[Keegan360]

Isn't the purpose of Oratory EQ is to make the headphone sound neutral?

So there is a chance you might just not like neutral sounding headphone?

I always find it kind of like buying Chinese food by add seasoning to make it taste like Italian food. If you like Italian food why don't you just buy Italian food in the first place. Or if you like Chinese food just eat Chinese food as Chinese food. Making Chinese food taste like Italian food sounds odd to me. I hope this makes sense lol.

If you already enjoy how Radiance sound I would say just keep listening as is? Unless there's is some part that you don't like then feel free to make other EQ adjustments. But you might not need to follow Oratory profile exactly as is unless you want neutral headphone. But in that case just buy a neutral headphone.....????

I might be the odd one out on this LOL.

Yeah I get you. It's actually why I do not like to EQ headphones and if I do, it's usually very minor stuff. With the Radiance, the reason I wanted to EQ it in the first place was to get rid of that peak near 12kHz and the somewhat "shimmer-y" high-end (beyond 16kHz) and to get sounds around the 4-5kHz to stand out just a tad bit more.

I messed a bit around with Oratory's preset; kept bass the same, reduced the 12kHz peak and added a high-shelf filter at 15kHz. The region between 3-6khz is one I'm messing around with right now. I do like how there is added presence in that region now, but really does reduce the warmth of the headphone (even if only by a little). On certain tracks, I really like that (like Lose Yourself to Dance by Daft Punk), and on some I do not (Theme of Laura by Akira Yamaoka).

For the reasons you mention, I am not a big fan of the Oratory EQ on the Radiance, either (though I love his work on other headphones). My favorite EQ for the Radiance is the one developed by Resolve from headphones.com - see attached (I pulled the settings from his headphones.com review of the Radiance and created this parametric EQ file). It adds a bit more clarity without altering the stock sound too much. As you can see from the file, the adjustments are pretty minor, but just enough IMO.

Thanks for sharing! Although, I'm assuming that, since I purchased the Radiance on July 2023, that my Radiance probably is different to the old one (that Resolve did his initial review of). He shared a new measurement of the headphone in 2022 (the graph with red line). Someone else who recently reviewed the Radiance also got a similar measurement (graph with blue line). If anything, I'd probably only want to slightly boost the bit around 4-5kHz.

I'll keep playing around with this and see what I end up with. I got a feeling I will either apply Resolve's preset, all just leave the headphone as is with only the treble adjustments. The more I mess around with this, the more the 4-5kHz recess seems quite deliberate on Focal's part. I do enjoy neutral headphones, but it seems like Radiance's "warmth" is just a characteristic that is not to be messed with; playing around with the 4-6kHz seems to throw it a bit out of whack if done too much.

Funnily enough, even the Focal Clear has a recessed 4-5kHz region as well, and doesn't seem to bother me too much. Not that I can get the Radiance to sound like the Clear, but I might use that for consideration when messing with EQ.

Will provide an update sometime later (for anyone else who might be having a similar experience with the Radiance).

 

[Keegan360]

After spending some time messing with EQ and also just listening to how the Radiance sound (stock and EQ'd) I finally got to the settings which I'm relatively happy with (even though the changes I made weren't all that much)

Tom drums have more of a bite to them, as do electric guitars (also more presence) - a noticeable difference, but not a huge one. I've adjusted the upper treble region and not cut it down as drastically as I did before.

I think the most important thing I got from this whole exercise was understanding of the tradeoff between a warmer, relaxed sound, and a sound that is more in-your-face and more detailed (i.e., bright). My previous thoughts were confirmed - increasing the 4-5kHz adds presence to certain elements in the mix but takes away from the overall warmth of the headphone and the Radiance is definitely tuned to be warm. But I realised that I'm totally fine with adding a bit of presence anyway! I'm fairly sure that even with the EQ the 4-5kHz of the region of the Radiance (if measured) would still be below the harman target curve so still on the warmer side of things.

Also it really depends on the track, if t the track has too much energy in that region (whether as a deliberate choice or poor mixing), even the stock sound may cause fatigue quickly. Same goes for the treble, although that is the one thing that I found I would probably EQ 75-85% of the time because that's just too much energy and sparkle for me (regardless of the track),

Ultimately, I think the Radiance is great without EQ (except for the upper treble region). But for now, I think I'll stick with my current my preset as it (for me) strikes a good balance between bringing the 4-5kHz back up a bit but ensuring the warm characteristic of the Radiance is retained.

What do you guys think about the upper treble, anyone else find it a bit too sparkly or shimmering? That's probably the only setting I feel like I might have to change from time to time depending on sensitive my ears are at that time of day.

Edit: Made some more adjustments to the settings. Someone pointed out that using very high Q-values can cause ringing/phasing issues so made some changes to the preset there. Again, bass is left untouched (see txt file).

 

[Revan83]

The vocals you are hearing is due to the dip in the lower treble (from around 3khz to around 6khz on the Radiance). It does make the headphone a bit on the relaxed side of the harman curve and makes vocals a tiny bit darker than they should be, but at the same time reduces chances of the headphones being perceived as fatiguing. Increasing the sound level in that region makes the music sound more aggressive, dynamic, "resolved" and brighter while reducing it makes it more appear more laid back, darker and with less perceived detail. Bright headphones often sound more resolved than dark headphones even if the resolution is there on the darker ones as well, just not as in your face.

Interesting, because for me Radiance has a peak at 2-4khz, and sometimes I found it a little bit shouty and harsh on vocals. Not much, though. Asus Rog Delta Core suffers from this issue much more. At my previous headphones Kennetron Gjallarhorn GH-50 GME I didn't had that problem. But they didn't have that dynamics and engagement in sound, that Radiance has.

 

[yrstruly]

Rejoined the Radiance club…missed having something both non fatiguing, dynamic and portable.

Has anyone tried the ZMF pads on these out of interest?

 

[yrstruly]

I am 87% sure the mids on this new Radiance are sounding more lively and full than my previous one (less glossed over and thin). In fact the sound generally has a bit more kick and dynamics. Could be the new all copper cable I'm using for this pair, but I'm liking it for sure. Hoping the mids don't mellow out after more listening/burn in...

 

[Polo21]

Today my earpads arrived from alliexpress. They look well made, the material is nice and soft, from the orginal earpads these are about 2-3mm higher. I haven't tested them properly yet, but at first hearing I didn't notice any difference from the original.

 

[yrstruly]

Today my earpads arrived from alliexpress. They look well made, the material is nice and soft, from the orginal earpads these are about 2-3mm higher. I haven't tested them properly yet, but at first hearing I didn't notice any difference from the original.

They’re excellent pads - bigger soundstage and fleshed out mids!

 

[drbusner]

Focal clearly did a lot of things right with the Radiance. Apologies if this has already been covered, but are there any indications/rumors that another batch of Radiance might be forthcoming--or any talk of a new Focal closed-back model with a similar sound signature (but not limited edition) on the way?

 

[Hyde00]

This would be nice though, I personally doesn't like the "bling" look for Radiance (since Bentley).

If they could release another non-limited model under a more "normal look" then I'd definitely be interested.

 

[drbusner]

This would be nice though, I personally doesn't like the "bling" look for Radiance (since Bentley).

If they could release another non-limited model under a more "normal look" then I'd definitely be interested.

Yeah, the "Bentley" branding is not in any way appealing to me either. I do like Radiance's tuning: a combination of warm sound signature + strong detail retrieval, which seems rare. Bathys is sometimes compared to Radiance, but to my ears its mid-range is more hollow, and as a result the general presentation comes across as less warm, more artificial.

 

[yrstruly]

Yeah, the "Bentley" branding is not in any way appealing to me either. I do like Radiance's tuning: a combination of warm sound signature + strong detail retrieval, which seems rare. Bathys is sometimes compared to Radiance, but to my ears its mid-range is more hollow, and as a result the general presentation comes across as less warm, more artificial.

Wear a headband cover and the Bentley logo gets covered - problem solved

 

[oldmate]

-or any talk of a new Focal closed-back model with a similar sound signature (but not limited edition) on the way?

I don't think Focal will be releasing a new headphone anytime soon - my prediction is never.

 

[el-jorge]

I don't think Focal will be releasing a new headphone anytime soon - my prediction is never.

Are they done?

 

[oldmate]

It's just a feeling I have and could be wrong.

 

[drbusner]

Has anyone experienced a creaking or popping sound in the headband or in the cup/yoke connection while listening? Had this problem with Radiance in the past, and it became distracting. I am wondering if it is a known issue or if I just had a rare, defective unit.