[Soundizer]

Do you guys have dac and/or amp suggestions? They seem easy to drive and I was wondering if they scale up at all

RME-ADI 2 is superb with Focal Clear MG. That’s my set up. Originally i had the Diablo but there was an issue with Diablo’s power swich.

 

[Soundizer]

RME-ADI 2 is superb with Focal Clear MG. That’s my set up. Originally i had the Diablo but there was an issue with Diablo’s power swich.

I add extra 4db to low end base and it’s excellent. Love Base.

 

[mattesser]

What amp is everyone using?

JDS Labs Element II

Love the giant volume knob. Never gets old turning it up.

 

[Xareh]

What amp is everyone using?

Singxer SA-1, has enough volume to stay comfortably in low gain in balanced. Sounds very good, MGs definitely scale very dramatically with different amplification.

 

[caracara08]

I have a cap modded liquid platinum and an Asgard 3. Thoughts on between the two?

 

[Soundizer]

Singxer SA-1, has enough volume to stay comfortably in low gain in balanced. Sounds very good, MGs definitely scale very dramatically with different amplification.

Totally agree they Scale massively. Those YouTube reviewers that say you can drive it from a Phone should stop talking.

 

[Silver Wolf]

Totally agree they Scale massively. Those YouTube reviewers that say you can drive it from a Phone should stop talking.

I agree, but to be fair you can drive these cans in a basic way with out the need for an amp and some people are happy enough maybe with that, I don't know as I tend to use quite powerful amps lol.

But I guess anecdotally it would be something liking to you could fuel a F1 race car with 91 unleaded but you are not going to win any races, whoooosh was that a cyclist in Lycra that just passed me ???? lol

I must admit I've not even tried plugging headphones into my phone so I have no idea, I hardly use my phone for anything...it's just a distraction at best

 

[Soundizer]

I agree, but to be fair you can drive these cans in a basic way with out the need for an amp and some people are happy enough maybe with that, I don't know as I tend to use quite powerful amps lol.

But I guess anecdotally it would be something liking to you could fuel a F1 race car with 91 unleaded but you are not going to win any races, whoooosh was that a cyclist in Lycra that just passed me ???? lol

I must admit I've not even tried plugging headphones into my phone so I have no idea, I hardly use my phone for anything...it's just a distraction at best

Yes it is like them saying:
you can jump out of a plane without a parachute.
you can eat the plate instead of the delicious 5 star food on it.

It is misleading because you don’t even get 20% if what this headphone is capable of and have wasted £1000.

my Airpod Max sound allot more alive then Focal Clear MG via my Phone.

 

[luishi5000]

For a fun project, I tried my hand at leather and made headband protector just to see if I could. Realistically I don't think I'll use it but it was fun to stitch together.

 

[jonathan c]

For a fun project, I tried my hand at leather and made headband protector just to see if I could. Realistically I don't think I'll use it but it was fun to stitch together.

That is great work! You should use it to save wear / tear on the headband cover - at least to keep it from getting stained (perspiration etc).

 

[DivineCurrent]

Speaking of headband covers, I found a really nice one on Amazon that fits very well. I got this one here, but I believe there is a brown colored one too.

 

[Saturday]

Wondering if any of you guys could offer some advice- I recently got the clear MGs and I've been using them with the Apple dongle until a "proper" amp and dac arrived. I love the sound of these on the apple dongle and I only expected the sound to get better on a stack. I got a heresy/modi combo. This is my first foray into hifi headphones and I was surprised when the stack finally arrived and I quickly realized it felt like the clears were attacking my ears even on moderately low volume. It didn't sound like the frequency response changed, like the highs didn't become sharp or anything, but it does feel like every note and instrument at all the frequencies are just punching my eardrums- actually engaged my tympanic response. It feels like the front or beginning of every sound is sharper. The attack? The transients? Do I need to switch to a regular magni? Do I need a tube like the Vali? Is my brain just so unrefined that it revolts against the first clear audio it's ever heard? I don't even know what to think at this point. I switch back to the Apple Dongle and my ears relax and I can hear oddly more detail and texture even though everything is more laid back if that makes any sense. Anyone have any ideas?

 

[DivineCurrent]

Wondering if any of you guys could offer some advice- I recently got the clear MGs and I've been using them with the Apple dongle until a "proper" amp and dac arrived. I love the sound of these on the apple dongle and I only expected the sound to get better on a stack. I got a heresy/modi combo. This is my first foray into hifi headphones and I was surprised when the stack finally arrived and I quickly realized it felt like the clears were attacking my ears even on moderately low volume. It didn't sound like the frequency response changed, like the highs didn't become sharp or anything, but it does feel like every note and instrument at all the frequencies are just punching my eardrums- actually engaged my tympanic response. It feels like the front or beginning of every sound is sharper. The attack? The transients? Do I need to switch to a regular magni? Do I need a tube like the Vali? Is my brain just so unrefined that it revolts against the first clear audio it's ever heard? I don't even know what to think at this point. I switch back to the Apple Dongle and my ears relax and I can hear oddly more detail and texture even though everything is more laid back if that makes any sense. Anyone have any ideas?

First, check your system for any EQ settings, enchantments, or whatever other audio effects you may have on. Are you using the Apple dongle from your phone or computer?
My Clear MG sounds nearly the same out of all my sources, so it’s possible the dongle is underpowering the Clear and you weren’t actually hearing the dynamic capabilities of the Clear until now. I’ve never tried it with an Apple dongle so I don’t know for sure.

 

[Saturday]

holy crap I think I'm experiencing what this guy experienced...

I'm in my early 30's. Is this really a thing? It would all make a lot of sense considering the Apple Dongle fails to properly reproduce the headphone's full capabilities. It was essentially masking this high frequency problem. Then when I plugged it into a real amp that fully powered the response, it essentially magnified whatever is going on. It’s super weird too because I’ve experienced fatigue with bright headphones and these are not. They sound rolled off to me like it does others so I don’t even know how this is possible. Did they boost ultrasonic frequencies or something? lol

Jesus I just bought a $1500.00 headphone that makes my ears bleed on anything more than a dongle.
Any chance this is a unit specific problem rather than the whole line? Any young people out there have these and encounter this challenge?

 

[deuter]

I have a cap modded liquid platinum and an Asgard 3. Thoughts on between the two?

Interesting question, I was just going to post my liquid platinum is phenomenal with AB-1266 but the Clear MG sounds wrong, very veiled and boring.
The Clear MG with the Burson Playmate 2 is amazing, one of the tracks today I was getting sub bass that I could imagine the Clear could produce and it was done very well.
Also the imaging and soundstage is astonishing.
Not sure why it doesn’t perform with my liquid platinum.