Focal Elegia VS Celestee! - Elegia REVIEW 2021

[@XemnasTM]

Saw someone say this someplace else and I couldn't agree more honestly: the best thing about the Celestee is that they made the Elegia's price drop to ~ $400.

[@kavemankarl2588]

Indeed. Anyway the Celestee don't sound very different from the Elegia, and many people prefer the Elegia's more lively response. The Celestee uses the same drivers and general cup design, but with a more premium feel and finish, which obviously costs more to manufacture. Their tuning is more neutral making them more suitable for monitoring but you can achieve the same (slightly boring imho) frequency response with the Elegia using a little EQ, not that much in fact.

[@Fermistine]

U from Australia?

[@kavemankarl2588]

@@Fermistine USA

[@ziyueshi8091]

mate celestee now is 500 bucks amazing deal lol

[@matthewhilty4209]

I like my Elegias , They have the perfect tuning after a long day at work. I have better headphones but sometimes the last thing I want is Treble Fatigue when I am spent. Plus the comfort is top notch.

[@matthewhilty4209]

@@RabbitConfirmed Yes I still have them and use them regularly but I had to upgrade from the stock cable to a Cardas Corpse Cable because it is microphonic, stiff and bulky.

[@massty2851]

Hello, may I ask what DAC you are using if any, I am considering these but im unsure which dac to use with smartphone and pc

[@matthewhilty4209]

@@massty2851 I am reluctant to answer this question because my DAC/AMP is insanely priced. I am using a Chord HUGO2 with the 2Go Module with a ROON core. I have heard good things about the FiiO BTR5 or (BTR7 new model) and the Quedelix 5k for people that are not willing to spend the equivalent of 2 or more mortgage payments on a niche audio device.

[@immm2m]

Excellent review DMS! Just like few other comments below: Would really appreciate a review of the Elegia with Celestee pads.

[@vm6038]

Great comparison. I heard that Elegia sounds better with Celestee pads. Would be awesome if you could try it out!

[@jimis3167]

I agree! He definitely should tell his impressions about the Elegia with Celestee pads!

[@kavemankarl2588]

I'm in the high-end audio business so I had the chance to try on all the pads that were made for closed-back the Focal audiophile lineup to this day. 2 years ago when you made this post the only other pads that would have fitted the Elegia were the Celestee 'sand the outrageously expensive Stellia stock pads. Since then the Radiance pads have available, as well as the sheepskin and sheepskin hybrid models from the third-party purveyor Dekoni. While the Celestee and Radiance pads offer nice comfort improvement, in terms of SQ it is not spectacular. You get more bass but you lose some treble at the other end. It's not too dramatic since all three phones use the same cup design inside and the drivers inherited from the original Clear (not from the Elear's like so many reviewers are misleading about). Then came $3K Stellia with its TOTL soft leather pads The bass improvement is very obvious but there again that damn high-mids suck-up ruins the party for me. Besides, those pads cost over $250 which is ludicrous. Finally arrives the Dekoni sheepskin and sheepskin hybrid, both of which costing $99 a pair. If vastly improved comfort, punchy bass that digs down low and clear but not sibilant highs get the Dekoni, you won't be sorry. Oh, and just in case some of wonder if the Stellia sound better than the Elegia/Celestee/Radiance the answer is yes, it does. Ballpark figure I would have to say that the Stellia sounds about 10% better than the Elegia/Dekoni pads. combo. Is it worth $2,000 more? You decide.

[@yarbgreat1]

I bought the Elegia's and almost returned them. It felt so lacking in bass. Part of the problem was how it sealed on my head, bigger problem was the pads. I replaced them with Dekoni leather and it boosted the bass significantly.

[@kavemankarl2588]

Oddly enough I achieved great results with the Elegia by using the Dekoni Hybrid Sheepskin pads with them. Theoretically the Hybrid is meant for open-back Focals Clear and Elear but since they are only perforated on the inside ring they also do a great job with the Elegia compared with the originals. I also have the Clear and now both sound quite similar in tonal response, something I wasn't expecting from the Elegia. But Focal never made it a big secret that the Elegia was meant as starter base for upgrades. I use them in balanced mode so I never used the original cable, nor would I want to.

[@Assimilator702]

​@kavemankarl2588 I never realized Focal intended the Elegia as a upgrade platform. Where was this mentioned by Focal?

[@kavemankarl2588]

@@Assimilator702 Like most other manufacturers Focal won't say in so many words if a model is upgradeable so as to not appear to endorse third-party aftermarket parts suppliers unless they have business ties with them. That being said Focal does provide pretty obvious hints by shipping the Elegia with only a single, short cable (compare this with the Clear's $500 worth of cables bundle) while they know full well that most people don't use such cans for OTG purposes. Also, they only provide so-so pads that beg to be replaced with much better ones that are more suited for this type of phone. If Focal had shipped with such befitting cables and pads their original price would have been close to the Clear's.

[@nikolaygramchev]

Months ago I watched that review and it made me go for the Elegia. Now, after having it for months I can say I like it a lot, and my feeling for its replay matches what you say. But what I can add is that the Elegia sounds like big home system and this is a feeling that all my friends that tested it seem to express. I think Elegia is one of the best closed back headphones up to $2000.

[@MrKrampyHands]

Oh yes in deed couldn’t of said it better myself especially with a balanced connection I can’t wait to see what happens after dekoni sheepskin pads get put on them this weekend

[@tonyjustensen706]

@@MrKrampyHands So how are the Elegias with sheepskin pads? Did the sound change much? How about the comfort?

[@jyexe525]

Hello Nikolay. Elegia is good for movies too ?

[@nikolaygramchev]

@@jyexe525 I think for movies you need a bit more energy at the low end (bass). For movies you may go with DT770 Pro.

[@jyexe525]

@@nikolaygramchev oh okay nice 👍

[@brucalizer]

These are genuinely such quality videos it's so impressive!

[@cassiecat7038]

Have the Clear Mgs and have stopped looking into headphones for now; they are phenomenal, huge sound, great imaging and resolution, am going through my entire music library anew, plus beautiful to look at:)

[@JohnOBryan]

I have the Focal Bathys, Elegia, Celestee, and Clear. I found your review to be pretty much dead on.

[@MatthewOlls]

How would you rank them all?

[@Dominari66]

I have the Elegia and run just a IFI Hip Dac and found it works well.

[@jasonbhatnagar7134]

Do you run it balanced? Also, do you use xbass?

[@damau5687]

Does anyone understand why focal's headphones often have poor driver matching and channel imbalance issues? Such qc problems certainly don't fit the price tags.

[@Tsukino_u]

I tried prying into my elegia's with the same issue of the drivers having a slight imbalance and as to my surprise despite the solid exterior build, the housing they use to fit the drivers are just extremely cheap and the wires they soldered are very prone to breaking, and so after a few bumpy rides on the back seat of a car they are cooked lmao

[@pclijsters]

Just bought the Elegia from FNAC in France for €499. Arrived yesterday. It has the new cable (shown here with the Celestee).

[@reflection1119]

One of your best reviews that I've seen... Very informative and insightful

[@chamade166]

He’a a shill for Abyss and very biased.

[@lordmoleiv]

@@chamade166 He rarely compares other headphones to the ones from Abyss, despite him working there. And everyone is biased in the audiophile community, that's how that works. Everyone hears things differently and has preferences.

[@Dpace111]

Love the channel, I found the Elegia incredibly fatiguing which had me selling them after a short period. Interesting to see how varied opinions can be!

[@ANSWERTHECALLOFJESUSCHRIST]

I've had mine for a full year and I agree they're incredibly fatiguing. Regardless of amp or DAC, I rarely use them due to being so shouty. Getting the bass to hit just right means everything else sounds way too loud.

[@Dpace111]

@@ANSWERTHECALLOFJESUSCHRIST Couldn't agree more. I would describe them as "beautiful" and they really worked for some genres. However, I never wanted to crank it.

[@ANSWERTHECALLOFJESUSCHRIST]

@@Dpace111 Precisely!

[@Dpace111]

@@ANSWERTHECALLOFJESUSCHRIST Update: Just purchased Drop Dan Clark Aeon X and am loving the tuning. Much preferred to Elegia.

[@mattrismatt]

Unfortunately, the Elegia's sound suffers greatly because of their stock pads. I promptly destroyed them in order to salvage their two-piece mounting rings: [1] a hard plastic piece and [2] a soft piece that sticks on the cup-facing side of the plastic piece. I then experimented with pad-swapping: over a dozen aftermarket pads, wrapped around the outside of the mounting rings. I concluded that the best sounding pads - by far - on the Elegia are the *Brainwavz XL Micro Suede.* To extend sub-bass and increase soundstage (and further improve comfort), I added a (4" long, 3/8" wide) strip of memory foam to the back area of the pads. The overall improvement from the stock Elegia is dramatic, to say the least. It seems that Focal just slapped on some cheapo-material pads at the last minute, without caring that they gimped the sound. No doubt, Focal would now recommend their Celestee and Stellia closed-backs, which (I'm sure) sound significantly better out-of-the-box that the (now-discontinued) Elegia. But for savvy Elegia owners, this mod does wonders. It sounds so good that I would bet that it's makes the Elegia better-sounding that the (stock) Stellia. (I don't think it would even be close!)

[@liujun050612]

Nice review! Would you do focal clear and clear mg comparison also? Thank you.

[@jayschmahl9206]

My Elegia's arrived today. Got them new for 399.00 dollar's. Plugged them into my A&B Norma 25 Astell& Kern and at first was disappointed, however, after a few song's they started to open up a bit and wow, they sound great. Very happy with these headphones. Any suggestion's for an inexpensive headphone amp to use with the Focal's and Astell & Kern dac?

[@lord.of.veracity]

Use oratory eq settings with apo. Sound gets even more amazing

[@andreaboi8566]

@@lord.of.veracity Oratory use harman target which only make it worse. I don't suggest anyway to add EQ, they don't need it. But if you listening crap music and you're crazy bass head...

[@andreaboi8566]

Elegia need a bit of time for burn-in as you can read on the website. After 1-3 months they will sound the best, if you listen at least few hours every day. Astell& Kern SR25 looks don't have high gain setting in the EU... Maybe you can try with a balanced cable, you should get more powerful sound. If still is not enough, look at Topping NX3 portable amplifier.

[@bzhell4544]

ive tried both and elegia suits more for acoustic vocals, live vocals. and id use celestee for r&b and more of dynamic music choices

[@tecno4u31]

Thanks.

[@kostast622]

Thank you DMS, I bought both over that last two years and could not agree more with you, big thumbs up from me

[@terrytran328]

Thank you very much for the video, I just ordered the Alegia for $400.

[@zacholton2844]

Would you prefer the HiFiman Sundara Closed Back or the Focal Elegia

[@WhiskeyWelk]

Needed this comparison!

[@a2raya87]

i would you compare Celestee to the Audio Tech R70x?

[@yogiwp_]

Which has better dynamics? Narrow stage on the Celestee is kind of a dealbreaker for most of my music.

[@dmitris77]

The sound stage on the Celestee is awful. Totally robs certain songs of their ambiance and atmosphere. Makes epic songs not sound so epic...

[@ThisBirdHasFlown]

@@dmitris77 is this the same case with the Elegia?

[@henriquematias1986]

you got so many amazing reviews!! i am wondering what’s your favourite headphones to make music? i was keen on the Ollo Audio but after you review i’m considering the sennheiser.. But i have foca speakers and love them so wondering if the focal headphones would be nicer than the sennheiser and better than the Ollo Audio!

[@branco108]

Thank you for comparsion. I heard about elegia is very good for metal music. An you reccomend celestee for metal too? Elegia Will be discontinued and dont know if i should buy elegia ot celestee. I think celestee is replacement for elegia but revievers says it is big difference mainly in soundstage

[@emarshallp]

Maybe is a dumb question, but how you compare the Elegia with audiotechnica msr7b? Thanks!!!!!! Greetings from Rosario, ARgentina

[@devinmatteson]

Please expand the list beyond $1k. Not that I’m looking to purchase anything beyond $1k in the near future, but it would be nice to see those comparisons, in order to get a visualization of how headphones continue to scale. For instance it would be nice to see how much better you perceive headphones like the Focal Clear and Hifiman Arya over these headphones under $1k.

[@g1g2g3g4g5gt]

DMS literally hates the Arya. He just has very strong opinions about them, so don't expect to see them in the top of a 1000-2000 price range list. The Focal Clear is a favorite of his, probably one of his favorite headphones in all price ranges as he put them in his "S tier".

[@metalpiston1212]

He said since he currently works for Abyss, he wouldnt review anything high-end to keep himself from bias.

[@DMS3TV]

I don’t hate the Arya, it’s not that special to me. I’m trying to keep my channel in the $1500 or under range for headphones. There’s some exceptions like my HD800S that I’ll probably make a video on eventually, but it’s mainly to avoid bias in the $3000+ range.

[@devinmatteson]

@@g1g2g3g4g5gt yeah, but although he doesn’t particularly like the hd660, it still gets ranked high up in his list. His list appears to be less subjective than his tier list. So although he doesn’t particularly prefer the Arya, doesn’t necessarily mean that it wouldn’t rank well. It was just an example anyway.

[@devinmatteson]

@@DMS3TV and that’s completely understandable and respectable. Would still be really nice to see the list extend upwards to $1.5k. But whatever you decide to do, I appreciate all that you do for us. Keep up the good work.

[@Lavelis00]

What DAC/Amp would you recommend for the Elegia and/or Celestee? Been thinking about buying one of these but wanted to hear beforehand what DAC/Amp costs would come for the best experience with these. Would love if you could help me there.

[@bakakafka4428]

@DMS did you swap the pads between them, and if so, what was the result?

[@theodorezurla496]

Good idea

[@yarbgreat1]

I put dekoni sheep skin pads on the elegia and it improved the bass tremendously

[@Twinguin]

With that review and the price-drop for the Elegia as long as they will be available, it becomes a no-brainer.

[@jeofthevirtuoussand]

Are the elegia a good upgrade to the hd600 and sundara? And the focal celestee are the best looking focal period, Change my mind.

[@Dovndyr13]

Depends what you are listening to. Dont know about the hd600, but Elegia has more kick in the bass compared to the Sundara. But the Sundara sound better for classical music - especially strings. But since the Sundaras are open-back planar ad the Elegia + Celestee are closed-back dynamic drivers the sound is quite different.

[@fabiokelm]

Never hear the Celestee, but I love the Elegias. Playing them from the Element II, they sound amazing.

[@wolandphotography]

good for metal?

[@crftlz3367]

@@wolandphotography any cold sounding headphone will help elevate the metallic timbre and/or separation of guitars tbh

[@didiervandevyver8987]

Very good to compare video. I might buy de celestee but now uhhhhmmm a think a go for the Elegia.

[@derekclark7545]

As always it all depends on what's feeding your headphones as to how they sound, I see people on here showing all sorts of charts with this or that frequency, why do they bother, it all changes depending on what drives them. I plug my Elegia's into my Audiolab M-DAC+ and i get a different sound altogether than if I plug them into my Musical Fidelity M3si, but when I plug them into my Lehmann Drachenfels headphone amp they simple come alive, dynamics detail and bass are all improved. I also had cables made up that are silver plated copper, as I, like most do not like the standard cable, I know most people would say this is the wrong way to go as the headphones are on the bright side, but I don't listen to other people, these Elegia headphones produce an almost sweet sounding very detailed sound that delivers so much detail I am still excited when I listen to them. My front end is Cyrus CD-T through the M-DAC+ passed to my M3si for switching purpose and then the Drachenfels, I have listened to other similar expense front end types but the Cyrus and CD walk it for me.

[@carstenrosemann6526]

I know the Elegia very well. It's not mine. I miss Bass-Base and there is too much Treble. is the Celestee darker and much more body in sound?

[@filovirus1]

Elegia is my best and most expensive headphone and honestly, it's a treat for me to wear and listen to music in the evening after work. I prefer Elegia's look over Celeste also. but I wonder how much better Clear Mg is over Elegia... and if Utopia is like 5x better than Elegia

[@tally.klecko]

I love my elegias. The comfort, detail, and extension for $500 (used) is just amazing.

[@tswizzy5526]

I just bought the Utopia after owning the Clears and people say that the Clear is 90% of the Utopia. That's just BS. I think they say that to help them sleep at night lol. The Utopia is a ton better. It's not 3-4 times better as that's how much more expensive it is but it's definitely not 10% better

[@falcodarkzz]

@@tswizzy5526 Amen. I have the clears and tried the Stellia, miles, miles better.

[@joggometer5393]

@@tswizzy5526 vice versa: People spending thousands of $ for saying Utopia is miles better than clear need this to justify their extremely expensive purchase...

[@joggometer5393]

@@falcodarkzz For me it's the other way round: While i heard the Stellia as a little more capable in resolution and an even faster response the tonality of the clear (original) is much more balanced.

[@themastroiannis]

had a pair of elegias for a couple months and sold them as i needed the cans for mixing and mastering. the overall presentation is too mid-frequencies oriented (beautiful, non the less) but lacks bass punch and transient speed and the highs are a bit too recessed for what i need them for. for pure listening pleasure they were really nice to wear and be immersed in beautiful sonic textures... but for studio work, these are not the ones. in fact i still prefer the Beyer DT1990 (even if around 10k they are way too bumped up!) over the elegias but the focal clear professional are now my preferred mixing headphones. very neutral, more bass presence and transient attack and more revealing of reverbs, compressions, and all kinds of sonic issues.

[@kavemankarl2588]

Indeed you are right. Like practically every audiophile-class cans the Elegia, along with some other phones ranging from $1K to $6K or so are not suited for studio use. The Clear Pro is the exception, since it was designed for the purpose. Personally my favorite studio cans are the ubiquitous Audio Technica M50x (by far the best in that AT series imho). Flat and neutral to sin lol. Not as comfortable as the Clear Pro and certainly not as well built but costs 6 times less and still delivers the goods, just not as well wrapped :}

[@aceofspades6667]

Would you consider the Celestee to be the closed back Clears (original) with slightly worse soundstage and imaging?

[@dmitris77]

Not slightly worse. Much much worse. Maybe the narrowest sound stage I’ve ever heard. Almost has an in-your-head sound. I have iem’s with better sound stage

[@reekeen8257]

@@dmitris77 I second this. I had to sell mine after a few months.

[@Xzvsc]

Is celestee will leak sound to outside? I bought elegia for music recording purpose (monitoring). But it leaked to my microphone

[@marku2288]

Would you recommend the Celestee or clear professional? I’m debating on either of these.

[@thelonepainter4760]

I'm not him, but I have the focal Celestee paired with some burson op amps and......👌👍😁

[@kyveriver4316]

How are elegias for mixing? I produce hip hop and edm. Awesome video :D

[@lukew2173]

Have not hear Celestee, but own Elegia. Was considering listening to Celestee then switching. Very helpful video!

[@tylermack1786]

Best purchase I ever made thank you

[@LakerTriangle]

Love my Elegia's with Dekoni pads.

[@VaultF]

Same!

[@Mark-fs7ok]

Which Dekoni pads do you have?

[@LakerTriangle]

@@Mark-fs7ok Elite Sheepskin - totally changed the way I felt about the headphones.

[@Yos115]

@@LakerTriangle I can only find them for the focal clear. Do you know if these are the same pads?

[@LakerTriangle]

@@Yos115 all Dekoni Focal pads work on Focal headsets..

[@suryapramoddev]

[Help] I'm trying to pick between Celestee Vs Radiance. Which one? Kindly route me towards the pick between the both.

[@theodorezurla496]

I heard both the radiance had much more bass so the celestee sounds more clinical in comparison, but that extra bass can be fun if you're into that

[@suryapramoddev]

@@theodorezurla496 Wow, really? I love that. Definitely into Radiance then. What Amp would you recommend with it?

[@theodorezurla496]

@@suryapramoddev the celestee is slightly easier to drive but both of them can run and sound awesome on anything the Btr5 is honestly a great pairing, and if you go with the celestee you can always get the ifi hip dac if you want that extra bass and honestly I wouldn't spend more money than that on an amp/dac to pair specifically for these headphones you won't hear much difference

[@g1g2g3g4g5gt]

@@suryapramoddev You may also want to consider ZMF closed back headphones like Atticus, the bass is also awesome and they have better soundstage than focal headphones.

[@suryapramoddev]

@@g1g2g3g4g5gt woah? You really opened my eyes. Thanks bruh, I'll have a listen 🔥

[@belinabun]

My homie out here with several thousand dollar headphones and I'm sitting in the corner holding my dt880s

[@chefsteve8381]

Nothing wrong owning them !

[@badgerjeff6081]

After 20 years in the hobby, I have come full circle to Beyers. They just work well for most music!

[@g1g2g3g4g5gt]

@Ben Berkay With that mindset you'd better just own a 2$ IEM.

[@Drinkyoghurt]

@@g1g2g3g4g5gt Not $2, but $20 iems are already really, really good for the money (KZ ZS10 PRO), so good that I need to spend $100+ to get similar audio quality out of name brands, with the KZs beating them in build quality.

[@g1g2g3g4g5gt]

@Ben Berkay Yeah but people spending $1000+ aren't looking for the best value, they may be interested in a particular headphone that they think is perfect for them or they just want to experience the improvements even if they aren't huge. Most of them have more than enough money and it isn't that they aren't buying something else because of how expensive the headphones are. Some people would even find spending $200 on headphones a waste of money.

[@charlie44]

Elegia is on sale in france right now for 500€. Are the additional 150€ compared to the Sundara's worth it?

[@FlamencoOz]

Sundara's sound better. But I use Elegia for work, Sundara for home.

[@FlamencoOz]

Also, they are on sale because they have been discontinued.

[@charlie44]

Actually I ended up getting the Clear MG. Just insanely good.

[@roni801129]

@@FlamencoOz what do you like about Sundara I can't understand ... I brought them back after 10 days of trying to like them ... I tried them with 3 different Dac-Amp and only got pain in my ears.

[@craigslue]

Holy crap these things are dynamic and loud! Just grab me a new pair for great price and man I have to keep turning down the gain to get some useable volume control. Not to sure where the compaints about no bass come from?

[@SebaMene]

Could you compare these with the Clear MG?

[@bakakafka4428]

My recently purchased Elegia has the same rubber cable as the Celestee, with black and silver accents.

[@daguaishouxd]

Yea my dealer also confirmed that they updated the cable - yet still very stiff!

[@superash82]

Same here. They must have done a silent revision prior to discontinuing them

[@pclijsters]

Same here

[@Chandlor23]

My pair came with the old cable. The left wire started failing within a week. Rendering them unusable for the most part while I wait for my Hart audio cable to come in...

[@dmtphone]

I really like my elegia, glad I'm not really missing out too much by not getting the celestee. I think my dt770 250ohm fills the neutral role for me until I can afford the ethers.

[@O.G.LIL-MAN]

Huh... The Beyers aren't neutral. Far from it, and I've owned two sets of em at 250 ohms

[@sobechance]

Dt880 is what you want for neutral

[@Matasky2010]

Would anyone recommend the Elegias for someone like myself who listens mainly to classic rock style music?

[@andreaboi8566]

Yes, they are great with everything. You just need really high quality music, not the average music from Spotify, Tidal and other streaming services. Focal headphones not forgive bad mastering. Sadly most modern music on CDs and streaming is brickwalled with huge dynamic compression/loudness/clipping and most of the times sounds distorted and harsh. Elegia is really sensitive to distortion present on a lot of crap mastered music. With well mastered and recorded music they shine. I suggest to pair with dac/amp for the best sound.

[@VerloKz]

Try the Clesetee Pads on the Elegia :)

[@theodorezurla496]

I personally think it's the pads that are creating the Sound Stage difference, the elegia pads are probably making it sound wider since it's a more airy pad

[@allansh828]

I tried Elegia with Utopia pads. It sounds weird

[@Reeeepicheep]

where do you buy celeste pads?

[@alexis1156]

I tried them, but they have some sort of metallic sibilance that just won't go away with eq in a reasonable manner. I could just destroy treble but that's not reasonable. I have also the shure srh1540 and they seem to respond far better to eq, I can get all the bass I want with clear mids and still have some good treble response. I have a feeling it's down to the actual material used in the driver, which is metal In this case for the elegia. They seem to give the headphones some sort of signature sound that I personally dislike. Do all focals have this type of weird metallic sound to it? Since their drivers are literally made of metal.

[@Gamerlingual]

How would you rank the Sony MDR-Z7M2?

[@franksam8610]

I have the z7m2 and the elear I like both but pick up my Sony more..

[@Pocket_Stuff]

They are currently on sale, I was considering getting the sundaras for $350 but these are only $50 more. How do they compare? Upgrading from hd400i.

[@very7962]

Same I’m thinking of getting them. Worst case scenario, I can blame driver imbalance (which is not uncommon in focal headphones) and get my money back. I’m going for it

[@Nonesuch6588]

Thats exactly how I perceived the Elegia. You said it much more eloquently. I sold my Elegia and regret...

[@chillstep4life]

How does the Elegia compare to the elex

[@viperkiller0071]

got the Elegia's and DO not like my DT 1770 pro's any more .. or the HD58x's :/

[@jiyahbj]

Hey I was debating between the dt 1770pro and Elegia but some reviewers say that they start to clip when the bass hits deep!

[@ANSWERTHECALLOFJESUSCHRIST]

I have the Elegia and used to have the HD 58X. I enjoyed the Sennheiser more even if the Focal sound twice as better.

[@ChestermereToday]

Which closed headphones do you recommend for mixing on the road?

[@DMS3TV]

Probably AKG K361

[@user-jo5fq5ln5c]

When you say the Elegia sounds amazing on some tracks, is that with or without EQ?

[@DMS3TV]

Without.

[@user-jo5fq5ln5c]

@@DMS3TV Thank you. One other thing. How good is noise isolation when wearing glasses? It's important for me to know, since I need headphones to stop my hearing loss getting worse I live in a noisy home where I have to listen to high pitch loud sounds for hours every day

[@ahmadmatar9374]

@@user-jo5fq5ln5c the noise isolation is good

[@ahmadmatar9374]

Even tho you wear glasses

[@richardyuen5786]

I have a pair of Clear pros that I just love, besides having owned a bunch of Focal studio monitors. The Clear is fantastic for listening, mixing etc, since I run a small studio, but sometimes I want a good pair of closed-backs for tracking, specially with a live microphone. The clears leak too much sound and will be picked up by mics, specially condensers. I ordered and waiting for my Elegia close-back headphones. So I think different uses for different designs. Still, I do love the Focal quality.

[@scottblues2332]

Hi! Have you tried the Elegia already? How does it compare to the Clear?

[@richardyuen5786]

Hi Scott, I really like the Elegia phones, it's different than the Clear pros. In some ways it's not as "hi-fi" as the Clears but it's OK, still quite good. It's light, comfortable, and being a closed back, much better for tracking. The mids are great so good for listening to a wide range of music. For the price I think it is wonderful. I find myself using it more and more, for studio work and just listening to KZbin stuff. If my mixes sound good on both the Clears and Elegia, it'll be a good mix. So far very happy.

[@Morden97]

I don't know what my problem with the elegia is but I just find them incredibly uncomfortable. I can't even focus on the sound due to how unbearable they are it's crazy. I dunno if my head is larger than average, my ears are too big or what. I feel like it'd be much better if the headband were just a bit bigger

[@Torigum]

Focal elegia of the new sennheiser 660s2?

[@ryanhostudio]

smsl su-9 a good pair for A90? D90 sold out lol

[@chefsteve8381]

Save your money just get a su 8 sound the same !

[@abhtv1297]

Wow. Great video. If your not using them any more. Ill take them off your hand.

[@MrKrampyHands]

I bought my elegia about a week ago about 45-50 hours of burn in and just got a balanced cable for them paired with Ifi XCan soon to be zen can I must say and wire they are V phenomenal best closed back for the money B period I V only paid 329 for these on adorama as a OB I have dekoni sheepskin pads in the mail as we speak this is my new daily driver for sure they are so good I’m questioning my ownership of my 3 other wired headphones

[@zubatia]

would you please compare the H9, H95 and HX family, thanks in advance

[@3therspark63]

Still not sure if DMS is 20yo or 35 ..... Awesome review man! Lovely descriptions

[@DMS3TV]

28 so right in the middle lol

[@GSP-76]

I have the Celestee and with a proper headphone desktop amp, they are fantastic.

[@callmevil]

A constant contrarian, perhaps those ear loops does affect how you perceive sound considering they do vibrate on some levels..

[@dmitris77]

I totally agree with him. The Celestee is a very disappointing set of headphones. They make songs sound small, and closed off. Like listening to music in an overly treated phone booth

[@theodorezurla496]

Did not expect the elegia to come out on top I'm honestly in shock 😳 especially since Andrew from headphone show stated the celestee is better by a fair margin...

[@DMS3TV]

Celestee has considerably better tuning. I just enjoy Elegia more.

[@theodorezurla496]

@@DMS3TV I respect your honest opinion, definitely motivated me to try my own comparison thanks 👍

[@dmitris77]

I sent my Celestee back and got some Unique Melody MEST iem’s. Best decision I’ve ever made. Not only are they way better for sound isolation/portability, but the sq blows the Celestee away. Open backs are the way to go when it comes to headphones imo

[@mariorock76]

​@@dmitris77 Did you return them without breaking them in? After 50 to 100 hours of listening, the Celestees shine a lot more!

[@revelationsoundstudio]

Thanks for the helpful review. The Celestee is a great headphone in its price range. However the one concern I have is the smaller sound stage. I wonder if the Sennheiser closed back provide a wider sound stage.

[@amentia]

If you're talking about the HD820, yeah, they do sound quite wider, but they are a little weird in tonality for a lot of people

[@KnightmareUSA]

with these ultrawide videos i'm always scrolling up to try and see the missing top half

[@virgopolution3378]

which one for mixing in the studio?

[@DMS3TV]

Between these two, celestee. Aeon Noire would be worth considering also though.

[@sajanpalanki3950]

If you plan to expand the list, could I recommend making a $1000 to $2000 different list, rather than just making the current one larger. I think that would make it easier for people to compare items based on price to performance within their given price range, rather than having to sort through the full gamut. With that being said, it would also be interesting to see how items between the two lists compare, because surely there are items below $1000 which outperform many above.

[@Drinkyoghurt]

Is it me or does the camera focus seem to be off in this video? Yeah, I can see the headphones and the cases clearly, but DMS is very blurry.

[@DMS3TV]

Yeah. 1-man production makes things like that hard sometimes.

[@brothatwasepic]

Going for closed back was a huge mistake for me personally. Clears are amazing though

[@dmitris77]

Yea, the closed off Celestee sound/sound stage is very disappointing. I bought them because I needed something that I could listen to privately. I ended up returning the Celestee and got some UM MEST iem’s instead. Big improvement, and way better for sound isolation and portability. I’ll probably get a pair of the clear mg’s eventually.

[@christopher1800]

@@dmitris77 I feel this whole soundstage thing is very much overrated. Headphones that are supposed to have a brilliant soundstage, make *EVERYTHING* sound like it has a fantastic soundstage / ‘spacial’, even where it isn’t supposed to be like that. Soundstage isn’t equal to “better sound”, it is just something that a lot of people seem to prefer (I don’t… I like a more ‘intimate’ soundstage). The Celestee is all about detail and neutral sound, which is why I love it. Oh and one more thing: I get the feeling that people just order headphones, take a few listens, and then return it (or not). I found that the Celestee needs proper playing time in terms of sound and even in terms of fit. What baffles me most is that the soundstage is mentioned in pratcially every review, but still people order the Celestee and then complain it has a bad soundstage. Why?

[@christopher1800]

@dmitris77 Great return policy… I don’t think many stores would do that. :) I think when it comes to soundstage a lot is personal preference, and I do believe it’s a somewhat overrated quality. And a lot depends on what kind of music you listen to. I agree on the sound leak, but closed backs are also for not hearing external sounds coming through to the listener. The Celestee is pretty good in that respect. Anyway, I enjoy the SQ of the Celestee… to each their own I guess. I am thinking about buying an open back for the music that isn’t souding quite that brilliant (Pink Floyd may be an example), but haven’t decided on which one yet… and I need to save for it anyway. lol

[@brothatwasepic]

Agreed I think the Celestees are actually great closed back headphones for closed back

[@chad6]

Zeos posed a link to adorama with the elegia posted at $399 last night. Idk if it’s still up but I impulsively bought them, they’re a steal at that price, super excited!

[@DMS3TV]

That’s a great deal!

[@atravelingboy7995]

Me too, great headphones came with Celeste style cable too :)

[@danielgordon2166]

A heads up for anyone who reads this, the Elegia has gone on sale twice for $550 on Amazon in the past 3 days.

[@BearMetro]

Or you can get it open box for $419 on adorama. I wasn't a fan of the headphones though.

[@Dovndyr13]

Just bought the Celestee for 650€ (700$) new, have the Elegia for more than a year. Curious how my ears will rate them after burn in side y side

[@tecno4u31]

Celeste in my country 840€. Elegia 380€.

[@Dovndyr13]

@@tecno4u31 rarely buy things in my country. All my focal are bought in France and Austria

[@tecno4u31]

@@Dovndyr13 yeah. I live in Spain. You had/have both, haven't you? What are the main differences between the Elegia and the Celestee? Thanks!

[@caspar_gomez]

rate them bro

[@theodorezurla496]

Celestee vs radiance next? 😁👍

[@BuzzinhornetCBR]

I agree, it makes sense o compare with the Radiance as well. Heck, why not throw the Stellia in the mix also.

[@xeri6760]

Elegia or Noire?

[@eh7378]

Love my Elegia! Especially for the $350 I paid. Need to sell my HD700 now

[@NaraukoFNH]

The Elegia is amazing, but almost nothing beats the HD700 for comfort. It takes the crown for all day comfort, beating even the HD800S and only the Audioquest Nighowl/hawk coming close. HD700 is also better than Elegia for gaming, but for most music the Elegia does better.

[@awood186]

would love to see the Shure 1540 compared to the Elegia

[@awood186]

Also why would you not want to mix with the Elegia, if its pretty flat? Also sounds like it can be EQ'd pretty well.

[@ANSWERTHECALLOFJESUSCHRIST]

Not the 1540, but I had the Shure 1840 and gifted them away after getting the Elegia. I've been making music as a hobby for almost 20 years and I wouldn't mix or master on the Elegia. They're not flat nor reference-tuned.

[@awood186]

@@ANSWERTHECALLOFJESUSCHRIST So what do you mix and master with if you gave away the 1840s and what are you using the elegias you have for

[@DrBeaf]

Dekoni Custom pads are so good on these. Order of magnitutde better.

[@thelonepainter4760]

I got some burson op amps and the focal Celestee.....👌

[@AKL764]

Please review Final d8000 pro!

[@Ottobawt]

Would you game with the Elegia if you needed a closed back(room-sound isolation)?

[@alan2698]

I gamed with my Elegia. It was actually really good. Not boomy or anything. It is really clean and locating people or hearing small details like an enemy reloading near by or footstep they worked really well. I used either the Elegia (playing more seriously and actually playing the objective) and need closed back. If I want a more immersive experience and playing a campaign and need closed I go DT1770 (crazy fun bass). When I play and I don't need a closed back I use my HD700 now (my preferred gaming headphone). But to answer you question, I always enjoyed the Elegia for gaming and think it's great.

[@Ottobawt]

@@alan2698 hows the sound rejection of outside noise?

[@alan2698]

@@Ottobawt awsome. Very little sound leaks out and I don't hear shit coming in lol. Very good both ways.

[@gustawfreitag5727]

I think you should maybe add something to your background mabey plants now it looks kinda dead

[@ericwilestech]

I really hope you get your hands on the MG

[@HobbyTalk]

Celestee I liked better than MG for tuning, but guitar sounded weird… bass guitar and guitar got hard to differentiate for me.

[@nikks1371]

Has anyone tried the elegia with some tubes?

[@thispersonisdumb2712]

Am I the only one hearing the weird bottle clacking in the background? That's a little weird. Edit: It is predominantly in the left ear, and I think it is part of the background music itself.

[@DMS3TV]

I record my audio in mono, so it's in the music for sure.

[@theodoroschronis2966]

You keep mentioning AKG361 as a reference in comparison to Celestee and that makes me happy to for having them and prevent me from buying Celestee.

[@intelligence6900]

So every other review states that the celestee is a direct upgrade in every way but this one says he would pick the elegia ? Idk man I’m gonna have to hear them both for my self.

[@DMS3TV]

I mean, I said too that the celestee is better overall and more neutral. Detail-wise they’re the same. I just preferred the elegia.

[@intelligence6900]

@@DMS3TV stop confusing me 😭

[@dannybos7024]

@@intelligence6900 Just get both and return the one you like the least. As simple as that.

[@intelligence6900]

@@dannybos7024 love going to the post office and returning things it’s my favorite way to spend time I don’t have.

[@dannybos7024]

​@@intelligence6900 Because that really is an activity that takes up several hours of your day /s. Come on dude.

[@RizqiAngga]

Just keep working until i can afford clear mg,, maybe on the next 5 years hahahahaha

[@trevisrobotie924]

D,just tell me one thing: can these guys be powered by any android c.phone? Imma hobo with good ears...I need the bestest audio from my phone or a Mp3/4. don't laugh cuz am dead serious

[@theodorezurla496]

I do not own the elegia but the celestee is extremely easy to drive even on a smartphone

[@cp070476]

Celestee £899 Elegia £450.. Which do you buy?

[@josephduckworth2122]

The difference between the headphones is minimal. Definitely not worth the double price.

[@sameermana2003]

Great to hear that my elegias are getting some love. Did you see crinacle's review? He said it was the worst premium closed back headphone he's ever heard...I think he gave it a D😂