Focal ELEAR Open Back Circum-Aural Headphones

2017-10-31T20:38:07

These are great headphones. The amount of detail they put out is very impressive. But even with all of that detail and separation they are never harsh or sibilant. That's quite the achievement. The first couple of days I listened to them I would put them on and realize an hour or two later that I had just been staring into space, listening. I have had a lot of great headphones but none of them have had that profound of an effect on me. One review I read before I purchased them put it nicely, "You can't wear these while working because you will get nothing done." Oh, how true that is. Others have said that they lack bass which isn't true in the slightest. On some of my amps I have to dial back the bass several decibels and I consider myself a bass head. I would call their sound signature "musically neutral". When listening to a spectrum sweep my ears don't hear any spikes or dips to speak of. The drivers are also matched perfectly. It's undoubtedly the most neutral headphone I own but it's not flat and boring sounding like a truly flat sound signature would sound like. These are also ridiculously easy to drive, which is refreshing. I attribute that to good driver design and the fact that no damping materials were used around the driver. It's not all sunshine and roses, though. They are pretty heavy for their size. They are also very stiff but don't clamp as much as I would like. All of this makes them not that comfortable, especially when wearing them all day. Taking them on and off is chore due to the headband not flexing much. Some have complained about the creaking headband. I haven't had that issue yet but I imagine that it will probably develop that problem due to the design of the headband. The cable they come with is downright silly. I'm all for long, high quality cables but I struggle to imagine that they needed the wire to be as thick as the power cable used to wire my house. It's also stiff which make it very hard to manage. But it's removable so I just bought a shorter 3rd party cable and it works great. The only other gripe I have that's not related to build/accessories is that the mids, depending on the recording, can sound thick and over emphasized, almost shoutey. But it should be noted that I have midrange sensitivity, if there is such a thing. I usually prefer a slightly recessed midrange. That said, it's definitely not a problem with every track so probably something to do with how it was mixed and/or mastered. These headphones are very critical of poorly mastered music. Overall, these are great. I got them on a very good sale and I feel like I got a pretty good deal given the sound and paid a fair price given the build. I personally don't think they are worth their full asking price considering their build quality issues.

Bronson W.