[Doctordoom16]

When you already have three models that are open, why design an open 'closed' headphone (advertised as closed), Focal?

The Sony mdrz7 have 2 bass ports on each cup and they leak very little in comparison. So not sure if this is a bass port or for some other reason .bottom line they are a sieve for sound leakage

 

[halcyon]

When you already have three models that are open, why design an open 'closed' headphone (advertised as closed), Focal?

Just as I noted earlier in this thread: almost all manufacturers design their closed headphone as an afterthough - a modification of the open headphone. They don't design the closed ones from the ground up. This seems to be the case for Elegia as well.

 

[up late]

i don't know what your assertion is based on but as i mentioned in my reply to your post earlier in this thread, manufacturers such as sony, fostex, and beyerdynamic seem to be exceptions. denon and audio-technica may be as well.

i'm also wondering what's inherently wrong with a headphone manufacturer adapting an open-backed headphone design to create a closed-back model. focal's elegia is a closed-back headphone that measures well, and that's no mean feat.

 

[Jthompson300]

I've had the elegia for 10 days now. When I first listen to them I felt that they were harsh, metallic soundits, lacking bass impact, and very unpleasant. I am comaricomthem to my akg k872 .
But with around 30 hours on them they are completely changed. I do not believe in burn in but rather we get used to the sound. This is the first pair of headphones that I can say they changed for the better w burnin .to the point that I now prefer them to my akg k872 .
I do however feel the leakage out is high .my wife complaint that they sound so loud .
Has anyone tried the dekoni leather pads? Do they improve isolation? And if so do they change the bass any?
As of now I'm so happy w the elegia sound .to the point I may sell the akg k872. I thought the k872 we're my true love but now I'm torn
Also I replaced the horrendous elegia stock cable w a cheap $20 Amazon cable. Sounds same to me but so much more manageable as they are thin and light .

Take care when switching pads, I believe there was one person on here who used Brainwaves pads and didn’t like them, I used the Focal Utopia pads and it made the headphones absolutely worthless(not kidding either, no bass no seal, sounded like a broken pair of headphones). It seems that the pads on the Elegia are built to add the bass, I would guess fabric and pad size to create the seal and then act as a tube to produce the bass.

 

[Jthompson300]

Thank you for your observations.

The end result is not just a function of the pads, but also the open (Elear, Clear, Utopia) vs closed (Elegia) design of the headphones.

With an open headphone, you cannot just seal the headphones more tightly with pads, because the sound will leak from the open back.

With closed headphones the pads have much higher impact on the headphones acoustic resistance (of the leak). Thus the overall impedance also changes, just by changing the pads [Physical characteristics of headphones used in psychophysical experiments, Tatsuya Hirahara, Acoust. Sci. & Tech. 25, 4 (2004)].

While this is true you can certainly switch pads on other closed back headphones with favorable results, much better than on the Elegia. The Elegia have 0 bass, mids drop off drastically and you end up with a pair of squealing headphones that are nothing more than treble if you change the pads.

The Elegia ride completely on the pads, nothing wrong with that I suppose, you buy the headphones and the pads make or break them but they were a part of the original package so it should be no biggie. I feel a little like it is disappointing that the headphones themselves are defined by the pads, everything about them is more pads that anything and it makes me wonder what set of $129 headphones can sound like the Elegia if only they had the right pads.

 

[Beagle]

Just as I noted earlier in this thread: almost all manufacturers design their closed headphone as an afterthough - a modification of the open headphone. They don't design the closed ones from the ground up. This seems to be the case for Elegia as well.

And if you're gonna make a closed headphone, make it closed....semi-open, market it as such, and so on...

 

[antdroid]

hah I never noticed that the F logo is a vent. That's interesting.

I dont think the Elegia leaks that much, or at least, have not heard any complaints from anyone and I didnt notice a lot of leakage when running headphone measurements, which I bring volume up quite a bit louder than I normally listen to.

 

[up late]

i assumed that most closed-back cans would employ some form of vent or port, so no surprises there

 

[obsidyen]

While this is true you can certainly switch pads on other closed back headphones with favorable results, much better than on the Elegia. The Elegia have 0 bass, mids drop off drastically and you end up with a pair of squealing headphones that are nothing more than treble if you change the pads.

The Elegia ride completely on the pads, nothing wrong with that I suppose, you buy the headphones and the pads make or break them but they were a part of the original package so it should be no biggie. I feel a little like it is disappointing that the headphones themselves are defined by the pads, everything about them is more pads that anything and it makes me wonder what set of $129 headphones can sound like the Elegia if only they had the right pads.

If what you are saying is true, everything is wrong with it. Pads break in and change in size and condition after a while. Normally, even though there are usually small differences after long use, the character of headphones does not change much. If without pads/with heavily used or different pads Elegia's sound is completely different, then that is a very big problem. I'd have to buy new pads every other month to keep the sound character, and if I could not find Elegia pads a few years later, I'd have to drop them in the rubbish bin.

Regarding vents, my Fostex TH-610s are semi open as the have vents, but they seem closed back. Focal seems to have employed similar vents, but if that is the case then they are semi open. As far as I remember, my OPPO PM3s had no vents...I could be wrong though, I don't have them anymore.

 

[up late]

Regarding vents, my Fostex TH-610s are semi open as the have vents, but they seem closed back. Focal seems to have employed similar vents, but if that is the case then they are semi open. As far as I remember, my OPPO PM3s had no vents...I could be wrong though, I don't have them anymore.

the th900 (i know that it's not the th610 but it is closely related to it) doesn't have vents according to @zolkis, who has investigated and modded it extensively. the z1r has ports but it appears to be regarded as a closed-back headphone rather than a semi-open one. i've always regarded the t1 as semi-open.

 

[Jthompson300]

If what you are saying is true, everything is wrong with it. Pads break in and change in size and condition after a while. Normally, even though there are usually small differences after long use, the character of headphones does not change much. If without pads/with heavily used or different pads Elegia's sound is completely different, then that is a very big problem. I'd have to buy new pads every other month to keep the sound character, and if I could not find Elegia pads a few years later, I'd have to drop them in the rubbish bin.

I was very worried that my gear had all gotten damaged or that connections/cables were damaged when I first tried the Utopia pads because I couldn’t believe how bad the sound was, it was that bad. I was in panic for about 10 minutes but after I tried my portable setup I knew it had to be the pads because there was no way that something could have happened to it since it’s not attached to anything electrical. Very literal panic because the sound was that awful, like apple earbuds being played a seat in front of you on a plane very loudly.

 

[obsidyen]

the th900 (i know that it's not the th610 but it is closely related to it) doesn't have vents according to @zolkis, who has investigated and modded it extensively. the z1r has ports but it appears to be regarded as a closed-back headphone rather than a semi-open one. i've always regarded the t1 as semi-open.

I've always thought the narrow gap around TH900/TH610's cups is a vent/port. I've read that in some reviews as well. You could be right, I don't know.

 

[up late]

i thought the same about the th900 but @zolkis is adamant that it is not. i'm prepared to take his word for it because he knows the th900 inside out and i don't.

 

[gtbrown50]

I'm still not ready to make any conclusions regarding the Elegia, except the Dekoni leather pads are not a good upgrade. Yesterday I swapped the stock pads for these and the lack of bass was so apparent they came right off. I tried the swap because I could out of curiosity, I wasn't pursuing any specific fix or improvement.

 

[Tsukuyomi]

hey guys, question about pads. can i use focal utopia, clear, elear pads on my elegia ? or would they not clip in?