[Earbones]

Some people have different levels of Bass enjoyment. I think that's the most probable answer. I think, also, people go into closed cans, thinking it'll have more bass, but this one does not, unlike the norm.

Some people also think the HD800S is completely anemic in bass, and some think its perfect.

If you're interested in seeing how the Clear/Elex and Elegia match up, with measurements, take a look here: https://www.headphone.com/blogs/news/focal-elegia-closed-back-dynamic-headphone-review

Totally, I get personal preferences and all, but most pro reviewers will still generally correctly assess a headphone’s brightness, darkness, bass response etc. After which, they may comment on it, with regards to their own tastes. “There a pronounced mid-bump bass here, which some might find distracting, but I felt lended the mids a touch of richness without affecting the detail too much”, for example. But with the Elegia... I mean you can read two pro reviews where the base characteristics of the Elegia are described in ways nearly as dissimilar as, say, the Z1R and the HD800.

To be clear, I’m not attacking the Elegia. I like it. I don’t know if I’ll keep it or go with the Clear, but I don’t think it’s a bad headphone. Mine in particular, at least. I’m just flummoxed by the wildly differing opinions out there regarding it’s basic characteristics.

I actually read that comparison. That was one of the reviews that pushed me towards the Elegia over the Clear in the first place... The numbers showed less bass, but the reviewer felt the Elegia had slightly more than the Clear in practice. That said, he also thought there was slight bass bloom in Trentemøller’s “Chameleon”... While with my pair, most of the track was nearly inaudible, the bass was pushed back to such a low volume. Far from being affected by bloom, the mids and treble stood out like hard diamonds on black velvet background, the bass was reproduced at such a low volume. I know bloom on that track, believe me. My Z1R and P9 have plenty of it when listening to it. With the Elegia... I dunno. Obviously no bloom is nice, but take the rounded bass line that starts around the .32 mark... There should be definition, space, and air around those notes. It was so low and pushed back on my Elegia, no real definition could be heard.

My interest in the Clear stems from the fact that while that reviewer thought the Elegia had more bass, others felt the Clear had punchier, deeper extending bass. Moreover, my listening, at least with Trentemøller, didn’t jibe...

 

[antdroid]

Totally, I get personal preferences and all, but most pro reviewers will still generally correctly assess a headphone’s brightness, darkness, bass response etc. After which, they may comment on it, with regards to their own tastes. “There a pronounced mid-bump bass here, which some might find distracting, but I felt lended the mids a touch of richness without affecting the detail too much”, for example. But with the Elegia... I mean you can read two pro reviews where the base characteristics of the Elegia are described in ways nearly as dissimilar as, say, the Z1R and the HD800.

To be clear, I’m not attacking the Elegia. I like it. I don’t know if I’ll keep it or go with the Clear, but I don’t think it’s a bad headphone. Mine in particular, at least. I’m just flummoxed by the wildly differing opinions out there regarding it’s basic characteristics.

I actually read that comparison. That was one of the reviews that pushed me towards the Elegia over the Clear in the first place... The numbers showed less bass, but the reviewer felt the Elegia had slightly more than the Clear in practice. That said, he also thought there was slight bass bloom in Trentemøller’s “Chameleon”... While with my pair, most of the track was nearly inaudible, the bass was pushed back to such a low volume. Far from being affected by bloom, the mids and treble stood out like hard diamonds on black velvet background, the bass was reproduced at such a low volume. I know bloom on that track, believe me. My Z1R and P9 have plenty of it when listening to it. With the Elegia... I dunno. Obviously no bloom is nice, but take the rounded bass line that starts around the .32 mark... There should be definition, space, and air around those notes. It was so low and pushed back on my Elegia, no real definition could be heard.

My interest in the Clear stems from the fact that while that reviewer thought the Elegia had more bass, others felt the Clear had punchier, deeper extending bass. Moreover, my listening, at least with Trentemøller, didn’t jibe...

Torq has a way too much gear and provides very inciteful comments, so I tend to trust and typically align to his views. I have not listened to the Clear in over 6 months. I may be meeting Torq next week for a headphone meetup, so I may get to demo it again and play with his other gears. I have the Elex myself. As like his reviews show, the measurements seem to point to the Elex having more elevated bass response, but in reality, I find that only partially true. I think they generally have similar bass response, with the Elegia having a little more bass resonance/distortion since it's closed vs open. I think the open back nature of the Elex/Clear allow the excursion of the driver to fully meet their potential also.

When I did demo the Clear at The Source AV last year, I didn't have the Elex yet. I only demo'd it with the Elear. I think the Clear you'll be disappointed if you are looking for LCD or a bassy headphone. I think you'll find its a small notch below that, but cleaner and more detailed.

As an FYI, the Clear is $799 via The Source AV. They just posted the deal on this site today.

 

[up late]

Totally, I get personal preferences and all, but most pro reviewers will still generally correctly assess a headphone’s brightness, darkness, bass response etc. After which, they may comment on it, with regards to their own tastes. “There a pronounced mid-bump bass here, which some might find distracting, but I felt lended the mids a touch of richness without affecting the detail too much”, for example. But with the Elegia... I mean you can read two pro reviews where the base characteristics of the Elegia are described in ways nearly as dissimilar as, say, the Z1R and the HD800.

To be clear, I’m not attacking the Elegia. I like it. I don’t know if I’ll keep it or go with the Clear, but I don’t think it’s a bad headphone. Mine in particular, at least. I’m just flummoxed by the wildly differing opinions out there regarding it’s basic characteristics.

I actually read that comparison. That was one of the reviews that pushed me towards the Elegia over the Clear in the first place... The numbers showed less bass, but the reviewer felt the Elegia had slightly more than the Clear in practice. That said, he also thought there was slight bass bloom in Trentemøller’s “Chameleon”... While with my pair, most of the track was nearly inaudible, the bass was pushed back to such a low volume. Far from being affected by bloom, the mids and treble stood out like hard diamonds on black velvet background, the bass was reproduced at such a low volume. I know bloom on that track, believe me. My Z1R and P9 have plenty of it when listening to it. With the Elegia... I dunno. Obviously no bloom is nice, but take the rounded bass line that starts around the .32 mark... There should be definition, space, and air around those notes. It was so low and pushed back on my Elegia, no real definition could be heard.

My interest in the Clear stems from the fact that while that reviewer thought the Elegia had more bass, others felt the Clear had punchier, deeper extending bass. Moreover, my listening, at least with Trentemøller, didn’t jibe...

if a "pro reviewer's" assessment differs from your own do you still regard them as "generally correct"? i've found that "pro reviewers" descriptions of a sound signature can vary significantly. the trick, i think, is finding a "pro reviewer" whose subjective impressions generally align with your own.

 

[Jthompson300]

Torq has a way too much gear and provides very inciteful comments, so I tend to trust and typically align to his views. I have not listened to the Clear in over 6 months. I may be meeting Torq next week for a headphone meetup, so I may get to demo it again and play with his other gears. I have the Elex myself. As like his reviews show, the measurements seem to point to the Elex having more elevated bass response, but in reality, I find that only partially true. I think they generally have similar bass response, with the Elegia having a little more bass resonance/distortion since it's closed vs open. I think the open back nature of the Elex/Clear allow the excursion of the driver to fully meet their potential also.

When I did demo the Clear at The Source AV last year, I didn't have the Elex yet. I only demo'd it with the Elear. I think the Clear you'll be disappointed if you are looking for LCD or a bassy headphone. I think you'll find its a small notch below that, but cleaner and more detailed.

As an FYI, the Clear is $799 via The Source AV. They just posted the deal on this site today.

I think closed versus open is key here. I am sure some people will disagree with me but the Elegia is meant to be a portable headphone and to me it excels at that. I am sorry but if you buy the Elegia for your home listening then I feel that you are buying yourself short.

While I respect that @Earbones feels that they are hard to drive I can only take that as the Chord Mojo is much more inferior to the portable Ifi products because a balanced connection to the Xcan is more than sufficient and even direct from an Astell & Kern Kaan. Again we all have our own perceptions based on what we hear and what we believe we know.

With that being said I can’t help but feel that if you play anything from ITunes the Elegia will call out all of the flaws in it, heck even with my set up and no MP3 I have to be careful even with more talented headphones.

I haven’t paid much attention to Torq just yet but headphones.com seems to depend on him a lot for the items they carry so I will certainly give him a glance but proffesional reviews don’t do much for me to be honest. A couple of people with access to gear that is not common place putting an opinion on items has never been my style, it’s like a pee wee team playing against the major league, not going to end well. I prefer to try it myself then see if it works with what I have.

Try it yourself, if you like it great if not then please feel free to share YOUR opinion but please do not regurgitate an opinion of someone else or rely on your opinion to be based on others because that is not what this hobby is about.

@antdroid this was nothing towards you but more of a commentary of your comment in regards to Torq. It could be that this person is the messiah but until I “hear” it for myself I remain faithful to my own liking. Your graphs are great and while I do tend to lean in the same direction as you most of the time I still hold my position that this is not a house set, in comparison to my OPPO pm3 I will take the Elegia all day so I feel that the comparison for open vs closed is not fair nor is it relevant because we all have cans for every occasion.

 

[antdroid]

I think closed versus open is key here. I am sure some people will disagree with me but the Elegia is meant to be a portable headphone and to me it excels at that. I am sorry but if you buy the Elegia for your home listening then I feel that you are buying yourself short.

While I respect that @Earbones feels that they are hard to drive I can only take that as the Chord Mojo is much more inferior to the portable Ifi products because a balanced connection to the Xcan is more than sufficient and even direct from an Astell & Kern Kaan. Again we all have our own perceptions based on what we hear and what we believe we know.

With that being said I can’t help but feel that if you play anything from ITunes the Elegia will call out all of the flaws in it, heck even with my set up and no MP3 I have to be careful even with more talented headphones.

I haven’t paid much attention to Torq just yet but headphones.com seems to depend on him a lot for the items they carry so I will certainly give him a glance but proffesional reviews don’t do much for me to be honest. A couple of people with access to gear that is not common place putting an opinion on items has never been my style, it’s like a pee wee team playing against the major league, not going to end well. I prefer to try it myself then see if it works with what I have.

Try it yourself, if you like it great if not then please feel free to share YOUR opinion but please do not regurgitate an opinion of someone else or rely on your opinion to be based on others because that is not what this hobby is about.

@antdroid this was nothing towards you but more of a commentary of your comment in regards to Torq. It could be that this person is the messiah but until I “hear” it for myself I remain faithful to my own liking. Your graphs are great and while I do tend to lean in the same direction as you most of the time I still hold my position that this is not a house set, in comparison to my OPPO pm3 I will take the Elegia all day so I feel that the comparison for open vs closed is not fair nor is it relevant because we all have cans for every occasion.

I totally agree that you should hear it yourself. Finding a few reviewers you share common similarities to helps narrow down choices though.

I also have been writing some reviews for headphone.com. I can honestly say that we aren't posting to shill items. My three reviews posted on the main site have been mixed ratings, and actually include recommendations to try other cheaper headphones that aren't sold by the parent site. They intended to keep the reviews and forums independent of the sales and the reviews posted are all user reviews and many arent even products carried by the store.

I use my Elegia primarily at work. I never use it at home. That's where my open backs are used. I run it primarily out of my Pioneer 300R DAP or a liquid spark amp. Both power it fine and sound good. I haven't tried it on my cheaper DAPs yet. Like the Elex, I don't think they need a great amount of power to use. They are quite sensitive for a premium headphone.

 

[Jthompson300]

I totally agree that you should hear it yourself. Finding a few reviewers you share common similarities to helps narrow down choices though.

I also have been writing some reviews for headphone.com. I can honestly say that we aren't posting to shill items. My three reviews posted on the main site have been mixed ratings, and actually include recommendations to try other cheaper headphones that aren't sold by the parent site. They intended to keep the reviews and forums independent of the sales and the reviews posted are all user reviews and many arent even products carried by the store.

I use my Elegia primarily at work. I never use it at home. That's where my open backs are used. I run it primarily out of my Pioneer 300R DAP or a liquid spark amp. Both power it fine and sound good. I haven't tried it on my cheaper DAPs yet. Like the Elex, I don't think they need a great amount of power to use. They are quite sensitive for a premium headphone.

No worries specially about headphones.com, I talk to the owners regularly and they are great guys who are into this as much as us and actually care about what they sell.

My only thing was for people to just trust their own ears, people getting critical about some things might be exactly what others are looking for. For example the bass on the Elegia is just fine for my ears, I don’t want unreal bass and with the right music the Elegia are perfect, for example my XC fail in things that the Elegia shine in. Again we all have different sets for different things, if not why would we own multiple cans?

 

[Earbones]

SO... I may be an idiot. Just messing around, I opened the head band a couple of clicks more, and tried wearing the cans “larger” than I usually would. Generally, I wear cans just loose enough so that the bottom of my ears can fit into the cups. In other words, as tight as I comfortably can. This has always resulted in the best seal, and hence the best bass response (and with closed cans, the best isolation). But somehow, wearing the Elegia loose has changed things dramatically. Some area that apparently wasn’t sealing before now is... And the results are pretty shocking. MUCH better bass response. Still not LCD2C bass, but definitely approaching it in terms of richness. Extension is much better as well. In short, this sounds like a different headphone. I’ll be damned.

While I respect that @Earbones feels that they are hard to drive I can only take that as the Chord Mojo is much more inferior to the portable Ifi products because a balanced connection to the Xcan is more than sufficient and even direct from an Astell & Kern Kaan. Again we all have our own perceptions based on what we hear and what we believe we know.

I don’t think they are particularly hard to drive, but they do seem to require quite a bit more juice than my other 35 Ohm cans. For them to play as loudly as my other 35 Ohm cans, the volume on the Mojo is right around where the 80-150 Ohm cans usually play.

And agreed, the Mojo is certainly inferior to much of the portable iFi offerings, as far as power goes. Tone, I prefer the Mojo. Although when I reviewed the iDSD Micro, I found it to have more power than the Hugo (Mk. 1) and to sound just as good, if not better.

I totally agree that you should hear it yourself.

I use my Elegia primarily at work. I never use it at home. That's where my open backs are used... Like the Elex, I don't think they need a great amount of power to use.

What are your thoughts on the Elex vs the Clear? I’m satisfied with the Elegia now, but seeing as the Clear can be had for less, I’m thinking of jumping on that. But the Elex is of course yet cheaper... Thoughts? If you were buying now, would you spend the extra $100 on the Clear, or stick with the Elex? Just from a sound perspective... Don’t care about the extras. I’ll probably pick up a more supple aftermarket cable anyway, ha ha.

 

[up late]

focal can breathe easier now

 

[antdroid]

SO... I may be an idiot. Just messing around, I opened the head band a couple of clicks more, and tried wearing the cans “larger” than I usually would. Generally, I wear cans just loose enough so that the bottom of my ears can fit into the cups. In other words, as tight as I comfortably can. This has always resulted in the best seal, and hence the best bass response (and with closed cans, the best isolation). But somehow, wearing the Elegia loose has changed things dramatically. Some area that apparently wasn’t sealing before now is... And the results are pretty shocking. MUCH better bass response. Still not LCD2C bass, but definitely approaching it in terms of richness. Extension is much better as well. In short, this sounds like a different headphone. I’ll be damned.


I don’t think they are particularly hard to drive, but they do seem to require quite a bit more juice than my other 35 Ohm cans. For them to play as loudly as my other 35 Ohm cans, the volume on the Mojo is right around where the 80-150 Ohm cans usually play.

And agreed, the Mojo is certainly inferior to much of the portable iFi offerings, as far as power goes. Tone, I prefer the Mojo. Although when I reviewed the iDSD Micro, I found it to have more power than the Hugo (Mk. 1) and to sound just as good, if not better.


What are your thoughts on the Elex vs the Clear? I’m satisfied with the Elegia now, but seeing as the Clear can be had for less, I’m thinking of jumping on that. But the Elex is of course yet cheaper... Thoughts? If you were buying now, would you spend the extra $100 on the Clear, or stick with the Elex? Just from a sound perspective... Don’t care about the extras. I’ll probably pick up a more supple aftermarket cable anyway, ha ha.

See - its sensitive to ear pad placement and pressure. Most headphones are. There's been lots of evidence that pad degradation causes changes in bass quantity as well.

Again, I havent listened to the Clear side-by-side with the Elex before. I only have heard them independently of each other. From what I can tell, the Clear has a smoother transition in the mids to treble, but also has more extension and impact bass. That's all from subjective reading though. I can't honestly say I remember how it sounds vs the Elex. I just remember they sound very similar. I'm quite happy with my Elex.

 

[Beagle]

SO... I may be an idiot. Just messing around, I opened the head band a couple of clicks more, and tried wearing the cans “larger” than I usually would. Generally, I wear cans just loose enough so that the bottom of my ears can fit into the cups. In other words, as tight as I comfortably can. This has always resulted in the best seal, and hence the best bass response (and with closed cans, the best isolation). But somehow, wearing the Elegia loose has changed things dramatically. Some area that apparently wasn’t sealing before now is... And the results are pretty shocking. MUCH better bass response. Still not LCD2C bass, but definitely approaching it in terms of richness. Extension is much better as well. In short, this sounds like a different headphone. I’ll be damned..

This was a problem with the Sennheiser HD820 and the reason I eventually gave up on them. If you made them snug (by using as few clicks on the headband as possible), you could get it so that there was a fullness and consistency to the sound. The only problem was that there was too much information in the mid to upper bass area. If you made it so the phones sat a bit lower, the bass was more in line with the rest of the spectrum (bordering on light at times), but the sound balance would change if you moved your head or had it in a different position (ex. lying in bed or tilting back in a chair). At the end of the day, I kind of had no idea of what the real balance was that Sennheiser was going for. I realize this is not something new with closed headphones but for $2300, it should have been dealt with IMO, esp. when much less expensive closed phones did not have this annoying attribute.

 

[up late]

The fact that every professional reviewer seems to have had a totally unique experience with this can? And among head-fiers, some think it has more bass than an LCD2C while others believe it’s around HD6xx levels? Some find it warm, and others bright? At least we can all agree on what color it is. Yours is green, right?

This isn’t going to be some fanboy “my headphone can do no wrong” argument is it? Lol

Seriously though, I own a LOT of cans, don’t play favorites, and call ‘em like I see ‘em. The descriptions of the Elegia are all over the place. And there is established precedent with Tyll receiving some odd Utopias.

I certainly like my particular can, whether or not Focal is on the ball with their standardized tuning or not.

i don't know about the "professional reviewers" but the elegia isn't unique in eliciting seemingly conflicting listening impressions and opinions from head-fi'ers.

if you saw my impressions earlier in the thread then you would know that i am not a fanboy, but that's beside the point. i'm not questioning your own impressions of the elegia, just your conclusion that the divergence in descriptions of its sound that we are seeing are attributable to qc issues at the focal factory. i'd like to see some objective evidence of that in the form of headphone measurements of a sample of elegia units taken on the same measurement rig before i start pointing the finger at focal.

i don't think that tyll's investigation into the differences between the utopia that he reviewed and the production units established any kind of precedent. the cause of that was not determined if i recall correctly.

 

[Earbones]

This was a problem with the Sennheiser HD820 and the reason I eventually gave up on them. If you made them snug (by using as few clicks on the headband as possible), you could get it so that there was a fullness and consistency to the sound. The only problem was that there was too much information in the mid to upper bass area. If you made it so the phones sat a bit lower, the bass was more in line with the rest of the spectrum (bordering on light at times), but the sound balance would change if you moved your head or had it in a different position (ex. lying in bed or tilting back in a chair). At the end of the day, I kind of had no idea of what the real balance was that Sennheiser was going for. I realize this is not something new with closed headphones but for $2300, it should have been dealt with IMO, esp. when much less expensive closed phones did not have this annoying attribute.

My buddy had that issue with the 820 as well. He ended up returning his to Amazon. I borrowed it for a day before he did... I like the 800S more, even though I do feel the 800S needs a little weight in it’s lower end. Actually, I guess it’s kind of arbitrary for me to mention that comparison, seeing as how in my view, the 800S and 820 are more dissimilar than similar, ha ha.

I will say that I felt the 820 certainly fixed Senn’s “bass-light” problem. But although I’m a big Senn guy, it just wasn’t my favorite can. I couldn’t really mesh with it. A terrific headphone, in some regards, but... Disjointed, I guess I’d call it. Although who knows, maybe they would have grown on me. Some of my favorite cans have odd tweaks.

 

[Doctordoom16]

I have noticed a lot of variations in reviews but I wonder if it is because they have them positioned differently and/or the pads are not on properly. I doubt there are significant variances in drivers and the pads themselves. Or maybe the Elegia is actually a "neutral" sound signature or "natural" voicing that is interpreted differently by each listener? When a headphone focuses on the midrange, perhaps the treble and bass are perceived as being "not enough" or "just right" by the ears that are wearing them, depending on taste and preference.

I am on my second pair of elegias. The first was an open box (although they looked new?) and i exchanged them as I felt from what others had written that my pair were defective. The isolation was as though it was an open headphone. My wife would yell at me because she heard everything out. Plus I had an issue w the left cup irritating my ear. I was unsure what was wrong but it just did not feel right. I also was not thrilled w the sound, didnt hate it but favored my AKG 872 w the first pair of elegias. However, the new pair came and my assessment all changed. I felt the detail that the new pair had as well as the bass extension, were very different from the first pair. I fell in love with the elegia almost on the first listen (new pair). And the added bonus was the ear irritation was no more and the isolation was 90% better (still some slight leakage).
Was it me? No i do not think so as the new pair came and my listening experience changed for the better immediatly wo brain burn in To the point I will sell the AKG 872 and keep the elegia
They are so detailed, but I do see why now. The upper bass has very little weight and seems to not bleed at all into the mids. The mids on the elegia are so crisp and the detail so unbelievable. I just got a pair of UE 18+pro and i was impressed but then i went back to the elegia and realized that the lack of bass bleed was why i loved them The 18+pro are detailed and by most accounts thought of as neutral, but in comparison to the elegia they sound dark. I guess i realized what appeals to me now. I'm bass intolerant or at least i love the deep bass but dislike the upper bass as it approaches the mids. I love detail. I love separation. I love the elegia. But if i didnt exchange them, i wouldn't be singing their praises..

 

[antdroid]

I am on my second pair of elegias. The first was an open box (although they looked new?) and i exchanged them as I felt from what others had written that my pair were defective. The isolation was as though it was an open headphone. My wife would yell at me because she heard everything out. Plus I had an issue w the left cup irritating my ear. I was unsure what was wrong but it just did not feel right. I also was not thrilled w the sound, didnt hate it but favored my AKG 872 w the first pair of elegias. However, the new pair came and my assessment all changed. I felt the detail that the new pair had as well as the bass extension, were very different from the first pair. I fell in love with the elegia almost on the first listen (new pair). And the added bonus was the ear irritation was no more and the isolation was 90% better (still some slight leakage).
Was it me? No i do not think so as the new pair came and my listening experience changed for the better immediatly wo brain burn in To the point I will sell the AKG 872 and keep the elegia
They are so detailed, but I do see why now. The upper bass has very little weight and seems to not bleed at all into the mids. The mids on the elegia are so crisp and the detail so unbelievable. I just got a pair of UE 18+pro and i was impressed but then i went back to the elegia and realized that the lack of bass bleed was why i loved them The 18+pro are detailed and by most accounts thought of as neutral, but in comparison to the elegia they sound dark. I guess i realized what appeals to me now. I'm bass intolerant or at least i love the deep bass but dislike the upper bass as it approaches the mids. I love detail. I love separation. I love the elegia. But if i didnt exchange them, i wouldn't be singing their praises..

I wonder why there was leakage issue with the first pair you got. Maybe the pads were defective or werent sitting properly in the cup. I also prefer reduced to no mid-bass, which is why I really like the Focal headphones and most planar magnetic headphones. After hearing music with clean bass to mids transition, it's hard to listen to anything with a lot of bloated mid-bass.

 

[Doctordoom16]

I wonder why there was leakage issue with the first pair you got. Maybe the pads were defective or werent sitting properly in the cup. I also prefer reduced to no mid-bass, which is why I really like the Focal headphones and most planar magnetic headphones. After hearing music with clean bass to mids transition, it's hard to listen to anything with a lot of bloated mid-bass.

Mystery to me .I played around w the pads and they sat fine, like the other side . All I know is that something was different between the first and second pair. I'm betting the pads made the difference in my sound preference for the second. I guess these headphones as others have noted, are very dependant on the stock pads forbtheirsound signature .the lack of isolation was most likely responsible for a change in their sound. Solve one issue and the rest followed . regardless, ilove them and won't be parting w them anytime soon (unless something better comes along, Lol)