there is a lot going on in this question. I feel like it would matter a lot on what you are looking for. Do you want a different signature or mostly something similar to something you already have with improved technicalities? Do you want something similar but with with more bass or less bass for instance?
Depending on what you like with the hd600s, you might find the clears better than the hd600 across the board, or you might find the midrange of the hd600 more āorganicā than the clears. What kind of soundstage are you looking for? How much does extension, imaging, timbre, ect matter to you?
If it was me, i would want something with elevated bass and/or wide sound stage to compliment what you already have. Clear is pretty neutral and Arya is neutral or neutral bright. Based on my criteria, neither would make sense, but if you wanted something with a similarish sound signature to the hd600 but with more impact and extension and more stage but still not very wide and retains a full, intimate sound, then the clear would make sense.
Planar to contrast with the dynamics you have is fair enough, to get the most different signature, I think an audeze could make sense, but if you like the bright sig of the 1990, then it probably would not make sense.
Hard to fully recommend anything without knowing a bit more of what you like/dislike and are lookign for. Also, if the hd600 is made obsolete, perhaps just sell it?
All good points. I really love my 600ās and would ideally like something that compliments it rather than replaces it. My preferred sound signature is neutral or harman target i guess. I used to own argons and i found myself never using them because I wasnāt a fan of the sound signature. I think im after a different listening perspective more than anything and i thought that the arya might offer that. Something that offers a close sound signature but with more soundstage and easy to listen to for a long time. I listen to alot of rock, alternative pop and some classical music. I dont live near a shop to audition headphones so any advice would be greatly appreciated.
If you donāt have a tube amp, both the 1990 and 600 are great on a tube. Have apos price match drop and get the darkvoice for 200 and buy some upgrade tubes. Or maybe a spend some more on a higher tier ampā¦ But darkvoice should be a good first tube amp.
First impressions on the Focal Clear (Pro) after about an hour comparing to the Elex:
Just as impressive as the Elex in terms of dynamics, speed, clarity, frequency response, etc. The bass is not as warm and bumped as the Elex. The transition from bass to lower mids is more linear on the Clear, giving more clarity. The bass also extends more, has more impact, and does sound more detailed. The mids are about the same as the Elex, but it is maybe a little more even on the Clear. The treble is probably the biggest difference, itās got more air than the Elex. Stuff like cymbals, bells, and overtones just sound more true to life. I am still hearing the same peak around 10.5 kHz as I did on the Elex, but somehow it doesnāt sound as metallic to me. Iām willing to bet this is because of the better voice coil and the better controlled driver. Speaking of that, the Clear does sound like a better controlled Elex all around.
I didnāt do any pad swaps yet, but my Elex pads are a bit more squished and worn, so perhaps that is contributing to the warmer sound compared to the Clear, which are brand new. I tried squishing the pads on the Clear while on my head, and the sound changed a little to be warmer, but not enough to make it sound like the Elex.
Edit: Just did some pad swaps with the extra pads that came with the Clear Pro. Elex became a little brighter, and to my surprise, a little harsher. The Clear is smoother than the Elex with new Clear pads. Bass is now very similar, but the Clear still sounds more detailed and more extended. Itās not a big surprise, but I like the Clear more so far.
Personally, I donāt think the price is entirely worth it compared to the $700 Elex in terms of purely sound quality, assuming you already have an Elex. You get a very small upgrade in terms of technical performance. Iāve only had the Clear for a day, so I canāt make any final decisions right now. However, you arenāt missing a crazy amount with the Elex vs the Clear to my ears. The main reason I got the Clear is because I wanted the Elex type sound but with better support from Focal and warranty, carrying case, available (better quality) pads (because the Elex pad long term availability is not looking good, and they are clearly cheaper made than Clear Pro pads). And actually, the build quality is better on the Clear Pro, the headband is not creaky at all, and there are tighter tolerances for sure.
If you donāt have an Elex yet, Iād say it is worth saving up for a used Clear if you can get it around $1,000. If you already have the Elex, just get some Clear earpads (which do feel and look higher quality than Elex pads) and that is very close to what the Clears sound tonality wise. The Clear does have noticeably tighter and better controlled bass and smoother in the treble. Since the Elex exists at $700, I personally think the Clear should be at $1,000 and not $1,500.
I swapped some pads with the Clear to more compressed Elex pads, and I could barley tell a difference in the bass response, aside from it being slightly warmer than normal. I canāt comment on how similar it is to the Elegia, as Iāve never tried it.
So, third day of listening, probably 5 or so hours total listening so far with the Clear. Yup, it has more treble extension, bass extension, and better resolution than the Elex. I did pad swapping between the two, EQ experimenting, different amps (RME ADI-2 DAC, JDS Labs Atom, FiiO Q1 MKII), the Clear sounds amazing out of all of them. The Clear is like a brighter, smoother, more articulate Elex, which surprised me because some reviewers were saying the Clear is actually warmer than the Elex, there is no way they are to my ears. More neutral, smoother in the top end, a little brighter, and flatter in the mid bass. Perhaps a little less mid bass slam than the Elex, but itās cleaner and more detailed. The Elex never sounded all that airy to me above 10-11 kHz, even compared to the HD600, and yet it had a spike at 10.5 kHz that made things sound weird. The Clear has a similar peak at 10.5 kHz, but has quite a bit more air. Using a little EQ, the Clear is easily my new āendgameā (for now), along with the Sundara which surprisingly holds itās own against the Clear.
Uh oh, guess Iāll be selling the Elex soonā¦ lol.
iām copy+pasting the impressions about the Clear i just purchased, that i wrote in another thread. Mind you, iām not an experienced audiophile, just a guy whoās hobbies are hoarding gear and listening to music. (and sometimes trying to play the guitar)
jep, my first placebo-impressions didnāt fool me. I love these headphone. Thereās so much going on, but i try to pick out the most outstanding features:
detail. Detail everywhere. Itās like looking into an 8K-monitor. If you focus onto one spot, one instrument you just can pick up more. Or you just donāt focus at all and youāll get suprised by details you didnāt ever hear in your music, i guess thatās what resolve reviews spoke about when he said, that the Clear shoves the detail in you faceā¦ but it does it in way, that still sounds natural. so great.
wonderful, engaging, sweet tonality. You can get all the bass, highs and detail you want - if a HP isnāt nice to you, you donāt like it. This is. The tonality is engaging and delightful. One thing i want to bring up to the table: Being a brighter HP, it sure reminds me of my HD700. It reminds me, what i actually really, really liked about my 700sā¦ itās a sound signature i can only describe a ācitrusā or ālimeā. Like really sweet with a hint of bitter. So might the Clear be what the HD700 should have been as an upgrade from the 6XX series? Musical, neutral, transparent like the HD600 but with more detail an a sweeter sound?
the perfect balance of analytical, technical, musical and fun. I let this stand as it is.
bass: yes, it has perfect bass for me. Detailed and deep for sure but much more like what i think of when talking about a dynamic headphone. Not the sound of planets crushing against each other like planars do, but much more like ājust the right amountā to let the the sound and music express itself the way it should be enjoyed. Iām talking rubbish, i know. But itās what iām hearing.
if i listen to stuff like youtube i constantly have the feeling the my Clear is bored. Itās like it constantly shouts ācome at me bro!!ā but doesnāt get challenged. What i mean is, that the sheer quality of the gear on my head seems somewhat out of proportion compared to the rest of my gear and what iām listening to most of times. This is GREAT, since iām confident it will scale well with upgrading everything in the future. That also reminds me of Tylls saying itās the first time he could say thatās a HP worth over a thousand dollars. Yep, you can just hear it. Fair deal for me.
but it still does one thing really right: even if itās bored with lower quality recordings, they STILL sound nice and engaging. You sure might hear things where you realize how low quality something is, yes, but you still have an overall nice experience.
they sound confident. If you pick out an instrument like i.e. a snare drum, youāre like āyes, thatās how itās really supposed to sound likeā. It get this quite often currently, depends on the recording obviously.
Well, what can i say ā¦ reading all this rubbish i just wrote ā¦ i guess the Clears have made me an audiophile at last?
Iām really curious how my journey with it will continue. Last words: if i had known how good theeeese are compared to what i would buy instead in the last years, it would have directly gone for them and actually saved money not buying the other rubbish.
I completely agree with you about not challenging the Clear enough. Genres that are slow paced, smooth with not much percussion, you would think the Clear is only a little better than some much less expensive headphone. But, the moment you put something on that is fast and hits hard with the drums and low bass, immediately the Clear makes you think those instruments are happening right outside your ear in real life! The dynamics and realism is just crazy.
i have to add one more thing, as i wrote somewhere already, i also own a B&W P9. Yes, that B&W P9. I actually still sorta like it for itās unique sound, nice sweet highs etc., takes a bit more brain adjustment time than usual, but after that (and if you can tolerate the comfort issues) itās ā¦ ok for me. Before that i owned the P5s and it really, really like those. I also have the P7 which are exquisit. But the reason i was so interested in the P9 was the sheer amount of expertise a speaker company like B&W has. I wish they made a flagship that sounds extremely well and more like speakers, completely different then the Sennheisers, Beyers etc. so i also was mildly dissapointed. But i know now, that the Focal Clear are exactly that dream An authentic HiFi product by an authentic HiFi company, HPs that sound like really, really good speakers and more. The refinement is what gets me everytime. Wow.
Wanted to get input on a Focal clear used purchaseā¦ I have 2 members on headfi that have pmād me to sell their sets of Focal Clears (no pro version).
The first member is a well known poster with 200+ positive feedback. He wants $700 +shipping + pp fees and the cups/headband look decent.
The second member joined in 2013 but has 0 posts/feedback on headfi but gave me a user id on ebay to lookup history/feedback on. He wants $500 + shipping + paypal and the pads/headband or in worse shape but priced lower.
Pads of the Clear suck so badā¦The headband nothing to do. best you can hope for is some kind of cover for it (asked my wife to nitt something in a soft fabric for mine).
So when buying used you wanna make sure those drivers are still good. You can try some dekoni velour, it changes the sound but you can live with it (my opinion).
Personally i would go with the person that inspires you must confidence regardless of that price diference (those 200 hundred get you a new set of focal pads though).
Sorry if this is not very helpful but its always a gamble i guess.
would you feel comfortable buying for a headfi member that joined in 2013 but 0 posts, 0 feedback, and 0 transactions? Even if that person provided you an ebay id, was going to use paypal for payment, and priced their product below market?
Have you confirmed it is actually his ebay feedback? If you havenāt already, you should at least submit a question to his account from ebay, and get a response back from the seller.
