Why don't you invest in another amp, @Glasha? Although the Elear doesn't need an amp, it does benefit from one, and because of its relatively low impedance and high sensitivity a dedicated headphone amp in the €100 range might be a worthwhile investment over the headphone out on your AV receiver.
The reason is that I'm too scared to spend money on something I didn't test, I really want to upgrade that component, but I will be patient, next year I will move to London, I'm sure in that city I will have multiple occasions to test a lot of amplifiers
After experimenting with the Shure Alcantara pads on the Elear for a while I've ended up removing them. I liked the sound, and the comfort, but the pads were just too thick to work well with the curvature of the headband and general ergonomics. My ear was always touching the inside of the pad and the endless micro-adjustments to positioning them got annoying. But I had to destroy the original pads to remove the rings, so, what to do?
Lucky I had set of Shure SRH1840 velour pads to hand, which are thinner than the Alcantaras, and work much better with the ergonomics of the Elear. As for the sound I hear something similar to what Dekoni measure with their Elite Velour pads on the Elear:
Dekoni Official Site said:
First up is the Stock pad vs the Dekoni ELVL. These 2 are very close in frequency response up to 1khz and then you see a very slight rise in the 1.5 Khz territory and a 2db rise in the 8Khz range. Notice also a slight offset of the 5khz peak to the lower end at around 4.5khz. Finally, the ELVL pad seems to take a bit off the top peak that might make the headphone sound darker and a little more closed, depending on what you are listening to. I like this pad a lot with my Elears. They are a super comfy fit and I can wear them a long time without any fatigue.
Obviously it won't be exactly the same because of the differences in materials between the two, but it's definitely a resemblance. Only spent a short time listening this morning but early impressions were I liked it a lot. Will spend some more time with it over the weekend to get a better handle on the sound (and take some pictures).
After having these now going on 2 years I never really heard any bass clipping like others but after listening to the first rap album (Eminem's new one) I've got in years I started to hear some. On the really hard bass drops it does clip a little, not really bad but enough you notice. I don't have the EQ on so it's flat and it really makes me want to switch headphones while listening to that album. I just ordered a pair of the LCD-2Cs and I think they will fare much better with that album. I still love these headphones and use them almost daily but that was something I wasn't expecting since I never heard anything like that for 2 years I've had these.
After having these now going on 2 years I never really heard any bass clipping like others but after listening to the first rap album (Eminem's new one) I've got in years I started to hear some. On the really hard bass drops it does clip a little, not really bad but enough you notice. I don't have the EQ on so it's flat and it really makes me want to switch headphones while listening to that album. I just ordered a pair of the LCD-2Cs and I think they will fare much better with that album. I still love these headphones and use them almost daily but that was something I wasn't expecting since I never heard anything like that for 2 years I've had these.
Have no fear. It's a design "feature" of the Elear/Elex/Clear/Utopia (officially from Focal). Similar to 'excursion' in the speaker world, and only caused by excessive very low frequency sounds played with too much volume.
The reason some people think there's something 'wrong' with their headphones is that in some cases a track can be so full of low end (mainly sub bass but also low mid bass), that the rest of the song doesn't seem loud enough to clip, and yet it does. It's the bass that does the clipping. You can turn down the low end in those tracks using EQ and the 'clipping' - which is actually a mechanical warning, not clipping in the true sense of the word - will likely go away.
In my testing, aside from one or two crazy cinematic or hip hop tracks with WAY too much bass to be good for anyone's ears, my Elear is just fine. If you're hitting the excursion point, chances are you're damaging your hearing. Even if other headphones can comfortably handle that level of bass, your ears shouldn't have to.
Have no fear. It's a design "feature" of the Elear/Elex/Clear/Utopia (officially from Focal). Similar to 'excursion' in the speaker world, and only caused by excessive very low frequency sounds played with too much volume.
The reason some people think there's something 'wrong' with their headphones is that in some cases a track can be so full of low end (mainly sub bass but also low mid bass), that the rest of the song doesn't seem loud enough to clip, and yet it does. It's the bass that does the clipping. You can turn down the low end in those tracks using EQ and the 'clipping' - which is actually a mechanical warning, not clipping in the true sense of the word - will likely go away.
In my testing, aside from one or two crazy cinematic or hip hop tracks with WAY too much bass to be good for anyone's ears, my Elear is just fine. If you're hitting the excursion point, chances are you're damaging your hearing. Even if other headphones can comfortably handle that level of bass, your ears shouldn't have to.
I'm fully aware it's a deliberate design choice. And I agree with Focal's choice to limit driver damage.
However, it's something I'd very much like to avoid in my listening experience as:
1) what I listen to often has a lot of bass, including subbass
2) the bass levels that make me happiest and provide the most listening enjoyment are pretty high; I add about 8dB to 20hz with my Loki on my TH-X00 PH, and something with the FR of the Elear may require even an higher EQ bump. (Elex would require more of an EQ bump but I'd start with a padswap)
I'm not interested in buying an Elear/Elex just for the part of the music that I enjoy the most to be compromised by driver excursion limitations.
Considering BubbaJay reported experiencing it on a standard music track without using an EQ, I think it's very reasonable to ask which song. Most of the easily reproducible reports I've read are from cinematic scores (as you also mentioned) that have isolated subbass that is not easily comparable to what I listen to.
I’m willing to trade some bass quantity for everything else the Elear seems to bring to the table. The clipping is my only concern with the Elear/Elex.
I'm fully aware it's a deliberate design choice. And I agree with Focal's choice to limit driver damage.
However, it's something I'd very much like to avoid in my listening experience as:
1) what I listen to often has a lot of bass, including subbass
2) the bass levels that make me happiest and provide the most listening enjoyment are pretty high; I add about 8dB to 20hz with my Loki on my TH-X00 PH, and something with the FR of the Elear may require even an higher EQ bump. (Elex would require more of an EQ bump but I'd start with a padswap)
I'm not interested in buying an Elear/Elex just for the part of the music that I enjoy the most to be compromised by driver excursion limitations.
Considering BubbaJay reported experiencing it on a standard music track without using an EQ, I think it's very reasonable to ask which song. Most of the easily reproducible reports I've read are from cinematic scores (as you also mentioned) that have isolated subbass that is not easily comparable to what I listen to.
Tried a second pair of Elear's today after last year's clipping experience and it's the same thing. With what's been said I'm in serious doubt it's a defect anymore but worse, a badly designed headphone. Of dozens of auditioned headphones literally none but the Elear acts up with certain bass heavy tracks. For casual listening up to moderate levels all is fine. You want to go louder sometimes where subbass plays a part, good luck.
Is there only a certain batch affected or what do we know so far?
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