The Elear (and Elex and Clear and presumably the Utopia) are simply not designed to play doof-doof bass heavy tracks at high volume. Focal have come out and said as much when they described the intentional driver excursion limits of this design.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?
It does have certain benefits, bringing a level of dynamism and ‘punch’ unlike any other open backed headphones (at least that I’ve heard), combined with exceptional clarity and detail. And bass certainly isn’t lacking, especially in the Elear. Elex owners probably hit the ‘clipping’ point earlier because the bass is toned down by the pads, which means you have to go louder to get more bass, and then - bam - too loud.
If that’s not your cup of tea and you need that extra, deeper, ear shaking sub bass at volume, I can think of a handful of headphones that will give you that better than the Focals.
Every headphone has its shortcomings and limitations. Loud bass is Focal’s. For every headphone that does bass the way you want it I can probably name a few things the Elear does better.
If I’ve learned anything in this hobby it’s that here is no one-size-fits-all headphone, not even for $2000.