[Music Alchemist]

  The glue isn't that strong and the Focal ear pads use a plate at the back which disconnects from the cup. I tried it with the V-Moda XL pads and it removed the bass response by double-sided taping from the plate from the back of the Focal ear pads on to the XL pads. It didn't work so I put it back together. Terrible design overall from Focal regardless of how good it sounds. Everyone in France must have tiny ears or a high tolerance for pain.
 
The plastic feels cheap and snappable. The metal headband squeaks and is heavy which shifts the center of mass too high on the head. If you look at the ground then the headband will slip and if you have hair over your ears then ear pads will also slide off. The comfort is awful and the clamp is tight. The pads do not encircle the ear and an average mans ear will not fit inside. The padding on the top of the headband is too thin and isn't wide enough which causes a pressure point that is also made worse by the weight. The styling looks ugly when worn because it doesn't follow the form of the head (look at the Momentum and Urbanite headbands).
 
It's frustrating that they sound so good when everything else is so wrong. It just seems a lot of speaker manufacturers don't put much thought into ergonomics, comfort and styling or don't consider anyone with a different sized head and ears than their own. The only possible time I would ever recommend someone to buy their headphones is if they only intend to wear them for 10 minutes as no headphone sounds good when all you can think about is how sore your ears are. The real worst thing though is that Focal are unlikely to ever change the design because they spent so much money on the tooling.

 
The comfort and fit were perfect for me, even after hours of use. And the ear pads totally surrounded my ears. Guess I'm lucky!
 
I also like the aesthetics very much -- especially that raindrop texture paint!

 

[AUserName501]

   
The comfort and fit were perfect for me, even after hours of use. And the ear pads totally surrounded my ears. Guess I'm lucky!
 
I also like the aesthetics very much -- especially that raindrop texture paint!

 
You have very small ears considering that the inner cup dimensions are 48mm X 38mm. The average mans ear is 64mm. Focal didn't seem to get round to making replacement ear pads either as was mentioned in the innerfidelity review.
 
I don't care for the raindrop texture and think the Spirit Classic look better. The problem with the Spirit Pro plastic was that it hollow, felt cheap and quite a few people have had it crack. Look at the headbands being used on the M70x, ATH-MSR7, Momentum and Urbanite to see how headbands can be comfortable, stylish and light.

 

[Music Alchemist]

  You have very small ears considering that the inner cup dimensions are 48mm X 38mm. The average mans ear is 64mm. Focal didn't seem to get round to making replacement ear pads either as was mentioned in the innerfidelity review.
 
I don't care for the raindrop texture but the plastic was hollow and quite a few people have had it crack.

 
I guess so! *meows like a cat girl*
 
I don't think there's anyone who would deny the build quality is shoddy.

 

[bixby]

   
You have very small ears considering that the inner cup dimensions are 48mm X 38mm. The average mans ear is 64mm. Focal didn't seem to get round to making replacement ear pads either as was mentioned in the innerfidelity review.
 
I don't care for the raindrop texture but the plastic was hollow and quite a few people have had it crack.

I no longer feel like Dumbo with my 67mm ears, yea!

 

[Stuff Jones]

Yeah well experiences differ in a lot of ways. I would never mention the FSP with rich and dark or soft in one sentence. Its a bit too bright and metalic cymbal like harshness for me. And the subbass is there but to light for me to call that neutral compared to my studio setup. A bit too fast and lifeless.

 
See that's about the opposite of how I'd describe them. I wonder if there really is that much variance in how they sound from one set to another.

 

[tarsonis]

See that's about the opposite of how I'd describe them. I wonder if there really is that much variance in how they sound from one set to another.

Hehe maybe I'm a lucky guy and have two faulty pairs. I won't buy a third pair to test it xD
Well it may depend on the seal. I can't seem to find a good seal. Actually every position is so uncomfy. But the subbass varies a lot with the position on my head

 

[dakanao]

Hehe maybe I'm a lucky guy and have two faulty pairs. I won't buy a third pair to test it xD
Well it may depend on the seal. I can't seem to find a good seal. Actually every position is so uncomfy. But the subbass varies a lot with the position on my head

My thoughts on the Spirit Pros resamble yours very closely, only difference is that I found them to have good subbass, and instead of calling them bright, they are a little south of neutral with the treble, but the uppermids have a harsh quality to them which makes them sound harsh on instruments on that range.

 

[ozziecook]

   
See that's about the opposite of how I'd describe them. I wonder if there really is that much variance in how they sound from one set to another.

Indeed. That last sentence touches on an intrinsic truth about most headphones/IEMs...and makes a mockery of any attempt at analysis.

 

[dakanao]

These are VERY clear and open sounding headphones. If that harshness problem was gone, the sound would be literally PERFECT for my taste.
 
 
It's like having a very tasteful strawberry pie, but with a rotten strawberry that you MUST eat with every bite with the cake, making the cake a lot less enjoyable because of that.

 

[Music Alchemist]

  These are VERY clear and open sounding headphones.

 
Didn't you say your CAL sounded more clear?
 
The Sony MDR-7506 sounds more clear sometimes, but it has treble peaks, unlike the FSP.

 

[dakanao]

   
Didn't you say your CAL sounded more clear?
 
The Sony MDR-7506 sounds more clear sometimes, but it has treble peaks, unlike the FSP.

The FSP CAN get clearer than the CAL, if it's in the track. The CAL sounded clearer overall indeed, but on certain tracks, the FSP sounded even clearer than the CAL..

 

[Music Alchemist]

  The FSP CAN get clearer than the CAL, if it's in the track. The CAL sounded clearer overall indeed, but on certain tracks, the FSP sounded even clearer than the CAL..

 
Just don't become a headphone Pokémon trainer like me! (See signature. lol)

 

[Music Alchemist]

Got the HD 650 today. It's in my top three favorites so far, but...FSP is still #1 for me!

 

[dakanao]

  Got the HD 650 today. It's in my top three favorites so far, but...FSP is still #1 for me!

How do they compare soundwise? And I also read that the HD650 need strong amping/DAC to sound at their best.

 

[Music Alchemist]

  How do they compare soundwise? And I also read that the HD650 need strong amping/DAC to sound at their best.

 
I'm too lazy to write a comparison review. I guess if you ask detailed questions, I can try to give detailed answers.
 
Yeah, I heard the HD 650 scales like crazy. Still sounds pretty good from my Fulla -- better than the FSP in a few categories, but overall, the FSP easily beats it for me personally.