[jlbrach]

I own the Utopia,the LCD-4 and the Elear and as far as I am concerned the Elear is the best HP available for the price and I think is as good as HP's up to 1800 dollars...terrific bargain IMHO in a world where everything is overpriced

 

[kumar402]

So a lot of people have been saying the Chord Mojo is a good amp for this headphone. Any other suggestions for amps under $1,000? I would like it to be a good amp for other headphones like the dt1990 also.

I am using Elear with Mojo and this is good pairing. I think Elear is efficient and Mojo has enough power for it. I am way below in volume level in Mojo when i use Elear with it and it sound too good to me even at low volume.

 

[davehg]

  I own the Utopia,the LCD-4 and the Elear and as far as I am concerned the Elear is the best HP available for the price and I think is as good as HP's up to 1800 dollars...terrific bargain IMHO in a world where everything is overpriced

​So I have the LCD3f and my experience on the Elear is very different.
 
I wonder if the Elear is fussy about amp matching. I've now heard two different Elear's on 2 amps - the Woo WA5LE and a lesser Rega HP amp. In both cases, the Elear's sonic signature was similar - generally musical, great bass, but a dry and somewhat uninvolving midrange and top end. In comparison, the Audeze (LCD X  and LCD3) and EtherFlow were far more involving and musical and rich in the mids and highs, if not quite as extended in the bass.  But the Elear didn't wow me like it has wowed many others on this thread. By contrast, I loved the tone of the Ether Flow, but it was sadly lacking in bass impact and extension compared to the Elear and LCD3.
 
It's not that the Elear sounded bad, just that it didn't have the magic, richness, or warmth that the others did. It was more extended, but very dry on the mids and highs, much like what I hear when I listen to the HD800. It has that "house" Focal" sound that I've heard consistently in their car audio and home speaker systems which use the non-berrylium inverted metal tweeter. In all cases, I initially thought the Elear was strong until I switched to the others (Audeze, Ether Flow, Utopia), then later switched back to the Elear.
 
The Utopia, on the other hand, was simply magnificent at all times. Super musical, quick, extended and dynamic, and it had great pace and rhythm and tone. It bested my LCD3f's and it deserves all of the accolades it has received. If it were only half the cost or even $2500, I'd likely be an owner today. But $4k is a real tough sell for a set of phones, even for someone who has some top shelf gear.
 
One thing I noticed is that the Elear was super sensitive on the Woo WA5. Even in the low impedance and low power settings, I couldn't turn the volume past 10'oclock. I wonder if the Elear is just not a good match for the WA5, which seems odd because I haven't yet heard a headphone that didn't improve wonderfully on the WA5.
 
Maybe the Elear doesn't like tubes as much as it likes solid state amps? Or maybe it was the DAC? On the Woo WA5 system, they had a high end Sim Audio DAC, and the Rega system used a Linn high res music streamer. Either way, it wasn't a sound that excited me enough to add to the collection.
 
On the other hand, my MassDrop HD6XXX (essentially a rebadged HD650) is slowly breaking in and sounding better every day, and for the $200 I spent, I'd call it the best bargain headphone I've heard (though it needs a powerful amp). It would be interesting to compare a fully broken HD6XXX to the Elear, then compare with the LCD3f and the Utopia.

 

[TWerk]

Elear has its fans and its non-fans, like every headphone ever, since there is not an objectively best sound signature and everyone's preferences aren't the same.

 

[davehg]

TWerk, I agree. My comments were not about whether the ELear is "the best", just that I am not hearing the same characteristics being described in other posts. Nobody has really described the Elear as dry or colder sounding, which I what I heard. Instead, I am reading about how musical and dynamic and extended it is, which is only a bit of what I heard but not all.
 
I am wondering if equipment matching is the reason for my experiences. By example, the HD650 is often called veiled or dark - I agree it sounds this way with low powered (or battery powered) amps. But feed it a high power amp like the WA22, WA5, or the Violetric, and it greatly alters the sound and dynamics - the darkness and veil largely disappears (even if the top end is not as extended or clear as the Elear). Until you've heard the HD650 properly amped, it is unfair to characterize it as it usually is characterized.
 
So it would be nice to hear from an Elear owner how the phones sound on a variety of different amps and/or DACs. My impression of the Sim Audio gear generally is that it is consistently rather dry and colder sounding (and I don't have enough experience with Rega to know its sonic signature), so I wonder if the associated gear I heard is primarily to blame for the Elear sounding the way it did.

 

[vinyl addict]

Just picked up the Elear and here are my first impressions with direct comparisons between HD800 and Audeze LCD-3 using Bryston BHA-1 amp.

Treble (instruments) are resolving and smooth with vocals somewhat softer sounding and less forward vs HD800 but on par with LCD-3.

Mids/Upper mids seems "polite" meaning a bit tame and less revealing and recessed with certain genres namely rock.

Bass is punchy and extended with slam but not bloated or muddy. Not as weighty or as focused as the LCD-3 but clearly outshines the HD800.

Soundstage is quite narrow vs HD800 but comparable to LCD-3. Detail is clear but not as crisp or extended vs HD800 but on par with LCD-3.

I found that the Elear performs well with electronica, dance (hip hop) and pop rock. Moby Play and Massive Attack Mezzanine never sounded better!!

The Audeze LCD-3 and Elear were very closely matched performers, whereas, the HD800 vs Elear are pretty much opposites.

The Elear is far from perfect with the mids being its biggest downfall...kinda sounds like a blanket was placed over it which gave it a softer, less detailed sound.

Overall, the Elears' strengths outweighs its weakness and the price vs performance is off-the-charts as compared to the LCD-3 (IMO) as far as bang for buck.

There is no clear winner between Elear and HD800 as I like them both for different reasons (music dependent), however, the Elear is a better overall performer with most music genres.

 

[Kramer01]

@davehg
Looking forward to the HD6xx, Elear comparison. 

 

 

[xrayman]

I jumped on them when they were 1149gbp so it's under $1500 shipped to Nj

 
Let us know what you think of the Z1R

 

[PeteSTRADAMUS]

Let us know what you think of the Z1R

I definitely will... Whenever they arrive that is lol.

 

[abvolt]

Well I've been spending today with my new elear replacements these hp's are truly sweet sounding almost forgot just how good they really are after 2 weeks without them, and wow that bass is extremely nice..enjoy 

 

[PeteSTRADAMUS]

Well I've been spending today with my new elear replacements these hp's are truly sweet sounding almost forgot just how good they really are after 2 weeks without them, and wow that bass is extremely nice..enjoy 

So that issue some of us been having is non existent? That is a good thing.

 

[abvolt]

So that issue some of us been having is non existent? That is a good thing.

I do think it exists but probably in small numbers hopefully just a few defective hp's, I had that issue you did also I think only a few others reported having some type of a distortion so far these new hp's are without any issues and I really hope it stays that way enjoying them much..

 

[PeteSTRADAMUS]

I do think it exists but probably in small numbers hopefully just a few defective hp's, I had that issue you did also I think only a few others reported having some type of a distortion so far these new hp's are without any issues and I really hope it stays that way enjoying them much..

I think I was one of the first to report that. But I could be wrong and missed it earlier in the thread. Good luck with the pair you have now.

 

[Sil3nce]

I think I was one of the first to report that. But I could be wrong and missed it earlier in the thread. Good luck with the pair you have now.

 
Pretty certain that the issues were only from the demo units and intermittent at best.
Focal will definitely reach out and correct it, if anything.
 
My SoCal buddies: at least 4 of them have the Elears on hand without ever having had any problems.
 
I mean, what do I know? I only have three pairs of them myself. 

 

 

[abvolt]

   
Pretty certain that the issues were only from the demo units and intermittent at best.
Focal will definitely reach out and correct it, if anything.
 
My SoCal buddies: at least 4 of them have the Elears on hand without ever having had any problems.
 
I mean, what do I know? I only have three pairs of them myself. 

 

Cool very positive hearing that..enjoy