Youāve given it time, so what might help is using it exclusively for a few days letās say, and then switching back to the su9 and seeing if you notice anything. I will admit that the differences wonāt be immediately apparent, but will become more prominent with time. Also keep the bifrost on, I wouldnāt turn it off otherwise you will have to wait for it to warm up again to sound itās best
I mean donāt let what I say change whether you keep it or not in the end, if you arenāt feeling it to make a more meaningful difference, I wouldnāt keep it around if youāve given it a fair chance and it hasnāt impressed you
It gets so warm though! lol I leave it on all day long but shut it off at night.
Will do. Thanks for the suggestion. Do you have any suggestions for music that might help me hear the differences?
Oh, Iām keeping it. The Jotunheim 2 needs something to sit on top of and the Jotunheim 2 isnāt going anywhere. I fell in love with the Jotunheim 2 immediately. I was hoping for the same with the Bifrost.
I appreciate your thoughts. If anyoneās comments are going to sway my opinions, itās your especially when it comes to amps and dacs.
It does get hot lol, I would try leaving it on for a few days, and see if you notice anything different, but if you are really concerned about heat then on during the day and off during the night is fine
Music that you know very well, also music thatās at least decently recorded would be what I would use as itās most easy to tell differences in tracks you know and enjoy
Also a general tip, donāt listen for anything in specifics, take everything in and see if you notice things, as itās easy to get caught up in listing for a specific sonic trait and miss other things in the process, ideally the differences should come to you rather than you having to find them
Glad you are enjoying the jot 2, itās a nice amp, and the stack is pretty great lol. I can see the jot 2 being a more immediate change/difference than the bifrost, itās going to take some time with it to really feel it out imo
I ordered few weeks ago the MG Pro (red) model and got it shipped a week ago (Germany). For the first time I understood what a small soundstage means.
I can hear really every detail with these headphones, also the direction information is clearly readible, but somehow I didāt feel Iām inside the sound cloud how Iām used to be. I generally prefer studio monitor type of sound with slightly forward mid-frequencies and I noticed that with these headphones they are recessed. Likeā¦ male singers lack a breast And also reverb tailsā¦ are there but you donāt swim in them.
Bass is a bit overwhelming for me, but I surely can get used to it. Kind of less surgical but enjoyable listening experience.
But I have to warn you. My pair has some kind of construction failure. The low frequencies are much louder in the left driver. I thought, something is wrong with my signal path, or dunnoā¦ my ears. I checked every possible cable/mix combination and nope. Itās true, they came broken.
I felt so reassured when I found this review
where the Reviewer had the same problem. So it seems some serie has this problem. Maybe Focal had too much time pressure to ship them around the worldā¦
Nevertheless, despite the sound signature which is a bit alien to my ears, I know Iām gonna fell in love with them, as soon as I get the failure-free ones. The sparkle of interest was there from the first moment. They reveal many new things in my old songs. They are truly capable of delivering this āthereās something more in the recording Iāve never heard beforeā effect.
As a backgroud information, Iām used to Tannoy studio monitors sound, and W40 in-ear monitors from Westone. Driven by RME Audio interfaces.
The stock cable is actually quite nice vs the OG. I already had a balanced cable from Periapt for my Elex and Elegia. I am now using a balanced Corpse cable and I have a OIDIO custom coming at some time.
I wonder if the channel imbalance issue the Mg Pro is apparently having is the reason the non-Pro was released later? It certainly doesnāt seem like mine have any noticeable issues with the drivers anyway.
As to Joshās review, Iām not sure I 100% agree with it. I agree with what he says about the bass and mids, but everything else? Ehā¦not so much. Sure, sound-stage isnāt huge, but it isnāt as small as heās making it out to be. At least not to my ears. And it definitely isnāt an inside your head experience like the HD6X0 line. Then thereās the imaging. If I didnāt agree with his opinion about the sound-stage, I agree even less with him in regard to their imaging. Itās really good. And things like detail retrieval? Instrument separation? Iām sorry, but when I can listen to orchestral music and not only identify each individual instrument, but tell where they in relation to each other? They have to be at least pretty good at those things.
Now, in fairness to Josh, maybe there is some difference between the two models beyond cosmetics and accessories that Focal isnāt telling us. Or maybe there is more going on with his loaner unit than just a channel imbalance. Or maybe this is just my inexperience showing and Iāve never heard headphones that are actually good in the areas he says the Mg are lackluster in, I donāt know. I just wanted to give my thoughts on the matter since they didnāt match up with his. @Resolution Youāve had the Mg Pro for a while now, what are your thoughts about his review?
I personally feel Joshās review/description of the MG Clear is spot on. I feel the MG Clear has spectacular mids and bass (especially for an open back headphone) with highs that are warm & recessed yet still detailed. The The overall presentation is extremely fast/punchy and detailed with an intimate stage.
In my previous comments, I mentioned I would not consider the Clear MG a ābrightā headphone. Josh seems to agree with my findings.
These are all the reasons Iāve been enjoying the Clear MG as much as I have been. Great review.
Yea I think he is mostly comparing it to the OG Clear and also with the idea of it āsupposeā to be used for professional listening. But in his conclusion he is pretty much saying that is is a really good headphone. I would agree. To me it is a more laid back sound compared to the OG with the added warmth and less treble in the highs. I would disagree on his remark about them not being so great at imaging, I do find that they do image well. Sound stage is pretty good also. He said it felt more like in your head, not sure I agree. Would of been nice if he talked about what he used as his source. I donāt believe he covered that in the review when testing. I have been using them with my Bifrost 2 connected to my Singxer and also tried it with the Lake People G111. Which both help in providing more spatial sound and depth.
Yep. At the end of the video, he adds the treble is very good as well. He just wished it was a little more forward. For production, heās absolutely right, but for listening, especially for long periods of time, itās great. Heās saying the bass and mids are class leading and difficult to beat in any headphone.
I think people were expecting a review that honored the Clear MG with the ultimate headphone award. Everything has advantages and disadvantages per peopleās preferences.
People should remember, there are lots of very high end headphones on the market that people say no one should even think about purchasing them if they arenāt going to use EQ to shape their FR. lol
Iāve been using them constantly with a Bifrost 2 and Jotunheim 2. Very happy.
Yeah, that was an odd thing to leave out. He normally doesnāt do that, I feel like. But given that heās had the Manley Absolute in at the same time, Iād say they probably spent a fair bit of time on that. And if I recall, they were even on the set in that review.
Well, I kinda take back about what I said about the Clear MG being dark. Iām used to an SMSL SU-9/THX AAA 789 combo, but have been listening to the Clear MG on the Bifrost 2 and Jotunheim 2 which are both brand new. The Clear MG are brighter on my older stack. The treble is much more in-line, but I prefer the tonality of the Bifrost 2 and Jotunheim 2 with the Clear MG.
Same! Iāve been listening to my Clear Mg on the BF2 and Jot2 which are brand new too. I donāt have a brighter stack to compare it to, but Iām loving the sound of this combo.
Not the most useful review, but I got the Clear MG Pro. Used D90 => LP and D90 => A90. To me it sounds a lot like the Arya but with more impactful sound. Everything just sounds right on it to me. I really like it for music. I tried listening for less shimmer in cymbals, but it sounds fine to me (no golden ears here). I tried some comp games in OW, and itās not on the same level as the L700 or 800s. Details are just better on a good estat, and the murder treble on 800s is fantastic for comp. Quite happy with it, but should note that one of the commenters on Josh Valourās review mentioned that his is clipping (he had a +4 db bass shelf set on his ADI-2). Mine seems fine, but Iām not going to bother with EQ (had to return two Elex cans for dead drivers).
Iāve read through the last few posts and it seems like thereās a general consensus with the MG owners in this thread, which seem to vary from a few of the reviews on YouTube.
Iām pretty much in agreement with the general consensus here. The Clear MG are a very neutral headphone (Iād even say neutral-bright due to the added āairā, but with overall smoother treble) that have excellent extension, image very well, have excellent speed, and superior detail retrieval (compared to Clear OG).
The Clear MG are much better for general music listening than the OG, imo. Thatās partly due to the smoother FR, but their improved detail retrieval (without boosting treble in the 4k-6k region) makes them extremely engaging.
I donāt know why Josh, or a few other reviewers seem to have a different experience than most owners on this thread. Focal has a pretty good reputation regarding QC, so I donāt think itās due to unit variance. So far I believe that Jude of Head-Fi has produced the most accurate review of the MG.
I also think they delayed the Clear MG because they wanted to clear out old stock before the launch. They seemed to have leaked MG product info hastening the launch (they posted the product sheet on their website prior to releasing them).
Iām glad to see most MG owners here are enjoying them.
It gets so warm though! lol I leave it on all day long but shut it off at night.
And also reverb tailsā¦ are there but you donāt swim in them.
ā¦