Massdrop x Focal Elex Review and Measurements

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

  1. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Overhead CSDs. Extended to 5ms. I know some of you have suggested this to be included in measurements. As we can see, the Elex is either a very open headphone or very effective at supressing sounds reverbs and bouncebacks inside the cup. There is basically almost nothing between 500-2000Hz from 1ms on.

    Elex CSDs overhead view to 5ms.
    Elex L.jpg
    Elex R.jpg

    More like the Elear than Utopia, which Elear is wider and more open. Utopia is more intimate. We would figure with the slightly forward and angled mounting of the drivers, and very open baffle implementation, we might get more depth, but this just doesn't seem to be the case for the Focals. Wearing the headphones down low and forward does help with depth (and also more relaxed high end).
     
    Last edited: Dec 15, 2017
  2. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    I always save the liver. Love making liver gravy and sauces... and letting the kids know after the fact.
     
  3. HAL9000

    HAL9000 Almost "Made"

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    I used to be Thomas Keller's neighbor... nothing like his soup that has been put through a chinois n times :)
     
  4. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    What it ultimately comes down to is time. It's easier if you are a professional chef and can hire a bunch of people for repetitive or preparative tasks.
     
  5. HAL9000

    HAL9000 Almost "Made"

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    Oh, he doesn't hire them, when you stage at The French Laundromat, you do it for free... insane!
     
  6. dmckean44

    dmckean44 In a Sherwood S6040CP relationship

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    Good soup means starting with good stock and it normally ends up being a three day process.
     
  7. allegro

    allegro Friend

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    Thanks for the reply. I bought my HD800S because I was disappointed with imaging and soundstage of the Elear also elevated bass; I doubt Focal makes a phone I could live with. Have not heard the Utopias yet though. Not in a rush the HD800S work quite well for me.
     
  8. munch

    munch Friend

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    can I buy these pads separately somehow?

    been pondering the idea of buying a pair of used elear, but for only $200 more I can get these brand new... :thinking:
    I suspect the pads added into price would make it almost the same.

    just never ordered from massdrop while living in Europe... customs fees and import taxes are always pretty much guaranteed to happen right?
     
  9. cskippy

    cskippy Creamy warmpoo

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  10. munch

    munch Friend

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  11. Ringingears

    Ringingears Honorary BFF

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    I hired my wife as my prep chef. She’s really good. Sous chef really. I tried doing the Beef Wellington from the 2nd book. Two day recipe. Wonderful.

    Mods; might want to move these posts to a Julia Child thread. Or not. :D
     
  12. Ringingears

    Ringingears Honorary BFF

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    Yes. We are having tri-tip sandwiches with a au jus stock that took me four days to make. Good cooking takes a lot of time.

    And this headphone looks interesting. More than the Audeze LCD-2C. C is for what........?
     
  13. Dotard

    Dotard Acquaintance

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    I wonder if the Elex will actually ship before the LCD-2C... ;)
     
  14. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Does Dekoni make Focal type pads?
     
  15. cskippy

    cskippy Creamy warmpoo

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    The regular Brainwavz pads were a close fit but you would need to use some kind of adhesive to adhere them.
     
  16. kevnin

    kevnin #facetweeting - Friend

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    Damn, FR almost identical to Utopia and super-clean CSDs. This looks like it will be killer for $799.

    Interesting timing, with the Clear just recently released. Of course it's too early to say for sure but it seems like this could take a big bite out of Elear and Clear sales.
     
  17. HAL9000

    HAL9000 Almost "Made"

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    That, and we should be seeing a selloff of Elears as people upgrade... $400 Elears anybody?
     
  18. WNovizar

    WNovizar Facebook Friend

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    Damn what's with manufacturer and their recent trends of releasing flagships each year. Remember HE1000 V2? HD800S? Ether Flows? And now Clear/Elex? So they spend some time to research headphones, and yet has to release another flagship again ??
     
  19. songmic

    songmic Gear cycler East Asia edition

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    Not sure if you’re being just being sarcastic, but the last time I checked, Utopia still remains Focal’s flagship headphone. And for the record, it took Sennheiser about 6 years to update their flagship from HD800 to HD800S.
     
    Last edited: Dec 16, 2017
  20. WNovizar

    WNovizar Facebook Friend

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    Not as much. Yeah Utopia is the flagship, but why don't they wait and directly release clear instead of elear first? It took Sennheiser 6 years to release HD800S? But what did they actually do to release it? get updates so that they could say "hey this HD800S is new"?

    My dig is that if you want to release headphones, release it right.
     

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