[Mediahound]

One thing that sorta worries me is Tyll described them as being almost too 'dynamic'. Does that mean it may be a bit too live and 'hot' sounding?

 

[jude]

  One thing that sorta worries me is Tyll described them as being almost too 'dynamic'. Does that mean it may be a bit too live and 'hot' sounding?

 
Not in my opinion, no.
 

Any changes to the cable being made by focal?

 

Not that I'm aware of. I personally find the stock cables too heavy and long, so I made my own changes to Moon Audio's Silver Dragon for the Elear and Black Dragon for the Utopia. In both cases, I've gone with some comparatively much shorter, lighter cables than stock.

 

[Mediahound]

Any changes to the cable being made by focal?

Doubt it. It's too long for sure. 
 
On the positive side, the Elear uses 3.5mm plugs in each earcup. Any aftermarket cable made for the Sony MDR-Z7  should work. I plan to get a balanced cable for the Elear for sure. 
 
Please note- the Utopia uses different connectors on earcups. 

 

[Stillhart]

  One thing that sorta worries me is Tyll described them as being almost too 'dynamic'. Does that mean it may be a bit too live and 'hot' sounding?

 
I didn't have that problem, no.  But from his description in the video, it sounds like he listens a lot louder than I do...

 

[jude]

Wow want a review. He pretty much compared them to everything I would want to compare them with. I find it interesting he wants even more bass?!?

Sadly these are going to hard to get ahold of now.

.... Now to buy these or the Flows... That is the question for me.

 

  Yeah, i'm confused at the bass part myself. Because all you ever hear about these is that they are excellent on the bass section. Hmm
Maybe i'm just nitpicking. But until i hear for myself i guess i'll never know. 

 
I'll have to watch his video to see exactly what he said, but the bass on the Elear is not something I'd personally want more of. Obviously, this comes down to personal preferences, but I like the Elear's bass just as it is--punchy and with what sounds to me like deep, deep extension.

 

[ubs28]

Well, the HD 800 S is going to be gone from the Wall of Fame. Tyll says he prefers the Elear over it and the Elear is cheaper. You do the math.

He must really like that dynamic and punchy sound if he ingores the huge 10khz peak.
 
Too bad he didn't include the Hifiman Edition - X in the comparisons. 

 

[PeteSTRADAMUS]

   
 
I'll have to watch his video to see exactly what he said, but the bass on the Elear is not something I'd personally want more of. Obviously, this comes down to personal preferences, but I like the Elear's bass just as it is--punchy and with what sounds to me like deep, deep extension.

I'm just uber-excited to finally get my hands on these suckers. Delay - delay - delay. I guess greatness can wait just a little longer lol. 

 

[PeteSTRADAMUS]

 
Doubt it. It's too long for sure. 
 
On the positive side, the Elear uses 3.5mm plugs in each earcup. Any aftermarket cable made for the Sony MDR-Z7  should work. I plan to get a balanced cable for the Elear for sure. 
 
Please note- the Utopia uses different connectors on earcups. 

Oh wow. So i can purchase the portable Kimber kable to use with the Elear's ? The one made for the Sony MDR-Z7 ? If so, that would be sweet. I don't want a 13 foot snake laying around my room. 

 

[Mediahound]

  Oh wow. So i can purchase the portable Kimber kable to use with the Elear's ? The one made for the Sony MDR-Z7 ? If so, that would be sweet. I don't want a 13 foot snake laying around my room. 

Yep, any cable that uses 3.5mm connectors on each ear should work. 

 

[raypin]

Well, the HD 800 S is going to be gone from the Wall of Fame. Tyll says he prefers the Elear over it and the Elear is cheaper. You do the math.




He must really like that dynamic and punchy sound if he ingores the huge 10khz peak.


 


Too bad he didn't include the Hifiman Edition - X in the comparisons. 

 


Mmm...my guess stands (posted awhile back). The Elear will take the place of the HD 650 and claim the crown of the world's best mid-fi HP in the world (unbeatable price to performannce ratio). Ether Flow over the Ether (Ether Flow C over the Ether C). That leaves the Utopia to challenge the Sennheiser 800 S. What worries me is the huge price difference between the 2. So, it might be the 800 S will retain its WOF crown for a little while longer. We shall see.

Now, I'm actually more excited to pair the Elear with the WA8 than the Utopia (which apparently sound its best only when paired with the TOTL amp/dac). No such issue (none that I've read) with the Elear.

 

[Mediahound]

 

  Well, the HD 800 S is going to be gone from the Wall of Fame. Tyll says he prefers the Elear over it and the Elear is cheaper. You do the math.
 

He must really like that dynamic and punchy sound if he ingores the huge 10khz peak.
   
  Too bad he didn't include the Hifiman Edition - X in the comparisons. 

 


Mmm...my guess stands (posted awhile back). The Elear will take the place of the HD 650 and claim the crown of the world's best mid-fi HP in the world (unbeatable price to performannce ratio). Ether Flow over the Ether (Ether Flow C over the Ether C). That leaves the Utopia to challenge the Sennheiser 800 S. What worries me is the huge price difference between the 2. So, it might be the 800 S will retain its WOF crown for a little while longer. We shall see.

Now, I'm actually more excited to pair the Elear with the WA8 than the Utopia (which apparently sound its best only when paired with the TOTL amp/dac). No such issue (none that I've read) with the Elear.

Yeah the HD800S scales really well and can punch above it's price point for sure. Whereas the Utopia (and other cans in that price point like the LCD-4) are really probably over-priced (IMO). 

 

[Jawed]

Now that Focal has proven it can do headphones, there'll be a Grande Utopia at $20,000... Not for a while yet, at least.

I have to admit I've long wondered when Sennheiser is going to introduce a new statement dynamic headphone. Rather than replace HD 800 (S), it'll come in at a higher price, say around $4K. HD 800 is pretty old now.

 

[gto88]

Another pricy headphone after hifiman he1000,Audeze lcd4.
I guess that there are more coming?
Maybe Sennheiser is hatching something.
 
Maybe a multiple driver headphone?  I know IEM has such design, why not overear headphone.

 

[XERO1]

Tyll confirmed what I said earlier in this thread, that the Elear (and Utopia) make the HD 800 and HD 800S sound noticeably bass-light when doing a direct side-by-side comparison.
 
And like Tyll, I would have also liked a couple of dB's more of sub-bass (<40Hz) for the Elear (and Utopia).  But as they are, I think that the Elear's have just enough low-end bass response to be considered a world-class headphone that no real excuses need be made for and are a straight-up bargain for what they offer for their price.

 

[ubs28]

So Tyll thinks the Elear is better on the following points.
 
1. Warmer & bassier sound ( No suprise since Tyll likes warm headphones ) 
  2. Dynamics.
 
However the HD 800 S has other strenghts over the Elear (bigger and deeper soundstage, better transient response and upfront treble). 
 
So if you dail in a warm sound on the original HD 800 (can be bought for $999 new if you look around hard enough) with an EQ, you got a headphone that beats the Elear except on dynamics? Than it becomes a question how important the dynamics are to you in favour of the other points that you will loose.