Jump to content

Focal Headphones Owners & Discussion Thread


Recommended Posts

1 hour ago, zxSwifty said:

Congrats on Elegias :)

 

Listening to the Stellias right now, can confirm the angels are indeed singing haha 

Haha I’m curious how good headphones can be now. Well, not that curious. Maybe if I traveled often or couldn’t play my music through loudspeakers, but I’ve never loved headphones for the simple fact they’re in or over ears. 
 

I’d like to keep my Elegia for the occasional times I’d need them but think they’ll probably be for sale in the near future.

Link to comment
Share on other sites



Hi Everyone

 

Unfortunately my prized FOCAL Elear Headphone Headband has partially snapped and I need to sort some kind of fix for it. The headphones still work perfectly sound wise but obviously the feel and also the suction on the right hand side has stopped being comfortable.

 

I can't find any information online so I thought I would ask the community here for some recommendations on what to do.

 

Cheers,

 

Tom

IMG_4156.jpg

IMG_4157.jpg

Edited by Intercept
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'd go to someone who works with leather. Open up the band (unstitch it) and inspect the damage. Determine the best way to fix the headphone band and then stick that baby back up.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites



Probably hard to find something that can glue the band back together and withstand the force as it stretch.

 

Addicted to Audio is the local distributor for Focal headphones, if all else fail they might be able to source a new headband for you.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If a replacement band isn't too expensive, go with that or even A2A might do the repair for you.

 

If not, as "B" suggests, undo the stitching and see what sort of repair is required - and maybe post a photo up here to show the problem.

 

Some of the glues that are now available (like that advertised fantastic U-V treatment glue) can stick anything together and quite easy to use.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I had a pair of Focal Clear which I thought were great. But being open, backed, they are slightly antisocial - if I want to listen to music whilst my wife watches TV or even just in the room, it is not so pleasant. And I was not a huge fan of the room noise coming in whilst I was listening. I tried some closed back phones and preferred the "open back" sound. And then I discovered the Stellia. So I sold the Clears to a mate (who is delighted, anyway he lives alone !!), and bought the Stellia and the Arche headphone amp as a bundled deal.  A marriage made in heaven. The experience is truly magical. The old "hearing things I've never heard before" mantra is spot on. I cannot ever imagine being without this combo. The Arche has an analogue connection for my phono preamp/turntable and I can connect digitally from my streamer/DAC and via a USB direct from my laptop. 

A very expensive purchase but, stuck in lockdown here in Qatar, it gets me through my daily groundhog day.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, Sevoman said:

I had a pair of Focal Clear which I thought were great. But being open, backed, they are slightly antisocial - if I want to listen to music whilst my wife watches TV or even just in the room, it is not so pleasant. And I was not a huge fan of the room noise coming in whilst I was listening. I tried some closed back phones and preferred the "open back" sound. And then I discovered the Stellia. So I sold the Clears to a mate (who is delighted, anyway he lives alone !!), and bought the Stellia and the Arche headphone amp as a bundled deal.  A marriage made in heaven. The experience is truly magical. The old "hearing things I've never heard before" mantra is spot on. I cannot ever imagine being without this combo. The Arche has an analogue connection for my phono preamp/turntable and I can connect digitally from my streamer/DAC and via a USB direct from my laptop. 

A very expensive purchase but, stuck in lockdown here in Qatar, it gets me through my daily groundhog 

where did you get the bundle?

Link to comment
Share on other sites



I bought the bundle from the UK - the advantage of living in a country (Qatar) with no proper hifi stores means I can buy from anywhere. I had seen that these bundles (total 25% off) were available in the US, France, Holland, Canada. The US stores were not permitted to sell outside their country. There was no such deal in UK, so I wrote to the same dealer I had bought my Clears from when I was travelling. They asked the national distributor who then asked me for details of the deal (seriously, they had not done their homework) which I forwarded. Within a week, the deal was also advertised in the UK. And being sold to an overseas address, a further 20% off for ex-VAT. Thus a very happy purchase. Australia should be organising the same deal for their customers........

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, Sevoman said:

I bought the bundle from the UK - the advantage of living in a country (Qatar) with no proper hifi stores means I can buy from anywhere. I had seen that these bundles (total 25% off) were available in the US, France, Holland, Canada. The US stores were not permitted to sell outside their country. There was no such deal in UK, so I wrote to the same dealer I had bought my Clears from when I was travelling. They asked the national distributor who then asked me for details of the deal (seriously, they had not done their homework) which I forwarded. Within a week, the deal was also advertised in the UK. And being sold to an overseas address, a further 20% off for ex-VAT. Thus a very happy purchase. Australia should be organising the same deal for their customers........

The stellia and utopia are both currently $2999 aud in Australia. So I geuss that's our deal :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites



Just now, Sevoman said:

I note that the deal is for "B-stock". What is that?

This was answered in the original thread a couple of times. It's brand new stock they are labelling as B stock. I've bought a pair of Stellias and Utopias from the B stock sale, both were brand new in box. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I keep on looking at both the Clear and Utopia but just keep stopping myself from pulling the trigger.  Can't audition them in Brisbane so makes it hard.   Had the Elear and wasn't too impressed with them sonically so hard to know if the Clear or Utopia could be better and also the fit was never great with the pads always getting hot after a little while the Utopia would fix this, always found the Sennheiser HD820 just a better fit overall.

 

Also just don't know if the Utopia is even better then the clear in general. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, sly_bastard said:

I keep on looking at both the Clear and Utopia but just keep stopping myself from pulling the trigger.  Can't audition them in Brisbane so makes it hard.   Had the Elear and wasn't too impressed with them sonically so hard to know if the Clear or Utopia could be better and also the fit was never great with the pads always getting hot after a little while the Utopia would fix this, always found the Sennheiser HD820 just a better fit overall.

 

Also just don't know if the Utopia is even better then the clear in general. 

The Utopia should be better than the clear in every way. I'm not going to say that definitively because I haven't auditioned the clear but from reviews and what everyone says that's the impression I get. It's whether the difference is worth the price that everybody gets caught up on. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I had a long listening session to compare the Clear vs Utopia and did not find a huge difference. This may have been influenced by a fairly average headphone amp. The Stellia were not released at that stage. I think the Stellias sound better but maybe that is just my bias. They are supremely comfortable - but living in Brisbane, maybe getting hot is an issue for you.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, zxSwifty said:

The Utopia should be better than the clear in every way. I'm not going to say that definitively because I haven't auditioned the clear but from reviews and what everyone says that's the impression I get. It's whether the difference is worth the price that everybody gets caught up on. 

This is where it gets interesting, in most reviewed it is noted that the Utopia are technically better but they are more revealing, can be boring and even fatiguing from being so revealing.  If you watch Joshua Valour's review he does mention t a bit.  May people note that the Clear is less precise and there less genre or master dependent so may sound better to people.   At almost 3 times the price it makes it hard to decide, its the issue of fomo in the end haha.

Link to comment
Share on other sites



11 minutes ago, Sevoman said:

I had a long listening session to compare the Clear vs Utopia and did not find a huge difference. This may have been influenced by a fairly average headphone amp. The Stellia were not released at that stage. I think the Stellias sound better but maybe that is just my bias. They are supremely comfortable - but living in Brisbane, maybe getting hot is an issue for you.

in crinicales rankings the utopia is top, Stellia is last.  I put a bit of trust in his rankings but they are not final but you cannot argue with measurements for information.

 

https://crinacle.com/rankings/headphones/

 

The Utopia is pretty amp dependent as it is a precise headphone so need a clear amp to match as such.  The Clear is the middle ground, meant to be great and almost Utopia levels for specialisation but not the top price tag.

Edited by sly_bastard
Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 minutes ago, sly_bastard said:

This is where it gets interesting, in most reviewed it is noted that the Utopia are technically better but they are more revealing, can be boring and even fatiguing from being so revealing.  If you watch Joshua Valour's review he does mention t a bit.  May people note that the Clear is less precise and there less genre or master dependent so may sound better to people.   At almost 3 times the price it makes it hard to decide, its the issue of fomo in the end haha.

I haven't done enough listening to reach that conclusion. I haven't found them boring yet though, quiet the opposite. For the last 8 years I've listened to nothing but dubstep, music that most of you here would probably find terrible. I've never really enjoyed other genres outside of EDM but when listening to Utopias, I enjoy just about everything that goes through them except ironically some of my favourite dubstep songs. I was listening to songs like Toto - Africa, something that to me is usually way too boring to listen to. With the Utopias and being able to hear all that detail I really enjoyed it. The Utopias make me want to explore other genres of music that I wouldn't normally listen to.

 

With dubstep I did find the Utopias could be too harsh. I've heard that metal sounds harsh with the Utopias and I wouldn't be surprised as I think the tone of these two genres is similar. I find the Stellias very enjoyable for my music though. 

Edited by zxSwifty
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I’ve spent quite a bit of time in recent weeks auditioning just about everything mid to TOTL. I’m currently tossing up Stellia, Utopia and Clear. There is absolutely fomo involved which is why I’ve gone back and forth over these options a few times. Having just added the HD800S and a desire to add LCD-X and Z1R also comes into it for me. 
 

Utopia is better than Clear overall. There are key areas where it is not though. The Clear is tuned to be more mainstream, so will suit modern EDM/RNB better with bigger bass. Clear won’t be as detailed in the top end and this is where Utopia stands apart for jazz, classical and more traditional forms of music with vocals and instruments. The speed from the Utopia is incredibly attractive, regardless of genre, but isn’t really suitable for EDM.
 

Stellia is actually better than both to my ears. It’s got 90% of the Utopia’s speed and detail, with better bass from the Clear. It’s currently top of my list. My only hesitation is that I have the Elegia already and this particular headphone is intended for my office, where I need closed headphone to block out the office wide Sonos creeping in. Stellia also does a better job for EDM to my ears. Sometimes the extreme detail of the Utopia doesn’t come across nicely. 


The Stellia won’t make me over analyze music like the Utopia does. I do prefer the look of the Utopia and am only considering it as it’s going to end up alongside a closed bass focused headphone like the Z1R or my existing Elegia, which is only sell if I bought the Stellia.

 

Utopia is more technical and detailed. Stellia is the best at the most things. Clear is the best at its price point for overall sound, but it’s not a Utopia or Stellia. Talk of it being 90% of a Clear is simply not true. That’s a Clear owner justifying it to themselves. 
 

They all sound fantastic, but I would suggest buying the $1200 Clear unless 3k on a single headphone is within budget. If it has to be just one at that budget I think I’d say Stellia as it’s the best all rounder. In a collection with multiple options, I’d say Utopia and get something more middle of the road instead of Stellia - Clear, Arya, etc.

 

I’d take my own advice here but with the HD800S already, and a need for a closed back at work, I’m still unsure if Stellia or Utopia is the right choice. Utopia might compete with HD800S - Stellia won’t. Th at said, Utopia and HD800S as different as they are the same. They perform best on the same music. My HD800S, with EQ, just doesn’t cut it for EDM which is my primary music of choice. I would say HD800S is also not great as a single headphone - but amazing in a collection. 
 

Edited by elisix_
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites



  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.




×
×
  • Create New...
To Top