šŸ”· Focal Elegia

I do have the liquid spark here as well I should tryā€¦ the LS + zen dac stack is my favourite budget stack :ok_hand: ā€¦ I prefer warmer as well especially with cans like theseā€¦ I think youā€™ll love the a3

yeah I bet. thatā€™s some sweet gear :ok_hand:

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also have the RME feeding a liquid spark and i enjoyed the elegia with that combo as well, although i dont have enough time with the two chains to give a comparison

so many people with higher end gear hang on to the liquid spark lol I think it speaks volumesā€¦ ill do a few more days on the a3 then ill give the LS a go

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it really is a great amp, i just got it recently, and i said when i got it that i feel like i could have saved myself a lot of money along the journey if i got the liquid spark as my first amp

yeah I hear youā€¦ the only reason I got the asgard 3 is to power the sundaras (and I have no regrets) but if you stick to relatively efficient cans the LS could be all many folks would ever need

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First Post!!! So I made the mistake of clicking on a Z review in YT about a couple months ago. I have now bought countless audio gear. My wallet hates this man!!

I saw the link for these on sale. I couldnā€™t resist!! What a deal these are for the sale price. Here are my impressions so far.

Build Quality - very nice. Feel very high quality. Didnā€™t even take the stock cable out of the case. Case is nice. I picked up a cheaper alternative cable on Amazon to test before possibly buying a higher quality one. Seems fine for now. I will still give the Sviga P-IIā€™s the win on quality.

Comfort - they are not super heavy, but not lightweight. They do not disappear on my head. I do not have any discomfort. Clamp force is average possible a touch more. So far no complaints.

Sound -
Bass: Or should I say lack of bass. Definitely thin. I read that Dekoni elite sheepskin pads would help. I was waiting to see if I was going to return first. I did find that on some songs the bass was definitely better. Then on others it was barely audible. You hear, but definitely donā€™t feel it. Itā€™s weird!!
MIdā€™s: Very clear and slightly forward. Best I heard so far and the 58X veil is so evident now. Not that it wasnā€™t before, but huge upgrade. Not in your face either. Perfect
Treble: Very clear with tons of detail. Pushed just enough, but not harsh. Gives you just the right amount without too much. Perfect
Soundstage: Average. Definitely larger than the HD58X which can be claustrophobic. Would like wider, but no complaints
Imaging: Very good
Detail: Amazing!! I am definitely hearing more sounds and affects in all the music I have been listening too.
Clarity: Amazing!! All sounds are so clear. Only on some songs do I hear slight distortion on bass side.

Overall: Great set of cans. If they had more bass I think they would be perfect. When I first listened to them I was not insanely impressed. They were clear and detailed, but the lack of bass made me want to return them. I watched a YT video and copied his EQ settings. Holy crap!!! What a difference. Still slightly lacking bass, but midā€™s and highā€™s even got more clear and detailed. When I click on and off EQ itā€™s night and day better. WOW!! Still trying to figure if I can get just a little more bass. Bass boost works, but feel it over cooks them. Might try the pads next. These are no longer going back. They are definitely not cheap, but at the sale price I do not feel they are overpriced. Who doesnā€™t like to get a deal and 60% off? Everyone says the Sundara is amazing so donā€™t know if that is a better deal, but itā€™s a open back so not really a fair fight. Hope this helps someone if they are still debating and the deal is still alive. I will state if you want bass cannons look elsewhere. My ears are adjusting and after 50+ hrs of burn in they seem to be getting better. Would still like 10-15% more bass, but the clarity and detail make up for it.

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The one thing about the Elegia is that the bass can be a problem if you canā€™t get a good seal. That is something to consider, especially if you wear glasses.

Also, the dekoni pads ruin the sound as the soundstage shrinks, and the treble becomes fatiguing and bright.

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I feel like these might be two of the best deals around imo but based on the first few days listening the elegia is certainly on another level but price to performance seems pretty dang sweet in either case

welcome to the forum :beers: glad youre liking the elegiaā€™s and a lot of your thoughts are inline with what im initially hearing

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This is pretty much my thoughts. I initially didnā€™t think the bass was enough, but I really think most of the time it just depends on the song. Some songs definitely have some kick that I can feel.

Other than the thin bass at times though, I really love this headphone. I think it is my new favorite of the cans I own. The clarity is just so much better than everything I have. Glad you are mostly enjoying them though, and yeah hopefully EQ can help your case!

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Yea. The song is the deciding factor. If itā€™s super bassy the elegias will bring that out. If the mixing was less bass forward, the elegias will not make it a focus. Very neutral to mid forward. Same with the clears, to a lesser degree. If you donā€™t like the elegias bass you might not want to continue down the focal line imo. They tend to portray the song as it was recorded and donā€™t go out of their way to add things that werenā€™t in the track. In my experience.

Iā€™m strongly of the opinion that people who get these, get a seal, and call them too bass light are people who like warm and/or bassy cans. It sounds like they want bass in every song to be forward or present. Thatā€™s fine (I do too quite often, which is why I have a pair of hexv2s). Just make sure that you learn from it and get your next cans based off of those preferences. If you want more bass from a closed back grab the ZMFs (atticus and eikon, I own the eikons). Their bass is just more present, impactful, and full bodied than the elegias. There might not be more of it though. Depends on your tastes.

Then again I might be wrong, these might just be bass light, but it decidedly does not sound that way to me. Is a nice mid forward punchy neutral presentation to my ears. If the song doesnā€™t deliver lots of bass or is poorly mixed / mastered then I do get a sense that the bass can feel thin, but I donā€™t really think itā€™s the canā€™s fault.

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Iā€™d completely agree here. I got the Elegias Monday of last week, been listening to nothing but them since, and I am finding exactly what you said. I wouldnā€™t say bass light, Iā€™d say that they just donā€™t exaggerate the bass at all. I havenā€™t seen a graph of them, but to me it sounds like a flat line in the bass region.

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Iā€™d imagine they would take very well to an amp with a real sweet bass boost. Kinda why I was considering grabbing the ifi hip dac

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They do indeed. :slight_smile: Iā€™m not somebody who messes with EQ because I usually want to hear the way the equipment sounds all on its own, but a nice analog bass boost is really fun to have with the Elegia. Especially if you are somebody who listens to a lot of electronic music or bass heavy rock.

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Only thing I have with a simple bass boost is the fiio q1 first gen. Havenā€™t used that thing in forever, but I do remember itā€™s bass boost was very slight and pleasant, may have to try that. I typically donā€™t mess with EQ either, but I do have the RME, so I could try messing with it a bit.

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Like some others mentioned, getting good bass out of these requires a good seal. I think a bit of pad break in helps too.

I mean even with a good seal I can see how some folks would consider the elegia to be bass lightā€¦ thatā€™s a subjective thing for the most partā€¦ im finding the bass to be pretty (what I consider) neutral or a tad light depending on the track as some have mentioned aboveā€¦ no complaints about it whatsoever as I think it works well with what focal is trying to accomplish with the sound signature

I find that interesting as I really prefer linear bass or a slight bass boost, yet I consider the bass on the elegia to be satisfactory. Would I like 2 to 3 more db in the bass? Yes. But at what point would the bass overwhelm the mids and treble? Itā€™s a fine line that Focal had to walk when tuning these. End of the day, I enjoy the elegia a lot. I have my Atticus for my moments when I want my bass.

This is an example of why a lot of us in the hobby end up owning multiple pairs of headphones. :slightly_smiling_face:

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yeah I 100% agree with everything said hereā€¦ I have a bass heavy closed headphone I love and wanted something complimentaryā€¦ Ive been listening to the liquid spark zen dac stack today and to @j.fopps point it does warm it up and the bass boost is pretty fun but its at the expense of clarity and detail (compared to a3 Multibit and LS + Donald dac) imo and thatā€™s great sometimes and a nice option to have but for now im just enjoying what the elegia is giving me

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Iā€™m going to assume that no one here is interested in selling their elegias right? lol

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Have you tried your new toy to add a bit of bass?