[abvolt]

Excellent info I did not know this about warranty with Focal good to know since the Clear's are right around the corner for me..

 

[gLer]

That would be entirely a Massdrop thing having little or nothing to do with Focal. So if it’s important to you, you should be contact Massdrop to see what their plans are. That relationship is very struggled as I understand it so I think you should be leaning on Massdrop for alternate or replacement pads. One thing to be sure of, the pad from the Elex is not the Clear pad as some believe. It’s a look alike only.

Hey Jason, just some feedback for you (and other members) on this. Have been directly in touch with Massdrop. A few points from their reply:

1. They will not sell individual parts of a product (including earpads) as replacements or otherwise - only complete products.

2. They do not control any part of the manufacturing process - this is entirely the domain of Focal and I would need to get in touch with Focal directly should I want replacement parts for the Elex, even a pair of spare earpads.

3. They will NOT give me Focal’s contact details. That’s up to me to find and connect with them.

4. They will NOT honor any warranty claims or replacement claims should I buy a second hand Elex as the warranty is not transferable at all.

5. If I want ‘Elex’ pads I should buy the Dekoni third party pads when they drop.

So, basically, no chance of getting Elex pads as a non Elex owner (unless you convince Focal to sell you some). All repair claims for used Elex headphones to go directly to Focal - Massdrop washes their hands clean if you’re not the original buyer.

Not sure what to make if all that. But not terribly impressed to be honest.

 

[TSAVJason]

Hey Jason, just some feedback for you (and other members) on this. Have been directly in touch with Massdrop. A few points from their reply:

1. They will not sell individual parts of a product (including earpads) as replacements or otherwise - only complete products.

2. They do not control any part of the manufacturing process - this is entirely the domain of Focal and I would need to get in touch with Focal directly should I want replacement parts for the Elex, even a pair of spare earpads.

3. They will NOT give me Focal’s contact details. That’s up to me to find and connect with them.

4. They will NOT honor any warranty claims or replacement claims should I buy a second hand Elex as the warranty is not transferable at all.

5. If I want ‘Elex’ pads I should buy the Dekoni third party pads when they drop.

So, basically, no chance of getting Elex pads as a non Elex owner (unless you convince Focal to sell you some). All repair claims for used Elex headphones to go directly to Focal - Massdrop washes their hands clean if you’re not the original buyer.

Not sure what to make if all that. But not terribly impressed to be honest.

I may be wrong but if that’s real, it looks like no one is taking responsibility for these post sale. The actual Clear pad is available soon but I’d suggest you find a way to try it out first because we’ve demo’d the swap and it isn’t thrilling

 

[gLer]

I may be wrong but if that’s real, it looks like no one is taking responsibility for these post sale. The actual Clear pad is available soon but I’d suggest you find a way to try it out first because we’ve demo’d the swap and it isn’t thrilling

Hi - good to know, I think. Glad to hear Clear pads are going to be available soon - does that include the red Clear Pro pads - because an Elear with grey Clear pads is just wrong By the by, how much will a pair set you back?

And by not ‘thrilling’ do you mean Elear with Clear pads? And if so, then by extension the Elex shouldn’t be particularly thrilling either (yes I know they’re not exactly the same pads as the Clear, but I’d wager they’re very close).

 

[TSAVJason]

Hi - good to know, I think. Glad to hear Clear pads are going to be available soon - does that include the red Clear Pro pads - because an Elear with grey Clear pads is just wrong By the by, how much will a pair set you back?

And by not ‘thrilling’ do you mean Elear with Clear pads? And if so, then by extension the Elex shouldn’t be particularly thrilling either (yes I know they’re not exactly the same pads as the Clear, but I’d wager they’re very close).

Well we are a Focal Pro Dealer as well so I imagine they will have them available for us to sell and you to purchase at some point.

Actually I like the look of the Clear pads on the Elear but I’m not crazy about the sound

 

[TSAVJason]

Hi - good to know, I think. Glad to hear Clear pads are going to be available soon - does that include the red Clear Pro pads - because an Elear with grey Clear pads is just wrong By the by, how much will a pair set you back?

And by not ‘thrilling’ do you mean Elear with Clear pads? And if so, then by extension the Elex shouldn’t be particularly thrilling either (yes I know they’re not exactly the same pads as the Clear, but I’d wager they’re very close).

I can only respond with not that close. Being that I don’t sell the Elex I’m not allowed to say anything about the quality or performance

 

[gLer]

I can only respond with not that close. Being that I don’t sell the Elex I’m not allowed to say anything about the quality or performance

Thanks, completely understand and respect that. Except it basically makes everthing Massdrop (and many others) have been saying basically incorrect, or at least inaccurate (i.e. that Elex is the Elear with ‘Clear’ pads and slightly different damping).

That’s why I was kinda hoping someone with an Elex and an Elear could put their Elear pads on the Elex and tell us if it sounds anything like their Elear.

All this needless confusion has really muddied the waters - although the silver lining is that mint Elears are now selling for ~$450 used, which is insane value and really good for buyers (but not sellers).

 

[TSAVJason]

Thanks, completely understand and respect that. Except it basically makes everthing Massdrop (and many others) have been saying basically incorrect, or at least inaccurate (i.e. that Elex is the Elear with ‘Clear’ pads and slightly different damping).

That’s why I was kinda hoping someone with an Elex and an Elear could put their Elear pads on the Elex and tell us if it sounds anything like their Elear.

All this needless confusion has really muddied the waters - although the silver lining is that mint Elears are now selling for ~$450 used, which is insane value and really good for buyers (but not sellers).

Oh yeah! It would sound pretty much like the Elear. FYI, the Elear is on factory authorized sale at $750 now and has been for a while.

It doesn’t bother sellers that you see used units for $450. It doesn’t cost much more for a brand new unit with a 2 year warranty.

 

[gLer]

Oh yeah! It would sound pretty much like the Elear. FYI, the Elear is on factory authorized sale at $750 now and has been for a while.

It doesn’t bother sellers that you see used units for $450. It doesn’t cost much more for a brand new unit with a 2 year warranty.

Fair enough. For those of us not lucky enough to live in the US, getting a mint pair for $450 is significant. Simply no way I, for example, could afford a new one plus shipping, and then ship it back and forth to the US for warranty claims. So the Elex did us foreigners a favour by cutting the legs off the used Elear market.

Good for you as well I guess, as $750 is a very compelling price for a new Elear!

As for the Elex/Elear comment, now you know why I’m so keen to get hold of a pair of Elex pads. Will be nice to have a choice between the two sound profiles on one headphone without having to resort to EQ.

 

[TSAVJason]

Fair enough. For those of us not lucky enough to live in the US, getting a mint pair for $450 is significant. Simply no way I, for example, could afford a new one plus shipping, and then ship it back and forth to the US for warranty claims. So the Elex did us foreigners a favour by cutting the legs off the used Elear market.

Good for you as well I guess, as $750 is a very compelling price for a new Elear!

As for the Elex/Elear comment, now you know why I’m so keen to get hold of a pair of Elex pads. Will be nice to have a choice between the two sound profiles on one headphone without having to resort to EQ.

I totally understand. Unfortunately we are restricted to our territory and you’re right different territories see different sales programs

 

[H-Money]

I have the fenestrated sheepskin pads. I enjoy them better than the stock ones. They bring the mids forward quite a bit. Songs that I immediately thought sounded weird with the stock pads don't sound weird anymore. This was mainly vocals, male and female. Boyz II Men: II, Janet Jackson: Rhythm Nation, and Toad the Wet Sprocket: New Constellation was where I first thought my Elears sounded very weird with vocals.

With the Dekoni pads, the mids don't sound as off to me. They're still not as good as my HD6xx, but it's a whole lot better and I no longer feel the need to swap headphones when I want better sounding vocals. The bass seems unaffected. EDM still hits hard, as does hip hop so I'm very happy with the Dekoni set. The treble seems a bit smoothed out also, but at the same time I don't get as much "sparkle" for lack of a better description. The sound stage also seems to have widened up, but I think it's because there's more material so that the drivers are a little bit farther from your ears....This actually helps my big ears not touch the grille, which I REALLY found to be a nice side effect of the pad swap.

I got mine from digitalDJGear on ebay, they were great to work with. I also had some communication with Tal at Dekoni and he was great also.

I did have an issue with my set because of the way they packaged them...they were stacked on top of each other so the posts on the top were on the pad side of the bottom...hard dented pads on one side really bummed me out, but I contacted digitalDJGear and they took care of me. Tal also said the dents would go away after a while, but that he'd gladly replace my dented side...both great companies to deal with.

If you do decide to buy the pads, ask to see if they can open the box up and give you two non dented ones and place them so they won't dent the pad side.

Just want to chime in.

I also got the Fenestrated Sheepskin Earpad from Dekoni and what nahpungnome said is spot on.

The midrange does come up quite a bit and sounds smoother.

The shouty treble peak isn't really there anymore.

Colored me surprised.

 

[gLer]

Hi guys - I've just bought an Elear from a forum member and am finally part of the club! Impressions (and hopefully a review or two) to follow, but I have a question I'm hoping someone could answer: has anyone tried cleaning or 'restoring' the pads or headband?

Mine look fine, but you can see they've been 'used'. This was admittedly my one concern, buying a used pair made with microfiber, but it seems to be in good nick other than obvious sings of wear.

Aside from buying new ear pads or modding the headband with an all-leather cover, anyone ever tried to clean theirs or 'smooth them out'?

Thanks in advance.

 

[waveSounds]

Received a(n upgrade) LG V30 last week and blimey does it drive the Elear with enough headroom to rival my desktop setup. I'll reiterate what I've said in the V30 thread; my poor Mojo now sits in a drawer.

Currently listening to various electronic/dance playlists on Tidal - through the desktop setup - using Sonarworks to bump the bass +5db and it's like being able to relive my Fabric days in the constraints of a terraced suburban house

 

[abvolt]

Well I'm going on almost 8 months with my third pair of Elear's they sound great, I was earlier today cleaning the pads on my Elear's and as I removed the first pad a small screw fell out their's 5 very small torx screws on each driver and all 10 were loose I've never checked them some very loose, just thought I'd mention this by the way the torx is a T6 if you want to check yours..enjoy

 

[meomap]

Well I'm going on almost 8 months with my third pair of Elear's they sound great, I was earlier today cleaning the pads on my Elear's and as I removed the first pad a small screw fell out their's 5 very small torx screws on each driver and all 10 were loose I've never checked them some very loose, just thought I'd mention this by the way the torx is a T6 if you want to check yours..enjoy

I guess the French personnel was having a beer or wine while installing this Elear.
It is a shame that a customer just found out.