šŸ”¶ Focal Clear Mg

I agree with the sentiment that the soundstage is small, but it sure seems accurate in its imaging and separation.

I really like these headphones.

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Coming from the Sennheiser line, I like a intermate experience. Focal is beating Sennheiser at itā€™s own game, and doing it well.

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Will try and stay on topic for this thread, but you had the 660s as well, correct? Any thoughts on the differences as you went from 6XX ā†’ 660s ā†’ Clear Mg? I love my 6XX on tubes and the Clears on the Jot2, but debated whether it was worth it to grab the 660s since it may not do anything better than the other 2.

I went from the 58x to the 660s, and I enjoyed it till I got the elex. I havenā€™t heard the upper end Sennheiserā€™s. But I fell in love with the Focal ā€œhouse soundā€ with the elex, and chased it to the MG. I have no experience with tubes, so I canā€™t help you there. The 660 is a little wider than the MG. Other than that. Nope, I sold the 660 once I got the elex. To be completely honest, it was on my Sdac-balanced and my 789. Also sold.

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Whats your setup?

I am going Bifrost 2 ā†’ Jotunheim 2 ā†’ Clear Mg

Oh wow now Iā€™m excited. I just bought both of these.

I guess we are all very happy. Almost no activity here. I think mine are still getting better. Iā€™m almost ready to sell my Elex. I havenā€™t tried to compare them. I just know the MG is better!

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Welp, tossed my sennheisers out for thisā€¦ tossed my 1990 up for sale(thats saying something as thats one of my favorites that has been on my wall). If only this had better soundstageā€¦ my god if it had better soundstage I would sell off the T1. I guess I need to keep an eye on Focal incase they decide to pull a sennheiser what with the hd800S over there.

I think my biggest gripe next to the soundstage is thatā€¦ eventually ill have to replace the padsā€¦ and focal doesnā€™t do that well with pad swaps lol so I will have to shell out the $200 for new pads

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The right tube amp will open up the soundstage.

Glad youā€™re enjoying them. Iā€™m really happy with mine. :+1:t4:

I hear ya on the padsā€¦but thats why I got the MG Pro. Well if Iā€™m being honest also because I am partial for the red/black.

Agree on soundstage but everything sounds so damn good I look past itā€¦or is it hear past it?

As Josh V would sayā€¦these are baller headphones!

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Itā€™s not that I need to open it upā€¦ the setup is fine, itā€™s just naturally not as big as I personally prefer which is fine its not a deal breaker.

I actually asked the guys to send me the red one after seeing the balanced cable in the box :joy: same price but you give me a cable that I donā€™t deem worth $200 compared to different aesthetics but a $200 set of extra padsā€¦ yeah I will just take the pads lol. I still think Focal needs to just offer different colors as an optionā€¦ personally not a fan of the black and redā€¦ silver and blue would be interesting though for me personally.

thats where I am at with itā€¦ the sound of these are just incredibly goodā€¦ the imaging is superb and 3d as hell. Separation is fantastic. I watched Joshā€™s review but really I only agree on the stageā€¦ the headphone sounds just fineā€¦ I donā€™t personally see anything wrong at all with its treble or mid presenceā€¦ hell the treble still maintains that sizzle you got from the OG clears but without that metallic Clang to it which I think will sync with a lot more peopleā€¦ as when I have asked some people that metallic sound in the highs of the OG clear actually was a bit uncomfortable or just unenjoyable

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I had debated selling my 6XX for a bit after I got my Mg, but decided that Iā€™d regret it since I know Iā€™ll eventually get a tube amp and then I wouldnā€™t be able to hear what everyone talks about when they say tubes really bring out the best in them.

Somewhat off topic, but what would you recommend getting for someone that has never experienced a truly wide, open soundstage? I donā€™t need anything that would pull double-duty as something to enjoy music with, as I have the Mg for that. But I donā€™t mind spending a couple of hundred dollars either for something that also wonā€™t sound terrible.

Hey just messing around with a bit of EQ on this headphone. I took what @ResolveReviews did for the LCD-X and it works just as well for this headphone. I just turn off one of the settings that I am using with the LCD-X

eh, I had tried mine on things like the bottlehead, dark voice, ifi ican, etc etc and decided to pass on them anywayā€¦ While I will agree you should definitely use them on tubes as they sound greatā€¦ doesnā€™t really best these.

Depends on how wide your wantingā€¦ Id sayā€¦ if you want to experience air and spacious quality soundā€¦ pick up the Sundara with a proper amp just as an audition if you can find oneā€¦ as that should give you a pretty good idea. If you have an audio storeā€¦ ask them to try the HD800S if you want to experience absolute massive soundstage. I guess AKG k702 could work as wellā€¦ that one is quite large just not a lot of air. Super budget friendly large stage would be likeā€¦ fidelio x2hr. The Beyer lineup does have some good staging ā€¦ 990 has very ethereal airy treble but it can be hard to handleā€¦ T1 2nd generation easily has the most stage of the beyerdynamic collection right now

Hate EQ, but I must ask why you would want to do this? Sounds fine without itā€¦ but I guess I can give it a whirl

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Yea I donā€™t usually mess with EQ that muchā€¦ but was messing with it on a different headphone and had left it onā€¦ wasnā€™t intentional lol.

hmm, is it just me or is there more clamp or firmness in the pads on the mg compared to the elex?

I donā€™t know yet. I still have my elex pads on the MG (the wife still hasnā€™t noticed). I have a spare set of elex pads and the 2 sets that came with the MG. Think Iā€™m good. I donā€™t mind the sound stage at all, but I donā€™t know much better. My progression chain was 58x > 660s > Elex > MG.

So Iā€™m gathering that one of the differences between the OG and the MG clears is that the MG is warmer than the OG, and doesnā€™t have the metallic tambour?

Has anyone experienced the supressed/recessed upper mids and subsequent honkiness in the MGā€™s that Crinacle has observed?

Iā€™m beginning to think I actually prefer moderate warmth in my sound. Moving from the Asgard 3 (generally acknowledged as a warmish amp) to the G111 (which possesses greater soundstage and detail - but while I really like it for some headphones, particularly my Monarch IEMs, I actually preferred how my 6xxā€™s sounded on the warmer, lusher A3) has been sort of revealing of my preferences.

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In an ideal world, I would be able to go to a shop and demo the 800S. But thatā€™s not possible without driving several hours, so thatā€™s a no go. With that said, Iā€™m currently debating between the X2HR since itā€™s $123.24 on Amazon right now, the Sundara, and the Harmonicdyne Zeus. Given that I have a 6XX, the Clear Mg, a Modius/Jot2 stack, and only play single player games, what do you think would be the best choice?