[Kammerat Rebekka]

I had the chance to audition the new Clear vs the “old” as one of my friends went ahead and bought the Mg blind. He owns and loves the original Clear but was completely taken aback by how pretty the new one looks. Him and me both. Damn that is one sexy mama!
But...to my ears it’s a clear (hoho) downgrade in sound quality. Where the old Clear was about as close one could get to the classic 6 series from Sennheiser, the Mg sounds very different. While the treble surely is pulled back a bit the uppermids seem to fall off a cliff. What this does is effectively to pull attention to the classic 1k honk of most Focal headphones...something that wasn’t that irritating on the original Clear but on this new one it sticks out like a sore thumb.
Personally I think Focal merely prettied up the headphone and then changed the pads slightly. While I absolutely adore the new look(s) I much prefer the more linear sound of the original Clear.
...and no the new Clear is not at all close to the HD650. The original one is still your best bet

 

[dsrk]

One good thing about MG is because of its release original Clear is available for an excellent price right now. So, grab one before the stocks clear out.

 

[Daiyama]

I had the chance to audition the new Clear vs the “old” as one of my friends went ahead and bought the Mg blind. He owns and loves the original Clear but was completely taken aback by how pretty the new one looks. Him and me both. Damn that is one sexy mama!
But...to my ears it’s a clear (hoho) downgrade in sound quality. Where the old Clear was about as close one could get to the classic 6 series from Sennheiser, the Mg sounds very different. While the treble surely is pulled back a bit the uppermids seem to fall off a cliff. What this does is effectively to pull attention to the classic 1k honk of most Focal headphones...something that wasn’t that irritating on the original Clear but on this new one it sticks out like a sore thumb.
Personally I think Focal merely prettied up the headphone and then changed the pads slightly. While I absolutely adore the new look(s) I much prefer the more linear sound of the original Clear.
...and no the new Clear is not at all close to the HD650. The original one is still your best bet

That is one hell of an important information for me, as I am quite sensitive in the aera, I would definitely not like it, that this peak is emphazised more as it is with the OG Clear. It is a little bit contradicting to the other reports, that the MG Clear is more laid back. But everyone hears different.

 

[Quartzwald]

I do hope that Focal doesn't outright discontinue the OG and still offer them in some form or another. Sad to see a beloved headphone go away -- maybe they can drop its price to around $1200 then sell it alongside the MG kinda like how the 600/650/660s are all being sold at the same time.

 

[Kammerat Rebekka]

That is one hell of an important information for me, as I am quite sensitive in the aera, I would definitely not like it, that this peak is emphazised more as it is with the OG Clear. It is a little bit contradicting to the other reports, that the MG Clear is more laid back. But everyone hears different.

I never really heard it as a peak but more like a big belly of extra energy around 1k. It’s the same honk that comes with most electrostatic headphones.
Personally I think Focal made the mistake of listening to the wrong folks for this one. I have always felt that the vast majority of people that claim the Clear was too sharp/treble forward actually mixed up the 1k honk with that.
The new Mg is both warmer and more laidback in the treble, but like I mentioned previously, it also has a tendency to pull one’s attention to the part of the presentation which is highlighted...and that just so happens to the 1k belly..at least per my ears.
We all hear differently. My buddy though agrees with me and is currently in the process of sending his Mg back.

 

[Daiyama]

Ok, a peak may be more sharpe, it is,as you said, more a broader humpback. This is also for me typical Stax and should give you the impression of more details, which in case you do not have a female voice in this area, can be nice, but female voices can sound with this humpback very very forward and piercing. A least for me.

P.S. Sending such a beautiful headphone back, must be painful.

 

[Kammerat Rebekka]

Ok, a peak may be more sharpe, it is,as you said, more a broader humpback. This is also for me typical Stax and should give you the impression of more details, which in case you do not have a female voice in this area, can be nice, but female voices can sound with this humpback very very forward and piercing. A least for me.

P.S. Sending such a beautiful headphone back, must be painful.

That’s the thing. The estat like tuning has always been the trademark of the Clear..simply because it makes the headphone sound exactly like it’s name. When Focal then drops the energy in the uppermids/low treble by a significant amount, it still ends up sounding detailed, albeit in a very narrow band of frequencies.
Yep..he is not wild about sending such a beautiful headphone back, but I think he is too disappointed to do anything else. I actually pleaded with him to swap pads to see if the sound merely was affected this way, but he wouldn’t have it as he was afraid of losing his opportunity to send it back with a full refund.
I do have a sneaking suspicion that one can conjur up the OG Clear merely by fitting a pair of old school pads on the Mg

 

[Daiyama]

But that would ruin the looks
Maybe Dekoni is releasing OG Clear pads in MG Clear color.

Strange thing though is, that the measurements by headfi shows a complete identical frequency response curve in this area (and around) of MG Clear and OG Clear.
Maybe it is really the case that they sound so similar that one only perceive a better or worse difference in sound wether he/she would like to have the MG Clear or not (because one already owns the OG Clear).

 

[bcaulf17]

One good thing about MG is because of its release original Clear is available for an excellent price right now. So, grab one before the stocks clear out.

This is the best part of the whole thing honestly. Really great price for that headphone. It’s kind of a shame they’re discontinuing it because it seems like a good number still prefer the original. Why not at least leave it as an option?

 

[Raziel~]

Many thanks for your answers @Shooter41 @adydula as well as everyone else for your feedbacks. I think I'll pull the trigger on the MG version.

 

[adydula]

I think you have to remember that the new MG Clear Pros are made and tuned for the professional studio use case. Not saying you cant use these for casual listening....and there is that yes the graphs of the MG Pro and MG are pretty much identical....

I am NOT one for looking at graphs to make my decision to buy or use a set of headphones. Its when I put them on my head and how they sound to "me" with my stuff and music.

First impressions are a lasting one....but you have to give some things a second chance and really listen to what you have.

I have had the OG Clears for well over a year and got to compare them with these and Meze Empyreans, Hedd Heedphones, Hd650, HD600 and a few others...

Tonality to me is the most important thing, along resolution and soundstage.

I have only 20 hours with the MG Clear Pros, and on some material its a "meh!" and with others its like a 10/10....tbh.

Last night I randomly listened to a bunch of stuff....Lots of what I have and call "audiophile" quality recordings and for the most part it was wonderful. Then I listened to some older pop" recordings of Dido, her "No Angel" album in particular....one track has a wooden drumstick hitting the rim of a snare drum exceedingly hard and the tone and sound of that percussion was a 11 out of a 10....you can tell its a wooded drumstick, its sounds like the real thing...simply amazing. Its one thing that the MGs do better thatn the OG Clear IMO...I never gave this album my respect, but this time around with these cans it was very revealing.

Negative things for me have popped out as with most headphones: The clamping force IMOi is worse that the OG Clears, probably because they are new? The ear opening in the earpads seems smaller than the OG's the left one actually irritates my left ear somewhat...

The Clamping force subconsciously I think feeling tighter makes me think the soundstage is not as wide as I would like compared to the OG's and Empys and Hedds.
But with know good recordings the soundstage is indeed better than the OG's or some would say, no its as good just different....whatever.

I can see how some will think these are darker or warmer of more "forgiving"?? And these may not be the headphone for some.

Alex

Note: If these cans find some recordings "great" and others "like crap" then these cans are doing there job.....
The Dido song on that album is: "My Life".

 

[adydula]

I might add food for thought....that really great sounding wooden drum stick hitting the edge of the snare drum sounds so good in part of how it was "mic'd" and recorded and couple this with the MG Clears wonderful tone its a win win...its not going to fix stuff that is less well recorded....a sign of a truly great transducer...

If you play a wide venue of music your going to need to look into a hardware equalizer, not a software one....because each song could be recorded differently over a period of time....

A Schiit Loki would help you out here...

 

[Kammerat Rebekka]

But that would ruin the looks
Maybe Dekoni is releasing OG Clear pads in MG Clear color.

Strange thing though is, that the measurements by headfi shows a complete identical frequency response curve in this area (and around) of MG Clear and OG Clear.
Maybe it is really the case that they sound so similar that one only perceive a better or worse difference in sound wether he/she would like to have the MG Clear or not (because one already owns the OG Clear).

I know what you mean but when there’s such a big difference in the presence/realism of female vocals and horns, there’s bound to be a genuine difference.
It’s only just now that I’ve looked for a frequency response and between the one Jude posted and the one I see over at Crinacle, it’s the latter that looks like the headphone I listened to..without a doubt.
Anyhoo I am not really interested in this headphone after I auditioned it, so I will leave you guys to it. I prefer my Sennheiser when I want a linear presentation

 

[Ichos]

Jude mentioned that Clear Mg and Clear Mg Pro should sound identical.

Do we have any proof of it?

 

[adydula]

I honestly do not know that they should sound identical. The fact that the measured freq plot on the Clear MG and Clear MG Pro are very much the same points to this analysis. Thats the analytical measured "proof"....it may not be good enough for you?

To me its putting them on side by side etc and determining this for yourself....

I dont depend on charts and graphs to do this for me...

We all hear differently..