Focal Clear Measurements

Focal Clear

@gbeast was kind enough to swing by to let me have a listen to these. I enjoyed his Utopia and was seriously considering getting one for myself but the price, even used (no warranty), was just too high. I had the Elear on demo for a week from LMC Home Entertainment and enjoyed the very dynamic sound but the bass bloat and 4kHz suckout were dealer breakers for me.

I think Focal did an excellent job positioning the Clear at $1,500 with 3 detachable oxygen-free cables and a decent case.

Sound-wise, the Clear also seems to sit nicely in the middle of Elear and Utopia. It's bass response is closer to the Utopia and it has just a hair more lower treble right at the depressed 4kHz region of the Elear. I only listened to these for a short time but thought the frequency response was well balanced with just a hint of a honky quality with the 1.5kHz bump and then some extra treble shimmer at 10kHz. It's not as neutral as the HD650 but I think the Clear has a fun and very open sound. The other headphone I was comparing it to was the PMx2, which IMO nails proper tone but lacks dynamics and slam.

The drivers are VERY closely matched, this is some of the best matching I've seen as I didn't spend much time readjusting:



Distortion also seems very good but my noise floor is higher below 100Hz with the AC running so anything below 100Hz take with a grain of salt.





Impulse Responses:





CSDs:





CSDs are relatively clean but show the peaks with some minor ringing, also seen on Elear and Utopia, which I think are why the Focals are fatiguing for some including myself.

Comparison to Elear and Utopia:



I'll let @gbeast add more impressions as we generally line up with our sonic preferences.


Gear used: Gungnir Multibit>Freya>Aficionado (WE2C51, RCA 2A3).

 

Thanks you for the input. How about the soundstage? It’s bigger than utopia?

 

It's been a long time since I heard the Utopia but it's soundstage was pretty small and positioned in your head like a planar but had great depth and a cool 3D effect.

The Clear seemed more of the same. I use Battlefield 4 Multiplayer as a great positioning and soundstage test. I could play and hear all arund me but it was harder to pinpoint exact locations of sounds.

For music, I don't mnd the smaller soundstage since it's closer to listening to speakers in an equilateral triangle setup. So if you're fine wirh the Utopia's soundstage you should be fine with the Clear.

 

Here we are then..

http://earphiles.org/2017/12/focal-clear-review/
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I read a post about someone rather having an Elear and eq or something. I would imagine the Clear having better tonality from jump, better cables, and a little bit better technicalities would automatically make it a better headphone. At this point the Elear seems obsolete to me. Because it is less bright than the Utopia and less peaky than the Elear, the bass just feels better integrated into the whole picture. I personally prefer the amount of bass that the Elear has but as you know I like extra.

Overall though, from my Mogwai special edition, I like this HD800 and eq better than the Elear, Autuer, PMX2 and the Clear on some songs because it is knocking harder than the Clear in the bass but has better micro-dynamics than all of them. I hated the 800 until I tried it on the 300ohm tap of the Mogwai that raises the bass into boominess but is more gratifying. It is hitting harder than the Clear on the Aficionado.

@cskippy you asked me if that 2-3k dip on the HD800 bothered me, and I said no. You know what, I had an eq setting already for the HD800 from a while ago and it had that area raised lol. Apparently it bothered me then.

Well anyhow, all of them next to the HD800 make me just want for a fixed HD800. I guess if I had four headphones it would be the HD800 modded, Autuer, PMx2, and 650. The PMx2 is more resolving of reverb trails and texture than the Auteur and the Clear but is over-dampened with a smallish soundstage as well. The Auteur is more resolving of those things than the Clear but the Clear is more snappy precise. I think the HD800 has precision that can satisfy someone wanting a Clear and maybe Sonarworks and an HD800 would be the better buy considering their amp was up to snuff. The Auteur is still the most well rounded of soundstage, tonaltiy, details, slam etc, so it is the headphone I would take on an island of one.

 

whoah what the..
https://www.massdrop.com/buy/massdrop-x-focal-elex-headphones

Dude...

Why? FOCAL ELEX?

 

@Marvey please tell me you have one for review/measurements to post before the drop?

 

Thank you for the measurements! Somehow I didn't see this post earlier.
My comment was not referring to these graphs in the Elex thread, and I meant no disrespect.

 

No worries, I figured as much. And you are welcome!