[doboo57]

At least with my setup, HD6XX easily performs better. Although Elegia is closed, I was pretty underwhelmed given it's price.

Don't get me wrong, HD600 performs really better on some aspects, especially in terms of soundstage, airyness, low and mid midrange timbre (which is really spot on on the HD600), but the Elegia sounds less boring overall to my ears for rock, folk, jazz and most vocal tracks (mostly female voices), but it's my very personal opinion. HD600 is a better performer in some aspects, but it's an open-back pair... In terms of price, HD600 is the better bang for your buck by miles (you can buy 2 pairs of HD600 for the price of one Elegia, it's a no contest there)... But given that there's not plenty of choice in the closed-back category, I think Elegia deserve its place between the best pairs under 1000$. But again, it's very personal...

I also did some comparisons between Elegia and my AKG K550 Mkii. I prefer the Elegia, but again, Elegia doesn't sound 5 or 6 times better than the K550...

Also, given the fact that Elegia are pretty mid-centric, they will definitely not please anyone there.

 

[SilverEars]

The Elegia probably sounds as good as the Elex, if not a small step down. The Elex is $699.

Not from what I recall of the Elex. Tonally it's close to clear, but it's not as refined as the open-backs. It's partially due to closed resonance, and probably lower quality driver.

If anybody want to shell out $899, go ahead (it's all subjective and personal right?). Not I (since it's subjective and personal).

 

[antdroid]

Not from what I recall of the Elex.

The Elegia I think does a couple things better than the Elex but Elex is more airy. Elegia is smoother in the upper mids and treble, but you get the resonance issues from a closed back. I measured up to 2.3% THD in the lower-to-sub bass region, and some definite response scatter in the upper mids. I think details are relatively the same.

Edit: My last message got cut off, but I was going to say, the Elex is $699, so the Elegia should really be around that price, but you are paying a premium for it being a closed back.






These are from EARS, so something odd with 4-6KHz range for over-ears.

 

[SilverEars]

Elegia is definately less treble emphasized, and closer to Clear. The thing is treble has this unruley characteristic like it's not focused, opposed to Elex. I think it's caused by the diffuser. Elex has more sharp focused treble.

Your graph represents headphones in a very peaky manner though.

 

[antdroid]

Elegia is definately less treble emphasized, and closer to Clear. The thing is treble has this unruley characteristic like it's not focused, opposed to Elex. I think it's caused by the diffuser. Elex has more sharp focused treble.

Your graph represents headphones in a very peaky manner.

Yea, I posted a disclaimer at the bottom. The EARS has some issues around 4-5KHz. I need to figure out how to compensate for it when I post RAW graphs. I believe miniDSP compensation curves dont have that issue, but need to re-check again.

I also dont typically smooth my graph out too much besides 1/48th. I know some sites smooth out quite a bit. The Head-Fi is 1/12th smoothed.

 

[gLer]

$899 may be a bit pricey for the Elegia, or any closed back to be honest. But the high end closed headphone market is sparse, so they can jack the price up.

The Elegia probably sounds as good as the Elex, if not a small step down. The Elex is $699.

If the Elegia come close to the Elex I’ll be very impressed. The Elex is currently my favourite ‘Goldilocks’ headphone that does just about everything right for almost any genre. It has tight, textured bass with plenty of punch and rumble when called for, mids that are neither forward or recessed with no discernible dip, and highs that allow for plenty of air and sparkle without ever being bright, harsh or sibilant. Of course this is also amp/dac dependent - since Elex is so resolving and transparent it feeds off the analogue, slightly warm of neutral R2R NOS dac and solid state amp I use with it.

As for Elegia, I would expect at least a touch more bass impact from a closed headphone, and it would be disappointing if that wasn’t the case. I’d also expect a slightly harsher response from resonance, but knowing Focal that would be well controlled.

That said you can’t judge the Elegia based on pricing compared to Elex because Elex is not officially a Focal product but an outsourced limited edition project. You’d have to rather measure it against the comparably priced Elear and higher priced Clear to determine market value.

 

[SilverEars]

Elegia is not warm actually although one could constitute a bit of mids nasal-ness caused by resonance as a warmth because muddy mids is actually a warmth causing it. It's just that Elegia is not as severe. Nor I'd say bass rich as you'd expect of closed-backs. They must have cooled it down to prevent resonance severity.

People say HD820 isn't so bass rich despite the graphs showing the lower bass humps, but how does the bass presentation compare to Elegia?

 

[antdroid]

Elegia is not warm actually although one could constitute a bit of mids nasal-ness caused by resonance as a warmth because muddy mids is actually a warmth causing it. It's just that Elegia is not as severe. Nor I'd say bass rich as you'd expect of closed-backs. They must have cooled it down to prevent resonance severity.

Yes, I dont think its bassy at all. It's just about right for my tastes. It's only a touch heavier than the Elex.

 

[doboo57]

Elegia is not warm actually although one could constitute a bit of mids nasal-ness caused by resonance as a warmth because muddy mids is actually a warmth causing it. It's just that Elegia is not as severe. Nor I'd say bass rich as you'd expect of closed-backs. They must have cooled it down to prevent resonance severity.

I agree with you, Elegia is not a warm headphone at all, neither bass rich. The bass is thight, detailed and have a lot of speed, but is quite neutral in terms of level. The good dynamics of this headphone do compensate a bit for this modest bass level IMO.

I agree also about the midrange resonance. Elegia's midrange gives a nasalness/boxiness sound to some paticularly male vocals. It could be quite noticeable/annoying when switching from an open-back pair. My AKG K551 doesn't have that level of resonance in the mids, but it have a quite more sterile overall presentation on the other hand.

 

[Beagle]

At least with my setup, HD6XX easily performs better. Although Elegia is closed, I was pretty underwhelmed given it's price.

Has anyone compared the Elegia with the Listen? Maybe they're the same headphone sonically..

 

[jgarshon]

There is a very positive review on innerfidelity.com
Seeing the price point leads me to believe the sound quality is meant to compare to the elear.

 

[up late]

Not from what I recall of the Elex. Tonally it's close to clear, but it's not as refined as the open-backs. It's partially due to closed resonance, and probably lower quality driver.

If anybody want to shell out $899, go ahead (it's all subjective and personal right?). Not I (since it's subjective and personal).

the elgia's measurements look respectable for a closed can, so that could also be a factor in somebody's decision to purchase one. but yes, purchasing the elgia or any other headphone for that matter, usually comes down to personal preference, which is subjective.

 

[Jthompson300]

the elgia's measurements look respectable for a closed can, so that could also be a factor in somebody's decision to purchase one. but yes, purchasing the elgia or any other headphone for that matter, usually comes down to personal preference, which is subjective.

The challenge for me was a portable set, the Elegia fit the bill for comfort, drivability, style and sound, as for someone who wants a closed set for home listening I could not recommend the Elegia at this price point. On the go the Elegia are my go to, for in the house listening the Audeze LCD-XC are much more my personal preference with an amp.

 

[antdroid]

The challenge for me was a portable set, the Elegia fit the bill for comfort, drivability, style and sound, as for someone who wants a closed set for home listening I could not recommend the Elegia at this price point. On the go the Elegia are my go to, for in the house listening the Audeze LCD-XC are much more my personal preference with an amp.

The LCD-XC is double the price though....... cant afford Also most Audeze stuff is too heavy for me.

 

[Jthompson300]

The LCD-XC is double the price though....... cant afford Also most Audeze stuff is too heavy for me.

Music creators set is $1299 and then the carbon fiber band for another $200 to make things more comfortable and a little less heavy but they are still heavy.

For sound though it’s a huge difference for in home listening in a noisy environment and well worth just the extra $400 for XC with no case. I do still stand by my previous opinion about the Finals, at $600 plus tax they are great sounding but the fit and form just killed it for me.