Drop Focal Elex Headphone Review

[@robinator3202]

I have both the Elex and the Clear, along with two different pairs, and have not experienced the problems described in this video. Turning the volume to the levels described can be damaging to your ears as well as the headphone. Measurements are one thing but as many know the Focal engineers have done a beautiful job of creating a warm and enjoyable music experience. I have had my units since 2018 and find they have held up very very well with no problems. One should expect that if you push headphones or speakers to hard too often you should expect that you may be limiting their reliability or doing damage. Enjoy the music

[@andreaboi8566]

The same, I've Focal Elegia and never experienced these problems. Clipping can occur only if you put excessive EQ/volume by pushing over limits the driver. He also complain about bass distortion with some songs that are huge compressed/limited and totally clipped. Focal not recommend these EQ settings.

[@bstar777777]

I cranked my favorite test for dynamics and sub-bass (Desert Search for Techno Allah by Mr. Bungle)... Volume was much higher than I would ever listen at and I did not hear any crackling or noticeable distortion. I did not want to go any higher an potentially harm the drivers longevity. As far as I'm concerned, my Elex (purchased on 2023) do not suffer from this issue.

[@marklloyd4153]

I just bought the clear for $790 new . The Elex is $499. I think I may pick up the Elex too just to have at that price . Thanks for the great review and interesting graphs. I learned a few things from your review . Thank you.

[@user-vi3tb3bw5t]

Good review. I have heard probably hundreds of different cases of driver issues since Elex's release, making me extremely hesitant considering these.

[@JamesWilliams-gf8gm]

Hmm, I have owned most of big name $2000 and under headphones and the Elex are my main headphone. Other than the sub bass roll off they are near perfect. I sold/returned my HD800S, Audeze LCD-X, HT900 when I got these. I have not had them loud enough to bottom out the driver. I don’t listen much above 85db and no rap music for me.

[@CaveyMoth]

I love my Focal Elear so much, as long as I use EQ to raise the 5 khz hole. If there's one song that tries to murder them, it's gotta be this one, but only if I have bass EQed up already. kzbin.info/www/bejne/oYTSZ3-KZd2DibM

[@user-hb1ve6mc6f]

Try listening to Miles Davis...Kind of Blue, Round About Midnight, Sketches of Spain...and so on...I can barely hear the bass on my Clears from my Arche. Thanks for your reviews!

[@GoodVibrationsSound]

Is there any chance of measuring the HD 8XX that Massdrop announced? The lower distortion in the lows seems like it might make EQing it for more bass a lot better. Always skeptical of the people releasing the headphone's measurements though.

[@mikechafe419]

I've been using these for over 2 years now with zero issues. I have heard no 'crackling' sounds whatsoever, even at very high volumes. I prefer them over my Audeze LCD-X for their comfort and dynamics as I listen mainly to rock/pop. Sounds like you may have got a bad unit. QA was apparently an issue with these. Guess I lucked out...for once.

[@lenkaslezakova6241]

Your reviews are best! Always uncovering all important issues.. Thanks.

[@AudioScienceReview]

That's very kind of you. Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@joshfoss7407]

I can't accurately measure the dB of my Focal Clear Pro, but with them plugged into a THX 789 I can turn the volume to max on max gain (+7db Low shelf - 7.1db EQ gain) and I don't get any noticeable crackling. Maybe my ears can't hear it, I'm just lucky, or maybe it doesn't affect all units?

[@pabsgabs]

Thank you for sharing! Amir does excellent work! And I see other you tubers measuring cables too. But at what point do we start “listening “ to music? Most people might like brand A and less people might like brand B. Meanwhile brand B “measures” so much better than brand A. But isn’t it about what you like? Some people might prefer distortion or analytical or warm or flat or exited. I’m a sucker for reviews, and I love reading about which product measured better, but I’m no longer listening to music, I’m “watching”music. (Through graphs) I was happy with the bass in my home theater, but since I got into REW + miniDSP, I’m going crazy lol looking at graphs trying to make it better, because the graph said so, not my ears.

[@AudioScienceReview]

With acoustics, listening tests are important. With respect to Room EQ, if your ears say one thing and measurements say another, go by your ear. Two ears and a brain hear differently than a single microphone. In domains outside of that, there is too much chance of error in listening so measurements rule.

[@pabsgabs]

@@AudioScienceReview Thank you Sir! And thank you for sharing all your findings!

[@cisco150]

I have the Anandas would the Elex be better or more bass

[@Jordonater]

I would of gotten Elex but because I live in UK I had no choice but to get the clears. Thankfully they were reduced but the elex is still much cheaper so people in US are lucky. The clear is very pleasant to listen to compared to most high end headphones that have far to much energy in the sibilance range so it was a relief to get one that is almost neutral and i like the slight forwardness of the range at 1khz.

[@donvittoriosierra]

interested to see whether the clear mg still has this crackle at higher volumes.

[@AudioScienceReview]

Indeed.

[@NotAFanMan88]

@@AudioScienceReview From my experience, I don't hear a peep of crackle even at levels that are so deafeningly loud I couldn't have it on my head. I'm more afraid of blowing out the drivers honestly. I don't have Clears or the Elex to compare to, though.

[@cornerliston]

How does this Massdrop version of things work actually? Is it the community voting for changes they want and then the manufacturers tunes the cans? I had the Clear for a short while and never had any issues with the crackling of sound -- but I rarely listen to anything at very high levels so I probably just missed it. OR this is something that comes with the Massdrop editions? I agree though that with some EQ-ing they sound a lot better than without. Too much high mids to my taste but that's a sound signature many cans seems to have. Partly when lacking an open and airy high freq range.

[@hes182]

Would you take the Elex with EQ over a HD650 with EQ ?? I'm very curious. Nice review ✨

[@JamesWilliams-gf8gm]

I have owned both. The Elex would be my choice every time. They need less EQ than the HD650s. The 650s are so undynamic and boring, EQ can’t fix that.

[@CaveyMoth]

I like the Elear, but I can't stand the HD650. They both have dull, recessed upper mids, but the 650 drops off earlier than the Elear. The Elear also has much better audio positioning. It's not as deep or well defined as the Philips X2 or AKG K701. But it beats the 650, which sounds wooly and diffuse, like the sound is closing in on you. I guess the closed-in sound could be good for the perception of small details in an engineering situation.

[@andreaboi8566]

The Focal headphones don't clip. Stop complain for bass distortion if you listen at insane loud volume and use extreme EQ settings or listening crap music with a lot of clipping. For example the song you suggest ジェリーフィッシュ (feat. ローラーガール)【MEiSTER】on ASR forum it's completely clipped, no wonder why it sound bad on Focals. Never experienced it with proper well recorded and mastered music. It's clear from these videos that you're trying to push them too much, over the drivers capabilities.

[@20puskinas1992]

My hd800S dont clip no matter how loud i listen or how much i eq. Focals suck! get over it and go back to head fi you crybaby.

[@BrunoLiraArraisMaia]

are the QC issues solved with the new batches?

[@airun5362]

Hope to see ATH R70x, cause for its price its the most valuable thing on the market, where you pay for real quality not brand and etc. Also its one of the "flat curve" earphones.

[@Jordonater]

Its actually very similar perceived response to the Focals. I didn't get them personally because i heard the pads are quite small and i cant stand that.

[@fullalbums5675]

I guess the reason all Focals have similar response is they just use the same driver in all of these models?

[@NotAFanMan88]

Well if you come across a Clear Mg, would love to hear your thoughts on it. It doesn't seem to have the crackling issues that you pointed out in this video.

[@davidfuller581]

Interestingly I heard on GS that the MG series of Focal cans are less susceptible to the excursion limit crackling compared to the older ones. I can't speak for how true that is, but...

[@AudioScienceReview]

I have to get my hands on one to test. Right now I have a big backlog of other headphones so need to get those done.

[@Lauren080508]

I bought my Elex 5 months ago after watching the rave reviews by mostly every youtuber out there, so when I saw Amir had reviewed them I was glad to finally get a more scientific observation, Thanks Amir, EQ works like a charm and certainly i will not push the volume too much and cross my finger they don't die on me.

[@AudioScienceReview]

Ah, thanks for the feedback on the EQ. Puts my mind at ease that others are finding the EQ improvements worthwhile.

[@arongatt]

Someone needs to send you a ZMF headphone , that would be interesting.

[@AudioScienceReview]

The company contacted me and said they would send some. I have to check to see if they ever did. I had members who had offered them and I asked them not to because of that.

[@arongatt]

@@AudioScienceReview that’s great 👍, looking forward to that.

[@Jordonater]

I heard an Aeolus and it was very disappointing. Very narrow staging to the point where it was almost mono and to much sibilance. Various wiggles in the mid to upper midrange too. The build was stellar though like a tank. Better than Beyers build.

[@ChrisKeyman]

Hello What headphones would you suggest for studio use? Anything from planars?

[@scottgordon1721]

Amir, I just purchased the Focal Elegia( new close out $400) which replaced this unit apparently they have addressed the crackle with a new driver. I tried to reproduce the problem with no success so Focal apparently solved that issue. Deep Bass response is still an issue with this model. What affordable headphone equalizer would you recommend of those you tested to boost the bass? Thank you very much for your scientific approach and educational videos you do us a great service!

[@andreaboi8566]

What music are you listening? I've have not problems at all with deep bass, but you must to listen high quality music, not average crappy from Spotify of Tidal. Trying to change their signature completely won't make them better, only create more distortion and risk to damage the driver by pushing them too much.

[@iggyzep7576]

Наконец-то появился человек с графиками и научным подходом! И не говорит ничего по-аудиофильски: Как широка сцена, под какой стиль музыки подходит, микро и макродинамику...

[@AudioScienceReview]

Thank you. :)

[@fsi2210]

2 videos in one day. Spoiling us 😁

[@mikegoddard7354]

This is going to be a good one o.o

[@ericwilestech]

Please measure Focal Elegia and Elear. I just got these two and I’m curious how you see them?!

[@CaveyMoth]

3:02 Are you saying that Focal is tuning the 5 khz ravine into their headphones on purpose? Sheesh. They must love that dull sound. I wish I could feel the same way. Good thing for EQ.

[@user-be5mj7wy8u]

Please review Bakoon amps.

[@Samuell1124]

It will be great if you can crank down the myth of elex being elear with clear pads.

[@AudioScienceReview]

Hopefully I get an Elear to test.

[@DBSTH0R]

Does this mean Clear review will receive an edit/revision? :)

[@AudioScienceReview]

Well, it was more expensive headphone so it deserved harsher treatment for the same issue. :)

[@DBSTH0R]

@@AudioScienceReview Understood. However, if in EU the price difference after import taxes between Elex and Clear are minor, thus making Clear ...a clear choice! :) At least it was it was in my case as I got the Pro version with a discount - for basically lower price than the Elex. I find your EQ profile for Clear excellent btw. Thanks!

[@iggyzep7576]

Please take a review of Yamaha HPH-MT8!

[@AudioScienceReview]

Will be on the look out for one to test.

[@reitencheng4878]

would you like to test a Diana Phi or 1266 phi?

[@AudioScienceReview]

Both have been sent by a member for testing. :) They just came though so I have to review others that came before it first.

[@reitencheng4878]

@@AudioScienceReview Can't wait to see the result!

[@yaoyaotigeraudio7299]

HI, friend, why can not see the buying link?

[@AudioScienceReview]

It will take me about 2 months to test the ones you sent.

[@yaoyaotigeraudio7299]

@@AudioScienceReview woo, friend, why take so long time?

[@iggyzep7576]

👍

[@Marius.1926]

Make you test of iem?

[@AudioScienceReview]

In theory yes. But I need to do some testing with my fixture to make sure the results are reliable.

[@Jordonater]

Its a shame the drivers cant take more especially when there Speaker drivers can take lots of power and spl before complaining. I suppose Focal hasn't been in the headphone game for that long.

[@robalarcon]

yeah my Drop/Focal Elex stopped working on one channel they are right when they say their QC is bad. I'd stay away from this headphones if I were you.

[@robalarcon]

they lasted almost 9 months.