[PointyFox]

Dont they excel at soundstage, clarity, and treble. Maybe it's love/hate type of headphone. I'm thinking of selling my Hifiman 4XX or maybe give it to my dad.

I think the only function as of now it's to listen to metal/rock music.
It got obliterated by Elegia on all the other genre.

I don't really get it. I think it may have something to do with fit. People either say they're the most natural sounding headphones or that they sound "weird".

 

[gibby]

What's adoramas return policy ? I want to try these but scared they suck lol. I don't EQ but have 3 amps and 2 dacs

They just take $10 or so for return shipping within 30 days I think.

 

[Thompsonkirk]

It looks like Elegias have come to the end of the line – after 146 pages of comments here. They’re being sold out for 690 USD, and B&H lists them as a discontinued product.

But IMO a great time to buy! So many of the comments above compare them to other headphones for general use, but that wasn’t the intention as far as I can tell. The closed back coupled with short cable indicates they were designed especially for a portable system, like Chord Mojo/Poly or A&K. They’re still just about perfect for that.

IMO they sound like my Utopias in the midrange. The differences are simply to be expected in terms of design and price,

I have no intention of replacing mine in the visible future, and I recommend them for use with a portable system until they’re all gone!

Kirk

 

[descloud]

The Dekoni sheepskin pad has been frequently discussed over the last month. If you use the search function with term Dekoni, you'll find plenty of discussion of it.

Whatever you do, don't buy the feenstrated sheepskin pads. They do not enhance the bass, and they make isolation worse.

I don't know about the other pads.

Yeah I am aware about the sheepskin pads as that has been the most discussed for the past few pages. I was mainly asking about the other pads like the Velour and Hybrid if anyone else has tried those on the Elegia.

 

[Malevolent]

What makes you want to compare elegia to 820 tho. I think the consensus was that 820 is better in most of the aspect.

Not sure I agree, 820 FR is weird to me, doesn't sound natural at all and not even in the ballpark price wise.

The Elegia is certainly bested by the HD820 in a handful of technical areas. The detail retrieval on the Sennheiser is world-class for a closed-back, IMO. Moreover, the staging on the HD820 is quite spectacular, and you can tell that the engineers were aiming to create a virtually wide and deep stage, reminiscent of the HD800S. There is no question here - the Elegia is out of its league.

However, I'd still take the Elegia over the HD820 any day of the week. Firstly, I'm neither a fan of absolute detail, nor that of a wide, airy soundstage. Secondly, and more importantly, the Focal's tuning is more agreeable to my tastes; I didn't enjoy the HD820 with its hollow upper-bass cum lower-mids.

 

[Malevolent]

It looks like Elegias have come to the end of the line – after 146 pages of comments here. They’re being sold out for 690 USD, and B&H lists them as a discontinued product.

But IMO a great time to buy! So many of the comments above compare them to other headphones for general use, but that wasn’t the intention as far as I can tell. The closed back coupled with short cable indicates they were designed especially for a portable system, like Chord Mojo/Poly or A&K. They’re still just about perfect for that.

IMO they sound like my Utopias in the midrange. The differences are simply to be expected in terms of design and price,

I have no intention of replacing mine in the visible future, and I recommend them for use with a portable system until they’re all gone!

Kirk

It was a great, albeit, short run, though. I still like my Elegia, and it'll remain in my stable for years to come. I'm glad that I got them at a really good price, too.

 

[DeweyCH]

Sound super nice with the Dekoni sheepskin pads that arrived today.

 

[descloud]

I don't really get it. I think it may have something to do with fit. People either say they're the most natural sounding headphones or that they sound "weird".

Opinions really vary with this headphone.

I suspect people saying it's the most natural sounding may come from a headphone that has poor technicalities in comparison, so being amazed at its detail retrieval combined with a different stage presentation made them view it as such. But that is only a suspicion - I have yet to test one.

On the other side, people claiming it sounds 'weird' probably has a different reference point of what sounds natural to them, and the Elegia doesn't meet that benchmark. So really what sounds 'natural' is dependent on a person's reference environment of how they perceive sound.

 

[marku1350]

I jumped on the Adorama deal yesterday, I stumbled across someone providing a link to the deal and couldn't believe the price difference to when you just search their site for the Elegia... it's bonkers

I'd love to hear about some cheap options for a balanced XLR cable, suggestions?

 

[jestercow]

I'd love to hear about some cheap options for a balanced XLR cable, suggestions?

I cannot recommend the Hart cables enough! They're amazing cables at a super-reasonable price, and the color options are nearly limitless. If that's not cheap enough for you, any cables for Meze 99 will also work. I did try the Meze factory cables and was pleased with 3/4 of the cable but the cloth-covered part was just too microphonic for my tastes.

 

[Jenerics]

I cannot recommend the Hart cables enough! They're amazing cables at a super-reasonable price, and the color options are nearly limitless. If that's not cheap enough for you, any cables for Meze 99 will also work. I did try the Meze factory cables and was pleased with 3/4 of the cable but the cloth-covered part was just too microphonic for my tastes.

Totally agree! The big benefit for me is that with the interconnect system, I only have to have one cable per headphone (or less as my Focal cable fits my Hifimans) and the multiple terminations let me run all of them single ended or balanced. I bought 3.5mm, XLR, and 4.4mm and can use my desktop or all portable devices off the same cable. Really saves on clutter of multiple cables and, like mentioned before, they are very affordable to begin with. Nice quality and customizable as well.

 

[Malevolent]

Opinions really vary with this headphone.

I suspect people saying it's the most natural sounding may come from a headphone that has poor technicalities in comparison, so being amazed at its detail retrieval combined with a different stage presentation made them view it as such. But that is only a suspicion - I have yet to test one.

On the other side, people claiming it sounds 'weird' probably has a different reference point of what sounds natural to them, and the Elegia doesn't meet that benchmark. So really what sounds 'natural' is dependent on a person's reference environment of how they perceive sound.

I come from a somewhat different perspective - all of my headphones, pre and post-Elegia, are closed-backs with coloration ranging from light to heavy. I am a fan of "big bass" and a "v-shaped" sound. However, I have also been exposed to a wide variety of top-end headphones, including all of the major open-backed cans on the contemporary market. I recognise the Elegia for what it is - a top-performing headphone in its respective price bracket. It's not the last word in detail or technicalities, and it isn't the most organic-sounding headphone, but it does the job admirably.

 

[descloud]

I come from a somewhat different perspective - all of my headphones, pre and post-Elegia, are closed-backs with coloration ranging from light to heavy. I am a fan of "big bass" and a "v-shaped" sound. However, I have also been exposed to a wide variety of top-end headphones, including all of the major open-backed cans on the contemporary market. I recognise the Elegia for what it is - a top-performing headphone in its respective price bracket. It's not the last word in detail or technicalities, and it isn't the most organic-sounding headphone, but it does the job admirably.

Oh yeah I wasn't knocking the headphones off for those who appreciate what they do and their positive points. I was just coming up with possible reasons why one camp could label them as 'natural' sounding, while the other side labels them as 'weird' sounding. It comes down to relative reference points.

I'm really inclined to grab one even if a good number of anecdotes indicate they're not close to the Clear tuning, but have their own merits, especially when EQ'd.

 

[jestercow]

I'm quite happy with the way they're tuned. I picked up a pair of Clears and a pair of Elex based on how much I enjoy my Elegia but wound up getting rid of the Clears and just keeping Elex + Elegia as I much preferred the way they sound.

 

[kyotousa]

Anyone else think Elegia suck with 80s rock genre (Michael Jackson, Springsteen, ELO, The Cars, etc) and why is that?