[Mosabexo]

Really thinking to go for protable headphone... do you all this is good enough to used it as normal commute in train and to be used on plane?

Also how the comfort and sound compare to Cascade?

Coming from an iem....

Can't compare to Cascade, but in no way the Elegia comes even remotely close in isolation and portability to iems

Elegia leaks quite a bit, but in planes and trains almost all of the leakage would be negated by background noise. Isolation from sound coming in is good, but you'd still easily hear noises from the plane. Personally, it doesn't bother me too much when I use it on the plane, but I wouldn't be surprised if it bothers you, especially coming from iem.

Of course... YMMV

 

[up late]

Stellia news are interesting, especially that I thought to compare Utopia to Elegia in my impressions. This might be blasphemous to many, but, to me, the Elegia is a closed back Utopia. There. I said it!

The Utopia is definitely better all around, but the Elegia still retains most of the Utopia's technical sound capabilities. Clarity, detail retrieval, instrument separation is all there and incredible. I can't say much about the Clear/Elex since I haven't heard them, but if I had to put it in percentages, then roughly I'd say the Elegia is 'at least' %70 the sound of Utopia. That is amazing when you factor in the price. Law of diminishing returns very much holds here which make the Stellia very interesting. I sure would be very conservative about justifying a $3k closed back for portable use, not that I can afford it mind you

i don't think that it comes that close to the utopia, at least not to my ears anyway

 

[John Blackshear]

I'm thinking...if I love the Elegia, what will this offer for another $2000? Or should I wait for the $3999 Expensivellia?

This, exactly.

 

[Men1608]

But, from that picture, it doesn't appear to use the Lemo connectors that the current Utopia uses. Instead, the connectors appear to be the 3.5mm connectors like the Clear, Elex, Elegia and Elear use. Then again, the picture isn't big enough to see all the details. Then again, if they're trying to reach the $3,000 MSRP price point, they might have to cut a few corners and use the same cables the others use. Not that the 3.5mm connector is bad in any way.

That's a bummer. Those beautiful Nordost Heimdall2 cables one bought for the Utopia will not work on the Stellia.

 

[Men1608]

Really thinking to go for protable headphone... do you all this is good enough to used it as normal commute in train and to be used on plane?

Also how the comfort and sound compare to Cascade?

Coming from an iem....

The Elegia is better than the Cascade in most respects. The Elegia sounds more linear, while the Cascade is more v-shaped. The Cascade has more bass quantity & slam while the Elegia has better bass quality, with no bleed into the mids. The Elegia isolates better, has roomier pads, and has more beautiful mids. Both will suit different tastes & moods. I enjoy each for different reasons - Elegia for critical and relaxed listening, and Cascade for foot tapping, not that the Elegia can't do foot tapping..... The Elegia has a better storage/carry case (there's space for extra cables & a DAP - Sony WM1A), while the Cascade storage / carry case is smaller and can only accommodate an extra cable (Alo SXC8). Elegia is much more comfortable, with no hotspots on my head, while I get hotspots with the Cascade, due to the thin & insufficiently padded headband. One thing I like about the Cascade is that it shares the same cable connectors with the HD800(S)/820 headphones, which means I can use the Alo SXC8 for my bedside listening with the big Senn headphones.

 

[Chip B]

Really thinking to go for protable headphone... do you all this is good enough to used it as normal commute in train and to be used on plane?

Also how the comfort and sound compare to Cascade?

Coming from an iem....

I have used the Shure 846 and the Elegia weekly on plane commute. Although the isolation is superior on items, I think the more open feeling of a closed back and not having something in my ear I much prefer comfort wise I also have excellent NC the sony 1000m3, but I still prefer the natural sound of speaker like HPs. Once I put the Eldgia on, on the plane the isolation is about 80% of the others
Once the music is playing I’m at 90 percent and weighing all the other advantages I spoke of these are my top choice. I have the Mr. Speaker Ether C with deep leather pads and the isolation on these is better I think because the clamp is more solid. I use these at the office plane and hotel!

 

[Anaz]

The Elegia is better than the Cascade in most respects. The Elegia sounds more linear, while the Cascade is more v-shaped. The Cascade has more bass quantity & slam while the Elegia has better bass quality, with no bleed into the mids. The Elegia isolates better, has roomier pads, and has more beautiful mids. Both will suit different tastes & moods. I enjoy each for different reasons - Elegia for critical and relaxed listening, and Cascade for foot tapping, not that the Elegia can't do foot tapping..... The Elegia has a better storage/carry case (there's space for extra cables & a DAP - Sony WM1A), while the Cascade storage / carry case is smaller and can only accommodate an extra cable (Alo SXC8). Elegia is much more comfortable, with no hotspots on my head, while I get hotspots with the Cascade, due to the thin & insufficiently padded headband. One thing I like about the Cascade is that it shares the same cable connectors with the HD800(S)/820 headphones, which means I can use the Alo SXC8 for my bedside listening with the big Senn headphones.

Great comparison! How would you rate the Elegia vs. Cascade specifically for electric blues (e.g. B.B. King - Live at the Regal, Buddy Guy - Sweet Tea, etc.)?

Also, what acoustic dampers, if any, do you use on your Cascade? I used to use no dampers but switched to 3T this week.

 

[obsidyen]

Listen to some French music with these French headphones

 

[Beagle]

Can't compare to Cascade, but in no way the Elegia comes even remotely close in isolation and portability to iems

Elegia leaks quite a bit, but in planes and trains almost all of the leakage would be negated by background noise. Isolation from sound coming in is good, but you'd still easily hear noises from the plane. Personally, it doesn't bother me too much when I use it on the plane, but I wouldn't be surprised if it bothers you, especially coming from iem.

Of course... YMMV

It leaks if you hold them playing near your ears. But block the openings and they go quiet as most closed.

 

[Earbones]

For anyone not listening to these balanced... Stop what you’re doing and make that happen.

In my experience, most headphones sound better balanced... but generally, the improvements are small. But wow... With both the Clear and the Elegia, the difference is stark.

Anyone concerned with bass and the Elegia... Balanced is the answer. I mean, seriously. With the Sony PHA-2A and a 4.4mm cable, any more would be too much.

And with regards to bass, “any more would be too much” is something I never thought I’d write about the Elegia. So... Yeah.

 

[Beagle]

And with regards to bass, “any more would be too much” is something I never thought I’d write about the Elegia. So... Yeah

Yep.

 

[gb21011971]

For anyone not listening to these balanced... Stop what you’re doing and make that happen.

In my experience, most headphones sound better balanced... but generally, the improvements are small. But wow... With both the Clear and the Elegia, the difference is stark.

Anyone concerned with bass and the Elegia... Balanced is the answer. I mean, seriously. With the Sony PHA-2A and a 4.4mm cable, any more would be too much.

And with regards to bass, “any more would be too much” is something I never thought I’d write about the Elegia. So... Yeah.

Personally I don't get some of the comments of the Focal community about the Elegia's perceived lack of bass. Ok, it is never going to be an LCD X. But except maybe for the Elear, no other FOCAL has more bass than (at least my) Elegia. Using a Hugo2.

But... you can't roll pads on the Elegia. All other Focal or Dekoni pads for Focal will reduce the bass by a ridiculous amount.

 

[Earbones]

Personally I don't get some of the comments of the Focal community about the Elegia's perceived lack of bass. Ok, it is never going to be an LCD X. But except maybe for the Elear, no other FOCAL has more bass than (at least my) Elegia. Using a Hugo2.

But... you can't roll pads on the Elegia. All other Focal or Dekoni pads for Focal will reduce the bass by a ridiculous amount.

My unbalanced Clear has considerably more bass (both slam and extension) than my unbalanced Elegia.

 

[mixman]

Personally I don't get some of the comments of the Focal community about the Elegia's perceived lack of bass. Ok, it is never going to be an LCD X. But except maybe for the Elear, no other FOCAL has more bass than (at least my) Elegia. Using a Hugo2.

But... you can't roll pads on the Elegia. All other Focal or Dekoni pads for Focal will reduce the bass by a ridiculous amount.

Maybe an LCD X isn't an LCD X either!

 

[louderup]

I just got these. I'm really disappointed with the bass. I've read all the comments above about its bass being fine *if balanced* or *relative* to other Focal products, and I respect those viewpoints, but for me that's not a valid excuse for what I'm hearing. I have a terrific neutral headphone amp and for a closed-back pair of headphones, this, to me, is noticeably less than linear. I'd heard complaints about the bass on LCD-XC as well as Fostex T60RP, but on first listen to both of those I was satisfied. And my opinions on those two sets were coming straight after daily use of the Meze Neos and Beyer DT 770 Pros.

Also, my Focal Spirit Pros have considerably more bass than these. Yes, the comfort on the Spirit Pros makes them basically unusable, but I could do critical mixing on low-end (even subs) on those if I had to. On these, absolutely not.

These are going straight back. The clarity, mids, and highs are all effing outstanding, but the bass is a deal-breaker for a pair of headphones that's supposed to somewhat-accurately represent neutrality.

I'll note that with the wide disparity in graphs we've seen about the bass response, it's possible I genuinely got a weak pair. So I'm not trying to challenge the views of others who are satisfied with the bass, rather just pointing out what I hear based on the pair I got.