Focal Elegia

The Elegia has more bass than the Clear at 100hz and below. Above 100hz, the Clear has a bit more energy. The bass dip is there to counteract the 'closed-back' effect of bass emphasis and bleed into the midrange that often shows up in other closed backs. It's effective albeit maybe a bit more than I'd like for engagement for the widest variety of music. Needless to say, bass extension on the Elegia is superb, and stronger/deeper than the Clear, but the upper bass is more pronounced on the Clear. This translates into the Clear being more engaging for a wider variety of tracks - like the ones that aren't taking full advantage of the frequency range. But with that said, the Elegia reveals more overall - at least as far as the bass and midrange is concerned.


Most importantly though, if you're looking for a headphone with a more forward midrange, the Elegia is a damn good choice. This is very much NOT a V shaped headphone, and I'd even go so far as to say the midrange is slightly emphasized beyond neutral - but it could just be me being used to other headphones at this point.

 

Unable to edit this ^ post, so I'll just drop my video review here. I hope this is okay to do (it's not monetized or anything). Someone let me know if this is taboo.



Hope this is helpful to someone.

 

In your video you said that you would take the Elegia over the Aeon Flow (Closed) if EQ'd. If not EQ'd, what would you take?

I have the Aeon Flow and I really enjoy them but sometimes I want a bit of a warmer presentation.

 

I'd still take the elegia. But to be honest, if you already have the AFC, I don't think it's worth the upgrade haha. Are you locked into closed back? You should also consider the Eikon/Atticus. The Elegia is a bit warmer than the AFC, but only because of the midrange emphasis. It still has quite a bit of brightness to it, and while I retract my statement about it being "neutral-bright"... I would caution anyone looking for a traditionally 'warm' experience. This thing is super clinical (in a good way), but for warmth - I think the ZMF offerings would be more appealing.


Just out of curiosity, any reason you're opposed to EQ?

 

I'm not opposed but I am mostly using a Chord Mojo/Poly to drive headphones, and I'm not sure how I'd EQ, probably using the Bubble UPnP app I use to stream.

What I like about the Elegia is I'd be able to drive them with a DAP and I really love the convenience nof DAPs. I might consider selling the Mojo and getting a DAP.

I hate being locked to a desktop situation, or anyone place really. Love having something portable. This is what really excited me about the Elegia and Stella. 35 ohm and high sensitivity.

The Aeon are a weird load on amplifiers and certainly not designed to work with DAPs.

 

Yeah the Elegia certainly does portability a bit better. But I'm not generally a fan of using anything but IEMs on the go. But if you are the kind of person who is okay with big headphones while out and about, it's not a bad option - and I think preferable to the Eikon/Atticus since those are even more bulky. I'm currently considering an SR15 for portable EQ purposes. You get enough bands to make some precise tuning. Obviously it's not the same as Equalizer APO - but it's enough to make the difference.

 

I like IEMs as well but I'm not willing to spend that much money on them.

I feel that they have maybe 10%-20% of the longevity of headphones, as IEM drivers are exposed to moisture and from what I've read IEMs should only really be expected to last 2-3 years on average, even with diligent care and cleaning.

I'd really love to buy some Campfire Audio Solaris IEMs but I'm hesitant, especially since they wouldn't have good synergy with the Mojo, so I'd need to invest in both IEMs and a DAP.

I have the Comets and love them although they certainly have their limitations due to price, although they preform and are excellent value IMO.

I think my ideal situation would be to have a DAP, some IEMs and a pair of headphones that would all work together. I really don't want a 20lb amplifier sitting on a desk.

That's what's so exciting to me about the Elegia and the Stella.

Edit:

I guess I should include that I have no intention to use Elegia or Stelia for walking down the street, taking the bus, ect. more so I like having portability so I can sit on the couch, sit in my bed, sit in the chair in the other room ect. I also like to fix myself some food while listening, or grab a beer, ect.

For anything out of the house I use some Campfire Audio Comets with a Fiio Bluetooth MMCX cable and the Tidal app on my phone (which is pretty f'ing great combo IMO).

 

I have a pair of Ultimate Ears UE-10 Pros I bought in 2005 that still work. I use them when I have to block out noisy neighbours. I have always taken care to keep them clean using the tool UE provides. I feel that they have lost a bit of high and low end extension though, sometime over the last few years and they now sound veiled compared to my HD800S. I certainly got my money's worth from them; if I spent $1000 on a pair of custom IEMs only to have them crap out on me in two to three years I would be PO'd for sure.

 

That's the problem for me. Especially since I'm not rich and need things to last a while to make it worth it to me personally.

I've really tried to dig into fourms and look around on the web and my percieved consensus from this research was "should atleast last a year, probably two, and anything after that is gravy."

Maybe I am mistaken but I have nothing else to go on.

 

That depends on the kind of driver and whether or not the cable is replaceable. BA driver IEMs last for a long time - we're talking about a decade or more - under proper care. Moisture is a problem but if you live in the tropics, an IEM dry box will go a long way to keeping them alive. Not banging them around is also important, I always use mine with a hard shell travel case or a small soft pouch for walking around. MMCX is still relatively fragile compared to Recessed 2 pin or the Fitear pinout, so I would try to minimize cable swaps as well.

This is all anecdotal, but my Westone ES3X from 2009 still works, and I haven't perceived a signature change. My ears did change shape in that time so I pair for a refit from Westone in 2015. Still going strong. My soft-shell ACS T1 from 2013 is still holding up fairly well, although the silicon has discolored making them look quite ugly.

Hybrids and dynamic drivers are a bit more complicated. I don't think it's reasonable to expect them to last as long as big cans - that said, I had a pair of Sony EX1000's that I put on at least 3,000 hours over 7+ years, and while driver deterioration was very noticeable (it lost a lot of treble compare to a new pair) they were still usable at the end. Don't expect most DD IEM's to last that many hours, though.

The TLDR is that 3 years is absolutely fine for IEMs. If I bought the Solaris and it failed under normal use after less than 3 years, I'd complain to Ken over the phone and request that he at least cover parts cost of the repair. And the Mojo is just fine with the Solaris, it's an excellent IEM if a bit too large.

 

I started a new fourm post on IEM longevity here: https://www.superbestaudiofriends.org/index.php?threads/iem-longevity-poll-discussion.7493/

If fourm moderators want to love some posts by all means, but for the rest of us we should probably keep this thread Focal Elegia

 

Thanks Resolve. I actually watched the whole thing thru, which is unusual for me and a gear review vid. Particularly a hands vid (i.e. one that is mostly focused on the gear and question and reviewers hands). What is it with the ubiquitous hands & gear review? Don't answer that as I don't really care.

I noticed your personal ranking of the Focal line, with Elear on bottom. Did you have the Elear in house long enough to get your EQ where you wanted with them? I ask because I trying to get a sense of your EQ use compared to mine. How much EQ (db) did you use on the Elear?

 

Good point about the Elear. I didn't get a chance to properly EQ it so it really isn't a fair comparison. I'll do a video soon about my EQs and preferences, but generally these days I enjoy a relatively neutral response with a bit more forward midrange. So for example I really like the Clear, and I wouldn't change much about it. Same thing with the Auteur, except I add a bit more treble energy by about 2db. I've fine-tuned my EQ for the Aeon Flow open, which I find too warm/dark and thick overall, so that's the one that I've had to adjust the most.

 

Clear is my goto. I more often than not have a slight tilt down, only 1.5 db by about 10khz. Sometimes, on some music, I play with a 2 db or so boost between 4 & 5k. Both of these are tweaky and not necessary. Elear needed 5 or 6 db at least just for that upper mid suck.

 

Yup, I tend to find the same thing. I bump that slightly too with the clear.

 

What about that NightOwl that made a brief appearance, have you had a chance to EQ that yet? I have a gentle rise of 1.5 db through 10khz, a shelf about 800hz of -2.5db, and a Q3 notch at 160 with a further -2.5. Even with this this HP still has significant problems, particularly that ringing cup reverb (I think that's what it is, maybe around 1K?).

Sorry to pester you. I want a replacement for my PM-3's that the wife has requisitioned, and while I can easily EQ at home, I can't always when traveling, and I am trying to get a sense if the Elegia is flat enough to be a viable replacement for the PM-3 without EQ. The NigthtOwl certainly is not

 

Haha nooo I'm not ready to revisit the Nightowl. It was an interesting experiment in sound representation philosophy, and while I'm curious about the idea, I don't think it quite worked out with either AQ headphone. The Nightowl is certainly better than the hawk and I keep it around primarily as an amp tester, since it sounds so drastically different depending what I throw it on, and actually it's not bad to swap to if you need to clear your headphone psychology from being used to whatever you've been wearing for 5 hours a day. It's a bit of a shock to the system, a proper "what the f**k?" experience. I was on the fence about this before, but these days I tend to see the headphone and recorded music experience as so drastically distinct from the live music experience that I question the point of trying to combine/conflate them, and I almost exclusively search for the former.

 

Few days with the Elegia and found they're quite source and head placement dependent. The actually sound good out of the Queststyle Qp2r, but the magic happens when run through a tube amp. These are not bass light, and don't have exaggerated subass as noted by others. Passed the "wife can you hear my music" test, so these would be great for work or late night. They're not at resolving as the Clear, would say equal to the Elear. Soundstage is actually pretty good and better than the Zmf Atticus. But if you have shit gear or a bright dac (Topping D50, Odac, ), these will sound shitty.

 

I think the Pros sound more correct in terms of relatively balanced smoothish frequency response.. to me they are almost the HD650 of closed backs(putting aside comfort).. sure the elegia has better transients, soundstage bla bla, but they don't sound coherent and fatigue free like the Pros. I'd happily take the Pros, hell I'd even take Bose QC35 over the Elegias

 

For accurate FR, yeah I could see that. But they're not tough to EQ to get right.