Focal Clear

Yes, the Elex I have and Elear I tried have the same problem. It's not like distortion or noise, it's just like... clipping, mechanical clipping. And yes, it requires volume higher than comfortable level, I used my iPhone to measure the clipping points of my Elex, it was about 89 ~ 90dB normally, a bit to loud for me (but, iPhone with various music, this test can't be very scientific). So it doesn't bother me.

But I have to say, the electrostatic paper I put in front of my Elex's drivers has the same thing when bass is loud. It felt like electrostatic energy had been gathering by my ears and I was ready to charge!! It's like a physical connecting or emphasizing of good bass and a warning of high volume listening, I kinda like it And if I turn the volume even higher, bass clipping.

 

I do not have any mods in place at all and yes, that is the track! Thank you!

EDIT: So I just switched from the LCD-X to the Clears and kept the volume the same. It wasn't quite as bad. I guess I was listening really loudly and didn't even realize it. After hours of having them end, I find myself increasing the volume here and there and apparently, I'm pushing it to potentially dangerous levels. :-/

All right, I feel better now. I appreciate everyone's responses about this!

 

I use a sound level meter from radioshack to test volume. Not sure exactly how accurate it is, but it gets me into the ballpark and I generally listen at about 70 decibels.

I'm not a Clear owner, but an Elex owner, and I've experienced the max excursion only when in excess of 100 to 110 decibels. Look after your ears before complaining about this 'feature'!

 

Besides measurement fun, a good bonus to purchasing MiniDSP EARS is that you can get an accurate check on your listening levels.

 

You're totally right. Daily fatigue after listening for hours led me to raising the volume more than I should've and that was the problem.

Drunk and showing my wife the LCD-X and she prefers the Clears actually. We're having a spirited debated because I'm all about those Audeze but she thinks the Clears are better in every way except the bass but I think the soundstage and 3D imaging of the LCD-X are superior.

Ears are awesome.

 

Years of playing the drums as a teen without protection (remember kids, always use protection) has partly damaged my hearing.

I can still hear a 15Khz tone (quite painful on the bright-tilted Elex actually, just tried then!) still, but music >=80 decibels and I go to sleep that night with some ringing in my ears. Better be safe than sorry with our ears. I get a little anal about it, keeping the sound meter on my desk, but whatever!

The Focal house sound is really growing on me.

edit - last night I decided to try out that NIN track 'underneath it all', after reading how it layers through the Clear. Ended up listening to the whole Fragile album (thanks 13-year old me who bought the damn CD), as well as the Broken EP. Absolutely phenomenal!

 

We're drunk, but my wife has repeatedly said tonight she loves the Clears (vs. the LCD-X) for the amount of detail but loves the LCD-X for how well they combine everything.

The Clears are incredible for detail and separation of layers but she loves of the LCD-X for their "musicality" because of the the detail and extra bass.

I have to agree. The Clears are great for analytical listening but the LCD-X have almost all the Clears offer with the addition of bass and general euphonics. I'm keeping both for different reasons but in the event anyone is looking for a comparison between the two like I was: the LCD-X are darker but so much more enjoyable for long-term listening.

IMHO OFC.

 

So I checked out your track (Youtube > USB > micro iDSD > Clears/EX1000). At up to the highest levels that I can withstand (my face would look like your avatar if I turned it up any louder), I don't hear anything wrong with the bass on the Clears. Due to the mid/treble content, I can't turn it up that loud, but I did my best to selectively crank towards the end of the drop. There's a bit of "texture" towards the end as it drops right down low. I compared with my EX1000s which are my bass reference (clean, deep, tight). They extend flatter than the Clears and I can hear even more of that same "texture" at the bottom of the drop.

My guess is that the Clears are reproducing this texture better (or maybe just moar?) than the LCD-X. And/or that the planar drivers are smoothing over this texture, though my ZMF Blackwoods (modded T50RP drivers) farted pretty bad on sub-bass test tracks. Dynamic drivers may possibly reproduce a more natural sounding bass. Either that or your Clears are fucked.

One thing of note: when I do hear the LF breakup on my Clears, the L and R channels sound different. So if the farting your hearing is different on L/R channels, then maybe they really are fucked.

 

I appreciate you taking the time to listen and report back. That texture is the same in both sides so maybe I just have the volume far too loud.

 

@klyrish I see you have HD6XX. Not ideal for reproducing sub-bass, but see if you can hear the same "texture" in that bass drop (KISS or Dynamat modded would be better) Then you'll have another reference point for what it actually sounds like. Or borrow another phone to try.

Maybe best not to do it while drunk. You might end up cranking he volume louder than you should.

 

I've had the Clear for about 2 weeks now. I tend to listen at loud volume.

Indeed the Clear has some issues with sub-bass, particularly around 20Hz it seems. I tested with tones from a test CD and 20 to 30Hz was especially bad even at moderate volume.

I don't hear any issue with the above Enter Shikari song on YT but then again - the song is mastered pretty badly and it's quite loud (DR5), and I can't stand turning the volume too high on it anyways.

But on other tracks, even on somewhat moderate volume, there can be pops and cracks. Here's one example that's very bad on my set in particular - right at the start of the first track. Need to turn it way down to sound fine but then it's too quiet for me :/

 

PSA: those looking for replacement pads for the Clear, Drop is now taking orders for the Elex pads (dark version of the Clear pads).

 

Was excited to get a spare set for my Clears but then I saw this.... "Estimated ship date is Apr 1, 2020 PT."..... I mean.. it's a joke right?

 

No, it's a Drop™!

 

Thanks for this!

Has anyone compared the clear and elex pads before? IIRC, I remember reading somewhere in the drop discussion that the elex pads have slightly thinner material on the side that touches your face, whereas the clear pads are a little thicker there. So I’m curious if they are as comfortable/sound the same.

Regardless, I’ll still probably pick up an elex pad for backup, just because the official focal clear ones are so freaking expensive.

 

A massdrop representative (in the elex thread I believe) that the Elex pads are the same as the Clear pads but for the color. I am in no position to argue that point.

 

I ordered three pairs (!)


edit - and they seem to be out of stock. Maybe for a day or two, maybe longer, if so, point proven! Get them while you can!

 

Thanks for the correction. I think I got the idea they were different from this massdrop comment, who compared both and said that the pads had different finishes (a bit more texturized on the clear pads), and slightly firmer foam on the clear pads. But if a massdrop rep said they were the same, then maybe it is

Also yeah holy shit, that sold through fast. Glad I got my pair while I did... Interesting how little stock they seemed to have (~100 pairs), when there seemed to be a high number of requests and the ship date is so far off.

 

What's the consensus on the Dekoni, particularly fenestrated sheep?