[dontfeedphils]

Do people buy high-end headphones based on Amazon reviews though? I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[Ekul61]

Interesting reviews above. It always boils down to. Do you want more bass, or do you want more clarity .

 

[TSAVJason]

You can't. You have to buy it from Amazon to be a verified review. The thing with Amazon reviews is that they want to allow outside purchases to also contribute information. But the risk is that if anyone can leave a review they can't stop fake reviewers that work for or are paid by the product company, or conversely, a competing company that wants to leave fake negative reviews. There is actually a lot of stats and data analysis on these problems and it is a very real and prevalent thing in Amazon. So by using the "verified purchase" tag, they are able to at least allow the public to see who has 100% for sure bought the product themselves (off Amazon). It is a compromise. But I respect that choice and while I don't filter out non-verified purchase reviews, I have to treat those with a healthy skepticism and take that into consideration.

I don't want to derail this thread any further, but if you (or anyone else) has other questions or comments about this feel free to PM me.

Lame! Jeff Steriod Bezzos should call me directly and I’ll verify he is a valid owner/purchaser of the Clear.

 

[Ekul61]

Any thoughts on the sound with the balanced cable?.

 

[Paulo Abreu]

Any thoughts on the sound with the balanced cable?.

I’ve been listening mostly balanced; stunning SQ. Did a short comparison with SE, at any volume, balanced sounded more punchy, improved clarity and soundstage. But don’t trust me, read Focal own words on Clear, they say if you want to hear Clear at its best, you go balanced

 

[Ekul61]

I’ve been listening mostly balanced; stunning SQ. Did a short comparison with SE, at any volume, balanced sounded more punchy, improved clarity and soundstage. But don’t trust me, read Focal own words on Clear, they say if you want to hear Clear at its best, you go balanced

Great.Clears will be delivered today. Used with a violectric balanced amp

 

[chungjun]

Do share a short initial impression when you have the chance. Thanks!

Great.Clears will be delivered today. Used with a violectric balanced amp

 

[Ekul61]

Do share a short initial impression when you have the chance. Thanks!

 

[Ekul61]

Sure will. I don't know a lot about burn in. Will listen a sap. Then burn all night.

 

[Paulo Abreu]

Sure will. I don't know a lot about burn in. Will listen a sap. Then burn all night.

They will sound great from the beginning but be prepared to be suprised on first 30 hours

 

[Jodet]

Great.Clears will be delivered today. Used with a violectric balanced amp

That's what I have. It's a very nice setup. And yes, agree about the balanced cable.

 

[Ojisan]

tl;dr

• Compared Clear/HD800/HD600/Stax SRS3100
• Clear has amazing dynamics and resolution that rivals Stax, warmth like no other, but lacks presence/treble (5-7kHz and somewhere above 10kHz) that make it very quiet from hiss but off-balance for some instruments.
• Great especially for Jazz/New Age/Rock/Acoustic/Vocal work/small ensemble classical if you can live with recessed twang/edge/space to these instruments.
• Bass and general sound pressure were little too much punch for me. Had to turn volume way down, too fatiguing for long listening
• My head width measures just under 7in at top of my ears. The clamp was on the tighter side

Longer version:

Just over 2 weeks ago, I set out to find an upgrade to my HD600 (want a better dynamic companion to my Stax SRS3100) where I narrowed down to HD800 and Clear. I gave HD800 and Clear roughly 250 hours comparing between the two, and later compared with my HD600 and Stax. In the end, I came out with the HD800 but I wanted to leave my personal view here. It was really tough.

The first 150 hours were just "Wow!" for the Clear. As it's already been said by many, Clear is fast, punchy, dynamic and detailed headphone. Before 150 hours, at least my unit had a lot of rough presence/treble that actually resulted in decent balance from bass to treble. I thought for sure that this was going to be the keeper. After 150 hours, however, it started to lose the edginess and settled down to give a cohesive soundscape. This was good and bad. While it gave a wonderfully warm sounding instruments/voices with incredible specificity, it made the instruments too warm/wet with recessed presence (I'm guessing 5-7kHz range and somewhere above 10kHz) that results in withdrawn hi-hats/cymbals/brush/etc.

I personally liked the balance better before the burn-in, even though it was rough sounding. After the burn-in, it was obvious that some instruments were overly warm/wet, for example, steel string guitars losing its edge/sparkle. It's not that it doesn't have sparkle though. It sounds disconnected to my ears. In some cases, I could hear the room/hall reverb happening way behind the instruments in a disconnected way. This was one of the key factors in my decision. It actually sounds fine on some music. I had some magical moments with some pop/rock/female vocals. It will even make some of the low-quality recordings sound better.

Besides the presence/treble, the bass was fun but it was too much punch for my ears. Easy to get wow'ed but I can't listen to it more than 1-2 hours even at low volume. My Jotunheim was at 7-9 o'clock volume on low gain (nearly zero). Clear seems to put out a lot of sound pressure to my ears which is a stark contrast to the seamless presentation of HD800 and Stax.

Just to give a data point on the headband, my head width measures just under 7in at the top of my ears. Yeah, probably a big head, lol. I would say that the clamp was on the tighter side. I could probably bend it a little to make it comfortable.

I'm not in love with HD800 either (although it still seems to be changing for the better). It's weak in areas where Clear is good but it's comfortable and does more things right. It's easier to tone down some areas than trying to boost presence/treble for Clear. I agree with previous posters that HD800 is a different character so it's not a good comparison. I can see some people preferring HD6x0 over Clear. Perhaps Utopia has the sound I'm looking for but it's too much $$$ for me unless it comes down to about $2k. If there was an improved Clear with toned down bass, stronger presence/treble under $2k, I would be all over it...

Overall, I like what Focal is doing. This was my first exposure and I have a lot of respect for them from this experience.

As usual, YMMV

My historical impressions:

* The beginning
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/focal-clear-headphones.861727/page-47#post-13868849

* Early comment about 4kHz and 10kHz
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/focal-clear-headphones.861727/page-49#post-13870042

* 50 hours comment
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/focal-clear-headphones.861727/page-50#post-13872110

* Note about amp setting
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/focal-clear-headphones.861727/page-51#post-13873396

* 100 hours
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/focal-clear-headphones.861727/page-53#post-13875812

* 150 hours
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/focal-clear-headphones.861727/page-55#post-13881484

 

[Ekul61]

Do people buy high-end headphones based on Amazon reviews though? I wouldn't worry about it.

i
I've only listened to the utopia,but I would think it. Matches your request above. They are very punchy up top. A little lite in the bass.
The utopia is a better sound than the 800s. Im hoping I'll prefer the Clear to the 800s brittle sound. Delivery date of mine were delayed till mon.

 

[donlin]

i
I've only listened to the utopia,but I would think it. Matches your request above. They are very punchy up top. A little lite in the bass.
The utopia is a better sound than the 800s. Im hoping I'll prefer the Clear to the 800s brittle sound. Delivery date of mine were delayed till mon.

If the 800s sounds brittle for you, I think you will strongly prefer Clear. The Clear treble is the most natural I’ve heard. There is plenty of treble energy but no grain. Vocal sibilance seems just about perfect. I find that I brace for sibilance in certain places of recordings that were annoying on other phones but it sounds fine on Clear.

 

[Ekul61]

If the 800s sounds brittle for you, I think you will strongly prefer Clear. The Clear treble is the most natural I’ve heard. There is plenty of treble energy but no grain. Vocal sibilance seems just about perfect. I find that I brace for sibilance in certain places of recordings that were annoying on other phones but it sounds fine on Clear.

Perfect ,looking forward to the Clears. Just installed trial version of Tidal streaming service. The music is lossless and quite good.