As long as you are happy, keep listening
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Planning to listen to these in the near future 
Really curious how well they sound.
Do people have experience with 2nd hand warranty of Focal? Have been reading some stuff online that make 2nd hand buying feel like a bad idea. Not sure if that information is outdated though. Do you still need to be the 1st owner to get any form of service?
So I have been ABing all morning:
The way I see it is if youāre rich and like Focal then you should definitely have both. Actually no question.
Never before has two headphones sounded so similar yet so different.
Andrew at the headphone show explained it well by looking at the charts.
I personally think the MG sounds more like the Elex than the OG clear.
The biggest difference is really just FR.
Elex has a slight veil to it, the MG removes 90% of the veil, but gets borderlineā¦VERY borderline towards that sound like an old radio think of it as the opposite of a veil. The top end really sparkles.
I would also add that the soundstage is in such a way that spaciousness shines in the low end on the Elex. The bass defines the space.
In the MG the top end seems to define the space more than the bass, because of that the soundstage seems to be less spacious most of the time.
Youāll get a bit more detail out of the MG especially due to the emphasized top end.
In conclusion: if you donāt have much money PLEASE take the Elex over the MG
If you are in a decent financial position then Iād recommend getting a used or open box MG at $1000. I could see if for that.
But at list price the MG seems ridiculous to me. Better to get a Verite at that point.
At the end of the day I just donāt feel good with the price. Itās just too in league with the Elex. If this was listed at $800 then it would be a big YES especially for aftermarket prices.
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Donāt want to start a fight but I disagree with just about everything you said. Even your descriptions of the Elex and the Clear MG. I have owned both headphones and those are not my experiences with them what so ever.
The MG has a relaxed top end and the Elex was quite shouty and bass light. Shouty to the point I became fatigued quickly listening to it. The MG is nothing like the Elex. I can listen to it fatigue-free for hours.
I also disagree with your comment about the Verite. There are some of us that have heard the Verite and much prefer the Clear. Back when I bought the Aeolus, I had the opportunity to listen to a few different ZMF headphones including the Verite and I passed on ordering one in favor for the Aeolus. Talk about a headphone that is overpriced and sounds strange, thatās the Verite for me. I believe Zeos felt the exact same way at the time.
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How did you like the Aeolus overall? What pads did you settle on?
Iām beginning to think I actually quite like warmth in my headphones. Some hesitations about the Aeolus include the fact that I hear the bass can be sort of overwhelming (maybe this can be solved or lessened with pad swap?), that the bass can bleed into mids, and that the technicalities are maybe lacking for the price tier. How would you respond to those criticisms? Again, totally curious, obviously havenāt heard and so canāt judge the headphone myself. And more curious than ever, really - as I suggested above, thinking more and more about a nice warm headphone.
Currently own 6xx, 1990 Pro, Thieaudio Monarch, ran out of a Bifrost 2 + Lake People G111 (with an Asgard 3 in between them).
The Aeolus is the ultimate chill headphone for my tastes. I find it is a great match for acoustic/live music. It is not a technical headphone. The FOCAL Clear MG is more of a studio listening/technical experience. ZMF are more than a headphone, they are art.
Iāve gone through TONS of pads on all of my headphones. Itās almost an addiction. I prefer the ZMF Universal Perforated Hybrid pads personally.
The Aeolus does not have overwhelming bass. Especially if you enjoy the bass on the Monarch. The Aeolus doesnāt come close. The Aeolus is a warm, smooth, wide open and relaxed signature. I wish I could get the Monarch sound in a headphone. I love its sub bass focus and extension.
It appears we have some parallels.
I also have a large IEM collection. I own all of the Thieaudio IEMs except for the L9 and Voyager. I own all the Fiio hybrids and tons others. I have three Fostex TR-X00 Lawton modded headphones. Iāve owned the Elex and Elegia and have the 6XX as well as many others.
I have a couple stacks but my current main is the Schiit Jot2 + Bifrost2 combo.
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Thanks for the post, lovely pictures. Aeolus and the TA twins are really such gorgeous things.
Do you think the Aeolus could hang for non-acoustic music? I have some classical and jazz I love, also Neil Young type music which I imagine the Aeolus would shine with, but most of what I listen to is synthetic (ambient, electronic, some rock).
I imagine the mids of the Aeolus are definitely not recessed, also? Last round of questions from me - wonāt be hijacking this thread any longer. Thanks!
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+1
Itās all subjective. You can listen to anything with them. I personally feel they really shine with live/acoustic music because of how open they sound. Think of the Aeolus as a huge upgrade to your 6XX with extended treble and bass, but with better imaging and detail. It has natural timbre as the 6XX has.
The mids on the Aeolus are its highlight.
Just donāt expect the Aeolus to be extremely fast technically. The leading edge of transients are smooth and not tight like you would find on something like the FOCAL headphones which are more technical.
Check out the Aeolus thread for more opinions and conversation. Itās been a very popular headphone at this forum.
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I actually donāt mind some slowness, or absence of speed. Right now listening to the Heavenly Music Corporation part of No Pussyfooting on my 6xxās while I work. Warm bath. Even something like this I actually quite like on 6xxās. Of course when I want to intently listen to something electronic or fast Iāll reach for the Monarchs, but while I work, which is most of the time I spend at my desk, warmth can be really nice.
And Iāll check out the Aeolus thread. Unfortunately I donāt think Iām game for the Focal MG. Hearing of too many people having their ears touching the grates, and more and more. Feel like it will only worsen as their pads wear. Some might not mind at all. I honestly might not totally mind either, but until I try them (which I will try to soon, at a local store), theyāll be out of my mind.
Realistically I donāt even know what we could fight about with it being subjective.
I think the best we can do is try to be more objective though, and the only way to do that i is to probably talk about charts which is pretty boring. I have a feeling that we may be using the same terms to describe different things.
All that being said, if I were to put a final word in regarding all this itās that:
I have had two of the same headphone from Focal sound different before so thereās even one more level to it.
And finally I definitely would recommend someone looking to get one of these three (Elex, Clear, and Clear MG) to AB and C em because they are all great, and all very much the same approach but have pretty different sound signatures.
As far as the Verite goes, I owned that one for a year and it was definitely amazing WITH a pad swap to ZMFs own BE2 pad designed for the Verite. Other pads were good, but the BE2 pad made the headphones what they were designed to be imo. But thatās unrelated to the Focal thing. Just saying!
At the end of the day, we donāt all hear the same or prefer the same things out of a headphone.
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I just wanted to politely disagree. No offense meant at all. Itās strange to read descriptions that are completely opposite of what my first hand experiences are, many other owners in this thread and reviewers have already stated and agreed on.
Yeah itās strange for me too.
I was also strange when people constantly said the Clear (original) had more soundstage than the Elex when I had the exact opposite experience ABing those as well. I remember when Zeos had the Elex Utopia and Clear he described the clear as narrow staged and the Elex as a room-like experience in comparison. I always agreed with that but it seemed like nobody else in the forums did.
Then thereās the MG which Zeos seems to love and although I can really appreciate them I donāt experience the staging the way he described at all, and I find the FR to be a bit fatiguing.
So objectively I have no idea whatās going on here. You can agree with one person one moment and disagree with them the next.
As far as the MG goes, I do know that the FR charts reflect a slight decrease in ālowerā treble and a slight increase in the upper top end, which I definitely hear. I also hear better bass out of the MG no doubt, but something in the upper bass-lower mids seem a bit off to me.
At the end of the day I think someone really talented in EQ could make the Focal Clear, Elex, and Clear MG extremely hard to tell apart in a blind test.
So thatās why it comes down to economics for me. These are all great. Get what you can reasonably afford.
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Just the fact that size and shape of the ear canal vary among individuals might and probably makes differences. Some may find e.g. soundstage wider on Elex and some might find it narrower, differences or undefined measurement or āwideā and ānarrowā are different anyways.
Plus the day to day activities or sound environment might change how people hear in different days or situations. āhearing resetā in quiet environment would be good to do before any testing.
Still much easier with speaker since measurementās can be made. Then discuss (argue) how much would be a wide sound stage. 2ft, 5ft, 8ft, 14ft etc, with valid test track.
Just to ruin someones day on the conversation.
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That is completely CRAZY to me. I wouldnāt even consider the Clear MG as bright let alone fatiguing and I am treble sensitive.
They do have a higher peak in the 10k region which may be an issue for some. That could be the cause of fatigue that @luige06 is experiencing.
I still feel that theyāre Neutral-Bright, but with a much smoother and linear tonality.
I agree that they are more neutral than bright. I think the Elex is neutral as well, but neutral dark.
lol! My Elex was very bright/shouty and bass light and quite fatiguing for me. Not dark at all. Maybe Iām not as sensitive to much higher treble frequencies as you are.
It is very interesting how so many different people hear and describe the same product.
Thisās starting to reminding me of the GL2k saga 
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This is leading me to believe that the Clear MG is very transparent when it comes to its source. I can already attest to it sounding considerably different on two different stacks I have. Iāll do more testing and see what I find.
Iām primarily listening to the Clear MG on the Jot 2 + Bifrost2 stack where it does not sound bright to me. I never listened to the Elex on that stack. I listened to the Elex on the SMSL SU-8 & 9 and AAA THX 789. I briefly listened to the Clear MG with the SU-9 and the 789 and remembering it sounding considerably brighter (which I did not prefer). I havenāt listened to it on anything other than these two sources yet.
Valentine Luke Youāre listening on a tube amp right?
luige06, what did you hear it with?
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I think a part of the issue is terminology as well.
For instance shouty is a great example. Shouty is typically a term used to describe elevated midrange (human vocal range) this the name shouty.
So a Dt1990 wouldnāt be shouty even if it might be fatiguing.
Letās also talk about dark - dark could mean one of two things so Iām gonna clarify what I mean.
The Elex doesnāt have huge bass. It could use a bit of a boost imo and thatās one of the places where the MG is hitting a home run
What the Elex does have thatās dark is less upper treble and more upper mids.
I FINALLY understood the comparison to the Sennheiser 600 series with this take on ādarkā
This is what people tend to refer to as veiled.
At the end of the day I think my preference for the Elex comes from what itās doing in the fr area where Bass meets mids.
If the Elex had the treble of the Clears (removing said veil) while maintaining what it does in the lower mids and a bit of a bass boost then it would really be the best for me,
That being said I stick to my opinion that if I had the money I would actually own the MG AND the Elex for the sake of variety and to listen to different stuff, and that itās so strange to me how these headphones can have such a similar sound yet be so different.
Where all Focal headphones are very similar in my opinion is Timbre. Some say itās āmetallicā and that ZMF has the opposite approach to that but I donāt think EITHER are metallic.
DT1990 I could call metallic.
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