[supervisor]

yes, please keep us posted. honestly I probably would never listen to anything that loud, but I definitely encountered what you did when i tested.

the crackling did not occur on my DT1990s at similar volume

 

[makne]

Good luck man, hopefully it's a unit defect and you can get a new one that satisfies you!

As for the guys talking about burn-in, here'd what I found:
-Demo'd the Elear, they sounded awesome.
-Bought a brand-new Elear and right out of the box, they sounded a little dark, muffled, closed-in.
-Burned them in for 2 days straight with pink-noise at slightly over listening volume. When I tried them again, they sounded just as awesome as the demo model.

This MAY all have been in my head though, as measurements have shown that burn-in has little to no effect.
I don't think it was my ears getting used to the sound though, as I liked them very much the first time I heard them...

 

[RatFarm]

Just got back from the dealer. We hooked up a demo pair of Elears to a Naim amp and Bryston Player/DAC and played some Patricia Barber and Jon Hassell. With this setup it took a bit more volume to reproduce the crackling sound but we were able to reproduce the issue. Strangely, with my Musical Fidelity amp it did not take as much volume to cause the issue. Either way, I returned the Elears, and after auditioning a few HP's decided on the HiFiman Edition X v2's. The Edition X did not crackle/distort at high volumes and sounded better overall.

 

[makne]

Just got back from the dealer. We hooked up a demo pair of Elears to a Naim amp and Bryston Player/DAC and played some Patricia Barber and Jon Hassell. With this setup it took a bit more volume to reproduce the crackling sound but we were able to reproduce the issue. Strangely, with my Musical Fidelity amp it did not take as much volume to cause the issue. Either way, I returned the Elears, and after auditioning a few HP's decided on the HiFiman Edition X v2's. The Edition X did not crackle/distort at high volumes and sounded better overall.

Too bad they didn't work out for you :/

Well, if the HEX sounds better to you, maybe it was for the best
Did you try the Audeze LCD-X too? It sounds closer to the Elear to me than the HEX does, HEX has a more expansive soundstage and more laid-back sound.

 

[nahpungnome]

Just got back from the dealer. We hooked up a demo pair of Elears to a Naim amp and Bryston Player/DAC and played some Patricia Barber and Jon Hassell. With this setup it took a bit more volume to reproduce the crackling sound but we were able to reproduce the issue. Strangely, with my Musical Fidelity amp it did not take as much volume to cause the issue. Either way, I returned the Elears, and after auditioning a few HP's decided on the HiFiman Edition X v2's. The Edition X did not crackle/distort at high volumes and sounded better overall.

Glad you found something you like! Seems odd that the issue happened at two different volume levels...makes me wonder if it's a power issue. I'm not familiar with the amps you mentioned so I can't say for sure though.

 

[Bern2]

Too bad they didn't work out for you :/

Well, if the HEX sounds better to you, maybe it was for the best
Did you try the Audeze LCD-X too? It sounds closer to the Elear to me than the HEX does, HEX has a more expansive soundstage and more laid-back sound.

Did you get rid of your Nighthawks? Just wondered your thoughts on the Elear/NH comparison.

Bern

 

[makne]

Did you get rid of your Nighthawks? Just wondered your thoughts on the Elear/NH comparison.

Bern

yup, the NH is no longer with me. Main reason was because I preferred the Elear for, well, everything.

The Elear has a more balanced signature, while the NH is overwhelmingly dark and warm at times. This may be great when you want a smooth, relaxed sound, but imo the Elear can do that too on lower volumes.

The NH has a magical ability to sound extremely dark (to me, anyway), while the treble details are still all there somehow. It's fun to listen to, but could never be a daily driver.
The Elear has a more pronounced, airy treble, but somehow I actually find it LESS harsh and fatiguing than the NH's treble.
So bottom line: The Elear is more balanced, airy and (imo) technically superior. The only thing the NH has on the Elear is it's warm, dark bassy signature, which some may prefer. But even then, the NH is more harsh and fatiguing to me than the Elear, so it was no reason for me to keep it.

Oh, and comfort is around the same, NH is lighter and has a nicer cable. Elear has softer pads.

 

[ribosradagast]

yup, the NH is no longer with me. Main reason was because I preferred the Elear for, well, everything.

The Elear has a more balanced signature, while the NH is overwhelmingly dark and warm at times. This may be great when you want a smooth, relaxed sound, but imo the Elear can do that too on lower volumes.

The NH has a magical ability to sound extremely dark (to me, anyway), while the treble details are still all there somehow. It's fun to listen to, but could never be a daily driver.
The Elear has a more pronounced, airy treble, but somehow I actually find it LESS harsh and fatiguing than the NH's treble.
So bottom line: The Elear is more balanced, airy and (imo) technically superior. The only thing the NH has on the Elear is it's warm, dark bassy signature, which some may prefer. But even then, the NH is more harsh and fatiguing to me than the Elear, so it was no reason for me to keep it.

Oh, and comfort is around the same, NH is lighter and has a nicer cable. Elear has softer pads.

That's my experience with the NightHawks as well... overwhelmingly dark. Cool to say "hey man, that sounds really different" but then you put it down and move on. I'll also say that comfort-wise the NightHawks would fly all over if you turned your head, whereas the Elear are much better at staying fit because of a better clamping force vs just kinda resting gingerly on the scalp like the NH

 

[makne]

That's my experience with the NightHawks as well... overwhelmingly dark. Cool to say "hey man, that sounds really different" but then you put it down and move on. I'll also say that comfort-wise the NightHawks would fly all over if you turned your head, whereas the Elear are much better at staying fit because of a better clamping force vs just kinda resting gingerly on the scalp like the NH

yup, if the NH was also more smooth and pleasant-sounding I'd probably keep it. But turns out it was just different, in a cool way, but not better than the Elear in any way.

 

[PpapaBearD]

I've tried some of the song listed here by others with my Elears (Tidal --> Mojo --> Elear) with no issues thus far...if you guys don't mind listing a few more songs where you've experienced the clipping that'd be great as i want to use them not only on my Elears but with this other set of headphones that came today too...

I'm gonna set the Utopia to burn in while the Elear continues to burn in...I have the Utopias on my head as I type this but have not yet pressed play...will power both with the Mojo and then test both with the WA8 that's set to arrive on Friday (yeah!).

Gonna go press play now...will report back when I can.

 

[abvolt]

I agree it's terrible it hit me on my first pair of Elear's after not sure maybe less than a month, the second pair was fantastic sounding they became my go to for long listening times. Then the left driver just died, it's really too bad because their sq is so addictive I just love these hp's, I can only hope my next pair will last I'd like at least get a few years out of pair..enjoy

 

[lieshout]

I agree it's terrible it hit me on my first pair of Elear's after not sure maybe less than a month, the second pair was fantastic sounding they became my go to for long listening times. Then the left driver just died, it's really too bad because their sq is so addictive I just love these hp's, I can only hope my next pair will last I'd like at least get a few years out of pair..enjoy

Mine are also replaced by Focal, 2 weeks ago. Also had driver that just ‘died’. Same feeling: great headphone, but for how long this time...
Do you know if they solved the issue that drivers just die? So that my new pair probably should be there to enjoy for many years.

 

[DivaFonda]

I've tried some of the song listed here by others with my Elears (Tidal --> Mojo --> Elear) with no issues thus far...if you guys don't mind listing a few more songs where you've experienced the clipping that'd be great as i want to use them not only on my Elears but with this other set of headphones that came today too...

I'm gonna set the Utopia to burn in while the Elear continues to burn in...I have the Utopias on my head as I type this but have not yet pressed play...will power both with the Mojo and then test both with the WA8 that's set to arrive on Friday (yeah!).

Gonna go press play now...will report back when I can.

I hate you.

J/K. Those have become my dream headphones though.

 

[Arniesb]

yes, please keep us posted. honestly I probably would never listen to anything that loud, but I definitely encountered what you did when i tested.

the crackling did not occur on my DT1990s at similar volume

It is a driver desing... Its happen when Drivers want to hit high excursion, but it cant. Happened with my low end Sennheisers and Beyerdynamic Dt990. Hd650, T1 or HD800S didn't have that. HD800S in particularly have extremely high driver excursion and with my very heavy bass testing it never cracked or rattled. Its a desing thing, i doubt anyone can fix it whitout changing driver design. Sub bass heavy content or high wolume music can do that rattling. Any audio that push driver movement's to the limits.
Just my honest opinion.

 

[imbroke]

I've tried some of the song listed here by others with my Elears (Tidal --> Mojo --> Elear) with no issues thus far...if you guys don't mind listing a few more songs where you've experienced the clipping that'd be great as i want to use them not only on my Elears but with this other set of headphones that came today too...

I'm gonna set the Utopia to burn in while the Elear continues to burn in...I have the Utopias on my head as I type this but have not yet pressed play...will power both with the Mojo and then test both with the WA8 that's set to arrive on Friday (yeah!).

Gonna go press play now...will report back when I can.

Tell me how the WA8 is with the elear, heard it does great with some tube amps despite its warm nature.