[dougms3]

Hello, there is still no solution for the sudden death of the drivers?, and if someone could please explain to me why this happens, I am currently looking to buy them for $600... (and if it is worth it).
Thank you.

Most of the issues with the sudden death of the drivers seem to be from the voice coil popping.

It seems to me that the solder joint is the problem. When I examined the joint on the elex and clear, wire was good, solder looked good, nothing unusual but I wasn't getting continuity with the multimeter. The voice coil popped probably because of a hot spot created from the increased resistance due to poor conductivity of the joint. Whatever solder they're using, its not good.

I resoldered the voice coil with mundorf supreme solder over a year ago and haven't had any issues with my clears.

I think the elex is the best value headphone for the price. Nothing comes close to it for the price imo. I think you can get them for less than $600, drop had a big sale on them last year for $400.

 

[NaN93]

Most of the issues with the sudden death of the drivers seem to be from the voice coil popping.

It seems to me that the solder joint is the problem. When I examined the joint on the elex and clear, wire was good, solder looked good, nothing unusual but I wasn't getting continuity with the multimeter. The voice coil popped probably because of a hot spot created from the increased resistance due to poor conductivity of the joint. Whatever solder they're using, its not good.

I resoldered the voice coil with mundorf supreme solder over a year ago and haven't had any issues with my clears.

I think the elex is the best value headphone for the price. Nothing comes close to it for the price imo. I think you can get them for less than $600, drop had a big sale on them last year for $400.

Thank you, it's a pity that they still can't fix those problems.
Do you have any guide to what you did to your elex? I'll wait for the price to drop a bit and I'll go for them.
Could anyone recommend any tube amp?

 

[oldkid]

Thank you, it's a pity that they still can't fix those problems.
Do you have any guide to what you did to your elex? I'll wait for the price to drop a bit and I'll go for them.
Could anyone recommend any tube amp?

Not the cheapest solution but I adore the sound of my xDuoo MT-601 with Aune X7S as a great class A amp. My Elex is also equipped with perforated leather pads from Dekoni. Everything is in my signature down below

 

[dougms3]

Thank you, it's a pity that they still can't fix those problems.
Do you have any guide to what you did to your elex? I'll wait for the price to drop a bit and I'll go for them.
Could anyone recommend any tube amp?

First step is that they need to acknowledge there is a problem.

I think its an easy fix but I highly doubt they're going to change anything.

This is a very delicate procedure so probably shouldn't attempt this if you're not experienced with a soldering iron. The coating on the joint needs to be removed, its just some kind of silicon and comes off fairly easily. Then you need to desolder the joint then replace with a good solder, I like mundorf supreme.

On this particular headphone, the joint lost continuity even though the voice coil wire was still intact. After I resoldered it with mundorf supreme, it came back to life.

 

[NaN93]

Not the cheapest solution but I adore the sound of my xDuoo MT-601 with Aune X7S as a great class A amp. My Elex is also equipped with perforated leather pads from Dekoni. Everything is in my signature down below

I tried the Dekoni pads (Elite Fenestrated Sheepskin) for HD6XX and I felt that it was the best purchase I could make, so I am a fan of those pads, they are very good..

 

[Plieb]

I tried the Dekoni pads (Elite Fenestrated Sheepskin) for HD6XX and I felt that it was the best purchase I could make, so I am a fan of those pads, they are very good..

Unfortunately i had a pair of dekoni pads that were glued off center or shifted off center and didn't notice until a year passed. Was a bit turned off by this.
Didn't use much so never noticed the problem. They were the valour and deadened the sound.

 

[NaN93]

First step is that they need to acknowledge there is a problem.

I think its an easy fix but I highly doubt they're going to change anything.

This is a very delicate procedure so probably shouldn't attempt this if you're not experienced with a soldering iron. The coating on the joint needs to be removed, its just some kind of silicon and comes off fairly easily. Then you need to desolder the joint then replace with a good solder, I like mundorf supreme.

On this particular headphone, the joint lost continuity even though the voice coil wire was still intact. After I resoldered it with mundorf supreme, it came back to life.

I hope nothing ever happens to mine, but it seems that it is something that can be fixed relatively easily, although it is not the same case in all driver errors, thank you very much for your explanation anyway

 

[Zerviscos]

Its up to you.

For longevity, I recommend resoldering if you can, the sound quality improvement is worth it alone. But if its clipping now, it will most likely fail at some point down the road, maybe not immediately but eventually. There may also be a secondary problem with oxidation of the voil coil, I'm not sure if its related but some one reported a large green oxidation spot on the voice coil that killed the bass on his headphones. Because of the open design of the headphones, the voice coil is bound to oxidize somewhat but if its concentrated in one spot that indicates weak or uneven current distribution.

My assumption is that its due to the reduced flow of current due to that voice coil wire solder joint.

Do you have the source of this? I don't have an Elex anymore, but due to a discussion in Discord, I mentioned how I keep remembering the Elex I had was incredibly lean in the mid-bass, like it was lacking any sense of nuance, so I just searched this thread to find answers. I keep thinking this is what people meant about the Elex's bass being lean, but I felt like it was just too lean. Comparing to the Clear and Utopia I have, the bass was more pronounced and I'm not talking about slam or punch or impact, I mean actual definition of bass felt like it was just barely there. It's very noticeable on EDM tracks which I listen to a lot.

I kept wondering if it had anything to do with the drivers going bad, but I also thought it was kind of unusual to happen on both sides. If it's oxidation like you said, then it may not be impossible after all. But I remember opening my Elex before, and there weren't any signs of oxidation on the voice coil, which is copper-coated alu afaicr. Image below is when I opened this one time. I didn't open it a second time because it was a pain in the ass putting it back together due to the wire routing around the driver housing which is somewhat loose and would move whenever I try to move it back. I was worried I'd break the voice coil by accident.

 

[dougms3]

Do you have the source of this? I don't have an Elex anymore, but due to a discussion in Discord, I mentioned how I keep remembering the Elex I had was incredibly lean in the mid-bass, like it was lacking any sense of nuance, so I just searched this thread to find answers. I keep thinking this is what people meant about the Elex's bass being lean, but I felt like it was just too lean. Comparing to the Clear and Utopia I have, the bass was more pronounced and I'm not talking about slam or punch or impact, I mean actual definition of bass felt like it was just barely there. It's very noticeable on EDM tracks which I listen to a lot.

I kept wondering if it had anything to do with the drivers going bad, but I also thought it was kind of unusual to happen on both sides. If it's oxidation like you said, then it may not be impossible after all. But I remember opening my Elex before, and there weren't any signs of oxidation on the voice coil, which is copper-coated alu afaicr. Image below is when I opened this one time. I didn't open it a second time because it was a pain in the ass putting it back together due to the wire routing around the driver housing which is somewhat loose and would move whenever I try to move it back. I was worried I'd break the voice coil by accident.

You would need to remove the magnet to see the voice coil as its slotted inside the magnet. Its the 3 larger torx screws.

I wouldn't consider it lean or lacking by any means, its more linear and less volume but it is less than the clear.

As for the source of the oxidation issue, you'll have to search the Focal clear thread for that info. Someone posted that information and his experience with it, I thought it was interesting but have not experienced that problem myself. It makes sense it would oxidize in an usual way if the voice coil has poor or irregular continuity.

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/focal-clear-headphones.861727/page-791#post-17566791

 

[jasonb]

Not sure why I’ve never tried this before, but I have my Elear with Clears pads plugged into an Apple lightning dongle and at 50% it’s at my preferred listening level and it sounds perfectly fine.

 

[IkSak]

Hi all!

After four years with my Focal Elex, their pads are pretty worn and needing a replacement.

So far, my research has led me to the Dekoni pads, all of which based on the FR charts (see https://dekoniaudio.com/product/elite-fenestrated-sheepskin-ear-pads-for-focal-headphones/) seem to increase the bass and reduce the midrage and a tad on the trebble. I'm not sure if I may be misreading, but that may not me my preferred sound. Do any of you have tham and can confirm this?

 

[b0lt 0ns]

Hi all!

After four years with my Focal Elex, their pads are pretty worn and needing a replacement.

So far, my research has led me to the Dekoni pads, all of which based on the FR charts (see https://dekoniaudio.com/product/elite-fenestrated-sheepskin-ear-pads-for-focal-headphones/) seem to increase the bass and reduce the midrage and a tad on the trebble. I'm not sure if I may be misreading, but that may not me my preferred sound. Do any of you have tham and can confirm this?

I dont remember if there was a notable change to the mids or highs but definitely an increase in bass. For me the fenestrated sheepskin are perfect for the elex.

 

[oldkid]

I dont remember if there was a notable change to the mids or highs but definitely an increase in bass. For me the fenestrated sheepskin are perfect for the elex.

I second that. I have never felt the need to took them off since I have bought a pair

 

[IkSak]

I just realize that the FR on the Dekoni website are for the Utopia. I was also considering the fenestrated sheepskin. One further question: did you have a reduction of the dynamics and/or detail with them?

 

[b0lt 0ns]

I just realize that the FR on the Dekoni website are for the Utopia. I was also considering the fenestrated sheepskin. One further question: did you have a reduction of the dynamics and/or detail with them?

It's been a long time since I have used the stock pads but I remember the fenestrated sheepskin pads sounding better everywhere after putting them on I'll never go back to the stock pads again.