[peterinvan]

With all the Chinese made head gear nowadays, rather than tuning the treble properly, they boost this area to a point that they hurt my ears (in all fairness, I am very sensitive to this area anyhow). I find this sort of "old school" tuning to be refreshing to my ears. That and the fact that for closed back phones these have one of the widest soundstages I have heard. And of course the house TOTL dynamics that Focal is known for is there as well. Tuning is a bit different overall, but that is another reason I love them, for their uniqueness. They aren't the big and boomy set that most expect from a closed back where the low end is concerned but have quite a lot of bass for stuff that demands it (it is not like it is missing at all even with songs that don't call for it).

Personally, I only got the sheepskin pads so that I can have (basically) two sets of phones in one; and that is exactly the difference between the stock pads and the sheepskins IMHO.

And you can tune them just by changing the pads. After trying all the Dekoni pads, I settled on the “Custom Stellia’ pads.

 

[Hypops]

With all the Chinese made head gear nowadays, rather than tuning the treble properly, they boost this area to a point that they hurt my ears (in all fairness, I am very sensitive to this area anyhow).

Not unique to Chi-Fi. This is central to the tuning of Grado headphones (made in Brooklyn), as well as a number of other Western made headphones and earphones (Sennheiser iems for example).

 

[SecretAgent]

I tune my elegia with mojo2. I increase the bass and decrease the highs because I'm a bit treble sensitive. I also changed to dekoni sheepskin leather pads. I'm quite happy but I'd love more soundstage and more quality in general. I tried stellia and I was trully amazed. Currently looking for some open backs that don't require more amp because I want my system to be transportable

 

[Hypops]

I tune my elegia with mojo2. I increase the bass and decrease the highs because I'm a bit treble sensitive. I also changed to dekoni sheepskin leather pads. I'm quite happy but I'd love more soundstage and more quality in general. I tried stellia and I was trully amazed. Currently looking for some open backs that don't require more amp because I want my system to be transportable

I’ve learned over the years that I care very little about a big soundstage on headphones (speakers are a whole different story). The Elegia is noticeably more “intimate” than my open backs, but that’s also what I like about them and why I reach for them. They work perfectly for solo instruments, singer songwriters, trios, reverb heavy recordings, etc. I sometimes prefer a much smaller headstage. Bigger is not necessarily better.

 

[samandhi]

Not unique to Chi-Fi. This is central to the tuning of Grado headphones (made in Brooklyn), as well as a number of other Western made headphones and earphones (Sennheiser iems for example).

You may very well be right there as I have not heard either Grado, nor Sennheiser IEMs, but just to be clear, I am talking about upper mids, lower treble here (presence region 2-4K region), and not the mid highs, or upper highs, which I don't mind having a bit more of for perceived clarity and air/sparkle. While I don't like sibilance (mid to upper highs) they are simply annoying rather than detrimental, whereas shouty spikes (2-4K) actually hurt my ears. I guess you could say I have a built-in sensor that tell me no matter how good it might otherwise sound, they are not for me. Plus, a big enough boost in that area actually changes the overall tone of the sound to a detrimental affect.

But the reason I used China as an example is because they tend to tune this way more often than not. It even has the common moniker of "female poison" across many different audio forums.. haha

 

[SecretAgent]

I’ve learned over the years that I care very little about a big soundstage on headphones (speakers are a whole different story). The Elegia is noticeably more “intimate” than my open backs, but that’s also what I like about them and why I reach for them. They work perfectly for solo instruments, singer songwriters, trios, reverb heavy recordings, etc. I sometimes prefer a much smaller headstage. Bigger is not necessarily better.

Very interesting point

 

[Hypops]

You may very well be right there as I have not heard either Grado, nor Sennheiser IEMs, but just to be clear, I am talking about upper mids, lower treble here (presence region 2-4K region), and not the mid highs, or upper highs, which I don't mind having a bit more of for perceived clarity and air/sparkle. While I don't like sibilance (mid to upper highs) they are simply annoying rather than detrimental, whereas shouty spikes (2-4K) actually hurt my ears. I guess you could say I have a built-in sensor that tell me no matter how good it might otherwise sound, they are not for me. Plus, a big enough boost in that area actually changes the overall tone of the sound to a detrimental affect.

But the reason I used China as an example is because they tend to tune this way more often than not. It even has the common moniker of "female poison" across many different audio forums.. haha

I have a similar sensitivity. Harman target in that upper midrange “ear-gain” region is painful to me. There’s actually been a common trend over the past couple of years among Chinese made IEMs to tame that region quite a bit. Many have an FR that looks a lot like the Elegia!

 

[samandhi]

I have a similar sensitivity. Harman target in that upper midrange “ear-gain” region is painful to me. There’s actually been a common trend over the past couple of years among Chinese made IEMs to tame that region quite a bit. Many have an FR that looks a lot like the Elegia!

I wish someone would tell the flathead earbud makers that this is the new trend... hahaha

 

[samandhi]

So, I got a new desktop setup, and have been (slowly, but surely) going through all my head gear to find out what might scale with a higher end DAC/amplification, and what doesn't. Well, when I first plugged in the Elegia (using a balanced cable), I was a bit unimpressed. Not that they sounded worse than they did with my lowly DX300 of course. They just didn't take well to amplification or some great "tubyness".... OR did they?!

I found some article about some powerful amplifier on the net, and they were comparing some Focal set with another (really good) headphone, and they also mentioned the same thing. Their suggestion was to use a SE cable connection to a powerful amplifier. I dunno' if it is pure placebo, but I could swear that they sound quite a bit better than they did via balanced (maybe I was "over driving" them, or output impedance was too high on balanced, or something???).

Anyhow, there is a REALLY good synergy happening here (I am not too sure yet which is best; tube or not to tube) and I just thought I would share:

Spoiler

 

[Hypops]

So, I got a new desktop setup, and have been (slowly, but surely) going through all my head gear to find out what might scale with a higher end DAC/amplification, and what doesn't. Well, when I first plugged in the Elegia (using a balanced cable), I was a bit unimpressed. Not that they sounded worse than they did with my lowly DX300 of course. They just didn't take well to amplification or some great "tubyness".... OR did they?!

I found some article about some powerful amplifier on the net, and they were comparing some Focal set with another (really good) headphone, and they also mentioned the same thing. Their suggestion was to use a SE cable connection to a powerful amplifier. I dunno' if it is pure placebo, but I could swear that they sound quite a bit better than they did via balanced (maybe I was "over driving" them, or output impedance was too high on balanced, or something???).

Anyhow, there is a REALLY good synergy happening here (I am not too sure yet which is best; tube or not to tube) and I just thought I would share:

Spoiler

It's not unusual for amps with balanced outputs to have better single-ended implementation. No idea about the iFi amp you've got, but balanced isn't necessarily better, just louder. Likely nothing to do with the headphone and everything to do with the amp. The other possibility is that you prefer the possibly greater harmonic distortion coming from the single-ended output. There are plenty of folks who, when given the choice, prefer the "sound" of single-ended outputs (Mr. Audiophiliac Steve Guttenberg is one). The nice thing is you have options, so it doesn't really matter, right?

 

[SecretAgent]

Folks, how big is the gap between elegia and clear or clear mg? Is it worth the upgrade?

 

[Hypops]

Folks, how big is the gap between elegia and clear or clear mg? Is it worth the upgrade?

Two very different headphones with two very different goals IMO. Clear would be less of an "upgrade" and more of an "expansion to your collection."

 

[SecretAgent]

I'd like to purchase an open back upgrade to my elegia, what would you suggest?

 

[Hypops]

I'd like to purchase an open back upgrade to my elegia, what would you suggest?

What is it about the Elegia that you're trying to find in an open back? I usually think of closed backs and open backs as totally different beasts.

 

[SecretAgent]

I'm happy with elegia I just want something "better" and everyone seems to say that closed back is a compromise. I tried stellia and I was truly amazed btw