[thecrow]

I think that final point is something to consider. I've heard Elear and Clear side-by-side and Clear just sounds like a much better headphone beyond just fixed tonal balance. It is more detailed, refined, and smoother. I have used EQ to fix Elear's tonal balance to be more neutral like Clear and it still doesn't sound like Clear. I have heard from friends and others on the forums that have tried putting the Clear pads on Elear vs Clear and the impressions pretty much keep confirming this same point. Adding Clear pads decreases the bass, which will help bring the mids forward, but it doesn't improve any of the technicalities of the drivers. It still doesn't sound as good as Clear. I'm not convinced that Clear is necessarily worth the big premium over Elear/Elex, but I don't think Elex is getting as close to Clear as graphs suggest. I'm sort of waiting to see if Clear gets some big price reductions like Utopia and Elear did. If it start to sell in the $1,000-1,200 range I think it would be justified over the Elex. I also think those types of prices are very reasonable to see by the time Elex ships and I know I would be upset if I joined the Elex drop and Clear was close to $1,000 by the time I received Elex.

“would be upset if I joined the Elex drop and Clear was close to $1,000 by the time I received Elex”

I don’t think so

 

[givemetacos]

“would be upset if I joined the Elex drop and Clear was close to $1,000 by the time I received Elex”

I don’t think so

So Clear has already gotten some markdowns around $200-300 off. Utopia had discounts under a year after release for $1k off by Focal. Elear was discounted at $300 off. And that was brand new. There has already been used Clears sold for under $1200. I honestly don't think it is crazy to think Clear could be had at $1000-1100 in 6+ months. If you disagree it would help to note why.

 

[thecrow]

So Clear has already gotten some markdowns around $200-300 off. Utopia had discounts under a year after release for $1k off by Focal. Elear was discounted at $300 off. And that was brand new. There has already been used Clears sold for under $1200. I honestly don't think it is crazy to think Clear could be had at $1000-1100 in 6+ months. If you disagree it would help to note why.

For second hand then yes.

For new them i would only expect a little discounting/speacials going on

Otherwise for new....after inner fidelity’s review the price may not drop too much as sales may be strong at this “mid price” of premium headphones.

I did find it interesting in currawongs youtube review of the utopia when he questioned/discussed the pricing of the utopia and premium headphones in general

 

[givemetacos]

For second hand then yes.

For new them i would only expect a little discounting/speacials going on

Otherwise for new....after inner fidelity’s review the price may not drop too much as sales may be strong at this “mid price” of premium headphones.

I did find it interesting in currawongs youtube review of the utopia when he questioned/discussed the pricing of the utopia and premium headphones in general

Yeah like I said I've seen around $1,200-1,250 for new Clears already. I think getting even closer to $1,000 is not out of the question in 6+ months. Again, remember that Tyll super hyped both Elear and Utopia last year putting both on the wall of fame and calling them the best headphones he's ever heard. I don't think his review this year on Clear will be any different. Every headphone goes through the hype phase initially and then cools down as do the prices.

 

[ksorota]

You guys sure are making it hard to stay excited about this drop. A more practical me would probably drop out at this point, but I'm going to think on it a few more days!

I can't help but hope that Focal decides to sweeten the drop by including the travel case (wishful thinking I guess).

 

[franz12]

I bet under 200 at the end of the drop. While it has not been hugely successful, collecting 160000 in total is not bad at all IMO

 

[borrego]

I still think the end of April 2018 shipping date is the main deterring factor. I don't know how many pre-production units Massdrop/Focal have to be made anyway before the drop begins, it would make more sense to boost sales to have arrangement like the first 20 orders will be shipped by end of Jan 2018, 21st to the 100th orders to be shipped by end of Feb 2018, 101th to 200th orders to be shipped by end of March...., etc.

 

[donato]

I still think the end of April 2018 shipping date is the main deterring factor. I don't know how many pre-production units Massdrop/Focal have to be made anyway before the drop begins, it would make more sense to boost sales to have arrangement like the first 20 orders will be shipped by end of Jan 2018, 21st to the 100th orders to be shipped by end of Feb 2018, 101th to 200th orders to be shipped by end of March...., etc.

That makes sense to us as consumers, but my guess is that Massdrop doesn't place the order or any payment for any/everything until the drop closes since they don't know what demand is and given the way this drop has gone, that would be smart on their part. Making everything build to order reduces risk and cash outlay. Seems smart from a business perspective.

Ship date is only part of the deterring factor. Unknown product, bad timing during right before christmas, high (relative to most products on Massdrop) price point, and yes lead time which is usually the case with most drops on the site.

 

[MadMan007]

No one is really mentioning the limited distribution as part of the reason for the moderate purchase numbers. There are a lot of posts on Massdrop about not being able to buy it for the EU, etc.

 

[BigAinCA]

Price dropped to $699.99 and another day added to drop.

 

[MonoOno]

Whoa! Definitely keeping my order now.

 

[mtmercer]

I went and looked at the drop page and the expected ship date moved up to Feb 19th.

 

[PopZeus]

Ok, down another $100. I might grab a pair... I know the Clears have the superior driver but the tuning is similar. That might be enough.

 

[MAV15]

Sorry, I just realized I posted this in the wrong thread, I had two threads open at the same time...

 

[Ben Vo]

699 is a very good deal but as an Elear owner I can't seem to find a better reason to drop another 699 for basically another Elear with Clear pad. If only I know where to get the Clear pad to put on my Elear...