZH1ES connected via XLR4 is an AMAZING combo. Well, that with the Sony cradle and WM1Z using the Carbon Cable. I'm happy I found the best open back headphones in the Clear and closed back with the Sony MDR-Z1R.
 
Mar 15, 2021 at 10:41 AM Post #9,192 of 12,588
Gamerlingual said:
Focal Clear with the Sony TA-ZH1ES connected via XLR4 is an AMAZING combo. Well, that with the Sony cradle and WM1Z using the Carbon Cable. I'm happy I found the best open back headphones in the Clear and closed back with the Sony MDR-Z1R.
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Hello,
Thanks for your feedback
Did you tried the Focal Clear with the Tazzy connected to a PC through the asynchronous USB input at the rear?
Best regards
Mr. D
 
Mar 15, 2021 at 10:50 AM Post #9,193 of 12,588
Gamerlingual said:
Focal Clear with the Sony TA-ZH1ES connected via XLR4 is an AMAZING combo. Well, that with the Sony cradle and WM1Z using the Carbon Cable. I'm happy I found the best open back headphones in the Clear and closed back with the Sony MDR-Z1R.
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I'm curious, between Clear and MDR-Z1R which one would you choose?

They are both among the headphones that I am looking at as a next purchase and to complement the Hifiman Ananda.
 
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