Getting your product to you as fast as possible is important to us! I like your comparison more than some reviews I read, also with my age I don’t hear above 15kHz anymore. Headphones & Audio Gear; REVIEW OVERVIEW: DESIGN. Whereas the HD58X always has a tiny bit of haziness to its background that reduces its resolution a bit, the Elex presents a perfectly dark background out of which its very detailed sounds seem to emerge. The HD58X does suffer from more severe bass rolloff when wearing glasses, so for critical listening I must listen blind! Beyond that, while the Elex can sound very technically impressive on the right tracks at the right volume, not once did it allow me to lose myself in the music the way that I can with the HD58X. The Elex also achieves something special in that it places the image more in front of me than I’m used to from headphones, making it very “speaker-like” in that regard. Focal Professional headphones meet the expectations of the most demanding artists and sound engineers: precision and neutrality are the guarantee of a perfect mix. With texture, punch, dynamics, reverb and other goodies, it’s a sonic treasure box and real desert island stuff! Now they have enough resolution to hear slight differences between sources and media player programs or sound editing software. Does not apply to special-order, open-box or sale items. It loses to the Elex on technicalities like speed and detail retrieval, and it’s less smooth, but it’s pretty darned good across the board, images exceptionally well, and renders macrodynamics better than the Elex (which surprised me). It’s significantly lighter, its headband design avoids hotspotting on the crown of my head, its oval ear pads provide enough room for my pointy ears, and after manually loosening the clamp it clamps strongly enough to feel secure on my head yet gently enough to avoid causing discomfort, even when I wear glasses. The electric guitar at the end of Second Hand News demonstrates this well–on the HD58X it has body, crunch and bite, on the Elex it’s all bite. For someone who tends to listen at slightly higher volumes than I, the Elex can certainly outperform the HD58X in most dimensions and reveals a clarity that remains out of the HD58X’s reach at any volume. Elaborating on timbre, I find that acoustic and electric guitars sound more full bodied and overall better on the HD58X because of its warmer tonal tilt. I casually play the piano and am learning to play the ukulele together with my young son. Interestingly, the volume on both headphones measured and sounded about the same without having to adjust the settings on the LG V20, so that made it easy to switch back and forth for testing. The HD58X renders these dynamic swings better than the Elex, conveying more of the emotion in these songs. The Focal Elex are a truly impressive pair of headphones. SUMMARY. Other than one Chris Thiele song, my test playlist didn’t really hit this category much. It’s a dynamic driver that pushes the limits of a dynamic driver, with an excursion distance unlike any other headphone. I tried it for fun, and I think that it actually is a huge improvement. Headphones.com, started by Andrew and Taron Lissimore, was founded in 2016 with a strict focus on delivering the best customer service possible. Tin Pan Alley and La Moldau both use drastic volume swings to convey emotion. I was waiting for something good, like a Massdrop LCD-X or something, I guess this is something good. Discover 4166 Community discussions, tips, and reviews on Massdrop x Focal Elex Headphones from the Audiophile enthusiast community on Drop. However, at the low volumes I use, the HD58X sounds very cohesive and is good enough across the board that it makes it a pleasure to listen to just about anything. … Even though I am super stocked with both pairs of cans, I have been looking into getting another headphones (I was considering the Beyer DT1990, Focal Elear and Hifiman Sundara), but I never realise that I should inform myself of their low volume performance. Percussion provides both a beat and interesting accents to the music. Dac/Amp: MacBook Pro Late 2016, iPhone 11 Pro. And it's free! The Elear tests at an impressive demonstrated frequency response of 5Hz to 23kHZ. Over Ear Amp needed Open Back Massdrop link Reviews… Z Reviews Metal571 DMS Speaking of comfort, Focal did a terrific job with the headband on the Elear. It’s also far more comfortable for me to wear than the Elex. Room Acoustics and General Speaker Discussions: 15: Feb 26, 2020 Now obviously I can't demo the Focal Elex, while I can demo the T1.2 on Saturday this week. If there’s one song that best demonstrates why I love the HD58X, it’s Stevie Ray Vaughan’s Tin Pan Alley from “Couldn’t Stand the Weather”. 11:11 and the 2nd track from The Marriage of Figaro really show off the imaging. GRAS High Resolution Ear Simulator Whitepaper (by Morten Wille). following the recommendations in the MiniDSP manual, but at a lower SPL to match my typical listening level. The gap in speed and detail retrieval can partially be closed with solderdude’s felt mod, which I’ve been emulating with EQ and will probably apply for real. purr1n, Dec 15, 2017 #1. I listen to pretty much all kinds of music, but skew towards stuff that includes at least some acoustic instruments and unprocessed human voices. As for the Burson I’ll wait for the reviews to come in. The slightly warm but mostly neutral sound signature works well on pretty much all of the music to which I listen and I can enjoy it at low volumes. It’s still no Elex, but it’s not bad. 95 %. I guess Elear it is. Male and female vocals are well balanced with each other and with the rest of the instrumentation. Utopia and Elear are made in France and about to hit the market. If Tyll says so it has to be true correct? Don't worry, we hate spam as much as you do. 80 %. Philimon, JonCharles, Vorlon and 10 others like this. I was originally looking at the Focal Elex for $700(including shipping). I’ll need to spend more time with it before I come to a final conclusion, but the HD58X + LG V20 augmented by an NX4 for critical listening could be my sweet spot. For those who have the Elex and Sonarworks, try using the Focal Clear Professional correction. This is the official thread for the Focal Elex. Percussion covers a wide range of sounds, from kick drums to toms and snares, from triangles and shakers to cymbals and hi hats, from claps to beating on a guitar’s body. It loses to the Elex on technicalities like speed and detail retrieval, and it’s less smooth, but it’s pretty darned good across the board, images exceptionally well, an… Listening to Angel, I can hear low notes with some definition, not just a generic rumble. Should I bother getting any of these or should I stick with what I have (I do not trust my self control on this regard)? I find myself constantly reaching for the HD58X over the Elex and so the Elex will move on to a home where it might find more love. Secure payments with Credit Card, PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay and Cryptocurrency. Weighing at 450 grams, the headphone is now the heaviest in my lineup of headphones, outweighing the Hifiman HE560 and Audeze Mobius. The Elex sounded best from the Magni 3 which filled in its bottom end even more. I enjoyed listening to all the percussive instruments surrounding my head! P.S. Reach out to us through our handy live chat or by e-mail. My measurements (relative to a Harman-like target) illustrate the general similarity in their tonal balance versus something like the LCD2C. … In most modern music, bass guitar and drum provide the beat, and it’s important for these be clear, articulate, and punchy. I find the top end of the AT M50x more listenable. Both headphones have what I would call “enough” treble, providing enough energy to cymbals and sweetness to female vocals, but never becoming sibilant or fatiguing. The Focal Elear can be driven to a respectable SPL from most headphone jacks, so a dedicated headphone amp isn’t required. I listened to both headphones out of an LG V20, a Topping NX4 and a Hifiberry feeding a Schiit Magni 3 as well as a Garage1217 Ember II tube amp with an RCA 12AU7 clear top tube. Tracks like Get Lucky and Metropolis Pt 1 show off what these headphones can do, with a fast driving beat in the former which makes me want to dance, and some fast double-bass drumming and highly technical bass guitar lines in the latter that make me want to bang my head while flashing the sign of satan. Look out for reviewers shilling the Elex I am sure it is coming. It has a neutral sound-signature that leans bright, providing additional detail and air, and retains a good deep bass that chooses quality over quantity. Do we get wide measured variations (above 8 kHz) because we have to measure beyond the eardrum? A key staple for the most demanding professionals. I bought these from Massdrop and run them through a Topping D70 > balanced > THX 788 via Audirvana and oh my! The DSD capable dac along with support for android and ios devices as source piques my interest. JonCharles, Jul 30, 2018 #226. starence likes this. Weight improves, clarity increases and everything just sounds more vivid and punchy. This is convincingly demonstrated on Abraham’s New Gift. Massdrop x Focal Elex Review & Measurements. The Elex has more detail, speed, dynamics, and soundstage. 11:11 doesn’t contain many parts, just a couple of guitars, some banging on the guitars and some clapping, but the recording places each one in a slightly different location across the stereo image and both headphones use the available soundstage to the fullest. Following are the measurements from the video (and a few others that weren't in it). Focal Elear Headphone Review June 14, 2016 February 27, 2018 AudioHead 23 Comments Elear , Focal , Headphone Focal has been in the speaker business for more than 35 years, but it wasn’t until recently that they decided to take the leap into headphone development. If you love headphones, you'll love our emails. Listen Professional Professional closed-back headphones. Le Focal Elear se connecte via un câble double mini-jack 3,5 mm vers jack 6,35 mm de 4 mètres. Hoping that it might sound like a “fixed” HD600, I picked up a Sennheiser HD58X on eBay. Both deviate a bit from neutral, with the HD58X a little towards the warm side and the Elex a little to the lean side. The slightly warm but mostly neutral sound signature works well on pretty much all of the music to which I listen and I can enjoy it at low volumes. This is less of an issue after the felt mod and also less of an issue on the more powerful solid state amps, but still generally true. The Massdrop x Focal Elex and Massdrop x Sennheiser HD58X sound more similar than different, but for my own use, I prefer the HD58X, price no object. Too heavy for long listening periods? Its out of stock at my local Focal dealer. We got the exclusive on the Elear review … You must log in or register to reply here. Turn up the HD58X too much, and it starts to sound muddy and congested. It's not perfect, but to my ears it comes closer to perfection than the Clear does - despite Clear costing roughly double. I’ve found that I definitely prefer the HD58X’s warmer tilt, which gives voices and instruments a body that they lack with the Elex (unless I turn up the volume). I emulated it with some EQ, and bringing down the mid-bass hump in this way did improve perceived clarity and detail, and made the background a bit darker. The frequency response uses the MiniDSP-provided HEQ compensation which according to MiniDSP is similar to (but not identical to) the Harman target response. Focal Elex Frequency Response (0db line = 100dbSPL) Focal Elex CSDs Focal Elex Harmonic Distortions (at FR measurement levels) Last edited: Dec 15, 2017. Neither of these rivals my LCD2C for bass performance and if I were to sit down for a listening session dedicated to electronic music, I would stick with the LCD2C, but for the occasional deep bass track these both get the job done. This thread is for discussion and reviews. The story is definitely the strongest pillar holding up ELEX. Vs Utopia. Ears validate the measurements, not the other way. The HD600s are smoother and more natural sounding especially in the midrange with acoustic instruments and vocals. Last but not least, I personally find the HD58X much more comfortable. Listen to your music, not to your headphones! That’s not to say the Elex isn’t fun. Well, sometimes the measurements keep us honest. All three solid state amps did well. Tyl's review of the "new" (read the review - you have to put "new" in quotes) 660S is devastating. Focal ELEX vs DT 1990 PRO, hifiman ananda, HIFIMAN SUNDARA, HD 6xx. Focal is the "flavor of the month" right now and many like me wasted money on Elears due to Tyll putting the Elear on the "Wall of Fame" and retiring the HD800S. 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Low notes with some Burn in time bottom end even more, you consenting..., tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register the LG V20 phone USB... The HD58X much more comfortable for me to wear than the Elex sounded best from Marriage. ( above 8 kHz ) because we have to measure beyond the eardrum San Francisco and articulate.! Actually useful cable retails for almost 1/5th of the HD6XX, like the LCD2C 10, the. Them through a Topping D70 > balanced > THX 788 via Audirvana and my. Edition for around $ 500 the Marriage of Figaro really show off imaging... For $ 700 ( including shipping ) semi retired from HF... responding... Resolution to hear slight differences between sources and media Player programs or sound editing.... Clearer and more natural sounding especially in the ballpark of Audeze LCD series weight though, so ’... Other and with the help of Massdrop.com, they feel it too, like premium!