[BunnyNamedCraig]

That's cool but has to tick both boxes for me

I wonder what percentage of people feel the same as you... I personally don't care if it looks awful as long as in return a headphone is comfortable. That's my trade off for that ha. Good sound is why I would already be considering it in the first place. Then after that it should be semi comfortable.

 

[Kalavere]

That's cool but has to tick both boxes for me

That's a poor attitude to have, you don't know what you're missing out on.

 

[Imusicman]

I wonder what percentage of people feel the same as you... I personally don't care if it looks awful as long as in return a headphone is comfortable. That's my trade off for that ha. Good sound is why I would already be considering it in the first place. Then after that it should be semi comfortable.

I have to agree.Sound absolutely comes first and then it has to be comfortable for sure but why stop there when you can have all 3?
 
Great sound + Comfortable + Good looks = Utopia

 

[Imusicman]

That's a poor attitude to have, you don't know what you're missing out on.

Brilliant

 

 

[dannybgoode]

I have to agree.Sound absolutely comes first and then it has to be comfortable for sure but why stop there when you can have all 3?

Great sound + Comfortable + Good looks = Utopia

But for £1000 less you can have 2/3! And the HEK in the flesh is actually on and they are (to me at least) way more comfortable than the Utopia.

 

[BunnyNamedCraig]

I have to agree.Sound absolutely comes first and then it has to be comfortable for sure but why stop there when you can have all 3?

Great sound + Comfortable + Good looks = Utopia

True that dude.... Honestly I don't even think it's that "extreme" looking (which I respect). Some flagships go too far to try and make it this outlandish thing, where in a line up you would have to know it's their flagship.

 

[frigginloony]

 

I have to agree.Sound absolutely comes first and then it has to be comfortable for sure but why stop there when you can have all 3?

Great sound + Comfortable + Good looks = Utopia

True that dude.... Honestly I don't even think it's that "extreme" looking (which I respect). Some flagships go too far to try and make it this outlandish thing, where in a line up you would have to know it's their flagship.

That's why in my criteria I add a forth concern:  Now this is for headphones only K?
 
in order -  
 
1.  Sound quality ... don't care if they are made of gold, if they don't sound good, i don't want them or need them.
2.  Comfort   ... if they cause pain and aren't  wearing thigh high boots and a leather corset, I don't want them.
3. BUILD QUALITY.... ahh this is my sneak-in criteria, if they sound good, look good, and feel good but the damn headband falls off, or the driver flubs out after a month, what good are they? they will be sitting (or falling off) my HP stand and will be the bain of my existence and wasted money.
4. Good Looks...  Some would say that would go with build quality, but as we all know, many of the great designs out there with pretty damn good build quality don't cut it in the looks department. LCD's looks for example have never been a huge turn on for me but damn they sound fantastic. One of the worst looking and dumpiest built HP's  out there has great comfort and sound quality. and continue to be an industry incubator Fostex MK3's. 
 
I'll also throw in another criteria that many don't mention and really should be  near the top of everyone's list .....  Support.  If you spend that 4 K and something unfortunate does happen.... who's gonna back you up and get it fixed?  You spend 1 to 6  K, you better have a plan and somewhere to go or.......... they better sink real well and keep that boat from floating off cause that's what they will be good for.  AHOY MATEY!!!

 

[doctorjazz]

Finally got it done and posted...

http://theheadphonelist.com/focal-elear/

 

[donunus]

HEK or HEK v2. For the record I'm so impressed with the HEK v2that my Utopia are going back.

Everyone is of course entitled to their opinion when it comes to sound ( for example I have never liked the 800/800S-dont get what the fuss is about) but I'm genuinely surprised that he rates them that badly. To me they are up there with the very best-just wonderfully musical.

Given the inefficiency of them the amp is important - what source and amp were you using out of interest?

This was the v1 and it was connected to a chord dave/vioelectric combo.

 

[frigginloony]

Finally got it done and posted...

http://theheadphonelist.com/focal-elear/aaaaaaa

Ahhh Doc... spoken as the Laureate of headphone supremus that you truly are.
 
This one line of yours says it all "I had to adjust to the Elear’s idea of what music was supposed to sound like. It don’t cotton to nobody else’s ideas of what high end sound is supposed to be. It don’t take no guff. "
 
Indeed, this damn headphone whips you into submission. You put it thru multiple amps, thru multiple dacs, thru miles of cable and thru thousands of highly picky ears. What do you get?  You get what IT wants to be, what music is to IT, what voice it wants to speak, and it does so in a curiously complex compilation of tonal quality and dynamics that only a very few of its category brethren can only strive to match. It elicits emotion and contrast both good and bad on all sides of the aisle.  In my humble opinion, that is the mark of an outstanding headphone. 
 
Great review Doc, ty for sharing! 

 

[doctorjazz]

Thanks for the kind words, @frigginloony.

 

[geoffalter11]

Ahhh Doc... spoken as the [COLOR=660099]Laureate[/COLOR] of headphone supremus that you truly are.

This one line of yours says it all "[COLOR=4D4D4D]I had to adjust to the Elear’s idea of what music was supposed to sound like. It don’t cotton to nobody else’s ideas of what high end sound is supposed to be. It don’t take no guff. [/COLOR]"

Indeed, this damn headphone whips you into submission. You put it thru multiple amps, thru multiple dacs, thru miles of cable and thru thousands of highly picky ears. What do you get?  You get what IT wants to be, what music is to IT, what voice it wants to speak, and it does so in a curiously complex compilation of tonal quality and dynamics that only a very few of its category brethren can only strive to match. It elicits emotion and contrast both good and bad on all sides of the aisle.  In my humble opinion, that is the mark of an outstanding headphone. 

Great review Doc, ty for sharing! 

I agree. Enjoyed your review. As an Elear owner, I can say without hesitation they are tremendously dynamic and fun. Once I set the volume right, hrs can pass in audio bliss.

 

[CanadianMaestro]

Finally got it done and posted...

http://theheadphonelist.com/focal-elear/

Enjoyed your review, Doc. Keep it up.
 
I shall stick to my HE560 and HD650. Paired with BHA-1 in balanced and fed by three Bryston sources.
Can't get better, for HPs. 

 

[Borbarad]

Finally got it done and posted...

http://theheadphonelist.com/focal-elear/

Great review! And I agree. The burnin this headphone want is a bit excessive. Once its there it really opens up. and like you there are two items where i want just a bit more. Stage depth  and a base that has more feel to it. 
 
B

 

[deividi]

Finally received the Elears after waiting for over a month 

 Straight out of the box these sound really good. The first I noticed was the bass, wow, it extends really nicely for a open hp. For the haters, I'm gonna burn these in by listening to them