[dontfeedphils]

POSTSCRIPT:
I've listened to these new toys for some time now and can detect a subtle difference between them and thr Utopias, and that subtlety might not be evident on all systems. It could esily be masked by the DAC, cabling, ...

The difference I can detect is in the sound stage. It is more open and involving with the Utopias. The only other difference I can detect is the Utopias are a bit more efficient.

So the poor audiophile has an unenviable headphone choice. Enjoy superb music reproduction and save several thousand dollars or be a fanatical audiophile nutter and go fot the "ultimate" regardless of what it does to the bank account. A few years ago I loved the beautiful music vis the Sennheiser HD800S headphohones but that from the Foal Clear Mgs is clearly far better. Yes the sound from the Utopias is marginally better but whether or njot it is worth it is the burning question.

If you think the difference between the Clear and Utopia is only subtle than it's probably best you save your money and stick with the Clear.

 

[frictiongg]

I have reached end game ladies and gentlemen. Late to the party, but the OG Clear are incredible.
I put off for so long not picking a pair up because I have the R70x and Sundara....both fantastic. The r70x is a steal and one of my favourites, but these OG clears take everything good from them and make them that bit better. These are the best headphone I ever heard hands down, I preferred them to the Ayra, HD800s, LCD3, Clear MG etc

Focal performed magic when they designed these.

if you think og clear is good wait until you hear utopia

also have you tried eq on 800s?

 

[ScubaDrunk]

Can anyone recommend a good 4.4mm Pentaconn balanced cable for the Clear MG Pro's please?

I need one to match up to my DAP. Thanks

 

[Tassie Devil]

Very reasonably priced, top quality and a wide variety to choose from - I prefer the multi copper leads.

www.lunashopsd.com

 

[Silver Wolf]

Can anyone recommend a good 4.4mm Pentaconn balanced cable for the Clear MG Pro's please?

I need one to match up to my DAP. Thanks

Budget range may help folks with suggestions, lots of good balanced cables from cheap right up-to expensive eg: $20 - $2500 and upwards.

OpenHeart on AliExpress do a braided copper/silver plated copper with solid brass fittings often on sale for under $20
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001642424244.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.45eb4c4dpduZ37

Heart Audio https://hartaudiocables.com/ and Koala Audio https://koalaaudiocables.com/ both do custom handmade cables that are up around the $100 mark (give or take) and there's many, many others at all price points. Just depends on what your after and a budget range.

Here's a pic of whats on my two Focal cans atm, the braided is the OpenHeart and the Para-cord a Heart Audio cable.

 

[LoryWiv]

Can anyone recommend a good 4.4mm Pentaconn balanced cable for the Clear MG Pro's please?

I need one to match up to my DAP. Thanks

I have a GUCraftsman cable, available at Aliexpress and some models on Amazon, sweet spot between low end and ridiculously pricey. Their all silver is around $175 and sounds great with my Clear MG.

​

 

[mainguy]

If you think the difference between the Clear and Utopia is only subtle than it's probably best you save your money and stick with the Clear.

To me even the Stellia sounded miiiiles better than my Clears. Cant imagine what the Utopia is like.

 

[Cordies]

hi all
i got a pair of Focal Clear Pro (non MG) last week and im finding the clamping force to be a bit too strong, does anyone know a good way to reduce this without damaging anything, also these feel much heavier than the 450g they are supposed to be

 

[jonathan c]

hi all
i got a pair of Focal Clear Pro (non MG) last week and im finding the clamping force to be a bit too strong, does anyone know a good way to reduce this without damaging anything, also these feel much heavier than the 450g they are supposed to be

You could take three or four (?) chair cushions, stand them up touching each other and put the Clear “on” the cushion ‘sandwich’. Let that all sit awhile…

 

[mikewr]

Be mindful that it doesn't take too much to do it though, at least that how it was for mine. I was able to make mine more comfy by just pulling them apart for a few seconds. The headband creaked a bit, it scared me and I stopped but that was enough to loosen them for me. If I had kept going a bit like I thought was necessary they might have become too loose! Not the best way but it worked for me. It was honestly a test and didn't expect to actually do anything...

 

[jonathan c]

 

[Ichos]

^^^^
Great rig you have there

 

[jonathan c]

^^^^
Great rig you have there

Thank you. The Clear is one of a number of hp that really click with FA-22. [The FA-22 did overthrow (peacefully) the Violectric V280 as my favourite SS h/p/a: I forget that it is SS.]

 

[JoeTho]

I'm really enjoying the Focal Clear vs Focal Utopia discussion. Here's my story. A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of auditioning the highly regarded Focal Utopia in my local high-end audio shop. I was very impressed with them to say the least; However, I was also frustrated because I couldn't bring myself to spend $4 grand on a pair of headphones. The sales person suggested that I try the Focal Clear MGs. He said they were getting great reviews. He claimed they would give me 90% of what the Utopia offers (His claim not mine). I reluctantly tried them right after auditioning the Meze Empyrean. I found the Meze to be a bit boring by comparison to the Utopia. But when I tried the Focal Clear, the music was alive again. I asked the sales person if they had the Clear MG in stock. They did, so I purchased them. A few weeks go by and I'm really enjoying them, but I'm also wondering, should I have purchased the Utopia? From what I remembered that day, the difference between the Clear MG and the Utopia was the Utopia had a wider soundstage, and better detail retrieval. The tenor, tone, dynamics all seemed the same to me. Since then, not a day has gone by, where I have not second guessed my buying decision.

I hope this makes sense, because now I'm about to turn the corner. So, I made another decision to add a new DAC to my setup. I purchased the Denafrips Ares II DAC. To my surprise, It arrived in less than 7 days. As I was setting it up, I ran it balanced through my Topping A90 amp, and the first headphones I reached for were the Focal Clear MG. Now, if I didn't know better, I would swear I'm now listening to the Utopia. The Ares II, at least to my ear, increased and opened up the soundstage in the Clear MG. The detail retrieval is better. The micro-dynamics are better. The Bottom (bass) is more pronounced, and it hits harder. My music has gone from listening to and hearing Billy Holiday as she was recorded in the studio that day, to Billy Holiday is seemingly and somehow in the damn room with me today. This really does sound more like the Utopia, or more Utopia-ish; but with the source of my music coming from a high-end turntable. The music has gone from being lively, to Soulful. I'm going to try to get back to my local store to see if I can audition the Utopia again, but regardless to what I hear, I love this current setup

.

 

[jonathan c]

I'm really enjoying the Focal Clear vs Focal Utopia discussion. Here's my story. A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of auditioning the highly regarded Focal Utopia in my local high-end audio shop. I was very impressed with them to say the least; However, I was also frustrated because I couldn't bring myself to spend $4 grand on a pair of headphones. The sales person suggested that I try the Focal Clear MGs. He said they were getting great reviews. He claimed they would give me 90% of what the Utopia offers (His claim not mine). I reluctantly tried them right after auditioning the Meze Empyrean. I found the Meze to be a bit boring by comparison to the Utopia. But when I tried the Focal Clear, the music was alive again. I asked the sales person if they had the Clear MG in stock. They did, so I purchased them. A few weeks go by and I'm really enjoying them, but I'm also wondering, should I have purchased the Utopia? From what I remembered that day, the difference between the Clear MG and the Utopia was the Utopia had a wider soundstage, and better detail retrieval. The tenor, tone, dynamics all seemed the same to me. Since then, not a day has gone by, where I have not second guessed my buying decision.

I hope this makes sense, because now I'm about to turn the corner. So, I made another decision to add a new DAC to my setup. I purchased the Denafrips Ares II DAC. To my surprise, It arrived in less than 7 days. As I was setting it up, I ran it balanced through my Topping A90 amp, and the first headphones I reached for were the Focal Clear MG. Now, if I didn't know better, I would swear I'm now listening to the Utopia. The Ares II, at least to my ear, increased and opened up the soundstage in the Clear MG. The detail retrieval is better. The micro-dynamics are better. The Bottom (bass) is more pronounced, and it hits harder. My music has gone from listening to and hearing Billy Holiday as she was recorded in the studio that day, to Billy Holiday is seemingly and somehow in the damn room with me today. This really does sound more like the Utopia, or more Utopia-ish; but with the source of my music coming from a high-end turntable. The music has gone from being lively, to Soulful. I'm going to try to get back to my local store to see if I can audition the Utopia again, but regardless to what I hear, I love this current setup.

The Clear (OG or MG) will allow you to really hear the difference between a good R2R DAC and a good ‘sigma-delta’ DAC…thus to really hear the music. Plus, the Clear has the best ‘slam’ (force, sonic mass…different from volume) of the headphones that I own.