[makne]

It is a pretty known issue that the Elear's drivers reach mechanical clipping at high volume on bass-heavy tracks. This results in a crackling noise, but it should only occur at near ear-bleeding volumes. If the cans sound fine except for the crackling (no wonky sound signature, channel imbalance etc.) I think it's the mechanical clipping causing the crackling.
If you experience this issue on "normal" listening levels, there's probably something wrong and you should return them. Or maybe you have very bad hearing and/or listen to music at extremely loud levels, idk.

Personally I've never had a problem with this, as I have very sensitive hearing so my listening levels are quite low. Only time I've heard my Elears crackle is when I've forgotten to unplug them from my hugo and then put the Hugo in line-out mode. I don't think the clipping is harmful to the driver, at least in my experience.

 

[nahpungnome]

Yes the older units do have a longer cable. I'm not able to agree to the creeking on them as a whole although we know some have had that issue.

Right, I didn't mean to say they all had the issue, just that people have said they were corrected later on.

 

[Bern2]

Not sure how to answer other than less loud than a club. The Elear is more efficient than the T1 but at the same volume levels (manually adjusted) the Elear has some major issues on bassy tracks such as Patricia Barber's Light My Fire. I turned up the volume even louder on the T1 trying to replicate the noise but I could not get the T1 to 'crack' at higher volumes like the Elear would at lower volume. A major disappointment since I spent tons of time researching them before finally buying them today.

I'm sure that those affected will post...but yes, I have read of others with the same complaint. I have not heard them myself.

Bern

 

[lugnut]

As someone who has followed this thread from day one, I was thinking about buying a pair of these while on sale. However, I am having second thoughts again, due to this driver failure and popping/clicking noise. I would advise anyone who is thinking about buying these to go back and read this thread before you do.

 

[RatFarm]

It is a pretty known issue that the Elear's drivers reach mechanical clipping at high volume on bass-heavy tracks. This results in a crackling noise, but it should only occur at near ear-bleeding volumes. If the cans sound fine except for the crackling (no wonky sound signature, channel imbalance etc.) I think it's the mechanical clipping causing the crackling.
If you experience this issue on "normal" listening levels, there's probably something wrong and you should return them. Or maybe you have very bad hearing and/or listen to music at extremely loud levels, idk.

Personally I've never had a problem with this, as I have very sensitive hearing so my listening levels are quite low. Only time I've heard my Elears crackle is when I've forgotten to unplug them from my hugo and then put the Hugo in line-out mode. I don't think the clipping is harmful to the driver, at least in my experience.

The volume level when the cracking sound occurs is well below what I would consider excessively loud. On a non-bassy track the Elear can go way above my tolerance level without the cracking sound so I am concluding that the drivers are not meant for high excursion bass which is a travesty considering how great the overall package the Elear represents at $700. Does the Utopia suffer the same issue?

 

[TSAVJason]

As someone who has followed this thread from day one, I was thinking about buying a pair of these while on sale. However, I am having second thoughts again, due to this driver failure and popping/clicking noise. I would advise anyone who is thinking about buying these to go back and read this thread before you do.

I might submit a different option if you don't mind.

Go to a store that sells them, there are hundreds of locations in North America where you can audition them and discover if these issues are real based on your personal listening style. Many of these issues I read about turn out to be more about how the user uses them. I'm not defending Focal. They've had a few issues right from the launch, I know because I was the only launch partner for the first 90 days and we did do a full recall on them to be sure everyone got a good one. Focal stepped up like a champion and remains a consumer friendly company to this day.

Seriously go check out the things you want to buy before you buy them. It's old school I know but it's got a significantly higher satisfaction ratio

 

[abvolt]

How long did it take for this one to die? That really is disappointing..considering my Mono 8323's feel like utter crap, sound good, and have no fatal issues like you're having...

This last pair lasted about 8 months, What can I say errors sometimes just creep in, It's hard for me to complain much because I really love the Elear's sound quality they certainly are one of my favorite hp's.

 

[nahpungnome]

Not sure how to answer other than less loud than a club. The Elear is more efficient than the T1 but at the same volume levels (manually adjusted) the Elear has some major issues on bassy tracks such as Patricia Barber's Light My Fire. I turned up the volume even louder on the T1 trying to replicate the noise but I could not get the T1 to 'crack' at higher volumes like the Elear would at lower volume. A major disappointment since I spent tons of time researching them before finally buying them today.

I'm listening to Light my Fire right now, but it's from Youtube so I don't know if it's the same, but i'm getting no popping or clicking, the bass is deep, but the other sounds are hurting my ears it's so loud. I can feel the headphones shaking on my head...My db meter says max spl was 97.0db. If you're listening louder than that.,..ouch! Again, youtube's bass might be just crap, but no distortion and I really don't want to go any louder

 

[RatFarm]

I might submit a different option if you don't mind.

Go to a store that sells them, there are hundreds of locations in North America where you can audition them and discover if these issues are real based on your personal listening style. Many of these issues I read about turn out to be more about how the user uses them. I'm not defending Focal. They've had a few issues right from the launch, I know because I was the only launch partner for the first 90 days and we did do a full recall on them to be sure everyone got a good one. Focal stepped up like a champion and remains a consumer friendly company to this day.

Seriously go check out the things you want to buy before you buy them. It's old school I know but it's got a significantly higher satisfaction ratio

Has Focal acknowledged this issue... meaning is there a chance I got a bad pair? The dealer just got the shipment from Focal yesterday so I assume this would have been fixed if it was a known issue with early batches...

 

[meomap]

The volume level when the cracking sound occurs is well below what I would consider excessively loud. On a non-bassy track the Elear can go way above my tolerance level without the cracking sound so I am concluding that the drivers are not meant for high excursion bass which is a travesty considering how great the overall package the Elear represents at $700. Does the Utopia suffer the same issue?

Yes, my first Utopia at launch.
Creaking sound at bass sound started at 2 weeks then died.

 

[RatFarm]

I'm listening to Light my Fire right now, but it's from Youtube so I don't know if it's the same, but i'm getting no popping or clicking, the bass is deep, but the other sounds are hurting my ears it's so loud. I can feel the headphones shaking on my head...My db meter says max spl was 97.0db. If you're listening louder than that.,..ouch! Again, youtube's bass might be just crap, but no distortion and I really don't want to go any louder

I was just able to reproduce the problem with Jon Hassell City Works Of Fiction. With the Elear, major cracking sounds. With the T1, no cracking sounds at the same level. I might try another pair when I return them tomorrow. Not sure since they didn't sound better than the T1.

 

[RatFarm]

Yes, my first Utopia at launch.
Creaking sound at bass sound started at 2 weeks then died.

Interesting.....

 

[nahpungnome]

I was just able to reproduce the problem with Jon Hassell City Works Of Fiction. With the Elear, major cracking sounds. With the T1, no cracking sounds at the same level. I might try another pair when I return them tomorrow. Not sure since they didn't sound better than the T1.

I'm listening to that from vimeo:

does it happen for you here also? I turned it darn loud and it hurts, but no popping

 

[makne]

Has Focal acknowledged this issue... meaning is there a chance I got a bad pair? The dealer just got the shipment from Focal yesterday so I assume this would have been fixed if it was a known issue with early batches...

Like I remember it, Focal aknowledged that there is no soft clipping on the Elear and Utopia, so that you can enjoy 100% sound quality up to the level of mechanical clipping. The downside to this is that the mechanical clipping happens on a lower volume.
I'm not 100% sure I remember correctly though.

 

[makne]

I'm listening to Light my Fire right now, but it's from Youtube so I don't know if it's the same, but i'm getting no popping or clicking, the bass is deep, but the other sounds are hurting my ears it's so loud. I can feel the headphones shaking on my head...My db meter says max spl was 97.0db. If you're listening louder than that.,..ouch! Again, youtube's bass might be just crap, but no distortion and I really don't want to go any louder

I also get rumbling bass on my Elears, so much that I can feel them shaking in my head too, Never any crackling, even on something like Kanye West Love Lockdown