[Music Alchemist]

Focal Spirit Classic owner. Now officially my favorite headphones now the Dt150 has gone.

Don't understand why they're not as popular as the Pro and other headphones.

Smooth and refined as silk but quite able to 'party' when the music demands it. The only headphone I really need as it's so versatile ie home or portable any genre.

 
I still want to try out the Classic! (Owned two Focal Spirit Professionals in the past, but never heard their other headphones.)

 

[willyvlyminck]

It's truly great sounding but I find the Classic more musical. Did u try out the Classic before buying the Pro?

Normal the classic is for listening to music, the other for working in the studio

 

[Music Alchemist]

Normal the classic is for listening to music, the other for working in the studio

 
Nearly everyone in this thread uses (or used) the FSP for listening to music. Some prefer it over the FSC for that purpose too.

 

[chailee80]

When I demoed both of them I went for the spirit pro, the classic retails for $200 more here in aus and at that price are not worth it.

 

[god-bluff]

In France when I bought mine these was only about 30 euros between them at the time Liked the look feel and most of all sound of the Classic although there wasnt much in it. They have a wonderful organic sound whereas there are plenty of good Pro headphone some of which I already have or had.

 

[willyvlyminck]

Nearly everyone in this thread uses (or used) the FSP for listening to music. Some prefer it over the FSC for that purpose too.

I know, but the good studio phones are neutral, but some like a more fluid warm sound as the classic

 

[Music Alchemist]

I know, but the good studio phones are neutral, but some like a more fluid warm sound as the classic

 
Indeed. However, I have covered in the past that the FSP is not very neutral. It's still fairly warm/dark. Just compare the measurements of these two and note how the second one aligns much more closely with the compensation curves.
 
http://cdn.head-fi.org/f/fe/fea59a67_Focal_Spirit_Professional_Frequency_Response_HRTF.png
http://cdn.head-fi.org/9/92/92b5a906_STAX_SR-207_Frequency_Response_HRTF.png

 

[dakanao]

   
Indeed. However, I have covered in the past that the FSP is not very neutral. It's still fairly warm/dark. Just compare the measurements of these two and note how the second one aligns much more closely with the compensation curves.
 
http://cdn.head-fi.org/f/fe/fea59a67_Focal_Spirit_Professional_Frequency_Response_HRTF.png
http://cdn.head-fi.org/9/92/92b5a906_STAX_SR-207_Frequency_Response_HRTF.png

I agree that the FSP are fairly dark.
 
I have the Philips Fidelio L2 since this wednesday, and they're a very clear and natural headphone. They're the first headphone I heard that make my Creative Aurvana Live seem artificial and a bit veiled (The FSP sounded a bit veiled when going from the CAL to the FSP)

 

[ohotonge]

For your imformation, L2 has a peak in presence region around 2kh, so it feels more bright, not because of it is more neutral.

 

[musiclvr]

For your imformation, L2 has a peak in presence region around 2kh, so it feels more bright, not because of it is more neutral.

I couldn't agree with you more @ohotonge! @dakanao IMHO I don't think there is any sub 1k headphone out there that can make the FSP sound veiled without a non-neutral treble peak in it. I own about 19 mid- fi headphones in the $150.00-$700.00 range and always keep my FSP in the rotation because of its neutrality in the treble/presence region.....especially for a closed headphone too.

 

[Music Alchemist]

I couldn't agree with you more @ohotonge! @dakanao IMHO I don't think there is any sub 1k headphone out there that can make the FSP sound veiled without a non-neutral treble peak in it. I own about 19 mid- fi headphones in the $150.00-$700.00 range and always keep my FSP in the rotation because of its neutrality in the treble/presence region.....especially for a closed headphone too.

 
I will make the graphs I shared a few posts ago more visible.
 
Focal Spirit Professional ($349 retail)

 
STAX SR-207 ($390 retail)

 
The STAX SR-307, 407, and 507 are also under $1,000, and they're even better.
 
But this is beside the point...the FSP sounds pretty dark in the first place. It's missing a large portion of mids and treble, and it's easy to see on the graphs and hear with most music. It still sounds good for what it is, though.

 

[ohotonge]

   
I will make the graphs I shared a few posts ago more visible.
 
Focal Spirit Professional ($349 retail)

 
STAX SR-207 ($390 retail)

 
The STAX SR-307, 407, and 507 are also under $1,000, and they're even better.
 
But this is beside the point...the FSP sounds pretty dark in the first place. It's missing a large portion of mids and treble, and it's easy to see on the graphs and hear with most music. It still sounds good for what it is, though.

 
well, you don't get it, do you?
stax is 390 dollars in japan(with dedicated amp) when you are lucky! the rest of the world doesn't have that luck! in most of the countries you have to pay at least 700 dollars. 
and stax are open headphones with electrostatic drivers, that makes stax more easy to fine tuning their fr from mid bass to treble, 
but they don't isolate outside noise...at all, and as a electrostatic headphones, they are expensive and unpractical in many situations(you don't throw electrostatic phones into bags),
so we still use dynamic drivers and make closed headphones, not out of stupidity but out of necessity.
dynamic drivers are different, and closed ones are also different from other phones. dynamic drivers have to have a more severe uneven break-up in drivers after reaching resonance point usually 3kh, and it is hard, very very hard to get smooth and linear responses from closed phones, but look at the graphs! FSC's linearity is even comparable to stax!(linearity is different from matching with target response) so like I had said before Focal did fantastic job with FSC, and I had asked you to compare FSC graph with other closed dynamic phones, but you don't seem to do your homework. and still tries to make this thread more boring.

 

[Music Alchemist]

  well, you don't get it, do you?
stax is 390 dollars in japan(with dedicated amp) when you are lucky! the rest of the world doesn't have that luck! in most of the countries you have to pay at least 700 dollars. 
and stax are open headphones with electrostatic drivers, that makes stax more easy to fine tuning their fr from mid bass to treble, 
but they don't isolate outside noise...at all, and as a electrostatic headphones, they are expensive and unpractical in many situations(you don't throw electrostatic phones into bags),
so we still use dynamic drivers and make closed headphones, not out of stupidity but out of necessity.
dynamic drivers are different, and closed ones are also different from other phones. dynamic drivers have to have a more severe uneven break-up in drivers after reaching resonance point usually 3kh, and it is hard, very very hard to get smooth and linear responses from closed phones, so like I said before Focal did fantastic job with FSC, but you don't seem to do homework.

 
The subject is whether it is neutral, not the intricacies of how headphones are used and designed. I have no problem with people liking the FSP. I do too. What I have a problem with is the claim that it is neutral, when you can clearly see that nearly the entire mids and treble are recessed to a significant degree.
 
But FYI, the SR-207 is $390 from STAXUSA.com. I got mine used for $180, and I'm in the US.

 

[ohotonge]

The subject is whether it is neutral, not the intricacies of how headphones are used and designed. I have no problem with people liking the FSP. I do too. What I have a problem with is the claim that it is neutral, when you can clearly see that nearly the entire mids and treble are recessed to a significant degree.

But FYI, the SR-207 is $390 from STAXUSA.com. I got mine used for $180, and I'm in the US.

FSC is one of the most neutral 'closed' phones and even more neutral than some of the open phones. Still, my feeling tells me that you probably wouldn't care. And that's the problem.
you don't have a realistic perspective, when it comes to absolute 'neutralness' whole headphones things is meaningless, because 99 percent of music are recoded in stereo speakers.
that means even the best neutral headphones have to be felt colored compared with the best neutral speakers.
And my friend, official usa price for 2170 system is 790dollars. Without amp, stax is nothing so we have to compare with system price.
https://www.staxusa.com/STAX-SRS-2170.html
Unofficially I got my fsc 140dollars, even though I dont even in USA! so unofficial price is not important here.

 

[Music Alchemist]

Speaking of neutrality and the FSP, have any owners been able to use it with the Sonarworks Reference 3 Headphone software? (They recently released a calibration preset for the FSP, though they use their own proprietary compensation curve.) If so, can you post your impressions?
 

FSC is one of the most neutral 'closed' phones and even more neutral than some of the open phones. Still, my feeling tells that you don't care. And that's the problem.
And my friend, official usa price for 2170 system is 790dollars.
https://www.staxusa.com/STAX-SRS-2170.html
Unofficially I got my fsc 140dollars, even though I dont even in USA!

 
I'll admit this much: most closed headphones that have higher clarity than the FSP do have problems in the treble, such as excess brightness.
 
When you said FSC, did you mean to type FSP? (I have not heard the FSC; only the FSP, but people say the FSC is even warmer than the FSP.)
 
I am aware of all the STAX prices, both from STAXUSA.com and PriceJapan.com.