General Information
Thank you @Todd of Todd the Vinyl Junkie for the chance to audition these world class cans!
This is my first review. Ever. So please be gentle with me.
I’m sure most all that can be said about the Focal Elear has already been said, but I’ll try to give my impressions the best that I can.
Desk Top:
SanDisk Extreme PRO 240GB SSD + Samsung Seagate HN-M201RAD Momentus SpinPoint ST2000LM003 2TB HDD -> Flac -> JRiver 22 -> optimized /w Fidelizer Pro -> Supra USB -> Industrial Intona Hi Speed Isolator -> Schiit PYST USB -> UpTone Audio USB Regen -> Hard adapter -> PS Audio Perfect Wave II 2.4.3 -> Discovery Plus 4 XLR > Parasound Halo -> KEF LS50 (IsoAcoustic stands) + HSU STF-1 Sub x 2.
~ OR ~ Same source to: Icon Audio HP8 MKII / Lyr / Magni -> AH-D7000, HD700, HD650, LCD 2.2f. IEM’s: Layla, Roxanne, ES Velvet, W4R, GR07 BE, Asura2, NICE HCK DIY PK2.
The Elear to me is somewhat a mix of the best of all my cans I had at the time of audition without any of their downfalls, and much more refined. They were balanced and warm like the HD650's, but more detailed with more startling insane slam. As dynamic impactful as the AH-D7000 but much more refined, balanced. And very similar to the LCD 2.2f but with more sweet treble extension, dynamism and a little more coherent.
The Focal Elear’s build quality is impeccable and looks very classy, it is a tad bit heavy but the weight distribution is well thought out. Clamp is a little strong, but could probably be stretched out a bit, however, I deferred doing this due to it is a loaner and didn’t want to change anything. The pads are very comfortable and my big ears did not come close to touching the drivers.
The Focal Elear (FE) is one of the best cans I have ever had the pleasure of hearing. I listen to mostly Blues and Jazz with a sprinkling of Classical and the Elear is an excellent transducer for all the genres I threw at it. For what it’s worth, I have never enjoyed Classical as much as with these. The detail is astounding. I do not use any EQ because I prefer as flat a response as possible. I couldn’t help my smile from creeping up during my listening time with the ElearJ
The Elear is not the most forgiving cans I’ve heard, but truly isn’t that bad with just about any source. But feed it an excellent source and well recorded music file and they are glorious!
Insane slam!, startling, fast, dynamic, impact, attack, separation, textured, sweet airy treble, detailed, coherent, refined, depth, large, space of the venue, decay, flat response, presence.
Those are the first things that came to my mind in droves, over and over again, and these descriptions are associated with every frequency from the sub bass to the extended treble. I kept writing them down throughout my time with the Elear. It is a neutral, slightly warm listen with no frequency’s that want to stand out above the others.
The separation is the best I’ve heard, yet the transition is very smooth and coherent. I have the KEF LS50 which has a concentric tweeter which makes them very coherent with one voice and I would easily compare the Elear to the LS50 for coherency.
The Elear reveals the space of the venue better than any can I have heard. The front to back separation is startling and spooky. It is definitely an out of head experience.
Sound stage is surprising and startling with an outside of head experience. It is tall and wide and I never really understood the description of tall soundstage until experiencing Elear. I was hearing sounds from above my head!
In “The Last Matador of Bayonne”, album “Dust Bowl” by Joe Bonamassa there is a horn eerily coming out of the far background. This is very clear and detailed with awesome separation, with other cans I had not given it much thought, but with the Elear it was obvious.
On “St. Louis Blues” by Wycliffe Gordon the horn blats have such an airy detailed presence and is so transparent I felt I could reach out and touch them.
The sub bass is very present when called for. The bass has excellent attack and impact, but retains fullness and separation with texture throughout, is never muddy, and does not bleed into the mids. I would compare the separation and lack of bass bleed into the mids with my VSonics GR07 BE which excels at it.
The mids have separation that is out of this world. They are natural, and textured until the cows come home! I wish I could remember the song, but it had a kind of vibrato with the vocal that had so much texture and realism. And as always there is “World Class” SPACE and AIR around the instruments.
The treble is stunningly extended yet sweet and helps for the presence in that it is clean and very present and extended but never harsh. I am getting up in years and my hearing suffers with hearing higher treble so I can appreciate the present treble with the Elear. And the quality is so good I don’t think it would be an issue for younger Head-Fi’ers with better hearing.
I had a great time with these cans and thoroughly enjoyed my time with them. Like I said, I kept writing down these descriptions throughout my time with the Elear and they excel at each description:
Insane slam!, startling, fast, dynamic, impact, attack, separation, textured, sweet airy treble, detailed, coherent, refined, depth, large, space of the venue, decay, flat response, presence.
They are an amazing set of headphones and if I had to nitpick, the slight basshead in me might prefer a tad more bass, but that might mess up the outstanding balance of these cans. As they are, they are near perfect for me and I will be saving up my shekels to buy them.
Thanks again to @Todd , and I can't wait to add these to my collection.
Blueshound24
This is my first review. Ever. So please be gentle with me.
I’m sure most all that can be said about the Focal Elear has already been said, but I’ll try to give my impressions the best that I can.
Desk Top:
SanDisk Extreme PRO 240GB SSD + Samsung Seagate HN-M201RAD Momentus SpinPoint ST2000LM003 2TB HDD -> Flac -> JRiver 22 -> optimized /w Fidelizer Pro -> Supra USB -> Industrial Intona Hi Speed Isolator -> Schiit PYST USB -> UpTone Audio USB Regen -> Hard adapter -> PS Audio Perfect Wave II 2.4.3 -> Discovery Plus 4 XLR > Parasound Halo -> KEF LS50 (IsoAcoustic stands) + HSU STF-1 Sub x 2.
~ OR ~ Same source to: Icon Audio HP8 MKII / Lyr / Magni -> AH-D7000, HD700, HD650, LCD 2.2f. IEM’s: Layla, Roxanne, ES Velvet, W4R, GR07 BE, Asura2, NICE HCK DIY PK2.
The Elear to me is somewhat a mix of the best of all my cans I had at the time of audition without any of their downfalls, and much more refined. They were balanced and warm like the HD650's, but more detailed with more startling insane slam. As dynamic impactful as the AH-D7000 but much more refined, balanced. And very similar to the LCD 2.2f but with more sweet treble extension, dynamism and a little more coherent.
The Focal Elear’s build quality is impeccable and looks very classy, it is a tad bit heavy but the weight distribution is well thought out. Clamp is a little strong, but could probably be stretched out a bit, however, I deferred doing this due to it is a loaner and didn’t want to change anything. The pads are very comfortable and my big ears did not come close to touching the drivers.
The Focal Elear (FE) is one of the best cans I have ever had the pleasure of hearing. I listen to mostly Blues and Jazz with a sprinkling of Classical and the Elear is an excellent transducer for all the genres I threw at it. For what it’s worth, I have never enjoyed Classical as much as with these. The detail is astounding. I do not use any EQ because I prefer as flat a response as possible. I couldn’t help my smile from creeping up during my listening time with the ElearJ
The Elear is not the most forgiving cans I’ve heard, but truly isn’t that bad with just about any source. But feed it an excellent source and well recorded music file and they are glorious!
Insane slam!, startling, fast, dynamic, impact, attack, separation, textured, sweet airy treble, detailed, coherent, refined, depth, large, space of the venue, decay, flat response, presence.
Those are the first things that came to my mind in droves, over and over again, and these descriptions are associated with every frequency from the sub bass to the extended treble. I kept writing them down throughout my time with the Elear. It is a neutral, slightly warm listen with no frequency’s that want to stand out above the others.
The separation is the best I’ve heard, yet the transition is very smooth and coherent. I have the KEF LS50 which has a concentric tweeter which makes them very coherent with one voice and I would easily compare the Elear to the LS50 for coherency.
The Elear reveals the space of the venue better than any can I have heard. The front to back separation is startling and spooky. It is definitely an out of head experience.
Sound stage is surprising and startling with an outside of head experience. It is tall and wide and I never really understood the description of tall soundstage until experiencing Elear. I was hearing sounds from above my head!
In “The Last Matador of Bayonne”, album “Dust Bowl” by Joe Bonamassa there is a horn eerily coming out of the far background. This is very clear and detailed with awesome separation, with other cans I had not given it much thought, but with the Elear it was obvious.
On “St. Louis Blues” by Wycliffe Gordon the horn blats have such an airy detailed presence and is so transparent I felt I could reach out and touch them.
The sub bass is very present when called for. The bass has excellent attack and impact, but retains fullness and separation with texture throughout, is never muddy, and does not bleed into the mids. I would compare the separation and lack of bass bleed into the mids with my VSonics GR07 BE which excels at it.
The mids have separation that is out of this world. They are natural, and textured until the cows come home! I wish I could remember the song, but it had a kind of vibrato with the vocal that had so much texture and realism. And as always there is “World Class” SPACE and AIR around the instruments.
The treble is stunningly extended yet sweet and helps for the presence in that it is clean and very present and extended but never harsh. I am getting up in years and my hearing suffers with hearing higher treble so I can appreciate the present treble with the Elear. And the quality is so good I don’t think it would be an issue for younger Head-Fi’ers with better hearing.
I had a great time with these cans and thoroughly enjoyed my time with them. Like I said, I kept writing down these descriptions throughout my time with the Elear and they excel at each description:
Insane slam!, startling, fast, dynamic, impact, attack, separation, textured, sweet airy treble, detailed, coherent, refined, depth, large, space of the venue, decay, flat response, presence.
They are an amazing set of headphones and if I had to nitpick, the slight basshead in me might prefer a tad more bass, but that might mess up the outstanding balance of these cans. As they are, they are near perfect for me and I will be saving up my shekels to buy them.
Thanks again to @Todd , and I can't wait to add these to my collection.
Blueshound24
