Just watched it, long video and very good tip!
Very intersting interview I must say, I'm impressed.
Indeed, it seems like Focal did the research on these phones. Totally different dynamic driver design from what the rest of the industry is doing, beryllium (what was used in the tweeters and midranges of Diatone's and Yamaha's greatest speakers from the eighties and probably in the upcoming NS-5000 speakers as well) and a well thought through headphone design (particularly the angle the speakers are aimed at IMO).
Though I still don't like the carbon looks I do understand their choice for real carbon to reduce the weight.
What was also very interseting to me were Jude's remarks on the Utopia vs. the Elear after the interview. Might I be one of the odd people (as usual) that would actually prefer the Elear to the Utopia? His description of the sonic differences sure makes me think so.
So, first of all I wonder what these are going to cost here in Europe since they are made right here. Converted from USD I come at 3550 Euro but it should be less since there's no import.
Second, I do need to audition those first. Would hate to have bought a 3k€+ headphone only to find out I don't like it or worse, to find out I like the 750€ version more. I hope I get a chance at that audition soon.
Sorry all if this is slightly off topic:
H Pascal just thought I could add to your points above being an owner of the Yamaha NS-2000 speakers and Diatone DS-5000 speakers both first made in 1982.
The Yamaha NS-2000 had beryllium mid and tweeter drivers and carbon fibre woofers. Now why the Yamaha is so special is because the way the geniuses at Yamaha and Pioneer/TAD vapor deposited it on to their mids & tweeters using copper molds. See the following PDF for an interesting read regarding the process and the differences in beryllium drivers and how not all drivers are created in the same way.
The PDF also discusses the focal drivers along with their method of implementation. May be of interest to those considering the new beryllium focal headphones.
www.audioheritage.org/vbulletin/attachment.php?attachmentid=40060
The Diatone's high end speakers used boron in their tweeters and mids - in my opinion bettering beryllium! However the only comparison I have made is between my NS-2000 and DS-5000. Don't get me wrong the NS-2000 are a superb speaker in so many ways. The Diatone DS-5000 are just better in every-way except transparency where the NS-2000 is it's equal.
The new Yamaha NS-5000 speaker uses a newly developed driver material Zylon allegedly with sonic characteristics to better beryllium. (I have not heard this being hyped at this stage)
If there is one company that is under appreciated in the (high end) hifi world it's Yamaha. Yet Yamaha have a history of being able to make exceptional hifi gear. Just do a search on their centennial gear to get an idea of what their capable of.
Back on subject the question was asked what is the difference between the SE-M1 and the HD800. As an owner of both I can honestly say that the Pioneer best the HD800 in a number of except - sound stage and detail retrieval which I would say is very close. Where the Pioneers best the HD800 the most IMO is musical enjoyment. The Pioneer is just far more engaging in an emotional way. I still really like the HD800 and it's an excellent headphone in many ways. I just don't find it pulls my heart strings as much as the Pioneers do. I like the HD800 bass it's very realistic however the Pioneer IMO has better bass in terms of impact and depth and yet retains similar realism. I have yet to find something I really don't like about the SE-M1. The price I guess would be one and the difficulty to buy them outside of Japan would be another.
I'm still hoping someone might offer a comparison between the Sony MDR-R10 and the SE-M1 any lurkers who have heard both out there?
