I agree with your takes on focal. I currently own the clear og and Celestee. The radiance would be next on my list. I have had the Utopia and Stellia in house but moved both along as I liked their lower priced point products. I find warmer gear and things like an r2r nos Dac help the minimize the metallic timbre. The hd800s and og clears are my go to headphones with the 1266 Phi tc and others sitting on the bench most of the time.
@colors66922 жыл бұрын
I own the four of them😎
@aceofspades66672 жыл бұрын
@@colors6692 I will buy a used Utopia once the new model comes out. Prices are gonna start heading toward $1500 used
@emilebrabant5018 Жыл бұрын
If you had to choose between celestee or clear MG, which one would you buy ? I haven't the budget for both of them ...
@aceofspades6667 Жыл бұрын
@@emilebrabant5018 I can’t speak for the mg I own and have only heard the Og. The clears are def a step up in performance over Celestee. But I use the Celestee more for office work and commuting. The benefits of a closed back for me outweigh the sound quality improvement of being open. So I would say it depends upon your use case. Also consider buying used as there are bargains to be had.
@mikeg2491 Жыл бұрын
I have a Utopia but recently got a Radiance. It’s probably 90% of the detail but 150% more fun because not only is the bass tuned higher, it doesn’t crackle or rattle in the sub-bass at medium to high volumes like my Utopia. To me that is the biggest buzzkill to an almost perfect HP. I’m probably going to sell the Utopia now since I get the same focal house sound with added warmth for less money.
@revelationsoundstudio Жыл бұрын
Focal now has the updated Utopia headphones where they improved the driver so you should not have quality issues and they reduced the peak high end. Sounds like they did a nice subtle upgrade. It's suppose to sound pretty similar still with the old one. I like the bass and mids better on the Clear MG than the Clears. Both are excellent but not sure if the original are sill available. I'm quite happy with my Clear MG's
@dasninjastix2 жыл бұрын
Had the Elegia, had the Stellia, currently have the Radiance. I keep trying to fall in love with Focal but she doesn't seem to want to reciprocate. How very French. I thought the Stellia was more balanced with the Dekoni LTD pads (not sure if they're still available). They injected some air in the top-end that spaced out the stage and thinned the upper-mids a bit. Ultimately my issue with the Stellia was that it shredded any poorly recorded music I had. I'm not going to compromise my library for a headphone, it has to work with me and with the Stellia I was just acutely aware of any grain, hiss, hum, scratch, pop, what have you in the mix. The Elegia was a honk-fest. I know some people swear by it but I'm concerned about the hearing of those individuals. If I want to be shouted at I'll piss off my wife. No amount of pad rolling could save that headphone for me. The Radiance is okay. It can really convey the texture of a voice and it doesn't ever seem to get honky/shouty. But it's got that "hallway" sound that all closed Focals seem to have. I think they need to sort out their venting or dampening or both. Once you hear it it's hard to un-hear; probably worst on music you know the best where it just sounds a bit boxed in, a bit narrow, with a faint echo or unwanted reverb (dissonant). Appreciate the content. Was very curious how the Celestee compares to the others and this has given me a pretty idea I think. Also agree with FR not being the end all/be all. I know the folks who measure (mostly) go to lengths to advise prospective buyers that FR isn't indicative of how a headphone may actually sound.. but then they emphasize the criticality of knowing the FR regardless. As a rabid pad swapper with multiple sources I can choose from I just see it as over-analyzing and a big waste of time. FR is never going to beat a friendly return policy. Good luck to you and your channel mate!
@chungang7037 Жыл бұрын
I agree, the only thing I would say about the Celestee is I think it is more forgiving on my poorly recorded music, and the drivers are more robust and do not clip for hard rock and my daft punk and house music. Weirdly, they also work will for my folk and other genres where there are only a few instruments on stage, especially acoustic instruments, the slight warmth in the tonality helps here to fill out those instruments making them sound a bit more lifelike then other headphones that aim for complete neutrality. It is things like this make it hard to trust anything the FR crowd who live and die by those graphs say, and until they figure out how to measure those elements of a headphone's performance I take them with a boatload of salt.
@robovirtuoso13544 ай бұрын
Really funny how Focal making cymbals sound "metallic" is such a bad thing for some people. Good thing you pointed that out. I mean I'd rather a metallic cymbal sound than plasticky.
@tiffanyflanagan18922 жыл бұрын
I’m about to buy the Stellia because I need a high-end closed back. I can’t wait until next month. I have the Clear MG Pro and my Partner has the OG Clears. I prefer the MG, the midrange and bass are amazing. I like the OG’s, but they sound thinner and brighter, and don’t slam as hard. It’s kinda cool to be able to switch back and forth.
@amplifyaudioreviews2 жыл бұрын
Makes sense
@falcodarkzz2 жыл бұрын
let me know what you think! I find clear vs stellia interesting. I owned both but ultimately shipped Clear off.
@amplifyaudioreviews2 жыл бұрын
@@falcodarkzz The Stellia's superior to the Clear in many ways. Technically for sure. Although tonal preferences can be quite subjective.
@falcodarkzz2 жыл бұрын
@@amplifyaudioreviews Yeah I find them an interesting one to compare as I agree, the tonal balance is quite different. I asked Resolve which he'd take and he said Clear!
@amplifyaudioreviews2 жыл бұрын
@@falcodarkzz I can see that.
@ysubman2 жыл бұрын
Have you heard of a planar headphone from china called nan-6 which is a replica of the hifiman he-6? hope to see your review on this headphone, especially the new revision nan-7 is out last month
@davidcoons892 жыл бұрын
Great comparo..thanks bud!
@cassiecat7038 Жыл бұрын
Just bought the og Utopia it’s arriving today; price was reduced. Excited to hear it, though concerned about the warranty and driver failure issues.
@DJR5280 Жыл бұрын
What do you think of them?
@cassiecat7038 Жыл бұрын
@@DJR5280 Very happy they amaze me all the time; and not fatiguing at all.
@RX-rd4sc Жыл бұрын
i got to know.that the clears has driver clipping issues at high volume in bassy music, did you experienced so far any issue??? and please review audeze mobius
@chungang7037 Жыл бұрын
I absolutely love the Celestee, and I expected to not like them. I got them on sale for 500$, and expected to be selling them. Nope, they are going in my permanent collection. The same as you said, I am all about tonality rather than "performance" with my headphones, because performance and resolving ability does not equate enjoyment of music for me.
@thor_86 Жыл бұрын
Hey, I'm new to this and not interested in owning several headphones, but want to get ONE great sounding headphone that I can use for all genres without worries. Would you recommend stellia for this, or should I pay the extra for utopia? As of a few days ago there is even a new utopia, but maybe you didn't listen to it yet. Hope to hear from you, great videos on this channel
@Historyisnotwas Жыл бұрын
Very well done video! I can only afford the Elegia. Would the Elegia be good for large scale orchestral ( classical) listening and classic Bepob jazz?
@jazzpianoman01 Жыл бұрын
Focal Utopia drivers failing like that causes alarm bells to ring w me; at 4000 dollars I don’t think I would take that chance and it shouldn’t keep happening In a headphone costing that amount of money
@jazzpianoman01 Жыл бұрын
My headphone collections includes the original HD800 which to my ears are superb apart from a very bright peak. I also have the HD600 and Beyerdynamic DT770 pro but to spend 4 thousand on a Utopia I would have to listen critically for many hours, maybe even preferring other cheaper alternatives.
@mtocful Жыл бұрын
Can you do a detailed Utopia 2022 review?
@johnvalatos40732 жыл бұрын
Great review as always. For someone new to Focal headphones which of the four is the one to start with? Oh and what are you listening to lately? Cheers.
@amplifyaudioreviews2 жыл бұрын
Celestee among all the Focals!
@nickdual Жыл бұрын
4k videos,man!
@andreac7a9 ай бұрын
You should check the sound of your microphone. It has many "humps". Dude you run a channel on hi-fi audio...
@benluu83239 ай бұрын
This is awesome. I got the Celestee but I’m unsure if I should have gotten the radiance. The Celestee sound a little closed in, not very open, which I am concerned about. Will they open up after a while?
@KiNGMe215 ай бұрын
Nope
@musicxxa66782 жыл бұрын
HE6 se v2 vs Focal Clear OG pls
@amplifyaudioreviews2 жыл бұрын
HE6 SE V2 review coming up
@wesleyleigh40632 жыл бұрын
i had the one that went for $550 and it was bad, really bad.
@musicxxa66782 жыл бұрын
@@wesleyleigh4063 What was bad about it ? everyone love it so far even against $2k headphones except the build ofc
@DJR5280 Жыл бұрын
The question I have is the Utopia worth the price difference of the Clear OG?
@pianistor5552 жыл бұрын
When you mentioned the Utopia driver failure, does it extend to all other Focal headphones? I live in Latin America, so warranty is pretty much non existent for me, I planned to get a Clear or Celestee so in case it breaks at least I don't feel as much pain. Also I wanted to know if there too much of a difference in sound between the Clear and Utopia, I heard some people genuinely like the Clear more.
@amplifyaudioreviews2 жыл бұрын
I can see some people liking the Clear more the Utopia is a bit more intense. But I prefer the Utopia. The driver failures do not apply to all Focals however, mostly the Utopia. I am considering selling my Celeste sometime in the future just to make my collection smaller and more manageable. Let me know if you are ever interested...
@urbenkam2 жыл бұрын
Hi i got the clears. Do you think these require burnin?
@goldwerger2 жыл бұрын
Have you ever heard the Radiance? If yes, curious how you see this in the line up or in general..
@amplifyaudioreviews2 жыл бұрын
Yup. Owned it briefly. Prett good headphone. A bit wider sounding than the Celeste but more midbassy and dark in the treble. I think I have a comparison vid of the Radiance in relation to the Focal Clear somewhere on my channel.
@goldwerger2 жыл бұрын
@@amplifyaudioreviews cool thanks!
@ericbratkiw6909 Жыл бұрын
I am looking at the utopia vs stellia mostly for gaming do you have recommendations… great video
@crate718 Жыл бұрын
I would never get headphones that the drivers fail. Too bad
@HobbyTalk2 жыл бұрын
Stelia is interesting…
@kyron422 жыл бұрын
How do they compared to the Elegia and the Elex?
@Dovndyr132 жыл бұрын
Personally i prefer openback, but Elex has been known for driver failure ... I dont know the Elex, I only have the Elear (Elex should be similar to Elear, especially the pads should be different (the pads are similar to the Clear)) I own the Elear, Elegia, Celestee and Clear og To my ears Elegia are at last place. They are the least vivid and airy. They are good allrounders, but do not do anything superb. After intensive use mine didn't have a driver failure To my ears Elear are a tiny bit better, since they are more airy. Els they are pretty close to the Elegia. Often I use them to listen to a song first time. My set had a driver failure Celestee are less airy than the Elear. So if you only have one hp i would go after openback, except if ou live in a noisy enviroment. They are superior in many ways compared to the Elegia in tuning, Andrew from the headphone show also thinks so. The bass is great and punchy, maybe the most punchy off all 4.. Absolutley my favorite hp of these 4 to a song like wind of change by the scorpions But overall the Clear is the best. Listening to the soundtrack of the movie Dune gav me goosebumps. they are the most airy and give a relative correct sound representation compared to the others. So if you can find the money, I would go for the clear compared to Elegia/Elear/Elex
@kyron422 жыл бұрын
@@Dovndyr13 thanks. Do you ever use EQ? I think I'll end up with an Aria stealth but also want a dynamic driver headphone and probably closed-back without breaking the bank. Do you think Elegia with EQ would be good?
@jasonbhatnagar71342 жыл бұрын
I have the Elegia (with Dekoni stellia pads - not the same as the regular dekoni sheepskin pads! - and run it balanced off my Sony ZX-507 with AutoEQ from Wavelet) and I've heard the Celestee. The Elegia sounds much bigger than the Celestee, which sounds very claustrophobic. Other than that, they almost sound the same. The Elegia was created to be like a Clear OG closed-back according to Focal
@Dovndyr132 жыл бұрын
@@kyron42 No, i Don't use EQ. As far as i know you still would need leather pads, like from Dekoni to get the reflection of the bass up. I bought my Celestee when it was on sale. So the price between a new elegia + pads or Celestee on sale isn't that big. Haven't listened to the Arya, but have the Ananda. If you would have the Arya + Clear og i doubt you would use the celestee much
@Dovndyr132 жыл бұрын
@@jasonbhatnagar7134 still to my ears the Elegia is much closer to the Elear. But yes the soundstage is small
@knives24kb Жыл бұрын
To say that clear og has better bass than Arya is a joke.