Itās finally time to actually review the Elegia.
Iāll start with the build and comfort. Build wise these are kind of like a mix of a Sennheiser and a Beyer that costs nearly $1000. The plastic used for the cups is rather nice and the headband feels solid (though the middle part is plastic and there have been reports of it breaking). The yokes are metal and feel great. No sharp edges or anything. My favorite thing is the Focal logo on the back of the cup. It is a piece of machined aluminum and the logo itself is actually a grill to port the back of the driver. My only real complaints about the build would be the previously mentioned headband breakages and the spring-loaded cups. I feel it would be nicer if the middle chunk of the headband were spring steel and the cups were dampened instead of spring loaded, but these are relatively small problems (unless the headband breaks on you of course).
Comfort wise, these are very good. The pads use the same wonderful suede on the inside and an alcantara like material for the face and outside. The foam is kind of too soft, but it is still well padded and does not overly compress. The headband is well padded, and I donāt seem to get the hot spot some people get with Focal headphones. They are not a boat anchor by any means but are deceivingly heavy at ~410g. For reference, the Lawton modded X00s are ~525g and the Hemps with Shipibo slim parts are ~210g. The weight is not too bad, but I was kind of surprised since they donāt feel that heavy on the head. This is due to the high clamp force and fairly low-profile cups and headband, so the weight doesnāt move around any on your head. The cups donāt build up too much heat either which is good for a closed back. My only comfort complaint would be the clamp is pretty tough right out of the box, but it does loosen up some over time and helps get a good seal with the pads (very important for sound).
Now on to the sound. These are probably the most neutral headphones Iāve personally heard. Being so neutral, there is no bass bleed, sibilance, shouty-ness, etc., but they can also sound a little boring or too polite at times. Of course, this also means they are rather relaxed, and I can listen for a long time with little issue other than 3k, but that is a very specific sensitivity of mine, so most people wonāt have any issue. They are also very revealing headphones. They do a great job at sounding exactly like the track sounds, good or bad. Though one issue I had with this was sometimes well recorded tracks sounded like recordings. I only had this issue with live recorded music like Amber Rubarth Sessions from the 17th Ward, but It was strange that such a well recorded album sounded off like it did at times. If I had to guess I would say itās because that album is literally just a bi-neural microphone in a room with the musicians, so these headphones make it sound like just that. There is no production to pretty up the recording, I guess. Things like the dynamics and transients are very good. I quite liked the vocal presentation since it is not too intimate (vocals feel like they are in front of you) but the vocals are still forward and clear. Sadly, there is one big point that genuinely disappointed me, the soundstage and kind of the imaging. The sound stage is decently wide and fairly accurate in how it recreates a space, but it sorely lacks in depth when compared to my Lawton modded X00s and Hemps. With those two headphones sounds sort of float off into a black void around you while with the Elegia there seems to be a fairly well-defined outer edge to the stage where sounds just kind of stop moving. The stage tends to sound wider that the X00s and Hemps but cannot sound as close or far when those occasional sounds call for it. Then the imaging seems a little off. I think it might be a bit of a dead zone just to either side of the center image but Iām not sure.
The first comparison is going to be with the Hemps. Tuning wise the Elegia has more sub-bass and bass, less upper-bass and lower mids, similar mids/upper-mids (without the signature Grado 2k peak obviously), and similar treble quantity but with different tuning (the Hemps have more dips and peaks in the treble but are not really any brighter or darker overall). This means the Elegia has better bass extension and more āaccurateā sounding treble than the Hemps. The Elegia are also more detailed and have more āfinesseā to its sound. That finesse can sound a bit boring though. The sound is relaxed which is good for long listening sessions or harsher music, but it also means more exciting music doesnāt sound as good as it does on the Hemps. Like I stated previously, the dynamics and transients of the Elegia are great, but they donāt really hit quite as hard as the Hemps (though the Hemps are an exceptionally impactful headphone, so this comparison is just a touch unfair). Lastly, the Elegia are just cold sounding compared to the Hemps. The Hemps are a very warm sounding headphone, so that exacerbates this, but the Elegia just sound very cold and clinical in comparison. This makes music like Black Sabbath and RATM sound SO MUCH BETTER on the Hemps. That kind of music really need an extra emphasis on the bass guitar and the lower end of the lead guitar to sound itās best and the Elegia is just lacking in those areas. I should specify that if I listen to just the Elegia and donāt compare it directly to the Hemps that this kind of music still sound great through them, itās just the Hemps sound SO GODDAMN GOOD with this music. Overall, I would say I like the Hemps better for enjoyment but the Elegia is, in most regards, a more technically capable headphone.
Next up are my Lawton modded X00s (Type 4 wood with ZMF Ori hybrid pads and attenuation rings). Tuning wise these two are almost polar opposites. The Elegia have less sub-bass and bass, less upper-bass/lower-mids, more upper mids, and less treble. Basically the Elegia is neutral and the X00s are V-shaped. Because of this huge disparity in sound signature Iām not going to spend to much time on it. Instead, Iād rather focus on how the ~$1000msrp headphone competes with the ~$1000 total cost modded headphone in terms of technical performance. lets start with the good. The Elegia has less harsh and sometimes more detailed treble than the X00s. This isnāt to say the X00s are harsh and undetailed, but that the Elegia has very good treble. The difference in detail is kind of slight and not always really noticeable, but it is there. Next, the Elegiaās mids are sometimes clearer than the X00s. This might be mostly due to the more forward upper-mids of the Elegia, but I also think the Elegia just slightly edges out the X00s in terms of detail and texture in the upper-mids. The Elegia have very good bass extension. Obviously not as good as the X00s in terms of raw quantity, but relative to the rest of its tuning, the Elegia dig pretty deep. Now for the less than good. Ignoring bass quantity, the Elegia have similar (but slightly lesser) texture and detail in the bass as the X00s and are not as good in terms of sub-bass tunefulness (how distinguishable different bass frequencies are from each other) especially in the midst of an actual song. I already mentioned the more laid-back sound and kind of disappointing soundstage and imaging. So overall I would say the Elegia are about equal with the X00s in terms of technicalities, but I still like the X00s more.
That is pretty much the tl;dr of this review, āgreat technicalities but I still prefer the X00s and Hempsā. I think this comes down to the cold upper-bass/lower-mids and the more relaxed overall presentation. I really like a warm and exciting sound, and these donāt really do that. With that being said, I still really like these and intend to keep them for the time being. They are the best closed back Iāve heard (the X00s are thoroughly semi-open imo) and while I prefer the other two headphones Iāve mentioned, these still sound great once Iāve gotten used to the lack of warmth, Iām otherwise accustomed to.
I would like to make music recommendations, but either the X00s or hemps will almost always sound better to me on most songs. These donāt really excel at any specific genre as much as a mood. These are for relaxed listening when you want to shut out the outside world.
Not sure if that is realistic though, and maybe I should just buy theseā¦ 