Hubert481
500+ Head-Fier
Awesome - i will report in 3 years
Focal Clear headphones
- Thread starter mtoc
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You can accelerate this burn in process by taking an open wood fire, and very swiftly dipping your Clears into it several times. If you're fast there won't be any damage but it should add about +20hrs worth each time and get you closer to maxing them out.
Did you buy the Clear new? Play this track; Ana Mile - gruponiche, at normal listening volume, no boost, no eq. Also play the track with Radiance and Elegia. If only the Clear exhibit driver clipping then the Clear might have issues and we could discuss a bit further.
Yep, I bought them directly from Headphones.com, I grab them when they came down in price to $890 usd which tbh was a bargain for a pair of brand new Clears. I have been doing more testing with the clears, and I'm suspecting that maybe my S17 might be overdriving the clears, because I've been using them on a shanling H5 that I have on loan and I don't have any of the issues that I have with my desktop setup, and they sound amazing from this portable DAC/AMP, also tested them with my Radiance and I think I'm enjoying more the sound from my smol shanling H5 than my large and heavy class A amp at home, which is incredibly surprising.
Also my HD6XX run incredibly well on the H5 if anyone was wondering, I have been taking this setup to work and it's incredibly satisfying to be able to have almost desktop levels of SQ OTG.
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I am not sure what the "driver clipping" sound like. Perhaps its the distortion sound that I called "crackling"? Would really like to know/learn. Could someone point me to a site with this sound file?
Test with all 3 Focal that you have with same track, same volume, same settings, same equipment. What happen then? Play the track Ana Mile - gruponiche and tell me what happen.
I left all of my focals back at home, will do the test once I'm back there and I will report back with my findings.
Tbh I'm not to worry about the elegias, those headphones are sturdy af.
Are you using eq? Sometimes eq'ing beyond the limits of your gear or headphones might cause clipping.
The other issue that causes clipping with focals is the voice coil wire continuity issue.
Yes I'm using eq, bass shelf, going by memory, at 85Hz, +3dB and a few other things in the midrange, lower treble region but those are taking off the edge of a few of the problematic regions on the clears
Play all 3 Focal heapshones for comparisons, troubleshooting the Clear. Not for the purpose of testing 3 headphones. exclusively.
Try taking first without eq to see if it's still clipping.
There's also one more thing that's been reported before and also happened to me. If the driver wire comes loose from its slot, bass hits will cause it to vibrate against the plastic.
The sound is much louder when wearing the headphones and sounds similar to clipping.
Thanks for recommending that song, been a long time since I heard it, and dance to it too, used to take some latin dances classes a couple of years ago and during class, the dance teacher would often put on that song so we could practice some moves.
Already did my testing, apparently it was a combination of both my eq settings on roon and the amp in 100ma mode, I was listening to volumes that previously would have clipped the driver and once I took the eq off, problem gone, even on 100ma mode, and I up the volume more to see if I could induce the same issue and it was getting uncomfortably loud, even for me, and couldn't heard anything, ditto for both the radiance and the elegias.
I brought down the low shelf on the bass in my eq setting and also the high shelf in the treble, and also I can report that I didn't notice any issues with the clear's. Thanks for all your advice and help with this issue, I was getting worried I had a broken clear and it was just me in the end.
I still think that the clear drivers are a little bit more delicate compare to other headphone's on focal's line up and even more so compare to other manufactures, because I haven't experience that issue with any of my other headphones, even with EQ and at even louder volumes than the clear, but for now I'm satisfied with the results of this troubleshooting.
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Glad to hear you figured it out.
Like I said, they don't take EQ well...
The worst drivers in the focal lineup are the elex. The voice coil wire is thinner on that headphone, the clears are a smidge thicker and very few people have reported the driver going dead like the elex. Not to say it hasn't happened but its not anywhere near as likely as with the elex.
Tbh, everybody likes to dump on the elegias, but even if you don't like the sound signature, they're built like a tank and can take a beating and I have never had an issue with them, ditto for the radiance, but because they have a much finer finish than the elegias, I'm not going to be as rough with them and I'm handling them with a lot more care.
jonathan c
Headphoneus Supremus
• As for Clear OG, I have been very happy with build quality, comfort, & sound quality.
• Absolutely no driver clipping, headband creaking, or other anomalies.
• Note: I use Dekoni fenestrated sheepskin earpads, Forza Audio Works / Norne Audio cables.
• I have owned Clear OG for 4 years. Recently, I bought a second Clear OG as backup.
• Absolutely no driver clipping, headband creaking, or other anomalies.
• Note: I use Dekoni fenestrated sheepskin earpads, Forza Audio Works / Norne Audio cables.
• I have owned Clear OG for 4 years. Recently, I bought a second Clear OG as backup.
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