[donlin]

  If I may know, which headphone you compare to Elear that make Elear like having reccesed midrange? Also what's set up to drive them?
 
This is an interesting statment for me to check

Sennheiser HD800S and HD650.

 

[TheMiddleSky]

 
Sennheiser HD800S and HD650.

Oh ok, HD800s definitely having more forward upper mid presentation, but not more in overall midrange quantity,
 
HD650 midrange is simply too blury for me, and having more laidback presentation.
 
Have to agree to disagree then,

 

[ubs28]

Oh ok, HD800s definitely having more forward upper mid presentation, but not more in overall midrange quantity,

HD650 midrange is simply too blury for me, and having more laidback presentation.

Have to agree to disagree then,

Not a chance the Elear is more neutral in the mids than both the HD 650 and HD 800 S.

The mids is what stopped me from buying the Elears when I auditioned them.

 

[donlin]

Not a chance the Elear is more neutral in the mids than both the HD 650 and HD 800 S.

The mids is what stopped me from buying the Elears when I auditioned them.

Thank you!!  We can all disagree about which we prefer, but it's pretty clear that the mids are way more forward on the Sennheisers compared to the Elear.

 

[ubs28]

Thank you!!  We can all disagree about which we prefer, but it's pretty clear that the mids are way more forward on the Sennheisers compared to the Elear.

It wasn't about fordwardness, it sounded a bit hollow to me. Something was off with the mids. But that's just my ears ofcourse and others can hear it differently.

 

[donlin]

It wasn't about fordwardness, it sounded a bit hollow to me. Something was off with the mids. But that's just my ears ofcourse and others can hear it differently.

I'm totally with you, there is something about the mid-range that isn't quite right tonally and hollow is a good word for it..  It's not always noticeable but it's there on certain vocals and especially strings.  It's noticeable even without switching back and forth with other headphones.

 

[abvolt]

  How's the bass distortion problem going?
 
Also, does the upper mids/lower treble dip make female vocal terrible?
 
I planned to get an Elear for jpop(female vocal), rock but these two problems keep me from pulling the trigger.

 
Their's only been a few of us with that issue so far just waiting for my replacements and hopefully this issue will be few & far between..enjoy

 

[xrayman]

How's the bass distortion problem going?

Also, does the upper mids/lower treble dip make female vocal terrible?

So far so good. Bass are tight and dynamic.

As for the vocals, those cans are excellent. Very forward compared to whwt I had with the D5000 and HE-500. Listen to last Katie Melua's album In Winter, the vocals are warm and very much emphasized without compromising the rest of the music and instruments.

Edit: I would say vocals are Elear's forte! They really stand out, and the clarity is superior to anything I have heard thus far (bear in mind I have never owned any top-tier headphones before).

 

[abvolt]

So far so good. Bass are tight and dynamic.

As for the vocals, those cans are excellent. Very forward compared to whwt I had with the D5000 and HE-500. Listen to last Katie Melua's album In Winter, the vocals are warm and very much emphasized without compromising the rest of the music and instruments.

Edit: I would say vocals are Elear's forte! They really stand out, and the clarity is superior to anything I have heard thus far (bear in mind I have never owned any top-tier headphones before).

 
Very nice to know lucky you, yes their are the most dynamic hp's I've owned truly excellent..enjoy 

 

[thinkingoffish]

It wasn't about fordwardness, it sounded a bit hollow to me. Something was off with the mids. But that's just my ears ofcourse and others can hear it differently.

 
It's not just you. Anyone saying differently can just look at measurements.  The Elears have a BIG dip in the upper mids (~3 to ~5 khz).  People can hear whatever it is they hear of course, but you can't deny the measurements.  Try pad swapping.  HM5 hybrid or pleather pads both work and fix the problems with the mids, but can create treble peaks.

 

[Oregonian]

Was fortunate to be a tour member for TTVJ's Elear loaner program and posted the following on that thread. 
 
So first off, thanks again to Todd for making this loaner program a reality, and my apologies for the week delay in putting up my impressions from my time with the Elear.
 
First impressions - a quality piece of hardware..........no question.  The box, presentation and looks are first class all the way. The Elear feels quality, looks quality and is built like a tank with refined fit and finish.  Overall the looks of the headphone are basic and understated - it's classic looks and feel in your hands like a well made piece of equipment. 
 
How I listen - all I own are vintage speaker amps - 8 systems in all and all in use in various locations.  Pioneer is my manufacturer of choice and the flagship is the Spec 1 pre/Spec 2 amp combo in the rack system shown below.  I feed it with either an iPhone6 through a NuForce iDo DAC, a Pioneer CD player or you guessed it, a Pioneer vintage turntable.  For the Elear audition I played a variety of Smooth Jazz music (Paul Harcastle, Paul Taylor, Rick Braun to name a few artists), Rush 2112 and for a change of genre, a bit of classical in the form of The Nutcracker (a favorite of mine from my daughter's ballerina days dancing the lead in a local production of the Nutcracker). 
 
A few initial comments - the Elear felt heavy to me and the clamp was a bit tighter than I preferred (and I like a firm clamp) much like the Senn 650 but because of the added weight it felt a bit too tight, too heavy, and therefore a bit on the uncomfortable side to me.  The next item I noticed was how CLOSED they sound to me - even putting my hands around the cups had little impact on the soundstaging so honestly it was a bit of a surprise.  Also a surprise - how dark they are - very bass-capable, normally a huge plus in my book as I'm a reformed/audiophile basshead.  My system allows for both EQ (both with the tone controls of my Spec 1 preamp and in the form of a hardware EQ in the chain) as well as electronic EQ profiling (both with the iPhone6 app I run my playlists through - EQ10 which I highly recommend by the way and my Chase RLC-1 remote control/preamp) which allows for a huge amount of fine tuning ability.  So for the purists, I am the anti-purist I guess - I like being able to make the music sound exactly how I want it. 
 
Overall sound - the thing is............I have a pair of HE-6's that are fully modded and fed from the Spec system from the speaker taps and honestly, after owning and/or auditioning over 60 headphones now, nothing comes close to the HE-6.  Nothing.  The bass on them is visceral and the overall sound to my ears is almost to the point that I wonder if anything can beat them.  So the Elear had an uphill battle on it's hands - I chose to not listen to the HE-6 for a few days before the Elear arrived and did not A/B them against each other till the final day of having the Elear in the house - I wanted to let my mind acclimate to the Elear sound and see if it was a possible replacement for the HE-6.  Well, the Elear sounds good - very good, but it is not a HE-6 killer - the search continues - not that I want to replace the HE-6 but if I find something better I WILL switch. 
 
What I felt was outstanding on the Elear was the tonal quality - I'm not sure how to describe it but the sound was just so................good.  Very musical and crisp with all areas sounding excellent - treble, bass and mids are well represented.  Mids especially were a nice revelation - female vocals (Hardcastle has his daughter do vocals on some of his songs) are excellent.  I kept going back to the disappointment I felt though with the closed in sound - I love open back headphones and these just didn't sound like an open back headphone.  Listened to a few key passages off the Nutcracker CD, comparing the HE-6 and Elear and the HD700.  The Elear clearly was the most closed in sound - though the positional cues were good they still were in my head - if that makes any sense. 
 
Overall I'd put the Elear in my top 5 - below the HE-6, Dharma (which is my second favorite open back), HD800 (anyone who thinks they are bass light has not heard them out of a vintage speaker amp!) Denon LA7000 all best it in my preferences. 

 

[Dvdlucena]

Was fortunate to be a tour member for TTVJ's Elear loaner program and posted the following on that thread. 


So first off, thanks again to Todd for making this loaner program a reality, and my apologies for the week delay in putting up my impressions from my time with the Elear.

First impressions - a quality piece of hardware..........no question.  The box, presentation and looks are first class all the way. The Elear feels quality, looks quality and is built like a tank with refined fit and finish.  Overall the looks of the headphone are basic and understated - it's classic looks and feel in your hands like a well made piece of equipment. 

How I listen - all I own are vintage speaker amps - 8 systems in all and all in use in various locations.  Pioneer is my manufacturer of choice and the flagship is the Spec 1 pre/Spec 2 amp combo in the rack system shown below.  I feed it with either an iPhone6 through a NuForce iDo DAC, a Pioneer CD player or you guessed it, a Pioneer vintage turntable.  For the Elear audition I played a variety of Smooth Jazz music (Paul Harcastle, Paul Taylor, Rick Braun to name a few artists), Rush 2112 and for a change of genre, a bit of classical in the form of The Nutcracker (a favorite of mine from my daughter's ballerina days dancing the lead in a local production of the Nutcracker). 

A few initial comments - the Elear felt heavy to me and the clamp was a bit tighter than I preferred (and I like a firm clamp) much like the Senn 650 but because of the added weight it felt a bit too tight, too heavy, and therefore a bit on the uncomfortable side to me.  The next item I noticed was how CLOSED they sound to me - even putting my hands around the cups had little impact on the soundstaging so honestly it was a bit of a surprise.  Also a surprise - how dark they are - very bass-capable, normally a huge plus in my book as I'm a reformed/audiophile basshead.  My system allows for both EQ (both with the tone controls of my Spec 1 preamp and in the form of a hardware EQ in the chain) as well as electronic EQ profiling (both with the iPhone6 app I run my playlists through - EQ10 which I highly recommend by the way and my Chase RLC-1 remote control/preamp) which allows for a huge amount of fine tuning ability.  So for the purists, I am the anti-purist I guess - I like being able to make the music sound exactly how I want it. 

Overall sound - the thing is............I have a pair of HE-6's that are fully modded and fed from the Spec system from the speaker taps and honestly, after owning and/or auditioning over 60 headphones now, nothing comes close to the HE-6.  Nothing.  The bass on them is visceral and the overall sound to my ears is almost to the point that I wonder if anything can beat them.  So the Elear had an uphill battle on it's hands - I chose to not listen to the HE-6 for a few days before the Elear arrived and did not A/B them against each other till the final day of having the Elear in the house - I wanted to let my mind acclimate to the Elear sound and see if it was a possible replacement for the HE-6.  Well, the Elear sounds good - very good, but it is not a HE-6 killer - the search continues - not that I want to replace the HE-6 but if I find something better I WILL switch. 

What I felt was outstanding on the Elear was the tonal quality - I'm not sure how to describe it but the sound was just so................good.  Very musical and crisp with all areas sounding excellent - treble, bass and mids are well represented.  Mids especially were a nice revelation - female vocals (Hardcastle has his daughter do vocals on some of his songs) are excellent.  I kept going back to the disappointment I felt though with the closed in sound - I love open back headphones and these just didn't sound like an open back headphone.  Listened to a few key passages off the Nutcracker CD, comparing the HE-6 and Elear and the HD700.  The Elear clearly was the most closed in sound - though the positional cues were good they still were in my head - if that makes any sense. 

Overall I'd put the Elear in my top 5 - below the HE-6, Dharma (which is my second favorite open back), HD800 (anyone who thinks they are bass light has not heard them out of a vintage speaker amp!) Denon LA7000 all best it in my preferences. 

Nice review. Thanks

Did you tryied the utopia for any comparison?

 

[abvolt]

Nice job..

 

[Oregonian]

Nice review. Thanks

Did you tryied the utopia for any comparison?

No, have not had the opportunity to try the Utopia. 

 

[Sonic Defender]

  HD800 (anyone who thinks they are bass light has not heard them out of a vintage speaker amp!) Denon LA7000 all best it in my preferences. 

Well, I can't totally get behind that. I owned the HD800S, best headphone to date for me, and I drove it from a speaker tap with my NAD M3 amp and I still did modestly EQ the bass up a little, and it was still a tad lighter in the bass than I prefer, but nonetheless, excellent. I guess it is subjective to one's personal taste. I am more into sound signatures where the bass is of good quality, but tilted upward for sure so no neutral cans for me. I would love the HE6 from speaker taps, I drove my HE 560 and 400i from the NAD and I just know that I have to get an HE6 someday. I do have a Sony Z1R coming hopefully soon, so perhaps I'll get the mounds of quality bass I crave. I do still greatly appreciate the finesse and nuance that only an open design seems to bring to the bass.