for string instruments iād even call them perfect.
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Do they sound better on balanced ,single ended or same?
Balanced or single ended isnāt important depending on the amp. Typically, if an amp has both single ended and balanced outputs, the balanced will be where the design focus is and will sound better than single ended from the same amp. However, there are plenty of single ended only amps that can sound just as good or better than a balanced amp. Take the RNHP as an example. It takes balanced or single ended inputs, but is single ended only output, and is one of the best amps in its price range. Same could be said for the Schiit Asgard, though it takes only single ended inputs. What sounds better is all about the design and implementation, and not so much whether balanced or single ended output to the headphone.
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yeah i wanted to buy asgard 3 only
I hope you guys enjoy!
Focal Clear Professional headphone, the clear choice for incredible sound?
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okay, I bought the Focal Clear Professional now (its going to arrive in a few days) and I searched for currently available amps in my region.
Which one of these listed amps have the best synergy for focal clear with dekoni sheepskin pads + smsl sanskrit10th mk2 and my music?:
(I know the list is short, but there isnt much around here for max 500ā¬ā¦)
RNHP: 530ā¬ || RNHP: 480ā¬
Lake People G111: 500ā¬
Lake People G103-S: 260ā¬
btw my current amp is: SMSL SP200 
Im very interested in g103-s, because of the great price. Is it really inferior to the rnhp/g111?
EDIT: I just ordered all 3 amps lmao This is going to be a hell of a comparison
EDIT: Amp comparison is here.
A.) Headphone Comparison between Focal Clear ā Elegia
Tonality:
A1.) The Elegia is more organic and 3D, with stronger emphasis on vocal presence. It creates a lovely presentation of the vocals, while the closed back design embraces it by further increasing the focus.
The downside is the weird mid bleed, which negatively affects resolution and mid harshness.
Itās similar to the HD58X tonality wise, only that the HD58Xās treble is smoother.
A2.) The Clear has no such mid bleed, therefore it sounds clean.
The vocals and instrumentals play at the same level, itās like someone equalized all the frequencies up.
Technicalities:
A3.) Soundstage: The closed back design of the Elegia closes the stage, while still providing great sound stage like the Clears. The closed back design positively improves focus. They are both equally good.
A4.) Instrument separation and layering: Clear > Elegia > DT1990.
The background instruments on the DT1990 sound like a wall of sound in comparison to the Elegia.
The background instruments on the Elegia sound like a wall of sound in comparison to the Clear.
A5.) Resolution and Detail: The Elegiaās mid bleed degrades the resolution, its partially fixable via EQ.
The Clearās picture is cleaner and the resolution is then perceived higher.
Everything is more controlled, defined/textured and accurate.
The Clearās detail is very present, so you can just turn your brain off and still hear every detail.
A6.) Dynamics: The Clearās slams harder. For example, at 2:30 to 2:50 from Extra Terra - Neural Link,
the Focal Clear shows stronger impact and control, while the Elegia gets a little loose.
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RNHP is amazing on the clearsā¦ they are picky when it comes to amps.
They sound good on the SP200 but sound AMAZING on the RNHP
The closest upgrade from the focal clear is pretty much the utopia in most regards, but that being said the clear is more neutral actually, as the utopia is even brighter so you have to make sure to later on get a good amp that reduces that excessive brightness at times lol, but itās a very impressive headphone and a big technical step forward, still sounds decent on the rnhp, but that one is really picky for what it sounds good on, but it would still be a noticeable upgrade in technicalities from the clear even on the rnhp.
Another headphone that might be considered an upgrade with a signature that could share some similarities might actually be a diana phi, and while that sounds strange, itās not a direct upgrade in terms of sound, it is something that someone who enjoys the clear might enjoy as itās really technically capable and impressive, smaller but very holographic stage, and organic enough to sound convincing at the same time. This is pretty meh on the rnhp, I would personally suggest moving to an amp more sutable for planar for this one.
I do think that another headphone that could be worth looking into that might have some overlap for signature could perhaps be the audio technica adx5000, which while it isnāt as massive as an upgrade as the utopia or phi and could be a sidegrade in some aspects, it could potentially be appealing and a worthwhile upgrade for some. The 5000 is very very detailed in the treble and midrange, really organic with the right amp as well, it is really intimate but itās very sharp in imaging and placement and is pretty dang capable with the right music. The bass on it does extend decently well but might lack impact and body for some, but generally it would take the more neutral bright sound of the clear and make it more suited and capable for more organic music genre (and actually works really well with the rnhp and bf2, but later on moving to a really natural tube amp is worthwhile).
There are a ton of other cans that are great but not direct upgrades to the clear, so it would really depend on what aspects you liked about the clear, and what aspects you would want to change. The reason I would say itās hard to find more direct upgrades is mainly because focal is rather unique in how they handle dynamics and spatial recreation, focal cans are very dynamically alive and impressive in that regard, and generally the focal tend to make a smaller bubble of sound around your head instead of trying to lay it out in front of you, which makes it hard to find other headphones that carry similar traits so other upgrades outside of focal wonāt be as direct.
If you really are just in love with the clear and itās sound but not ready to make the jump to the utopia yet and want to maintain as much of the clear sound as you can, you could always just later on upgrade from the rnhp to something like a violectric v281 for something to make it a slight bit warmer and more spacious but keep it very controlled and detailed, or a headamp gsx mini for something that is more brighter clean but has good body, analytical without being harsh (although to me personally this a bit too bright of a combo), or perhaps something like a questyle cma800r for something neutral smooth but pretty organic sounding with the clear, or other options. This would give you a nice performance boost for the clear, and also make it easier to upgrade to higher end headphones later on without needing to get another amp (if you play your cards right)
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I just got my clear pro in and have a question. The normal cable is too short and I wanted to know if I could use my Beyer T1 cable in the clear. The connectors are different tho.
Donāt own a clear but I did something similar with the Elegia and so far so good. If the length is the same, fitting should be fine. You should also check with a multimeter if the sleeve is ground/negative and the tip is respective signal. Just measure with continuity and if they are, cable should work just fine.
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Thank you, i have measured it and its the same. Works fine
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So what can i say after about a week with the Focal Clear Professional?
I wanted to try them since quite a while because it seemed like the one Focal headphone to get that has a good balance of price and performance and is easy availiable here ( elex was in my mind aswell, but too many cases of bad qc and stress with drop if something breaks + taxes, customs fee etc negate the good prices from Drop oftenā¦).
I sold a few other things, LCD2C, Shuoer Tape, Hiby R5, Darkvoice to fund these Focals.
The unboxing experience was the best i had so far - everything feels simply premium here.
Nice accessoires in the box, even though i donĀ“t use the cables. The short one is too short, probably will get use when i have a portable solution for listening away from my desk. The coiled one isā¦coiled, so i probably will never use it. I went for the proĀ“s because of the black and red colour, that looks absolutely beautiful, and for the extra set of earpads and a cheaper price than the normal version. Cables are good quality on both but seem to be too stiff on both versions so i didnt care too much about it. I dont have an balanced amp so i donĀ“t need xlr ( at least for now lol).
The headphone itself looks and feels just perfect imo. I love the look and colour scheme. Its bigger than i thought it would be. The earpads are super comfortable, they feel just perfect on the skin. The whole headphone is the most comfortable i had till now, even tho its big and not the lighest. Since i always have a bit of an issue with the comfort, i appreciate very very much that the cups are oval shaped and not round like on my Beyer T1.2 ( i thought this is comfortable ).
I have put a headband cover on that someone recommended earlier in the thread to prevent the headband from getting dirty over time ( if i want to sell it sometime in the future).
So in summary, looks and feels are perfect imo. It gives you the feeling of something luxury.
Sound etc:
I will not deep dive into descripton of sound because im not really good at describing it, but i will say few things. At first i hoped that i would not like them to have my 1000ā¬ back that i could spent on something else 
I was concerned that i would not like the more intimate presentation since i came to fall in love with my T1, but fortunatly it doesnt really bother me. Switching back to the T1 after a week with the clears made the T1s strenghs more apparent for me. Still love it. I think the clears complement the T1 in a very good way.
More intimate, direct, super clear ( that was actually the first thing i thought at the first listen), punch and an wonderful tonality. Really wonderful. Nothing stands out too much and its sounds incredibly lifelike. I guess i understand what is meant by āmetallicā timbre, but would describe it more as crisp. DonĀ“t know, donĀ“t care 
I sold my Audeze LCD2C because the beyerdynamics teached me that some treble presence is really needed. I think the Clears do it just right in their way - its not fatiguing for me.
I love that i can actually feel a punch when bass hits.
I love to see it on my desk.
I love to wear it because its so comfy - which is super important for me.
I will definetly keep them for now. I know that the audio journey is never over, but i feel that im in a really good place now. i feel that i have reached something. I dont know.
But what i know and you know aswell at this point, is that i really love these headphones, even tho i have them only for 1 1/2 weeks. but they felt like mine an hour after i put them on. That means something.
Im still in the new toy phase of things, but i hope i will not get bored easily of these.
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The Proās look SO much better! 
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Totally true!
Nice writeup/commentary - thanks.
What headband cover is that?
Itās this one
https://www.amazon.de/dp/B07K4C4BPN/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fabc_LP85FbGM8PVMW?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
I think you can find it anywhere on amazon
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Great description and I am glad you like the Clear Pro. 
I have eyeballed them for quite some time and even though they are not next on my list, well they ARE on my list of future purchases.
But I am not sure how they differ from the non-pro Clear. As you just bought, maybe you stumpled upon if there is any difference in sound?
As I remember, they should be the same 
There is no sound diference between the Clear and the Clear pro. Just aesthetics, Clear Pro comes with 2 cables singled ended and a extra set of pads, the Clear just 2 cables but one is balanced.
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Definitely worth checking out 
Like @Xavilaw said, itās only the looks and accessories from my research. The clear pro is about 200ā¬ cheaper than the regular one in my country and I wanted the black/red.
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