My beloved Focal Clear seems to be running its end after years of frequent use. My right channel has way too sharp sibilance compared to my left thats is very noticable listening to anything with vocals. I tried changing source (ADI-2, Behringer interface, Shanling dongle) and also a new cable but it has not changed. The only thing I could try are pads but at this point I highly doubt they would do anything.
I am really hoping they are not done for hence why I’m writing this post to see if anyone could give me advice about what the issue could be.
On the other hand, I’ve been looking into alternatives but I rly cant spend more than 4-500 euros on new headphones. The Ananda Nano looked good for my taste but I am reluctant to bother because I do not know how much of a downgrade it would be if any.
I really wonder how much of a gap is there between today’s 5-700 euro range to the old 1k-1.5k range and if I would be missing out a lot if I decided to not wait incase my Focals are not fixable.
Just be sure it’s the headphones. What side might be the bad one, left or right?
(cause it can always be your hearing that has changed)
With a mono track.
Have you tried swapping cable in headphones cups?
So that right channel goes to left cup and left channel goes to right cup.
It should not change the sharp sibilance but just to verify the side. Right should be sharp still.
If just turning headphones around does sharp sibilance go to left side?
And if you have ADI-2 DAC FS ?
Have you checked the settings are in “default” so there aint some wierd EQ going on?
OR
Why not change the settings to balance it out?
You should have like 1milj. sound EQ options to calm the sibilance down on right side or match the sound.
As well the source should be checked out. No setups or EQ or balances etc that might be in play.
Tried swapping the cable as you mentioned. It confirmed the right side to be the problem.
Went through the settings on my ADI and every eq, B/T, Loudness setting is turned off. Did a reset on it too and the same.
You have a point with balancing it out with the EQ but I am still bothered by the fact that it is broken in one way or another. If I had any other source I’d be having big problems. On another note, I feel that it happens above a certain volume level, at around -24db (according to my ADI-2) it doesnt happen. I will experiment with this for a bit.
Odd question, but is it possible a hair or other debris has gotten onto the diaphragm of the driver? I think that can induce buzzing or weirdness at certain frequencies. It would be nice if it were that simple!
Try dismantling and cleaning out the drivers. They aren’t too difficult to take apart. I’ve done it several times with both clear and Elex. The Clear drivers are very sensitive to getting gunked up with debris. I’ve literally bought a used pair at one point that was sold “as-is” and was able to repair it by cleaning out gunk from the back of the driver. It was good as new after that.
Thank you I will try that since the volume did not change anything. I can’t help but feel uneasy doing it though
Also, from what I can tell just by looking at it (correct me if I’m wrong) the mesh infront is not connected to the driver so in theory I could just screw that off and try to reach gunk and hair with a twizzler to not risk damaging the driver while taking it out?
-The driver and mesh front comes off as one whole unit when you undo the screws from the front.
-The only thing you have to be careful with is the wire that connects to the 3.5mm connector at the bottom of the cup.
-There are two small screws holding that connector into place.
-once you undo the two small screws from the connector, the mesh and driver can be separated from the cup/headband body entirely.
-If I recall correctly. There are two more screws that hold the driver to the mesh on the back of the driver. Once you undo those, the driver separates from the mesh front and comes out bare on its own along with the attached voice coil.
-Again just be a bit careful with the thin wire that is still connected to the (now floating) connector and voice coil.
-A note on the wire, it is held into place with guides on the back side of the mesh, normally. It will likely come loose as you dissemble. But just make sure you push it back into those guides when you put it back together. There is plenty of wire length so it’s not that easy to break. It’s also held onto both ends with good, strong solder.
-The worse thing that could absolutely happen is that wire breaking off from the connector. Which could just be re-soldered. But it’s unlikely to happen as long as you are not just yanking things apart. Things come apart pretty freely once you undo the screws in my experience.
-If you have never soldered, honestly, it’s not super difficult. Is would be a good time to learn as any. But again. That’s only a worse case scenario. You can always send it to me too and I’ll fix it for you if you are located in the United States.
Thank you for your description! It is very thorough and helpful. I’ve been looking into it and not a single bit of documentation I could find has been as good as yours. I will have a go at it once I built up my guts for it haha.
About the soldering, I’ve never done that myself but my father has so I have someone to rely on if needed. I also am located in Europe so sending it to you would a big hassle. Same reason why I avoid headphones.com even though they have replacements, the final cost with them would be around the same as the original msrp was.
If I can find some time, I’ll record the disassembly process this weekend, maybe and post it to YouTube. I’ve done it around a dozen times, so I’m very comfortable with it. I used to go back and forth a lot, swapping the bodies of the elex and Clears to get Black Clears and vice versa.
So, I disassembled it and… Not much changed? I could only find a few pieces of hair after unscrewing from the front. I looked around with a flash light after disconnecting the driver and mesh from the 3.5 connector and haven’t found anything. I was way too nervy to go further (one costly mistake would be a huge loss financially…) so my only assumption is that what is causing the issue is probably in a place I cant see inside with a flashlight or is not caused by a piece of hair.
Whatever I took out made the issue slightly better but still not entirely fixed. Should I be able to see anything that’s causing the issue just from that or need I go deeper?
PS.: I need to stop being so paranoid about breaking it lol
So you cannot go much deeper than what you did already. It’s up to you if you want to try. Always reasonable to be nervous the first time. The only thing you can do left is take off the last 3 screws on the back of the driver, which will let you remove the magnet from blocking the back. The back would also probably need to be cleaned. You mainly just want to wipe down the rubbery parts along the edge of the driver to make sure it’s clean from any gunk with something like an alcohol wipe. Gently of course, but it’s not CRAZY fragile or anything. Just like a small speaker driver. I think it would be worth a try, but if you are nervous it’s understandable.
I will since I already got improvement out of taking it apart the first time. I will also take pictures of every step incase other people struggle with the same issue as me so they can use your guidance with some pictures attached as help.
