🔶 Focal Clear

[luige06]

I want to also add that in my personal experience of…a few minutes today, I was BLASTED with the clears on line-out from the m6 accidentally, thinking I was plugged into the mojo when I was still plugged into the aux of the m6.

Thinking that I was plugged into the mojo I proceeded to frantically press the volume down button for about two seconds until I realized that was doing absolutely nothing and then just paused the music.

It was AFTER this that I went into trying to hear all these new differences.
That was two hours ago and I’m STILL recovering with a light headache.

Part of why I decided just to let the mojo charge. lmao

For reference, I usually only listen to the Fiio with a max of 1 o clock or so

[giova05]

oh jeez… lol. Ouch.

[luige06]

Also not going to knock the validity of better amp/dac at all yet. I have no right to do so from my experience. I may end up absolutely loving the Mojo and seeing the value in it, buuuuut

I think I’m already to the point where I can eliminate any bad factors that keep me from getting an opinion on the clears, and I think they just aren’t the audio experience I personally am looking for.

Will give it a few more days of serious listening after I get the mojo going, and I will also be comparing it to the ZMF Verite, but then after that I will probably sell one of the two and I have a feeling it may be the clears, because one thing I never took into consideration in the first place is the light color. I make chocolate for a living and this could be a disaster waiting to happen.

That being said, I MAY have a pair of focal clears for sale in a week or so that by then will have been used for probably about 10-15 hours total, cables never taken out of the box, etc etc. Very new condition. Owned for two weeks, so just putting the concept out there if anyone is interested in buying them then you could PM me and I’ll keep in touch with you, tell you the history of the ownership, etc etc.

They may not get sold, but it’s starting to look that way. Wanted to give people on the forum a chance to see this before going to ebay. (Which I’ll use to sell it to you if you want it.) I’ll just let people know before I post and set it to a ridiculous price while accepting offers so no one else buys it.

[M0N]

Makes sense, keep the one you enjoy the most. The mojo would be smart to keep though with the verite coming, that would help out the verite as well.

[giova05]

Yeah, IMO, give it a few days, but don’t force yourself… it’s always better to save money and go for gear and headphones that have real appreciable differences for you.

[M0N]

No point in owning it if you don’t enjoy it lol

[Andrew_Davis]

Ended up getting the Clears today. There’s no telling with FexEx sometimes.

First hour or side by sides with the Elex…there’s no way these are just re-padded versions of each other. I would call them in the same family, but Cousins not siblings.

Don’t really ahve the time for a long write up, but you could gusess. More detail on the clears, smaller soundstage, but I would call it a better more cohesive sound stage. The Elex is all Left-Right. The Clear is a smooth transition from farthest point left---->center---->right.

I haven’t dialed in on the tonal balance yet, but it’s clear to me that the Elex is more “bouncy.” That probably translated into V or W shaped for normal people who aren’t me. I also want to say that the Clear has better bass extension…but that might be better bass detail that I’m perceiving as extra range. Don’t knopw yet.

More later!

[M0N]

I wonder if people think the clear has less soundstage because of the reduced dynamics compared to the elex, because imo the stage is somewhat similar to me

[giova05]

I think the perceived ‘W’ or ‘bouncy’ (as Andrew put it) signature exaggerates the perceived sound-stage a bit too.

[M0N]

Somewhat, I could see that to, I guess I just don’t get that effect

[Andrew_Davis]

I perceive the Elex as having a more Left/right soundstage with very little middle. The Clear seems to be evenly presented from left to middle to right.

The left and right only nature of the Elex stage could be contributing to the perception that the poles are farther apart?

[luige06]

I agree with this comparison about 80% of the way.

But when playing a track that has an instrument panned all the way to the right and it’s JUST that one thing playing all the way to the right. That far right is farther right on the Elex than the clear. Thought it was good to make a comparison like this since it’s not about having a center of reference. Playing JUST far right with no middle or left to compare it to is different staging in my experience.

The beginning of Neil Young’s “Cowgirl in the Sand” was my tester for this concept.

Also to my ear the treble response of the Clear actually is the more exciting one. It shimmers in the most realistic way. Acoustic stringed instruments ring out just like they should.

[luige06]

@giova05

you might need some experience hearing the obvious differences an amp can make in terms of speed/delineation before it’ll click with your brain and you can pick it out when it’s less obvious. Because it’s not the same as dynamics/compression or frequency response, or noise/distortion…

Wow you were really right, and it’s almost freaky having a new perceived difference in sound. It’s a legitimately trippy experience. You were totally right about this. It’s weird because I can’t explain it…I don’t have words for it like I do differences between headphones…the only thing I can think of to describe it is…There’s somehow less between me and the music that is being produced by the headphones. When I play through the the m6 there is SOMETHING that I don’t know what to call there.

It is in fact now an obvious difference like you said it would be. And I really wanted to find out that you were all crazy and that DAC AMP didn’t really make much difference if there was enough power…dammit. This is an expensive conclusion to come to.

I’m ABing and am 100% confident that I could tell the difference blind.

It’s like the m6 is kinda…dirty? Digital? But yeah it’s not compression or anything like that. It’s like a window, and with the mojo that window has been polished perfectly with windex.

I still feel like Elex > Clear for me though. It’s the W. I’m a fan.

[M0N]

Yeahhhhhhhhhhhh I wish high end stuff didn’t need a high end amp lol. Should improve your verite experience pretty well

[luige06]

I’m pretty stoked honestly.

And I think I know exactly what I will do now.

The Clears are getting sold. I APPRECIATE THEM, but they are just not exciting enough for what I want out of my headphones.

The Verite will get put to the test, and if it’s not the beautiful amazing thing I think it is then…I’ll get another Elex!!! (and keep the mojo damn it…)

[ValentineLuke]

Rob Watts is doing some voodoo with those fpga designs…

Everything in the audio chain affects the end result. Some things more than others, but when it clicks its magic.

Glad you’re enjoying your new gear.

[giova05]

Yeah, I would not call the Clears ‘exciting’… they are very neutral, and get more neutral as you upgrade amps. They do scale well pass the Elex with higher end amps. As you scale up, I’ve found that delineation/speed/separation gets a lot more obvious and harder to ‘deny’. The sound of the Elex doesn’t change much after a certain point in comparison.

Right now, my main setup is the Clears driven by the SPL Phonitor E. My favorite sound comes from the Rega Planar 2, and AT vm740ml with well mastered record albums… it’s very euphoric and extremely pleasing. I would describe it as extremely clean, transparent, natural, and non-fatiguing. There’s a lot of ‘air’ to it, with balanced sound across the board, with clean extended low-end to go along with it. Female vocals, in particular, sound extremely natural, as-if in the same room.

I think they are adequate with more punchy rap and techo, or house music (I definitely still enjoy them a lot), but there are definitely probably better combinations and headphones for that type of music.

I definitely feel the Clears do the best with the right type of high-end amplifier and source, but they definitely live up to the name-sake when they are.

I think the Elex, in comparison, can be considered a better choice for a ‘fun’ listening experience with more genres of music, by a bit. I do feel they can hit a good euphoric level of listening enjoyment, like the Clears, but the difference in potential is pretty undeniable when you do start to scale up. But for the Clears to hit closer to their potential (I’m not even sure I’ve heard them at their ‘best’), I do feel it’s a lot to ask for… especially from the average budget.

Bottom-line, though, go with your ‘gut’ and what you get the most enjoyment out of, no matter what… regardless of what anyone else says. Because enjoyment should be the end-goal for everybody, IMO.

[Andrew_Davis]

That’s funny we all have the same evaluation of the Elex vs Clear but different feelings about it.

My Elexs are are on eBay and my clears are currently plugged in. Go figure!!

[epic225]

listening to the clears now. lol

[luige06]

Not gonna lie if I was significantly well off I could easily see keeping both of them.

The sound presentation of the clears is more of a complete picture, and the detail/treble response is definitely superior. (This was true before I started using the mojo)

But the Elex is freaking next level crazy amazing for the price (and they aren’t cheap!) with amazing soundstage and fr combo that makes me feel very immersed with certain music. With others it feels like an artificial pan to the left and right.

The clears never have that issue.

Yeah I legit think they are different enough that if I had the cash I would legit want to have both of them for listening to different things.