[Doctordoom16]

Well said.

Sometimes you have to 'deprogram' yourself from the sounds of others, before you really are aware of what you are hearing with something else. But ultimately the reference point should be real sounds that are live.

my problem is that I have never heard a good reference quality sound system (speakers) to know what reference of good is. I love the freedom of closed backs to listen anywhere so this is all i have to reference. And so far from my small experiences the pioneer SEM5 just sound "right" (over 10 mid/high end to compare to). Now that could just be a preference and acquired taste as if i had a reference of a good sound system to compare to, maybe the SEM5 would sound horrible. And thus lies the issue w headphone reviews, what is anyone's particular reference point?

 

[AppleheadMay]

My experience w the elegia, is different than the 10 other closed back headphones I've owned.
All others my initial feeling of like or dislike never changed regardless of my brain burn in or hardware burn in.
The Elegia, they didnt sound to my exact liking and grew on me. I take this as brain burn in. Maybe equate it too desensitizing myself to a new sensation that was maybe dulled before. Like eating salty foods, then cutting out salt and when introduced only a little goes a long way. W most other headphones the bass and other parts were maybe too much and the elegia has less and the more i listened it became just enough
Unfortunately, I sold them anyway as my SEM5's won me over from fist listen and still do it for me 6 weeks later. just my 2 1/2 cents!

That's something I can relate to.
But the comments I read here about people preferring the SEM5 to the Elegia make me warty of buying the Elegia and Stellia.
I had a SEM5 and liked it but I didn't find it exceptional/spectacular like I found the SEM1 to be.
So if the DEM5 beats the Elegia that makes me think the Elegia might be another disappointing hype.
Of course, only auditioning them myself will make me sure, I just need to find the time to do make day-trip and try them.

 

[Art Garfunkel]

I read that if you wear Glasses that the Focal Elegias sound changes drastically due to the improper seal. has anyone who wears glasses and owns a pair notice this?

And what if one has long hair, short hair, bald...?

 

[Doctordoom16]

That's something I can relate to.
But the comments I read here about people preferring the SEM5 to the Elegia make me warty of buying the Elegia and Stellia.
I had a SEM5 and liked it but I didn't find it exceptional/spectacular like I found the SEM1 to be.
So if the DEM5 beats the Elegia that makes me think the Elegia might be another disappointing hype.
Of course, only auditioning them myself will make me sure, I just need to find the time to do make day-trip and try them.

I don't think you can compare the sem1 to sem5 as one is open and one closed .but to me, key words to me, the sem5 we're a better , more organic, wider soundstage, more holographic than the elegia .
No knock on the elegia as I don't think they are hyped but unless you have a reference, everything you listen too is the best at that point in time . I thought the elegia we're my precious, but along came the sem5 and the elegia lost it's lustre to me. Now maybe the open back sem1 sound different than the sem5, better? Maybe, maybe not. All a point of reference.
Right now I'm pissed I bought the UE 18+pro as they share a very similar sound presentation to elegia. Alas I want an CIEM that is similar to the sem5 .so now I don't listen to the UE as I crave the sound of the sem5
All my opinion

 

[Doctordoom16]

I don't think you can compare the sem1 to sem5 as one is open and one closed .but to me, key words to me, the sem5 we're a better , more organic, wider soundstage, more holographic than the elegia .
No knock on the elegia as I don't think they are hyped but unless you have a reference, everything you listen too is the best at that point in time . I thought the elegia we're my precious, but along came the sem5 and the elegia lost it's lustre to me. Now maybe the open back sem1 sound different than the sem5, better? Maybe, maybe not. All a point of reference.
Right now I'm pissed I bought the UE 18+pro as they share a very similar sound presentation to elegia. Alas I want an CIEM that is similar to the sem5 .so now I don't listen to the UE as I crave the sound of the sem5
All my opinion

And when I talk about the pioneer SEM5 I'm talking about the sound w the letherette pads .the suedish pads shave off some of the lowend and make the sem5 less balanced. I'd dare say the sem5 has a somewhat similar sound to elegia w the sued pads. Not as midcentric but definitely the lowend characteristics. And yes, sem5 gives you 2 sets of distinct sounding earpads in the box along w 3 cables, one being short 2.5 balanced.

 

[AppleheadMay]

And when I talk about the pioneer SEM5 I'm talking about the sound w the letherette pads .the suedish pads shave off some of the lowend and make the sem5 less balanced. I'd dare say the sem5 has a somewhat similar sound to elegia w the sued pads. Not as midcentric but definitely the lowend characteristics. And yes, sem5 gives you 2 sets of distinct sounding earpads in the box along w 3 cables, one being short 2.5 balanced.

Same here, I briefly tried the suede pads but seemed to prefer the leather ones and used those from that point on.

 

[wje]

I read that if you wear Glasses that the Focal Elegias sound changes drastically due to the improper seal. has anyone who wears glasses and owns a pair notice this?

I wear glasses while using my computer with the Focal headphones. The glasses are metal, and not very thick. In my case, it doesn't appear to affect the seal at all because the metal doesn't fully raise the ear pad away from the side of my head when using them.

 

[teknorob23]

My experience with audio gear and what we call burn-in time is that I perceive only slight changes, if any.
I have no idea if the changes I perceive are due to actual equipment burn-in or brain-burn in.
I listen at various volume levels depending on my mood and the music playing.

I

I don't think you can compare the sem1 to sem5 as one is open and one closed .but to me, key words to me, the sem5 we're a better , more organic, wider soundstage, more holographic than the elegia .
No knock on the elegia as I don't think they are hyped but unless you have a reference, everything you listen too is the best at that point in time . I thought the elegia we're my precious, but along came the sem5 and the elegia lost it's lustre to me. Now maybe the open back sem1 sound different than the sem5, better? Maybe, maybe not. All a point of reference.
Right now I'm pissed I bought the UE 18+pro as they share a very similar sound presentation to elegia. Alas I want an CIEM that is similar to the sem5 .so now I don't listen to the UE as I crave the sound of the sem5
All my opinion

EE Phantoms are worth a try. At risk of straying off topic, i worked through half a dozen TOTL iems before deciding my oh-so-dedicated hearing just wouldnt have it and nothing came close for overall performance, naturalness of sound and just being totally addictive.... anyway back to the Elegia

 

[Soundwave76]

I read that if you wear Glasses that the Focal Elegias sound changes drastically due to the improper seal. has anyone who wears glasses and owns a pair notice this?

I wear glasses and Elegias feel and sound great.

 

[obsidyen]

What Hifi reviewed Elegia and gave it 4 stars.

https://www.whathifi.com/reviews/focal-elegia

 

[teqshea]

I have had my Elegia headphones for a couple weeks now and remain very impressed. The build quality is very important to me and I find it to be excellent. Normally I do not like plastic, but the pastic on the Elegia is thick, with a nice finish and is well molded. The sound is quite good. Not as open as the Clears I have but still very fine. I like the frequency balance also.

 

[AppleheadMay]

What Hifi reviewed Elegia and gave it 4 stars.

https://www.whathifi.com/reviews/focal-elegia

The thing that interests me most in the closed headphone I'm looking for is spaciousness so I immediately noticed "spacious sound" in the summary of the review.
I read that in this thread as well but I also read here it lacks spaciousness. Makes people wonder what to believe from reviews be they opinions here or commercial reviews.

 

[Beagle]

The thing that interests me most in the closed headphone I'm looking for is spaciousness so I immediately noticed "spacious sound" in the summary of the review.
I read that in this thread as well but I also read here it lacks spaciousness. Makes people wonder what to believe from reviews be they opinions here or commercial reviews.

Everybody has a different definition of spaciousness. For me, the correct one is the one that accurately portrays the space that's in the actual recording and does not 'create" spaciousness that's not in the recording itself. A headphone rolled off in the upper mid and treble would likely dull some of the natural sense of space that may (or not) exist in a recording.

 

[jkscherk]

Did anyone do a direct comparison of these to the Sony Z7 or Z7 Mk2?

 

[teknorob23]

The thing that interests me most in the closed headphone I'm looking for is spaciousness so I immediately noticed "spacious sound" in the summary of the review.
I read that in this thread as well but I also read here it lacks spaciousness. Makes people wonder what to believe from reviews be they opinions here or commercial reviews.

Its a tough call but i guess the only way of knowing without hearing for yourself, is to take an average from the reviews giving slightly more or less weight to people whos preferences coincide more closely with your own.

My two penneth, i have come via open backs through medical necessity to closed backs. Neither the Elegia or the Stellia for that matter are as spacious as their equivilant OB models, or the models a price tier down. I demo'd the Elegia against, LCDXC, Mr Speakers AFC & Ether C, Denon AD9200, ZMF Eikon & Atticus, Beyer t1 and very briefly HD820. The Elegia sounded the most spacious to me out of this set, not necessarily the out and out best performance which was probably went the ZMF Eikon, but the best space and mix of other features, not just sonically but comfort also.

The long and the short yes i can give you my one vote for the Elegia sounding very open for a closed back... just not as open as the Stellia