[Marlowe]

Yes, definitely. I loved the Elex's and they sounded much better than the Elegia's. The Elegia's are the only Focal headphone I didn't like.
I also didn't care for the HD600's, which I bought twice! I really am a glutton for punishment.
I never got the "magic" that the HD600/HD650 was supposed to have.

I paid $599.00 for my Elex's from Drop and they were worth Every penny.

Ditto for me on the 600/650, which makes us real contrarians in this hobby, I suspect. (There is one particular site that I will not name where the expression of that opinion, as well as the fact that I once extensively used and liked the Sennheiser HD 700, are grounds for digital tar and feathering.) I have the Drop HD6XX and rarely use them. While I agree that the forward, intimate vocals can be very nice on the right track (especially with female vocalists), I don't find much else to recommend them and find it impossible to get past the fact that their soundstage is narrower--often considerably narrower--than most of my IEMs.

BTW, the Elex sounds particularly good with the new Class A Aune S17 Pro amp, noticeably better than it does with the Liquid Platinum, though I still overall prefer the Hifiman Arya Stealth. OTOH, the ZMF Aeolus sounds noticeably worse (the truism that ZMFs do better on tubes is undoubtedly true.)

 

[jsmiller58]

Yeah, I'm always skeptical when people say that "X headphone is a closed-back version of Y headphone," but I've seen that claim so much about the Elegia and Elex that it seemed worth asking.

For me, I don't expect closed backs to sound like open backs. They're very different beasts. I find open backs to be as different from closed backs as dynamics are from planars, maybe even more so.

Can you give a link or two where the Elegia is said to sound like the Elex? Maybe you are thinking of the Elear?

 

[Hypops]

Can you give a link or two where the Elegia is said to sound like the Elex? Maybe you are thinking of the Elear?

Many posts in the Elegia thread. Multiple published reviews of the Elegia also make comparison to the Elex (for example the written review on Headphones.com and Resolve's video review both place the Elegia "between" the Elex and the Clear in terms of its sonic character). Though, now that I write the above, I see that the comparisons almost always say that the Elegia is like the Elex, but not the other way around. Hmm.

BTW, the Elex sounds particularly good with the new Class A Aune S17 Pro amp, noticeably better than it does with the Liquid Platinum, though I still overall prefer the Hifiman Arya Stealth. OTOH, the ZMF Aeolus sounds noticeably worse (the truism that ZMFs do better on tubes is undoubtedly true.)

Are you saying that you prefer the Arya's overall on everything, or just on the S17? And, yeah, the more I play in this playground, the more I discover that you can't ever really know how something will sound until you try it.

 

[Shane D]

Yeah, I'm always skeptical when people say that "X headphone is a closed-back version of Y headphone," but I've seen that claim so much about the Elegia and Elex that it seemed worth asking.

For me, I don't expect closed backs to sound like open backs. They're very different beasts. I find open backs to be as different from closed backs as dynamics are from planars, maybe even more so.

I would say even more so. I think every closed back headphones is handicapped by its very design. I have been told that I just haven't heard the right headphone. Maybe I just haven't gone high end enough? So be it, because I am NEVER splashing out the money required for a closed Verite/Atrium or a Kennerton 'phone.

I enjoy my Radiance and my Cascades for what they are, but a closed back will never be in my top five in the collection. Sometimes they are a nice distraction and in certain environments, they are a must have.

 

[Hypops]

I would say even more so. I think every closed back headphones is handicapped by its very design.

Ha, well, by that measure, *every* headphone is "handicapped." Good design is all about compromises and tradeoffs. Sounds like you just don't like the compromises of closed backs. For me, sometimes the mood or the circumstance requires more intimate headphones.

 

[AnyDave]

Many posts in the Elegia thread. Multiple published reviews of the Elegia also make comparison to the Elex (for example the written review on Headphones.com and Resolve's video review both place the Elegia "between" the Elex and the Clear in terms of its sonic character). Though, now that I write the above, I see that the comparisons almost always say that the Elegia is like the Elex, but not the other way around. Hmm.

That's interesting. I have the Elegia, Elex, Clear OG and Clear MG. To my ears, the Elex and both Clears sound more like each other than any of them do to the Elegia. I personally wouldn't put the Elegia between the Elex and the Clear as far as sonic character.

 

[Marlowe]

Are you saying that you prefer the Arya's overall on everything, or just on the S17? And, yeah, the more I play in this playground, the more I discover that you can't ever really know how something will sound until you try it.

Yeah. I prefer the Arya Stealth on all the amps I currently use (Aune S17, Gustard H16, TV/Blu-ray setup, and FiiO Q7 by my bed, though I generally use IEMs with it) and on the Liquid Platinum as well, though the gap with the Elex is bit smaller on the S17

 

[cactus_farmer]

The Elex, Elear and Clear all use an aluminium driver.

Aluminium (unlike steel or magnesium) does not have a 'fatigue limit' - meaning that it can only withstand a finite, limited number of deformation cycles before it fails completely and therefore deforms without returning to its original shape (or cracks and breaks). Materials that do have a fatigue limit can handle a certain degree of deformation infinitely without risk of that happening. (But if they get deformed beyond this limit, they obviously still can fail).

With that in mind, does each time the driver moves in any way to reproduce any sort of sound count as a 'deformation cycle'? Which would therefore mean that the aluminium driver in the Clear/Elex/Elear can only produce a finite number of sounds in its lifetime before the aluminium driver breaks?

 

[dougms3]

The Elex, Elear and Clear all use an aluminium driver.

Aluminium (unlike steel or magnesium) does not have a 'fatigue limit' - meaning that it can only withstand a finite, limited number of deformation cycles before it fails completely and therefore deforms without returning to its original shape (or cracks and breaks). Materials that do have a fatigue limit can handle a certain degree of deformation infinitely without risk of that happening. (But if they get deformed beyond this limit, they obviously still can fail).

With that in mind, does each time the driver moves in any way to reproduce any sort of sound count as a 'deformation cycle'? Which would therefore mean that the aluminium driver in the Clear/Elex/Elear can only produce a finite number of sounds in its lifetime before the aluminium driver breaks?

The focal driver is not a traditional driver. It uses a very powerful magnet that slots into the back of the dome and voice coil.

The dome in the clear is an aluminum/magnesium alloy, not sure about the other models, its the silver dome in the pic. Its rigid and lightweight and will move if you breathe on it. Its attached with some type of flex material that allows it free movement. The dome itself does not ever flex and will never "fatigue".

The dome should never crack or deform under normal conditions. No one has reported the dome cracking thus far that I'm aware of.

The point of failure on the focals is is the voice coil wires on either side of the driver, it is a thin hair like strand of copper wire. Many others including myself have repaired this wire. I've seen this wire snap or go dead for whatever reason. In my clears, it just went dead but was still intact. Came back to life after I resoldered the wire. On my elex, the wire just snapped indicating a hotspot from poor continuity.

All indications point to the soldering joint for the voice coil wire as a major failure point for this design. Imo, its the solder that they're using. Maybe its intentional, another example of intended obsolescence perhaps.

After resoldering the voice coil wires, my clears have been going strong for almost 2 years with no issues whatsoever and they are my daily drivers.

 

[Hypops]

Persuasive info. Could be the reason some folks have reported driver failures early in the Elex lifespan?

That said, my pair just arrived today. Been listening all evening. Too early for a coherent reaction, but my immediate impression is very positive. But, ooph, I tried to EQ the bass up just a bit and these things did *not* like it! They almost immediately tried to eat me alive. Crunchy and boomy. Ugh. But the longer I've listened, the more I'm sure they don't actually need it. I've even listened to some really low bass material (Dinner Party) and I'm sold on these things. Their surprising bass quality doesn't show in measurements. Upper mids and treble may need some tweaking, but I'll give them a couple of weeks on their own before experimenting with EQ.

 

[Hypops]

Day two with the Elex.

I dipped my toe into trying some EQ, but I'm surprised to find that I really don't like them with EQ (and I regularly EQ all of my headphones). It's still early days, though.

 

[dougms3]

Day two with the Elex.

I dipped my toe into trying some EQ, but I'm surprised to find that I really don't like them with EQ (and I regularly EQ all of my headphones). It's still early days, though.

I still think the elex is the best value for performance.

Its closer to neutral and not as sharp in the treble vs the clear. People either love or hate the clear but I don't think anyone can hate the elex.

While it has its shortcomings, its inoffensive at any level of FR.

 

[Hypops]

I still think the elex is the best value for performance.

Its closer to neutral and not as sharp in the treble vs the clear. People either love or hate the clear but I don't think anyone can hate the elex.

While it has its shortcomings, its inoffensive at any level of FR.

Yeah, I couldn't resist the current price.

I'm not overly concerned with FR (since I generally EQ anyway), but I'm just not used to headphones that sound neutral to also sound this dynamic. I've read people describing these as "speaker-like." I think I get what that means.

 

[JonM78]

FYI, these are $459 at Headphones.com now. Hard to pass up that price!

https://headphones.com/products/focal-elex-headphones

 

[Plieb]

FYI, these are $459 at Headphones.com now. Hard to pass up that price!

https://headphones.com/products/focal-elex-headphones

And drop still selling for 750. Crazy!