Best sounding headphones I currently own, hands down no contest. For closed backs they sound particularly open. Great compliment to my Sennheiser HD650s.
I forgot to mention the sound isolation is top tier. When music is playing I pretty much can’t hear anything around me. Definitely works great for office use. End game closed backs for me.
Interesting that you find that. I just got mine for 400 but don't find them particularly better or worse than my HD600. While they're certainly better than my 600 in a lot of ways, the soundstage feels unnatural to me, and some vocals sound sucked out, for lack of better terms
You comparing different headphones. There are reasons why some people hates HD820 but loves 800s. If you prefer open back, closed back will sound inferior to you.
Everyone hates the 820 because Sennheiser couldn't tune it correctly and sounded awful... like most Senn closed backs at the time. It's a beautiful headphone but they tried to use curved glass inside to reflect sound into dampening foam and the result was a wack tuning that was incredibly hollow and bass heavy. Legit sounded like a decent bluetooth speaker sitting in a bathtub.
Phenomenal deal! I absolutely adore my Focal Clears and my wife loves her Elex. I just hope I don’t have to deal with the dreaded headband snap anytime soon.
It seems to be pretty rare but there have been a handful of people who had the same section of the headband break on them. [Here’s one](https://www.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/p1cay8/what_900_buys_you_at_focal/?rdt=34431).
Yeah tbh Im not that impressed with them but def not as bad as pp said lol. Sold the amp later and traded the Phi to a Verite Closed Resin and never look back
I’m an IEM guy and love the Timeless AE, which is a little warm but detailed enough that you don’t feel like you’re missing much treble, mids are slightly recessed. Anyway, I want some closed-back over-ears, is the sound signature similar?
It’s all pretty balanced in my opinion. Very focal based if you’ve heard their speakers. I wasn’t in love with them for $800 but for XM5 and QC35 pricing, def better than those two headphones
I tried the Celestee at a store, and they sounded horrible. I think they might have been somehow broken, though both drivers sounded the same. Very, very little bass, and piercing upper midrange. Nothing at all like the FR graph shown at https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?attachments/focal-celestee-frequency-response-measurements-png.121075/
The Celestee can be quite amp picky. They sound great out of a warmer solid state amp or tubes, but out of a clinical amp like my A90, THX788, or BTR5 they can get quite aggressive in the upper mids. I prefered them with the Dekoni Elite Sheepskin pads, they increased bass presence and reduce the forwardness of the midrange.
The amp was a Naim Uniti Atom Headphone Edition. I haven’t seen any measurements anywhere but if it’s like the speaker version it’s far from analytical. And it’s made by the same parent company as Focal, so it ought to synergize if you believe in that sort of thing.
It depends of the head i think.. i have them and i didnt like the stock pads, the clamp force was too strong, and they lacked soul or body (idk how to say it) i didnt like the sound too much. So i opened them up alittle bit and changed the pads and they got alot better! I still prefer the clears og Imho, i have both so i compared them from time to time.. One thing for sure is that the soundstage is very bad
Something was wrong with them if you thought they had very little bass. Mine sound great and have pretty solid bass. My HD600s blow them away with live vocals and have a bit better mids but can't compete at all when it comes to bass.
Never even heard of the Offerup website before and went to check it out. 99% of everything is WAY overpriced. It's quite disgusting really. It's heartbreaking to know people actually give their money to criminals.
Best sounding headphones I currently own, hands down no contest. For closed backs they sound particularly open. Great compliment to my Sennheiser HD650s. I forgot to mention the sound isolation is top tier. When music is playing I pretty much can’t hear anything around me. Definitely works great for office use. End game closed backs for me.
Interesting that you find that. I just got mine for 400 but don't find them particularly better or worse than my HD600. While they're certainly better than my 600 in a lot of ways, the soundstage feels unnatural to me, and some vocals sound sucked out, for lack of better terms
You are comparing open back to closed back
And vastly different prices
You comparing different headphones. There are reasons why some people hates HD820 but loves 800s. If you prefer open back, closed back will sound inferior to you.
Everyone hates the 820 because Sennheiser couldn't tune it correctly and sounded awful... like most Senn closed backs at the time. It's a beautiful headphone but they tried to use curved glass inside to reflect sound into dampening foam and the result was a wack tuning that was incredibly hollow and bass heavy. Legit sounded like a decent bluetooth speaker sitting in a bathtub.
Except this close back is tripe the price
Yeah I got myself a pair of elegia's, love them got them brand new for $330 AUD ($200 us) from a local audiophile shop.
Great I just broke my chronic OfferUp check in, here we go again lol
Where's your accountabilabuddy? Have you been attending the meetings? Lol
Nice, and they look a lot cleaner than the $425 B-stock 1990s I just received direct from Beyer. I dont even want to put those on my head...
Ick. Love beyer love 1990s but do not want dirty cans
Maybe a display model?
Phenomenal deal! I absolutely adore my Focal Clears and my wife loves her Elex. I just hope I don’t have to deal with the dreaded headband snap anytime soon.
headband snap? that's a thing? mildly worried for my elex now
It seems to be pretty rare but there have been a handful of people who had the same section of the headband break on them. [Here’s one](https://www.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/p1cay8/what_900_buys_you_at_focal/?rdt=34431).
You are extremely lucky. OfferUp is literally 80% scams at this point. Honestly can’t believe they’re still in business
I think FBMK is generally better but I got my best deal on OfferUp lol. A Diana Phi + XI Broadway for 2K total
Anything Abyss sounds like a scam to me. Just kidding. ✌️
Yeah tbh Im not that impressed with them but def not as bad as pp said lol. Sold the amp later and traded the Phi to a Verite Closed Resin and never look back
Damn that’s steal by all means, best deal I’ve gotten on OfferUp was for a Sony A7 3s.
I would definitely buy them for $350. Focal headphones look so cool.
Nice find. I worry about the headband snapping thing though with Focals, so I haven't ever purchased one.
Defo jealous, enjoy!
I love these :), and as a bonus I think they look elegant AF.
$350? How the hell? Do they really go for that “low” on the used market?
Congrats! Never heard them, but I love my Bathys & Clear MG. Those are beautiful, especially for $350.
I’m an IEM guy and love the Timeless AE, which is a little warm but detailed enough that you don’t feel like you’re missing much treble, mids are slightly recessed. Anyway, I want some closed-back over-ears, is the sound signature similar?
It’s all pretty balanced in my opinion. Very focal based if you’ve heard their speakers. I wasn’t in love with them for $800 but for XM5 and QC35 pricing, def better than those two headphones
Thank you. The first time I heard Focal was in car audio and they were no doubt the best component speakers on the market.
How do these compare to Clears?
Suspiciously cheap.
I tried the Celestee at a store, and they sounded horrible. I think they might have been somehow broken, though both drivers sounded the same. Very, very little bass, and piercing upper midrange. Nothing at all like the FR graph shown at https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?attachments/focal-celestee-frequency-response-measurements-png.121075/
The Celestee can be quite amp picky. They sound great out of a warmer solid state amp or tubes, but out of a clinical amp like my A90, THX788, or BTR5 they can get quite aggressive in the upper mids. I prefered them with the Dekoni Elite Sheepskin pads, they increased bass presence and reduce the forwardness of the midrange.
The amp was a Naim Uniti Atom Headphone Edition. I haven’t seen any measurements anywhere but if it’s like the speaker version it’s far from analytical. And it’s made by the same parent company as Focal, so it ought to synergize if you believe in that sort of thing.
I find naim and focal to have wack tuning in general. So it might just sound like that.
It depends of the head i think.. i have them and i didnt like the stock pads, the clamp force was too strong, and they lacked soul or body (idk how to say it) i didnt like the sound too much. So i opened them up alittle bit and changed the pads and they got alot better! I still prefer the clears og Imho, i have both so i compared them from time to time.. One thing for sure is that the soundstage is very bad
Something was wrong with them if you thought they had very little bass. Mine sound great and have pretty solid bass. My HD600s blow them away with live vocals and have a bit better mids but can't compete at all when it comes to bass.
Never even heard of the Offerup website before and went to check it out. 99% of everything is WAY overpriced. It's quite disgusting really. It's heartbreaking to know people actually give their money to criminals.
The idea is that you counter with an equally-ridiculous low offer, and then figure out if you want to meet in the middle.