Solid review Wave! My 2 cents on the timbre and mild shoutynessā¦ Itās enough personally I would not recommend these as studio monitors. Also for those that have tried the LCD-X, the timbre is something one actually tends to enjoy overtime.
This are fun headphones and their quirks are enough that it takes a neutral headphone that should perform well and be boringā¦ Then makes it fun. Every quirk you notice is only at first when comparing other headphones and completely liveable (and after time preferred). So to extrapolate Waveās comment on timbre and shouty, yeah itās not perfect and neutral but honestly is more fun.
If I was starting all over and had to pick one headphone to do everything and a studio wasnāt and optionā¦ These would be a solid choice. I would say these I recommend more so because they scale up to the Bifrost 2 and GS X Mini very well, while playing nearly equally well with a Modius and Heresy. These headphones seem to care a lot more about your signal source than they care about what amp you use (in my tests).
If you wanted an LCD X, donāt have the greatest amp, and want to try and spend half the LCD X money, and listen for funā¦ This heaphone is it.
Very nice write-up! You made me even more interested. Yes Focals are VERY dynamic and it can get a little tiring, but it is addictive. These do seem to be a closed-back Elex, or at least very close.
I havenāt heard the Elex but I havenāt heard any clipping just pushing them hard (for me) out of curiosity. So if thatās thatās and Elex issue, this can solve that partially.
i think itās only because iāve listened to the elex lol but the punch on the elegia is perfect for me when listening to even chill music. Like itās true that itās still not a chill headphone in any way but it can be relaxing enough in my experience for calmer music. besides that i like how engaging it is.
Only recently have i been using the elegia alot again, and the timbre i can see how it might be a mixed bag. I think itās not as natural in some ways as something like the haws (in my experience) but the vocals and acoustic instruments sound pretty good in particular.
oh and ur comment about shouty makes sense now. Because i donāt look at graphs whatsoever but i noticed that unlike the elex it can get a bit sibilant on some kpop. altho i donāt know if i would consider it shouty when i compare it to the sundara which can be a bit shouty. maybe itās a different frequency range i donāt know
I use a decible meter and set it for maxes when I am testing. I set 75 as a peak. Most of the music ends up in the 60-69DB range. It might peak to around 75DBs once or twice in a song.
Does someone mind giving a quick comparison with the Clear? If I own the Clear already, how worth it is the Elegia? I donāt need closed backsā¦ but that sale beckons meā¦
I have both. I love the Clear. The Elegia is VERY good IMO, but if you donāt need a closed back, I would say to stick with the Clear, as itās better in every way, excepts maybe sub-bass slam, IMO.
Question, how do the Elegia compare to the Sundara? (Especially with imaging and clarity) I have my eye on them for a long time, but with only $50 difference some new considerations arise.
You made me even more interested. Yes Focals are VERY dynamic and it can get a little tiring, but it is addictive. These do seem to be a closed-back Elex, or at least very close.
When are the Clear going to sell for 56% off? Thatās what I want to know.