šŸ”¶ Focal Clear Mg

Interestingā€¦

ā€œTheyā€™re exactly the same!ā€
-Shit manufacturers say

Or there is that much of a variance in their runs. Still not a good situation.

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Had these for 3 months now.

Really decent headphones. Very accurate tonally. Piano is awesome.
Homebrew cables. Make my own.


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I must say after 3 solid months of use I have finally switched back to my TYGR 300ā€™s. No no no, not because I think they are better, but Iā€™m finally starting to appreciate the variation of owning HPā€™s in this hobby. My god thoughā€¦I pulled out my case for my MG Pros and looked at the replacement pads and wanted to cry. They are so much more brighter red than my current used pads.
My ONLY gripe from Focal is the color choice. The OG Clears also had a poor choice. Why not just go with black? Perhaps the folks at Focal do not have oily skin or sweat at allā€¦though I doubt that. Iā€™ll get around to cleaning the pads after I get past my anxiety of putting water on 200.00 pads.

Anyway, rant off if you want to call it that. Love the flippin headphones, just not the durability and cleanliness of the pads. For comparison - I had my TYGRā€™s for a year of constant use and still look new.

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Well, thatā€™s got to be one plus to the Mg non-Pro. Iā€™ve been using mine just over 3 months now as well and outside of the very bottom of the inside of the pads, where they rub against my facial hair, they still look completely new.

Nah, my pro pads still look completely new and Iā€™ve had my MG Pro since launch and have used them almost every day since.

Agree. I think itā€™s an odd choice. It would be really nice if FOCAL made black replacement pads for the Clear, but they donā€™t!

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I just threw the elex pads on themā€¦ cheaper, alters the sound but its fairly marginal, and they donā€™t start looking all jacked up from being dirty after a few months

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After I go through my replacement pads that came with the MG Proā€™sā€¦I just may do that to save 130 or whatever it is.

I am going to try washing them with light detergent and doing the air dry thing eventually. Pity that Focal doesnā€™t provide some cleaning tips considering it seems to be an issue for the OG pads as well.

I think they actually recommend a specific brand of soap.

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Iā€™m new to this audiophile scene and I just bought the Clear MG Pros. They were open box condition on ebay and they look and feel brand new but I have some concerns. I have the Fiio E07k and E09k amp/dac combo and while I realize theyā€™re not the best to drive this type of headphone, I wanna know if itā€™s their fault or the headphones are faulty. First of all Iā€™m not noticing this huge audio clarity and the volume is really low. When I raise the gains on the amp the sound gets distorted and it starts crackling. I currently have the V-Moda Crossfade M100 and they are louder and have no distortion whatsoever and the sound is much crisper on the same setup. Did I waste 1200 euros on broken headphones or do I need a stronger amp/dac to drive the Focals?

Well, the first thing I would do is plug it straight into the PCā€™s audio out and use the built in sound card and see if you have the same issue. If you do, then Iā€™m afraid you might be correct. Good news is, the Clear Mg havenā€™t been out that long, so you could contact Focal and explain whatā€™s going on, and I would think they would be able to do something about it.

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Welcome to hifiguides. Unfortunately your set-up does not do the clear mg justice whatsoever. It is quite brave of you to take the plunge for an endgame headphone straight from a consumer oriented model. Synergy becomes more and more important in the higher end stuff as you will come to learn. It is not just about power.

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Well I donā€™t have a headphone jack adapter to plug it straight to my pc so Iā€™ll have to buy one and report back. There is no distortion or problem with the Focal when theyā€™re connected to my current setup, but theyā€™re just quiet and Iā€™m not noticing this audio clarity upgrade. Itā€™s only when I raise the gains on the amp that I notice distortion and this doesnā€™t happen with the Crossfade M100 which technically in comparison are horrible compared to the Focals and yet they sound better. I donā€™t mind spending more on a different amp dac combo, was thinking of getting the Schiit Magnius and Modius but I donā€™t know whoā€™s fault is it in this case.

As I said Iā€™m new to this. Just trying to figure out if I should replace my headphones or amp and dac in this case I donā€™t mind spending more on a better setup.

If I were you I would get a more easy to drive headphone with better universal synergy first. The clear mg, like many dynamic driver headphones, is tricky in terms of finding the right amp. An infamous example of dd would be Fostex TH-909.

If you can sell it for a decent price, sell it. Even with a cheap measly Sennheiser Hd560s or hifiman he400se or even koss porta pro. you will see a noticeable setup and get used to actual soundstage. Learn your preferences then progress from there

The only Sennheisers I havenā€™t tried are the HD800ā€™s and I wasnā€™t a fan of any of them for what I was looking for. I was told the MG Pros were relatively easy to drive and from the reviews they matched what I was looking for. Iā€™d rather upgrade my amp and dac tbh, selling them would be a hassle because I live in a third world country and I had to wait 3 months for them to get here let alone sell them and ship them outside the country would take a long time and I would not get back the 20% I paid in taxes extra to have them shipped here. Also I canā€™t sell broken headphones if theyā€™re actual faulty, this is what Iā€™m trying to find out. Whether I like them or not in the end thatā€™s another issue.

Well, you can always be a dick and sell faulty headphones without letting the buyer know it is

Okay, what about a phone, or maybe a friendā€™s computer? Just something with a 3.5mm jack and a built in DAC/amp that you do a quick test with.

While the Modius would be fine, Iā€™m not sure Iā€™d recommend the Magnius as an amp for the Mg. The higher up the Focal stack you go, the more amp picky they become. So, something like the Asgard 3, Jotunheim 2, the RNHP, or the Lake People G111 would be good choices if you can get them. Of course, while the Modius would be ā€œfineā€, something like the Bifrost 2, the D90, or one of the other $700-$1000 DACā€™s would be a noticeable improvement. Just donā€™t bother with any of the DACā€™s between $200 and $700. You donā€™t really gain anything over the $200 and under DACā€™s until you get to the ~$700+ ones. But I understand you might be limited by regional availability and/or price.