MASSDROP X Focal ELEX Measurement #2

[amirm]

This is a measurement for the second sample of Drop Focal Elex. I like to pretend that I asked for this one for "scientific purposes" but in reality, I was forgetful and had two members send me the same headphone!

I am not going to show the full set of measurements and only focus on frequency response. As you see, the channels do not match nearly as well as they did in the first sample:

My son and I played with it every which way but it was impossible to get the two channels to match. We could get closer if we asymmetrically put pressure on each cup but I didn't feel comfortable publishing those results. It is possible that the pads have worn out differently. My money is on the drivers not matching. Anyway, looking past that, correlation is very good with sample #1:

Sample #2 has taller peaks though in higher frequencies so perhaps it is a bit brighter as well. Based on measurements, I would have tried to reduce the highs a bit for sample #2.

There is a lesson here for people to nitpick headphone measurements and think there is a "single truth" in the measurements. There isn't. One needs to learn to look at the larger picture and verify measurements with listening tests.

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[devopsprodude]

Thanks @amirm Great stuff as always. I think this shows very well the variability of these things from unit to unit and how your critiques are generally about design/engineering issues that will be true regardless of unit to unit variability. Hopefully, at some point someone sends you another pair of Ananda headphones so you can further demonstrate this point. Unfortunately, nothing you do will please the "well, you're wrong, because they sound great to me" crowd.

 

[Grotti]

I could possibly live with the limitation of max spl, but not with a channel imbalance like this. Would have been great to know, if the imbalance is due to bad QM or worn-out pads though....

Anyway: keep on testing, no matter who complains the loudest since the influence of ASR on parts of the business seems to increase and lately we all will profit from it

 

[amirm]

I could possibly live with the limitation of max spl, but not with a channel imbalance like this. Would have been great to know, if the imbalance is due to bad QM or worn-out pads though....

The pads look the same visually on both channels but who knows if they compress exactly the same, etc. We did try a lot of variations though with pressure, angle, etc. and the differential remained. So I am thinking it is a driver issue or at least it is contributing to it.

 

[vkvedam]

Thanks for the findings @amirm, did you find any difference in sound on the subjective front? Just curious...

 

[amirm]

Thanks for the findings @amirm, did you find any difference in sound on the subjective front? Just curious...

I am listening to it now and it sounds very nice (with my EQ). But no way I can compare it to the previous Elex from a day or two back.

 

[amirm]

FYI I am listening to it now with EQ and left channel clips earlier than right. And both seem to be worse than sample 1 in this regard (from memory).

 

[GWolfman]

Good way to verify your testing methodology pans out to show consistent results (i.e., within margin of error and sample variation).

 

[DanTheMan]

Love it. I mean with a speaker designed to reproduce such a large frequency range, there’s just got to be a degree of variability in any production run. It does seem like Sennheiser has reduced this variability in their higher end models vs most manufacturers but it’s still there and often to a significant degree within the same headphone (well maybe not so significantly, but you know what I mean—ii is visible). Anyone who has carefully weighed doping material and even more carefully applied it to loudspeaker cones for treatment knows this stuff isn’t simple. All this tells me is that we would all be better off if we could measure our own to some degree if just for channel matching. earphones may also be better off in this regard. My 2 sets of Etymotic ER4 measured so close to each other the difference is absolutely insignificant. BAs may well be easier to get perfect, or maybe they just toss them if they are not... IDK

 

[antdroid]

You can pop the pads from one headphone and put it on the other as a comparison. They come off and on very easily.

 

[Nango]

SUUUNDARA, SUUUNDARA!!!!

 

[vkvedam]

You can pop the pads from one headphone and put it on the other as a comparison. They come off and on very easily.

I was going to suggest the same but presumed that it's already in transit

 

[mkawa]

Love it. I mean with a speaker designed to reproduce such a large frequency range, there’s just got to be a degree of variability in any production run. It does seem like Sennheiser has reduced this variability in their higher end models vs most manufacturers but it’s still there and often to a significant degree within the same headphone (well maybe not so significantly, but you know what I mean—ii is visible). Anyone who has carefully weighed doping material and even more carefully applied it to loudspeaker cones for treatment knows this stuff isn’t simple. All this tells me is that we would all be better off if we could measure our own to some degree if just for channel matching. earphones may also be better off in this regard. My 2 sets of Etymotic ER4 measured so close to each other the difference is absolutely insignificant. BAs may well be easier to get perfect, or maybe they just toss them if they are not... IDK

ER4s are hand matched to +/-1db

 

[antdroid]

I was going to suggest the same but presumed that it's already in transit

I think you could swap left and right pads just to check channel issues too. I believe the pads are not angled/directional.

Here's the clear mg pro pad removal:

 

[sarakyel]

But no way I can compare it to the previous Elex from a day or two back.

Well, it looks like the difference from 3kHz and above is of less than 3dB, so even by quickly switching from a headphone to another I bet you wouldn't have heard a huge discrepancy in the treble area. The channel mismatch under 1kHz might have been more noticeable though since it would most likely move the stereo image slightly to the right, and this is the frequency range where our ear is most sensitive...

 

[mkawa]

very interesting. focal's tolerances seem to be somewhat larger than one would expect for a company with such high pricing. then again, these are the drop version that has a much lower sale price. part of the OEM deal might have increased tolerances for lower cost (in fact, i would be surprised if this _weren't_ part of the OEM deal).

 

[antdroid]

very interesting. focal's tolerances seem to be somewhat larger than one would expect for a company with such high pricing. then again, these are the drop version that has a much lower sale price. part of the OEM deal might have increased tolerances for lower cost (in fact, i would be surprised if this _weren't_ part of the OEM deal).

They also had padgate

Pad variance seemed like a problem. Focal's older pads were bigger than the newer sets coming in from the small evidence I've seen.

 

[DanTheMan]

ER4s are hand matched to +/-1db

Mine were closer than that.

 

[raistlin65]

@amirm since you have that 2nd pair, have you considered running the frequency sweeps for the distortion at different db between 104db and 114db? It could seem worth knowing if the Focal driver bass break up at 105db vs. 113db, or somewhere in between.

I say this because 110db is often given as a common reference for how well a headphone amp should drive a pair of headphones. So it could be very useful to know where the driver starts screwing up relative to that.

 

[mkawa]

They also had padgate

Pad variance seemed like a problem. Focal's older pads were bigger than the newer sets coming in from the small evidence I've seen.

padgate?