[Sophonax]

  I also notice that the driver resonance for the Focal cans are over an octave lower than the HD800's...

 
Yep, I suspect that's related to the compliance of the driver suspension. If you watch the video in the first post, the Focal drivers are very compliant and move easily with very little force applied, almost like they are floating. The suspension on most other headphone drivers is probably stiffer by comparison, contributing to a higher resonant frequency.
 
When I watch those Focal drivers move, and how much excursion they have, I'm a little surprised that the suspension is substantial enough to keep the voice coil laterally centered in the magnetic gap of the motor. It's a pretty impressive little speaker they've designed.
 
What does that actually mean for the sound? I have no idea

 

[Jimkrell]

Grizz- if there is some way to meet up and check these out, after you have burned them in and spent some quality time with them, I'd sure love to give them a try. Not sure if there will be anyone local who will carry these for awhile.

 

[fiascogarcia]

Sorry if I'm beating a dead horse here, but is the headphone jack on these Focal models proprietary?

 

[bfreedma]

  Sorry if I'm beating a dead horse here, but is the headphone jack on these Focal models proprietary?

 
The Utopia uses a locking LEMO connector.  It isn't proprietary, but I've only seen it used in aviation headsets, not consumer headphones.  There may be some consumer headphones that do use it, but I'm not familiar with them.  The aftermarket cable manufacturers should be able to buy them from LEMO or one of their distributors.
 
According to the Focal website, the Elear uses a standard 3.5mm locking connector.

 

[pkcpga]

Would love to try the focal elear, seems like a great replacement for my aging grado rs1000. Hopefully a dealer near Boston, Massachusetts will have a demo soon.

 

[Sophonax]

  Sorry if I'm beating a dead horse here, but is the headphone jack on these Focal models proprietary?

 
Nope, not proprietary, but like @bfreedma I've never seen them used in any consumer headphones (or any other consumer product for that matter). I use them a lot where I work, where a lot of the instrumentation cables have LEMO connectors. From my experience, they fasten and lock securely and should be a pretty good choice. The only possible downside I can think of is that the body of the connector might be a little bit long.

 

[meomap]

Just ordered Elear from Woo with free hp stand. Shipping in early July though.

 

[grizzlybeast]

Grizz- if there is some way to meet up and check these out, after you have burned them in and spent some quality time with them, I'd sure love to give them a try. Not sure if there will be anyone local who will carry these for awhile.

yup yup no prob...We dont have to wait for burn in. 

 

[HiFiGuy528]

I think the Elear will hit the high-end hp market hard. Performance, build, design, comfort, and price will make it very difficult for others to compete. I'm buying one too with Nordost Heimdall2 upgrade cable when it's in stock.
 

 

[manpowre]

Why couldnt Focal just use mini XLR 3 connectors on both Elear and Utopia ? I dont understand it.. 

 

[Dillan]

  I think the Elear will hit the high-end hp market hard. Performance, build, design, comfort, and price will make it very difficult for others to compete. I'm buying one too with Nordost Heimdall2 upgrade cable when it's in stock.
 

They look gorgeous.. I hope they do hit the market hard. We need more and more competition!  I probably won't be able to audition them before ordering, but everyone says they sound warm and lush. Which is one of my favorite sound sigs.

 

[Duncan]

They look gorgeous.. I hope they do hit the market hard. We need more and more competition!  I probably won't be able to audition them before ordering, but everyone says they sound warm and lush. Which is one of my favorite sound sigs.

..but the question is (and I'm saying this generically, and not bashing any product), does that competition need to involve extra cost each time (thinking of the HD800 being the 'best dynamic' only a couple of years back, at less than half the price of a Utopia, or the AK380 DAP costing ten times more than a top end DAP from just a few years back)...

...I'm all up for progression, and improvement, but - why does the cost always need to increase?

 

[up late]

r&d apparently

 

[Dillan]

..but the question is (and I'm saying this generically, and not bashing any product), does that competition need to involve extra cost each time (thinking of the HD800 being the 'best dynamic' only a couple of years back, at less than half the price of a Utopia, or the AK380 DAP costing ten times more than a top end DAP from just a few years back)...

...I'm all up for progression, and improvement, but - why does the cost always need to increase?

I am a huge advocate in that department. Check out my thread I started in the portable forums titled "Why does the AK380 cost 4 thousand dollars". From a broader perspective: In general music is subjective and "opinion" based. If someone released a computer with the same specs and build quality as another but charged thousands more and used clever marketing, you'd still have most people (especially the smarter people) not buying it because they'd get more or the same performance and save thousands of dollars by spending less.
 
I think with audio its a lot harder, because its not usually black and white. (although as a side note, things like DAPs have technical specs and can be more easily compared.. iRiver is exploiting people IMO and I am in the process of reviewing the 380)
 
Anyway my point is.. high end headphones are only becoming more and more popular so demand is going up, also the economy shows that everything becomes more expensive over time anyway. I think the best thing we can do as consumers is to not be afraid to talk about this stuff and to also really be a lot more harsh on companies who put a huge price tag on their products and expect us to just buy it and pretend its perfect or worth the money. If you look at the headphones people are charging $4000 or more for, they are actually generally less well regarded than headphones like the HD800. I think that means a lot more than we think. We should give more praise to companies like Sennheiser, not for making less expensive flagships but for actually giving us something equivalent (or better) to what they charge.
 
I could talk about this all day, but this is more of an impressions thread than anything (although I think the belief that pricing shouldn't ever be discussed is harmful to us consumers). If we are vocal about all of our issues (including overpricing) while being constructive and not whiny then we will all benefit from that.

 

[raypin]

Quote:Originally Posted by HiFiGuy528 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
  I think the Elear will hit the high-end hp market hard. Performance, build, design, comfort, and price will make it very difficult for others to compete. I'm buying one too with Nordost Heimdall2 upgrade cable when it's in stock.
 

 
 
Mmmmm.......Nordost is already selling the Lemo-compatible heimdall 2???? Can't seem to find it in their website.