Massdrop x Focal Elex Review and Measurements

Discussion in 'Headphone Measurements' started by purr1n, Dec 15, 2017.

  1. Junki

    Junki Facebook Friend

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    The Elex is back on Massdrop.
     
  2. slankoe

    slankoe Tongue tastes of LH butthole

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    Waiting for the reviews after Feb 19th
     
  3. Cellist88

    Cellist88 Friend

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    @brencho hmmm...is it time for the Eclair? I have to say I am curious Lol. I think the should change the name from Elex to Eclair. I like Eclair better.
     
  4. brencho

    brencho Friend

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    @Cellist88 haha well the Clear and Elex pads are different and so may sound a little different (hopefully not all that different!). I'd like to hear an elex though, and also measure an eclair, for completeness.
     
  5. Vansen

    Vansen Gear Master (retiring)

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    20180212_100634.jpg
     
  6. brencho

    brencho Friend

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    Hahaha done! Thanks @Vansen This I think confirms Eclair was the right choice over Cannoli and Profiterole.
     
  7. gaspasser

    gaspasser Flatulence Maestro

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    You gentlemen are classy and sophisticated. I, on the other hand, was thinking about making a dick joke. Measuring eclairs (insert Beavis & Butthead laugh) ;)
     
  8. raif

    raif Man made lobster/plankton

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    I am full on in the throes of gear acquisition syndrome, so I snapped these guys up. I have been meaning to check out the focal house sound and this sounds like the perfect entry point.

    I think my average listening volume is somewhere around 70db based on the completely unscientific method of cramming my iphone into the cups of my TH-X00, so the excursion thing isn't likely a concern for me.

    The only thing I am worried about is the weight. Are these like Audeze magnitude, skull crushing weight? Does the headband mitigate the pressure?
     
    Last edited: Feb 12, 2018
  9. JonCharles

    JonCharles Friend

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    Wait, aren't they shipping around the end of April, or did I miss something?
     
  10. e.schell

    e.schell Friend

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    I'm guessing around Feb 19th is when the first drop starts shipping out... ?
     
  11. captkirk

    captkirk Khan's BFF

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    You’re right as far as I know, shipments won’t start until April. Will cleared it up a bit ago...

     
  12. SquiGGlez

    SquiGGlez Acquaintance

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    f**k it I bought one of these mail order brides

    She looks like waifu material, but if I don't like the sound of her voice the marriage can be annulled on eBay and maybe she can runaway with some stylish European man that's got his shit together

    [​IMG]
     
  13. Will

    Will Massdrop

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    Aside from the color, the Clear pads and the Elex pads are the same.
     
  14. brencho

    brencho Friend

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    Cool...
     
  15. brencho

    brencho Friend

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    Clear were too warm and a bit too bassy for me. Elex / Eclair / whateverthefuck are prob more up my alley. More akin to mini Utopia tonally. maybe like the hd600 vs hd650 dilemma (I'm in the former camp). Sweeping generalizations etc etc apply. If the pads are the same then differences probs due to the voice coil and impedance diff among possibly other unknowns.
     
  16. I_want_all_the_tacos

    I_want_all_the_tacos Friend

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    Feb 19th was the mistake date that Massdrop accidentally put up when they reduced the price from $800 to $700. It was promptly fixed and confirmed in the forums that February was a mistake and 1st drop has the same end of April estimate as the current drop. So there won't be any more reviews out to decide before this drop ends.

    My Elears are more comfortable than my previous 2016 LCD-2F, but not as comfortable as my LCD2C. I think comfort on Elear/Clear/Elex comes down to head shape. Because the headband is perfectly round with no ability to adjust shape and the padding doesn't have any cutouts for flex like HD600/650, if your head isn't perfectly round to match the headband shape it can create hotspots. I for one have a bit of a pointy head so I get a hotspot right on top of my head and the headphone needs adjustment every once in a while, say 20-30 min. Not a deal breaker, but not great either.

    Also, I don't find weight to be the main determining comfort factor either. My Auteur and Atticus are probably some of the most comfortable headphones I have. Clamp is lighter than HD6x0, earpad opening is bigger, and I find leather more comfortable than velour. My HD800 is super lightweight but because my head is smaller the earpads are arguably too big and they touch my jaw as well as not get a perfect seal. They also clamp too lightly for my preferences and feel like they will fall off my head if I look down. I can wear lighter headphones like Sennheisers for super long listening sessions though.
     
  17. raif

    raif Man made lobster/plankton

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    I have a big monster melon, so these should work well for me.

    So, I have read through the entirety of this and the other site thread and I have to say I am at a bit of a loss in regards to some of the negative feedback this drop is getting. This sounds like a great opportunity to get deep into the Focal sound at a very reasonable price.

    I am probably going to end up coming off like a Massdrop shill, but after picking up a majority of their collaboration headphone products, I think I have preferred the tweaks they have made to their offerings over their respective production counterparts, without fail.(K7XX, TH-X00, etc.) Massdrop seems like one of the last companies carrying the torch for the old spirit of head-fi(not .org), which was: amazing bang-for-your-buck performance.

    Anyways, in my younger years I might have offered some dime-store analysis on the motivations of some of the negative feedback I have read, but for now I will just leave it at insinuation... ha!
     
    Last edited: Feb 13, 2018
  18. slankoe

    slankoe Tongue tastes of LH butthole

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    I joined the drop. Maybe the tonal balance is better than Clear. That would justify selling the Clear and buying a Utopia :punk:
     
  19. Cellist88

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    probably better to sell both and just buy the utopia Lol.
     
  20. I_want_all_the_tacos

    I_want_all_the_tacos Friend

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    I agree, owning both Elex and Clear seems like way too much redundancy, arguably on the same level as HD600/650 overlap. Sure, HD600/650 are different enough and at $200 each owning both isn't absolutely ridiculous. But at the $1k/each price point it doesn't make as much sense. Brand new Utopia street price is like $2600 right now, so Clear + Elex basically puts you there. It seems like a much better proposition to just skip Elex/Clear and go for the real thing. Even the previous owners of Utopia that also bought Clear as either a complement or hoping to save some bucks downgrading to Clear ended up selling Clear because they kept finding the Utopia to be the better headphone and worth its value given how much money they might lose in resale.
     

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