Iāve had my Clears for a week now and wanted to give some of my first impressions. For my equipment, Iām running PC USB > OL DAC > RebelAmp. Music is a mix of CD rips on Foobar and Amazon music HD for streaming.
Some background: I donāt have much experience with audiophile headphones. First high end pair for me was an HD700 (used for a couple years with a subpar setup) then an Elear early this year. I switched from the HD700 to the Elear because I couldnāt listen to the HD700 for more than 30 minutes without getting a headache. They were far too harsh for me. I loved the detail and soundstage and I donāt imagine anything is more comfortable, but itās not worth it if I couldnāt bear listening to them. I was really happy switching to the Elear and sold the HD700.
I generally enjoyed the Elear, but couldnāt help feeling that they sounded kind of off. I play Apex with a buddy and constantly complained that I couldnāt pinpoint anyoneās location; the soundstage/imaging felt blurry and inaccurate. In general I felt like I was missing something; letās not even take into account the fact that most people bash the Elear for being terrible.
Now to last week when the Clear arrived: immediately after putting them on and listening, I couldnāt help but think I just blew $1,500 for a different colored Elear as they sounded the sameā¦at first. The sonic signature is very Focal with detailed mids and good bass, but I feel like the treble is where they really focused on these. I know the HD700 gets a lot of crap as well, but the Clear brings back that level of detail that I miss from them - albeit without the headache that came along with it.
I finally understand what people mean when they say a headphone is ārevealing.ā The Clears will tell you definitively if youāre listening to a well recorded track or not. Taylor Swiftās new album, Folklore, was one of the first albums I listened to again with these. Iām not great at picking out the nuanced differences between equipment, but this sounded detailed, spacious, and just beautiful in comparison. I think the Clear really lends itself to acoustically focused music. By contrast, New Elysium (Celldweller), Hanger 18 (Megadeth), and, frankly, a lot of the rock in my playlist, left me disappointed. Itās not that they sound bad, but you donāt get that āhearing it again for the first timeā feeling.
Iāve only tried comparing the two once since Iām trying to focus on the Clear to let my ears adjust. Iāll probably give it at least a couple more weeks with the Clear, then switch back to the Elear to see if I find any other differences between the two.
Bottom line - weāre looking at the law of diminishing returns here. Donāt buy the Clear thinking youāre getting a 3-5x better Elear (or Elegia for that matter - from the little Iāve listed they sound very similar to the Elear). Iāve compared my Elear to an Ether Flow and Aeon and prefered the Elear by a longshot, so I wouldnāt say theyāre a bad headphone. If you have the cash and want that extra detail and accuracy, Iād say the Clear is more than worth it - it definitely is for me.
