[nordkapp]

Thanks for that, it's much appreciated. I will look at picking up the Elears ☺

Speaking in audiophile terms, they (T1.2) sound, comparatively speaking of course , flat and veiled. That said if i had never heard the Elears I'd probably be content with them. Still overall a great set of cans, i will just use them more now for less energy rich music. Think small, acoustic jazz/vocal ensembles etc..

 

[positively4th]

Still any help on which short cable I should get on Amazon for the elears ?

Curious about this as well

 

[Shwoop]

I picked up the Elear two days ago. So far they're pretty nice. The box and presentation are fantastic although in the big picture I would have much preferred a travel case. The cable is enormous in both length and diameter but I knew this going into it. It will more than likely shock most people unless they've seen it in person. Along the lines of a basic 12awg cable in girth (but obviously not inside).

They're very laid back. I'm trying to decide if the recessed mids and vocals are what I want and that's going to take some time. They feel like a bit of a jack of all trades. They do most music pretty well and don't tend to shine with one genre in particular. That could be a pro or con based on your listening habits. I've had some gear that, for example, would be incredible with a liquid toe tapping midrange and vocals but get destroyed when a friend comes by and wants to hear Metallica. The Focals try to do it all.

Comparing against lower end models, I find their signature closer to Beyerdynamic (DT880) than Sennheiser (HD600) but miles apart from Grado (SR60). I always found the Senns had a sense of grainy mids. These take a step back and provide what feels like a faster decay. It's hard to explain headphones! They're brand new so there are a ton of expectations and placebo effects taking place when introducing new gear. Time will tell.

I don't know if these will be my end game headphone as many have mentioned. Perhaps it's the lack of high end amplification or simply their sound signature but what keeps coming to the forefront is that the vocals don't pop and stand out like I'm used to. They come through as a secondary thought on some tracks. Then again I'm only two days in and it's too early to make those types of decisions. The main reference I'm coming from is a two channel system that excels in imaging and bringing vocals through with eerie realism and presence. It's definitely interesting to read about everyone's preferences and interpretations of these fantastic products!

 

[Mediahound]

^ Mids smooth out a bit after burning in for some time. At least this is what I've noticed. 

 

[Shwoop]

I was wondering about burning them in but that topic always brings both confirmation and flame
I ran them all day yesterday and the night before but I know that's hardly the recommended burn in time for those that believe in it. Even if it's some sort of adjustment my noggin makes to the signature, I'd be happy to see the mids come closer in line with everything else. I noticed that effect with Beyers. First impressions weren't optimal but they grew on me and it wasn't the headphones that changed as it still happens when I switch back to them from time to time.

 

[MarkF786]

Still any help on which short cable I should get on Amazon for the elears ?

Here's a post from a couple days ago:

http://www.head-fi.org/t/811961/focal-elear-impressions-thread/615#post_12885364

 

[TSAVJason]

I was listening to the Elear last night for about 4 hours with the C5 (dac version) and it sounds pretty good with the bass boost switch engaged. 
Without the bass switch engaged the sound is fairly lean compared to what the Elear sounds like out of a full sized amp.

I think that is something people need to be aware of with this headphone. Focal's design intent is/ was very clearly for home use, through full sized equipment. No 3.5mm adapter, a massive cord, no travel case, very open architecture, and an 80ohm driver rating (even though sensitivity is relatively high).

It's major selling point, for me, is the dynamics, weight, punch that it portrays music with. It does the bass head punchy thing while still giving you world class mids and treble. A pretty remarkable accomplishment.

But (Big But!) that rich, dense, dynamic weight that it is so good at, seems to fall off significantly when connected to portable amps.
WIth all of my portable amps, ALO National, iFi iDSD and to a lesser extent with the C5 there was a pretty significant performance delta... and it wasn't about the DAC section because I fed my big rig amps with the dacs on the portables and it sounded outstanding.

Whether it is because the driver is overdamped with too low an output impedance (ala AKG KXXX series) or because battery powered amps typically don't have large capacitor banks for reserve power.... I couldn't say, but something doesn't translate.

I haven't personally heard the pairing but I tend to think the Mojo is going to fall in this category as well. The Mojo wasn't designed for full size cans and the Elear clearly wasn't designed for portable use.

Actually the Mojo is an excellent pairing with the Elear. For $600 it is a great little amp/DAC with lots of throttle on the Elear. If you're looking to knock your brains around it may not be the right amp but for those that want to use their ears later in life it's a great combo.

 

[Condocondor]

Me too!  How does the Beyerdynamic T1 (second generation) compare to the Elear?????

 

[Deftone]

Well I am going to go agents the grain here.

I have owned the Focal for a week now and been listening to them non stop and my initial impression has not changed.

The upper Mids are recessed, the highs are way too soft, and the bass is more round and higher in level than I would like it.

I have been listening to mostly Grados this last year so I was hesitant to comment as Grados are pretty colored and I thought they were screwing my perspective (But most my listening is on my main hifi rig, Thiel 2.4 with JL E112 subs).

But after a week of adjustment (no Grado use) the Elears are just not for me. I use a DB meter because I like my hearing (you should too!) and I have to turn the Elear way up (80-85db) to get the Mids to pop and have presents. Once the Mids have volume the bass is very loud and takes over the sound while the highs are still pretty distant, awesome details but distant.

Switching back to my Grados (PS500e) it is pretty obvious they have a lower quality sound with crunchy highs (in comparision), and less bass extention but the mids have presents. After 30 minutes I adjust and really like them.

So here is the kicker for me. In order to like the sound of the Elears I need to be at 85db and my Grados sound good to me at 75db or less. the 10 db is a big deal for me as this week using the Elears my ears have been tired and borderline line ringing at night. That never happens with my Grados, ever.

At the end of the day the Elears are just to colored for me and I am going to move on. My wife likes them so I may still keep them in the house but they will be in her office not in my rig...

I am going to order a pair of HD800S and demo the Utopias later this month.

As always use your own ears.

 
i felt the same after forcing myself to only use the Shure SE846 for 2 weeks, i thought my ears would adjust but theyre too damn dark sounding.

 

[Deftone]

 
at the very least it hasn't by Tyll who doesn't believe in burn-in or cable magic, someone by who many people swear
here in head-fi

 
thats weird because he made a video showing that he can hear the differences?

 

[TSAVJason]

thats weird because he made a video showing that he can hear the differences?

There are people that deny global warming too. Just like a cars pistons, a dynamic, electrostat and planar needs time to settle in to its job. It's physics, to deny it is plain silly. Wire does have tuning properties. It also can carry damaging anomalies. So again, it's just a little crazy to say it has no affect on your listening. This is well known in the electronics world. Tubes, Capacitors and resistors can dramatically change product presentation too. If this weren't true, everything would sound exactly the same with the acception of gain and efficiency. No offense to Tyll, possibly your understanding of what he said is taken out of context. I wouldn't know as I don't read his reviews. I did have someone say to me his review was quite similar to mine and Judes.

 

[Niaron]

   
i felt the same after forcing myself to only use the Shure SE846 for 2 weeks, i thought my ears would adjust but theyre too damn dark sounding.

Coming from a SE846 user. Make the white filter your default, with an addition of a silver cable, i find it sounding quite nice

 

[AzNyCans]

If you don't mind me asking, what does your Luxman rug consist of? I am thinking of building a system around the Elear. Thank you so much!

 

[eargasam]

Hey thinking about getting the Schitt asguard 2 to pair up with the elear would that be much better than the cayin c5??

 

[xeph11]

.