Focal
Focal Elear: 100% pleasure hi-fi headphones
Aprox. 499€ - see price -
Focal announced in the summer of 2016 the arrival of three headsets, two of which were new: the Elear and Utopia, the first to benefit from a 100% hi-fi approach from the French brand. We had already been impressed by the beautiful neutrality of the Listen, a headset yet nomadic, and as much to say it right away, the Elear is a real success.
Our review
Ergonomics
The Focal Elear is both sober and elegant. The shape of the helmet is not innovative, but it spares us the sometimes convoluted design of certain products of this type - hello the HD800S. The manufacturing is nonetheless very well done, down to the smallest details. We mostly find aluminum completed with a few touches of real leather.
As can be seen in some other competing headsets, no XLR connection is possible from the start with the headset. The manufacturer has nevertheless clarified that it can be manufactured on request from the dealer.
The Elear is not the lightest and most flexible in its class. And yet, its weight is really well balanced once the helmet is placed on the head. The pressure points are distributed homogeneously whatever the morphology of the skull and no feeling of discomfort or pinching really appears during long listening sessions.
The very slightly notched hoop of the Elear allows a wide deployment which adapts to almost all the heads (from 32 to 44 cm approximately, by measuring from ear to ear passing by the top of the skull).
This comfort is provided by a judicious choice of materials and by the well-designed design. The perforated pads are airy and soft. They include the ears well without touching the protective grid of the transducer. The asymmetrical hinges of the arch ensure good hold while hugging the top of the head.
The upholstery of the pads is made of lambskin and perforated textile (50/50%) for their acoustic (ergonomic, leather absorption, textile) and ergonomic properties.
If we don't have too much doubt about the durability of the metal part, we are a little bit more skeptical about the fabric of the pads. There were no defects or premature wear during our two week test period, but its appearance is very fluffy. Fortunately, the ear pads are removable, so you can at least change them if something goes wrong.
The Focal Elear is connected via a double mini-jack 3.5 mm cable to 6.35 mm jack of 4 meters. Its great thickness bodes well for longevity. There is very little security to secure the cables to the helmet, but we would have preferred something more firm to secure the helmet in the event of a fall.
Audio
The Elear has benefited from a very special design from Focal and the result is really there. The sound rendering is both faithful and precise, the distortion is extremely low and the sound scene reproduced in a natural and detailed manner.
Neutrality enthusiasts will find themselves in this helmet. The accuracy and precision of the bass is amazing. They are exactly where we expect them. The Elear also responds present in the lowest frequencies, unlike some other open headphones. We enjoy a real feeling of depth and pressure on the bass drums, on the bass or on the synths. Its membranes show a very good reactivity in this area, which allows you to enjoy very precise and punchy bass in all circumstances. The rest of the spectrum is in the same vein, although there is a very slight decline in the midrange / high-midrange synonymous with a slightly softer sound. This does not affect the intelligibility of the voices. Their presence is also quite striking, like many other musical sources. The restitution in the treble, airy and defined, is done without artifice; This is a point which can also be confusing if you are used to flattering helmets which bet on an accentuated shine.
There is absolutely no sibilance, even with very demanding pieces on this point.
Measurement of membrane reactivity: square waves at 50 Hz (left) and square waves at 500 Hz (right)
The deployment of the sound stage is also remarkable. The reading of the different layers and the differentiation of the sound sources which compose it are done in all transparency, whatever the musical style or the dynamics of the song listened to. Each piece can be peeled precisely. We feel here an approach similar to that of the Sennheiser HD 800 S, with a real exteriorization of the listening, as this we were in the center of the action. The ultra-open design of the Focal Elear greatly contributes to this result, at the cost of an ultra-significant sensitivity to surrounding noise.
RAS on the side of the distortion, the measurements speak for themselves: the Focal Elear is a real example in this area.
Conclusion
It is a real tour de force that the Elear offers us, and by extension Focal for its first fully hi-fi headphones. The Elear certainly ranks among the essentials by holding hands all its promises: a very good feeling of comfort, a surprising neutrality, a beautiful sound precision, a natural spatialization and a distortion of oblivion gathered in a manufacturing with little onions. What more?
Reviews
Best you can get under $1000 hands down
You can find full reviews on Head Fi and other audio sites and forums so I'll be brief. I've had my fair share of quality headphones and listened to many others and the Focal Elear is among the best I've heard and it is the best $ 1000 and under headphone imo. The dynamics are some of the best I've heard and the depth of field and imaging is also fantastic. They are comfortable to wear and build quality is what you'd expect from a $ 1000 headphone. If you can only buy one headphone and have the money to spend these are it (unless you can spend thousands on something like the Utopia). I like them so much I'm going to sell most if not all of my other headphones and that's something I never thought I'd ever do.
Update 3/1/17,
After having the Elear now for about 4 months I couldn't be more happy with them. I have well over 150 hours of use on them and the sound better than ever, though I think the Modi Multibit DAC has something to do with that. The mids have come through quite a bit more than in the beginning and that's without them being EQ'd. I do have the bass turned up 2.2db to give my electronic music that extra kick it needs but its still not basshead territory imo. Highs are nice and crisp without any harshness and I think the overall detail retrieval is very good though not in the HD800 realm. The soundstage to me has more width to it now so it's not as narrow sounding and the depth is as good as ever, they really do have the best depth of field I've heard from a headphone. The only downside to the Elear is that my other headphones don't get used much, I'd say only my Nighthawk gets picked up every now and then when I'm in a more basshead feel (not saying they are basshead cans but they do have a nice kick to them). Build quality is perfect with no rattles or loose fittings anywhere and they are a very comfy headphone. For a thousand dollars these really are a bargain, so if you want top tier sound quality for a mid-fi (top end of mid-fi) price the Focal Elear is they way to go, unless you like a more analytical detailed sound sig then the HD800 or T1 is the better choice.
Beware!
I love amazon to death and I love my audio equipment but this was a dud. I had been anxiously waiting on these headphones. Got home from work, plugged them into my amp and I got nothing. I closed Tidal and restarted it three times before plugging in a different pair of headphones. The music played. I tried a different headphone amplifier; nothing. Tried a different pair of headphones in the different amplifier and sound was produced. I tried plugging, unplugging, restarting ..... Nothing worked. I went to the Focal website. Lo and Behold ... “Amazon is not an authorized dealer. Buyers, beware ”..... I've had no issue with Sennheiser, Schiit, Monoprice, Ifi, etc ... when ordering from Amazon. Will never order a focal product through amazon again.
Made a believer out of me
I looked high and low. Read tons of reviews. Auditioned a few and returned. Own or have owned Grado GS1000e, Sennheiser HD650, Master & Dynamic MH40, and B&O H6. These are IT for build quality, design / style, comfort, versatility in the context of music genres, and overall acoustics. Closed ear headphones have their place, but if you are really after high fidelity presentation of the music ... these open cans are the best that I have come across (I have not listened to the Utopia's $$$ or planar / electrostatics). Would have been nice to have shipped with another thinner / shorter cable ... so be prepared ... these are hefty and looong. It worked well with the various headphone amps I have ... tube, hybrid and solid state .... and coming straight out of my CD player. The only time I might prefer the Grado's is on a few classical / jazz and vocal recordings and at lower levels. The Elear is a tremendously dynamic and musical headphone ... an 'all rounder'. The bass is superb ... punchy, tight, controlled. The mid's are clear and expansive. The highs are crisp and non-fatiguing. I listen to a lot of Grateful Dead and these are a great match. It's extremely detailed and it really shines on the jazz recordings with very capable soundstaging. For hip hop, It tames the thumping bass rhythms without taking anything away from the music. The Elear will be my 'go-to' headphone for many years to come. I haven't even burned them in thoroughly yet ... and should only improve over time. I already ordered some replacement cables and looking forward to taming the stock 'anaconda' that it came with. Kudos to Focal for a great product.