Focal Clear Review (headphone)

[ShiZo]

I asked the owner and he said he bought it used so we don't know when it was built.

The newer ones don't do that. The older clears had different tolerances as far as how much spl until it clipped. It was really strange. Those are two different clears by the way.

I had one before that didn't clip but I sent it in for a cosmetic fix and it got lost or something haha. Then I had to go through returning the replacements until I got one that didn't have the clipping again.

 

[dlieb]

Yes, I plan to do that. It is definitely needed as a reference for future measurements from me. I routinely use it as a "control" in my testing. I just need to run all the tests formally and post them.

Outstanding. Thank you!

 

[BenF]

Then I had to go through returning the replacements until I got one that didn't have the clipping again.

This I'd call defective by design. I was tempted to buy the clears but now I'm waiting for an officially fixed version2.

 

[zberkowitz]

I believe it's more to do with venting than anything else. Most open back dynamics have some sort of front vent whether that be porous pads, porous baffle, or vent holes in the baffle. Open planars on the other hand usually achieve a perfect seal with no vents to be found, since the driver is basically the baffle. There are a lot of closed dynamic headphones which also provide a greater seal and don't feature the characteristic rise in distortion in the bass frequencies. The problem with not venting open headphones is that the lower mids and bass go completely out of control, at least with the couple drivers I've played around with.

So, for example, it might be the style of front ventilation in the Clear that would cause it to be so "dynamic" and therefore prone to clipping?

 

[solderdude]

What exactly is low impedance or high impedance headphone anyway? I asked Amir how manufactures determine the impedance value for their headphones and amir said:

What Amir meant is how they determine the specification. Your question is more of why manufacturers choose a high or low impedance.
Manufacturers like Beyer make the 'same' model in various impedances.

When one wants to make a headphone suited for phones etc they go for low impedances. When they want to design models for desktop amps they go for higher impedances.
Higher impedances can be made of thinner wire but they can't take much current. Current is what creates the magnetic field. When you have less current you need more windings. The thing is with thinner wires and more windings you can make a lighter voicecoil but need more voltage.
So not possible to drive with mobile devices.

Its a design decision.

I think this would be an important aspect for comparing dacs?
For example, let's say I have two setups:
Setup 1: SMSL Sanskrit 10th MK2 (2V) > Monoprice THX887 (4V)
Setup 2: Holo Audio May (4V) > SMSL SP200 (6V)
When I now measure the output voltage from the headphone amplifier with a multimeter, would it take the output voltage of the DAC into consideration or am I solely measuring the output voltage of the amp?
Let's say it doesn't take the DAC's output voltage into consideration and I would like to volume match further, should I just add 2 Volts on Setup1 and it would volume match with Setup2 then?

No need to measure or check anything.
As long as the combo plays loud enough for you none of the above matters.
The Clear is quite sensitive so no extraordinary gain or power is needed.

 

[dc655321]

@solderdude - your patience is extraordinary.

 

[Daaadou]

My favorite headphone. Also had to go through a bunch before finding one that didn't do the crackling and popping once pushed.

Out of all the focal clears I've had 2/8 didn't have the crackle or pops.

I was wondering which focal clear you would get @amirm. When i bought my last one I researched and made sure it was the newest batch numbers. I think they fixed the qc problem. But it's hard to tell if the headphone you got is and older and newer one.

I took some video of the clipping to send to focal and their reseller.

Here they are:

If you want the clear just make sure you go with a company that isn't going to blow you off. www.headphones.com had a hell of a time returning the clipping headphones and eventually switching distributors (or something of that nature). The next headphone they sent me has not clipped once .

This is actually quite... astonishing... Thanks a lot for your input, some people are... commited.

 

[ShiZo]

This I'd call defective by design. I was tempted to buy the clears but now I'm waiting for an officially fixed version2.

My dealer said it was older batches (I wasn't the only one reporting it) so hopefully they only make fixed versions now. I was going through a bunch and as soon as he changed his distributor to one that had newer batches, the first replacement didn't clip.

 

[ShiZo]

This is actually quite... astonishing... Thanks a lot for your input, some people are... commited.

Yeah, I was stuck between a rock and a hard place. It's my favorite headphone but I couldn't find one that didn't have that problem. Good thing headphones.com has a 365 return policy and the clears come with a 3 year warranty. But that warranty can only be claimed through an authorized dealer, so be careful who you buy it from if you decide to.

 

[Maki]

So, for example, it might be the style of front ventilation in the Clear that would cause it to be so "dynamic" and therefore prone to clipping?

It's a combination of that and the driver itself. With such an open baffle, you need a driver with high excursion to produce bass frequencies. If you swapped the driver to a regular mylar dome driver, the bass would likely fall off entirely and would probably clip at quieter SPLs if you were cranking the volume on a pure tone. This is just speculation on my part because obviously I haven't attempted any driver swaps on my Focals.

 

[Jimbob54]

So THX789 could be a good option to drive the clear HP, I have seen the archel 2 from geshelli shall not fit the bill since they are not adapted for low impedance HPs.
Making the THX a great choice when it comes down to QP ratio to drive clears HP.

The archel 2 should be fine. It's not too powerful, it's low output impedance. The 789 has good gain settings so you can fine tune the volume.

 

[solderdude]

I love this site. Love. It. The objective reviews are so refreshing, especially in the audio world. The other site I check out that reviews headphones in a very similar fashion also covered the Focal Clear. Their results were quite different. Could anyone explain why you think that might be?

https://diyaudioheaven.wordpress.com/headphones/measurements/focal/clear/

The results aren't that different. I just didn't push it to extreme levels where it clips. I measured it at 90dB where there are no issues whatsoever.

What you see below is poor driver matching. There is a difference in overall level and above all a quite different behavior around 2kHz.
Bass roll-off differs because Amir uses Harman, I don't, I use my own, less extreme, bass compensation.
From 100Hz down you see the output drop in both measurements. Note Amir uses 2.5dB/div scale and I use 5dB/div.
At 200hz it peaks a little and again between 1 and 2kHz. This makes the clear sound clear. You see the same with the likes of K701 and K702 which are known for their clarity. Also Grado's have a peak around there.
Above 2kHz there are differences due to the measurement methods. However, the average is similar as both show just below average level treble with peaks and dips. Just different. Measure a clear on any other rig and it will be different yet again. Put one on your head and it will differ yet again.

Distortion shows no weird things so with normal to comfortably loud levels it is fine. No weird distortion behavior in the area where it matters most (300Hz to 5kHz). Some weird resonance (membrane) at 24kHz.

To me its all about sound quality under normal usage and comfort.
Amir likes to explore extremes. I can't do that and usually do not go there either.
All headphones will fall flat on extremes and none of them will measure flat.
You cannot compare headphones to speakers. Totally different use cases, totally different in properties.

 

[Rock Rabbit]

I believe it's more to do with venting than anything else. Most open back dynamics have some sort of front vent whether that be porous pads, porous baffle, or vent holes in the baffle. Open planars on the other hand usually achieve a perfect seal with no vents to be found, since the driver is basically the baffle. There are a lot of closed dynamic headphones which also provide a greater seal and don't feature the characteristic rise in distortion in the bass frequencies. The problem with not venting open headphones is that the lower mids and bass go completely out of control, at least with the couple drivers I've played around with.

Planar..............open
I don't see too much difference

 

[Maki]

The results aren't that different. I just didn't push it to extreme levels where it clips. I measured it at 90dB where there are no issues whatsoever.

View attachment 100724
What you see below is poor driver matching. There is a difference in overall level and above all a quite different behavior around 2kHz.
Bass roll-off differs because Amir uses Harman, I don't, I use my own, less extreme, bass compensation.
From 100Hz down you see the output drop in both measurements. Note Amir uses 2.5dB/div scale and I use 5dB/div.
At 200hz it peaks a little and again between 1 and 2kHz. This makes the clear sound clear. You see the same with the likes of K701 and K702 which are known for their clarity. Also Grado's have a peak around there.
Above 2kHz there are differences due to the measurement methods. However, the average is similar as both show just below average level treble with peaks and dips. Just different. Measure a clear on any other rig and it will be different yet again. Put one on your head and it will differ yet again.
View attachment 100726
Distortion shows no weird things so with normal to comfortably loud levels it is fine. No weird distortion behavior in the area where it matters most (300Hz to 5kHz). Some weird resonance (membrane) at 24kHz.

To me its all about sound quality under normal usage and comfort.
Amir likes to explore extremes. I can't do that and usually do not go there either.
All headphones will fall flat on extremes and none of them will measure flat.
You cannot compare headphones to speakers. Totally different use cases, totally different in properties.

That kind of driver matching makes me sad. 2dB off below 5K would drive me nuts for sure. How is that acceptable in any headphone above $100?

View attachment 100731View attachment 100732
Planar..............open
I don't see too much difference

The planar's transparent part is a solid membrane you can see through, but is not permeable for air. The dynamic's transparent part is a mesh that air can pass through.

 

[solderdude]

That kind of driver matching makes me sad. 2dB off below 5K would drive me nuts for sure. How is that acceptable in any headphone above $100?

I don't think it is acceptable either. The one I measured was one of the very first ones in Europe so may not be the best example.
I have seen driver mismatches of several dB's in various brands and models.
It is caused by tolerances in the production process. Some manufacturers 'match' batches, some don't. In all price classes.
Seems to be a matter of luck.
In the X2HR case only the third one was a charm. It's a fact of life and most folks won't even notice a few dB difference here or there. Some do.

For this reason I also do not recommend to simply buy new drivers when one or both are defective. The chances you get a non-matched one is big.

 

[Rock Rabbit]

That kind of driver matching makes me sad. 2dB off below 5K would drive me nuts for sure. How is that acceptable in any headphone above $100?


The planar's transparent part is a solid membrane you can see through, but is not permeable for air. The dynamic's transparent part is a mesh that air can pass through.

The dynamic transparent part is a dual layer plastic called Duofol, a mesh membrane couldn't do anything to move air

 

[Daaadou]

Yeah, I was stuck between a rock and a hard place. It's my favorite headphone but I couldn't find one that didn't have that problem. Good thing headphones.com has a 365 return policy and the clears come with a 3 year warranty. But that warranty can only be claimed through an authorized dealer, so be careful who you buy it from if you decide to.

I ordered mine from Germany, an authorized dealer in Hamm. Great price for the pro version (I like them more in black and red plus the extra pad…).
So your advice is to get a working pair of HP from the distributor more than contacting Focal directly?

 

[Maki]

The dynamic transparent part is a dual layer plastic called Duofol, a mesh membrane couldn't do anything to move air

I was referring to the baffle, not the driver.

 

[genrl]

I ordered mine from Germany, an authorized dealer in Hamm. Great price for the pro version (I like them more in black and red plus the extra pad…).
So your advice is to get a working pair of HP from the distributor more than contacting Focal directly?

Focal doesn't do replacements with the customer, only through a dealer.

 

[ShiZo]

I ordered mine from Germany, an authorized dealer in Hamm. Great price for the pro version (I like them more in black and red plus the extra pad…).
So your advice is to get a working pair of HP from the distributor more than contacting Focal directly?

Yes, 100%. That's why with focal you really need to have a reputable dealer that you think will be around for a little while lol. Buying it off amazon is going to void your warranty unless you got lucky and the third party seller is an authorized dealer.

I went through this a lot, I am very familiar with the focal warranty process lol. It's not too bad though, I just send it to my dealer and they take care of the rest. The only problem is they think you are being nit picky sometimes but when multiple reports were coming back and I had video evidence, cant really argue with that. I made the videos private when they fixed the issue.