Ok 
. Iāve ordered the elegia and the koss. Both are returnable so it should be easy to just test them out. Iām excited, I keep wondering what the jump from wireless commercial headphones to hifi wired will sound like. If I like the elegia, do you think I should just go ahead and try the Celeste?
Hard to answer 
The elegia , in the focal lineup, is much like that weird brother.
No focal will share identity in the sound.There is the clear but despite the fact they both share the same driver they sound quite different
You should try if possible but i cant be categorical on if it s gonna be a an upgrade
I would say different.
If you can order them and send them back if you donāt like ,why not?
However the look of the focal celestee is definitely the best among all the focal.
If you want to stay on the focal course.
The (elex: open / elear:open/ celestee:closed)
Among the focal, i would say that the elex is a good twin companion 
Your question si trickyš
On technical level the elegia is quite the innovation.
For being in possession of several open back headphone .
The elegia sounds almost open .
Especially in comparison of the wh1000xm4 and xm3.
As for the jump from mainstream to hifi.
I donāt want to hype up .
The main advantage is principally the latencyā¦ it s gone. ( from Bluetooth to wired)
You might be disappointed at firstā¦ the mainstream headphones are designed to be pleasing.
What you should look up in priority instead of branding and mainstream or hifi.
Is the frequency response.
Is it (v shaped )( neutral)( diffuse field)
Out of all the headphone i possess ,the hd600 is most literal āhifiā
Sounds more true to the source
If you want to crack the boxer ( etymotic er2se and hd600 are literally hifi)
The rest is compromise between fidelity and coloration)
The elegia is a little colored but lean more on the hi-fi spectrum then fun .
While having itās fun trick which is to simulate an open sound.
Ho really revealing.
You will rediscover soundtrack with the elegia. Especially coming of the wh1000xm4 and airmax
There is some much more to say and it s hard to be conciseā¦ English is not my native language
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You did an excellent job man. Thank you for your explanations, theyāve been really helpful. Your English is better than mine. So if Iām understanding you correctly, the headphones ātuningā is the frequency response curve ?
fidelity = neutral e.g. HD600
coloration = other curves e.g. mainstream headphones
And all consumer focused hifi headphones fall somewhere in-between that spectrum?
Does EQing a headphone change the frequency response curve of the headphone or does it change the source to balance out the frequency response of the headphone?
EQ will change the signal sent to the headphone to compensate for the natural tuning, effectively altering the FRC that gets to your eardrums. Some try to āflatten the curveā and achieve a very analytical sound. If thatās what ya like, I mean, more power to ya, but the human ear doesnāt hear all frequencies evenly, and there are differences from one person to another.
Thatās why I sometimes chuckle in my sleeve a little at the idea of music āas the artist intendedā. Thereās no real way to anticipate what the artist āintendedā, since that artistās ear likely doesnāt hear a sound the same way yours does.
Some headphones respond more readily to EQ than others. That can tell you something about the headphone. Iām not entirely sure what it tells you about it, but I feel like thereās some deeper lesson to learn from that fact. For what itās worth, Elegia in specific, and Focal headphones in general have a reputation of taking to EQ very well. I canāt speak for the rest of the line, but I am listening to Blackpink through a pair of Elegiaās right now, and I can add to the reputation - they do indeed respond beautifully to EQ.
I am just starting to explore the power of EQ. As such I am still starting with presets built for my headphone by people with more experience and pretty solid reputations in this area (Crinacle, Rtings, referenceaudioanalyzer, etc). Thereās a whole shit ton of presets on AutoEQ. You canāt really stop there though - most of those presets are made to try and mimic the 2018 over ear Harmon target, which has a lightly V shaped FRC. That may be a place to start, but then you can use additional EQ or changes to the preset to get the sound to where you like it. It can be a pretty fun excercise - A/B testing changes, observing the difference, then trying something for a good long session or two to really see if it suits you.
I gave up on strict, flat āfidelityā when I found that the right preset for my current headphones sounded like pulling a wet towel off my head - all of the sound was there, but suddenly, I was right in the middle of it. If youāve ever been to a concert, and heard the sound from outside the venue, then went in to where you were supposed to be, you can imagine the difference, it was not unlike that. Just clearer, cleaner, more open, and I could hear the room better. I never really understood what people meant when they described a headphone as having a āholographicā spacial presentation until I got the right preset to start with. Now Iām tweaking the EQ to figure out why it made such a difference, to see if itās optimal, or if I want more or less, etc.
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Interesting. This forum is great! So EQ to taste and play around with it to discover what my taste is. I have a feeling Ill be using different EQs for different reasons.
If everything sounds different to everyone, Is it more important to have quality cans that take well to EQ, or am I looking for a headphone with tuning that suits me. Essentially how do I evaluate the headphones when I receive them? Is having to EQ a headphone a negative or just an enrichment of any listening experience?
Both / neither
Most people donāt EQ at all. The most common advice people have given me was to spend sime time with less expensive headphones discovering what sorts of things are important to me. Did I like a flatter FRC, a more V shaped one? U shaped? Do I like really elevated bass, or maybe a bump in lower mids?
By spending some time buying / selling through less expensive HP, you donāt go broke while you figure out what you want. Then, when your tastes are more developed and established, and your ability to describe what you want is more solidified, you are ready to ask for and evaluate advice about better (and often more expensive) headphones that will suit those tastes. With that experience, you are also more able to evaluate reviews on your own.
Most people would probably say that it is better to get a HP that fits your tastes perfectly, without any need for EQ at all. Many would also probably admit that the āperfectā HP probably doesnāt exist. On the flip side, I would also have to admit that EQ does have its downsides, and the more you have to use it to change a HP, the more youāre sacrificing.
So thereās a balance to be struck. EQ can have negative impacts, so tread lightly, which means starting with a HP pretty close to what you want anyhow.
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I find that using the EQ is fun for me. I havenāt been using EQ since I got my new laptop this past Christmas but Sunday night I finally broke down and installed the Peace EQ/APO. And I am right back in the fun zone again. I agree with @Dzaw that the Elegia is very receptive to EQ. I have been using the Elegia a lot this past week and now that I have EQ capability back I have been having tremendous fun with them again.
I think overall, rating a headphone depends on how much EQ needs to be applied in order for you to truly enjoy it. If just a little or none at all, the headphone is a hit. If you have to really EQ the crap out of a headphone to enjoy it, itās probably the wrong headphone. At least that is the way I have been going about it. Itās been working out pretty well so far.
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Here is some advice given me on this very topic, but in another thread.
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The sligher the eq is the better it is for you.
That is my eq for the hd600.
I like them on stock ,i love them with that change .itās a sight eq.
Thatās a big win.
The elegia is also good for me to some extent .
I donāt deviate to much from the stock sound.
Overhall the hd600 is the best headphone i ever heard. Tuningwise.
The elegia is a keeper
As you long you donāt deviate to much from the stock sound ,keep the headphone.
If you do more eq than i did for my elegia. Return your headphone .
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Ok
Thank you
@Cardo_Jeremy
@Dzaw
@Raptor168
Ok, so my follow up question is, what makes headphones sound better than cheaper options? Like whatās the difference between an xm4, a focal elegia and then maybe a beyerdynamic 770. are the dollars going into intangibles like brand, build quality and comfort, or do more dollars get you better sound technology, independent of tuning?
Unfortunately, I travel around a lot and I donāt have the time or stability to develop a true audiophile set up. Iām looking for a Catch all headphone that will just enhance my listening experience over the conventional headphones available at your big buck stores.
I was under the impression that more dollars = better engineering. So 349 USD, the focal elegia were probably the best closed back headphone I could get for the money.
The honest truth is higher price isnāt always better.
No matter The price if you canāt bare the sound for more than 10 minutes this audio gear wonāt be worth it .
Here the elegia are 350 $/ā¬ is an excellent deal .
On a technical level it s good.
But nothing can guarantee that you will be hooked by the sound.
Because even if you get the elegia for 70$/ā¬ for example and tou still donāt like the sound on stock eq or equed it s gonna be a 70$/ā¬ loss.
Tho at the retail price of 900$/ā¬ i wouldnāt recommend it .
Company will always take a margin for the branding .
When you buy a elegia or a wh1000xm4 you can be sure that a part of you pay goes for the āsonyā and focal " .
for engineering ,build and comfort, i donāt know.
Basically there is a fine balance between overpriced/on point/ price to performance.
We can be factual on if the price asked is on part with the technical performances of a headphone.
However,i personally think that technical performance isnāt the best best way to approach sound.
Especially when someone may like it and others donāt .
A good question to ask yourself,
āare you comfortable paying that price for this sound?ā
For example, i got my kph30i for 40ā¬ 30+(10 transport)
When i hear it ,i can comfortably say that even at 100ā¬ i wouldnāt have any regrets.
As for the elegia, i got them as bundle ( elegia + dragonfly black) 450ā¬
To me it was the only way i could grab a elegia new and a that ālowā price.
I can comfortably say that 600ā¬ would be on point and higher than that would be overpriced.
As for my sennheizer hd600 and sundara.
670ā¬ for both.
I Would happily say that the retail price of the sundara (500$/ā¬) is on point.
However ,i got them for 350ā¬. Fantastic price.
the hd600 is (400ā¬ at retail) it s a nice price.
But i got them for( 320ā¬) it s banger.
The hd600 are my daily driver.
To judge the price of a sound itās mainly a matter of preferences.
That being said , my way seeing things might no be the best according to other people.
The hd600 are easy to drive , i power them out my phone and it s loud enough
In you situation.
I guess the elegia might do it 
The kph30i might also do the coffee
It s when i got my hd600 that i realized what i was looking for and what to search.
I because i got the hd600 that i could fully enjoy the sundara.
if you want to get into it more seriously afterwards.
I m pretty much sure that the hd600 will guide you to the promised land
How does the isolation on Elegias compare vs closed Aeons or closed Beyers? Because my current cans, the Audeze LCD-2 Classic Closed cannot block a lot of outside noises, and itās driving me insane, the neighborās dogs are so loud, and the city doesnāt care about noise, so Iām about just considering arson to shut them up for good.
I hope dogs for dinner taste good.
I canāt compare the 3 however i can compare the elegia to the Sony wh1000xm3/4.
The elegia would be good enough provided that you crank a little bit up the sound.
Tho the wh1000xm4 would be on point for your situation.
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Thanks for the suggestion, but thereās just something weird about the current implementation of ANC that just makes the overall sound of music feel very strange ime, so at the moment I would really want to get the best passive noise isolation, without sacrificing a lot of sound quality.
Like, I know the drummerās beyers, the DT 770 M are super isolating, but they have dead bass because of sealed vents, so I would really love to know if anyone here has some input regarding mid to high-mid tier closed cans with very well implemented passive isolation. So far the best contenders, according to reviews, are the Elegias, the Aeon Closed, and Beyer DT 1770/177X.
Others have suggested IEMs, but I voice chat a lot, and since many others have also mentioned that IEMs make your voice resonate a lot inside your skull when speaking, idk about themā¦
Thanks in advance for your time.
Prior to my Elegias I was in Audiotechnica ATH-M40X
The EQ I use on them are presets meant to emulate the 2018 over ear Harmon target (which may or may not suit your tastes - mileage will definitely vary). Therefore, it could be said that they were equivalently tuned (or nearly so) after EQ.
With the Elegias, there is so much better soundstage, spacial recreation, isolation, seperation. Pinpointing where individual instruments and voices are is easier.
They are also much more resolving. I listening recordings I thought I knew very well that now have a whole world of new sounds and information in them I was unaware of.
Finally, they sound a bit more ānaturalā. Iāve played in a jazz/rock ensemble, so I know what itās like to be in the room while we played āIn the Moodā and āBasic Basieā. I know what trumpets, trombones, saxiphones, etc sound like when youāre in the room with the real instrument. The Elegias sound just a touch more like the real thing - even though the (tuning + EQ) FRC is āequalā.
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For an iem i can recommend you closed eyes.
The etymotic er2se or xr variant.
Passive isolation 30dbā¦
The best part is that they sound really neutral so you can eq them to suit your taste better.
They are around 100$
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Would you happen to have tried IEMs for discord calls? Would it make speaking sound awkward for the user?
Thanks.
Just received the elegias. My first impressions are:
- Theyāre amazing. So much better than anything Iāve listened to. I donāt have my DAC yet but I think once I have that this will be my go to combo.
- I like the EQ functionality, it works well when changing between styles/types of listening. I find a small bass boost is necessary but on focals website they say around 24 hours of runtime is required before the bass really kicks in. Even so, as it is right now with a preset EQ these are leagues better than what Iām used to.
- They are massive, definitely not as portable as I would like but probably manageable.
- The cord is SO SHORT. why?
Anyways, I appreciate all the advice and education, Iāll probably follow up in 72 hours once Iāve become well acquainted with the headphones 
@Cardo_Jeremy Iāll probably pick up the etymotic er2se soon!
- I wasnāt lucky enough for a woman to say that to meš¤£
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