Focal Stellia Review - Unexpected Endgame Closed-back Headphone

[@johnellison3173]

You recommend getting a third party cable. This is a $3,000 headphone 😮

[@TheHEADPHONEShow]

This is a common concern with many companies unfortunately. It seems like only a handful have really easy to use cables

[@devolutionary]

Unfortunately the thick, stiff, borderline vacuum cable style is synonymous with Focal. Regardless of price.

[@johnellison3173]

@@devolutionary So is driver failure which is shocking at the price of their stuff.

[@MaximizedAction]

@@devolutionary Surely the upside of that is a tank could roll over them and they'd still work

[@GamersInkInfo]

I own the Stellia and Clear, the stock cable is really bad in the sense its stiff and bulky. I would recommend Heart Audio cables if you need something on a budget, if not ZMF, Headphones.com have a lot of great options.

[@gomez3420]

Great review. It would be helpful for reviewers like yourself to provide us with what source material you used as well as the DAC/AMP used in the evaluation of this product. Because I am sure that you are aware that these can greatly influence the sound obtained.

[@TheBrokenEclipse]

This or the ZMF Verite Closed?

[@arrakian]

Great job on the review, Chrono. If these were more like the Elear (looks-wise), I’d get them. Hopefully, a replacement soon come.

[@changhwalee6395]

awesome headphones & review! Just wonder what's the motivation behind the light brown-dark brown pattern. Might go nice with wooden interiors though.

[@arrakian]

Chang Hwa Lee To make it look more expensive so that the $3000 price doesn’t seem so outrageous. The excessive box presentation also adds to this perception.

[@demokraken]

@@arrakian Are you sure it's not about you not having money for this piece of art?

[@arrakian]

Alex nope. I have a budget set aside for some TOTL phones. I just want to be happy with the purchase. Make no mistake, the star of the show for these are the drivers. This is about a $1800 can gussied-up to look worthy of the $3k price tag, which was (I guess) issued to compliment the Utopia’s price as the open TOTL.

[@demokraken]

@@arrakian so what would be ~2K headphones on the market that match these drivers in performance?

[@arrakian]

Alex although you said headphone, I just tried the Final A8000 IEMs and they are fantastic. I made sure to give them the full 200 hour break-in the manufacturer recommended for their Beryllium drivers. I think the people who said they sound bright (or thin) never gave them a chance. I let ‘em go because I learned I’m not really an in-ear guy. For now, I think the Audeze LCD-XC (Creator Package) is a winner. I’m in a holding pattern with the LCD-X until something right comes along.

[@koreanfriedchildren]

Actually the XLR cable is unbalanced, if you open up the connector and check inside the terminals they aren't wired up as balanced

[@gomez3420]

I would appreciate if someone else could confirm this finding as I find it unlikely that a company the stature of Focal would not provide a truly balanced design!

[@Martijn1234]

I have them and it says they are balanced in the manual. Not sure how I tell tbh

[@gomez3420]

@@Martijn1234 I read another review online and they said the same thing that it was not truly balanced. Strange huh? I cannot explain why Focal would do that. Since I have bought several of their products I will contact them to get an answer.

[@starkid9736]

LOL

[@jasons5916]

@@Martijn1234 You can use a digital multimeter to check the continuity of the contacts. If the grounds on the headphone side are connected, there would be 0 ohms resistance or the multimeter will indicate continuity if you have that setting. If they aren't connected, the multimeter will show no reading (not the same as 0) between the two grounds.

[@compadre9783]

Stellia takes long time to burn it ( the Be driver to loosen up), so the overall timber changes quite significantly (less prominent bass, more treble, even more resolution, more balanced overall presentation).

[@p.z.6712]

You did great reviews. We need serious and professional reviewers.

[@ocdmods4992]

Of all the headphone reviewers out there, yours are a step above. You could say the endgame for headphone reviews.

[@-aexc-]

the patina is a huge selling point for leather products. they look absolutely gorgeous when they are aged

[@retiarius8641]

Your reviews gett better each time. Go on. One question for curiosity. Do you really hear small dips in 6kHz and one further in 8kHz or are you inspired by the measurement?

[@chrono-headphonereviews242]

Thanks for the feedback, I appreciate the kind words! To answer your question, I do hear them, and I usually only look at measurements until after I've heard something and then try to see if something similar shows up on graphs, which in this case, it did.

[@dasninjastix]

I have the Elegias, got them for 52% off so they were "affordable" to me. These aren't affordable. I'd like them but can't justify 3k for headphones just yet. I like Focal and haven't had any issues with Elegias concerning either pads or drivers, same for their Listen Wireless. I like the Focal build quite a bit. If these ever get down to a grand I'm all over them.

[@sajidamit7330]

Really good review. Objective as usual.

[@FabioKasper]

Great stuff Chrono. Is SRH1540 in the backlog? ;-)

[@hristescualexandru9816]

Now that the Radiance are out, would you like to "propose them to a fight"? Thx!

[@brothatwasepic]

Hey guys could someone tell me about the sound seal that you get around your ears. Do you hear a lot around you?

[@allansh828]

I can’t imagine wearing those on subway. Is it possible to swap the casing with Focal Elegia?

[@demokraken]

have you tried it with an ochre coat? 😁 www.bestofhighend.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Focal-Stellia-Headphones.jpg

[@Assimilator702]

Allan Sh All the Focal headphones are the same dimensions. Only slight cosmetic differences set them apart. They are ALL high end and built like tanks.

[@Nephilim-81]

One day I may buy it....one day. 😀

[@mobilesecure]

Many thanks for great review. Is it Focal Stellia one of the best headphones to listen deep house music with Astell&Kern Alpha player? Or you can suggest something else? Thanks in advance

[@PeterbFree]

Why does every reviewer recommend replacing the Focal cable without assessing the performance of the cables or assessing comparable or superior cables? Most certainly the performance of the cable is going to have an impact on the sound, this can’t just be glossed over

[@angel_killzit]

Chrono you mentioned playing games , lets say i wanted to use a hi end headset for gaming would you recommend these?

[@shadouxg7150]

Hd 800s better

[@GamersInkInfo]

Bro, you using different pads on your HD800s over there in the corner?

[@turbomustang84]

Still the best headphones I've ever heard

[@mpumelelogumede6557]

You haven't heard the Utopia?

[@brianpacheco1927]

@@mpumelelogumede6557 Utopia is too bright.

[@mpumelelogumede6557]

@@brianpacheco1927 Although it's detail performance is highly rated. Is it not a good tradeoff? I mean, is it so sibilant that it takes away from the enjoyment of music?

[@brianpacheco1927]

@@mpumelelogumede6557 I would say so. I just got rid of mine for that reason. It’s upper mids are a bit too harsh and I had to change to SE and use warm tubes to calm it down. Not worth it for the technicalities alone.

[@mpumelelogumede6557]

@@brianpacheco1927 A good planar magnetic in it's price range might solve this problem, and still provide excellent detail performance. It's a good thing I haven't bought the Utopia yet, gives me a chance to look around for alternative options.

[@ZeBubba]

If there was like a deep wine-red version, oh my. There's an odd honk kind of peak in your voice on this one, almost sounds like it's about to do feedback. Could be a room issue, I think.. Cheers again for a cool review, Chrono!

[@TheHEADPHONEShow]

It's definitely the untreated room. We spent a lot of time trying to improve that haha.

[@ZeBubba]

@@TheHEADPHONEShow Ah, ok :)

[@Shoaibexpert]

How do these compare to the Elegia? Rtings place Elegia better...

[@frankhorvath7495]

The cables relax with time and use.

[@brany221215]

Do I need a special amp to drive it?

[@sergiorattner1182]

How do they compare to the ZMF Verite closed?

[@GamersInkInfo]

I own both I can tell you, the VC has a more relaxed sound, I thought anyways, the highs were not has bright as the Stellia. The technical capability goes to the Stellia but only by a little bit. Both headphones are great, you can't go wrong with either. The ZMF VC I think sounds a bit more natural, you also get all these pads you can roll with the headphone, thats super cool too. I like both to be honest, if I had to pick one... I couldn't but maybe the Stellia. You might not agree, its based on your preference.

[@Fluterra]

@@GamersInkInfo the DAC and amp also make a big difference. I chose the Stellias over the ZMF. The build quality of the ZMF looks poor, compared to the Stellias, for basically the same price. And what if ZMF goes under? You’re stuck. Focal can also go under, but it’s far less likely.

[@GamersInkInfo]

@@Fluterra When you get the ZMF's in hand, they are built very well. You just need to put more care into taking care of them because they are wood.

[@OurBelovedBungo]

Can anyone recommend a good aftermarket cable? I'm looking for something longer (6 feet would be great), more flexible, and less microphonic. There's the Moon Audio Black Dragon, but some of the reviewers mentioned that it's also stiff and microphonic.

[@djhmax09]

check out arctic cables or zmf cables

[@stevenpagano]

I don't trust these very pointed reviews when I can't see the rest of the gear in the signal chain...

[@garygriffiths7353]

I like the stellia but value wise it gets battered by the audeze xc. Stellia is too expensive in my eyes

[@aceofspades6667]

Just going to have to stick with the Elegia.

[@zxSwifty]

The Stellia is a very good upgrade, improves on everything about the Elegia.

[@leviathan5207]

@@zxSwifty For 3000$ they better do... But are they three times better in every single way? I doubt it.

[@arrakian]

Leviathan for bass, yes. Mid, treble and resolution, I’d say 1 1/2.

[@aceofspades6667]

the elegias are $400 right now where stelias are $3k.

[@arrakian]

Ace of Spades I just got a pair of Elegias; On the way now.

[@percival5207]

⚡️🦚grt review

[@mobilesecure]

Hello everyone! Please help me. 2 months ago I bought Denon 7200 and astell&kern kann alpha. Mostly I listening deep house music. I expected from this combination something much better and because I didn't like the bass quality in music I will give that denon to my young brother as a present. So the question is, what are the best top headphones to listen mostly deep house music? I plan listen music on my astell&kern kann alpha. Guy from the shop highly advised Focal Stelia. Is this combination is really good or I need to buy something else? Thanks in advance for any support

[@MrJ.31]

Hey what's happening. Too bad I came across this so late so I'm pretty sure you must've made your decision by now. On the off chance you haven't I will say the Stellia is FANTASTIC for stuff like house music. I've never tried A&K DAPs but they do sound really good on the A&K HC2 dongle. I'd say if you want to save a little money the Dan Clark Aeon 2 Noire, Focal Radiance and Meze 109 Pro are fantastic. If you wanna splurge a bit more then I'd say Stellia, Sony MDR-Z1R, Fostex TH900MK2, Audeze LCD-4, ZMF Verite Closed, and Dan Clark E3 are my top picks, but if you don't care about price at all I don't think anything can top the Abyss AB-1266 PHI TC. That damn Juggernaut hits you even harder than the comic book does

[@dkssudgktpdy492]

better than HD820? or Z1R?

[@vincenthusvh]

Yes, the Stellia is definitly far superior to both the HD820 and the Z1R in almost every way. The only aspect where the Stellia is outclassed by the HD820, is soundstage

[@adrianm7555]

@@vincenthusvh I found it worse than the Z1R in every way when comparing them using a Chord Dave. The only thing it had going for it was a more neutral tuning.

[@soulfulfool]

so you claim that they are better than verite closed?

[@user-eb5ri3nf9d]

Hi, do I have the focal clear and worth upgrading to stellia?

[@MartinManweiler]

I have the focal clear professionals. I just bought the stellia so I’ll let you know once they come in the mail and I try them. EDIT: I have them and they are great. The timbre on them is amazing and they really pull out the details in the music.

[@Mr.Manson]

@@MartinManweiler How do you feel about them now? How would you compare them to the Clears? I'm also curious about the soundstage difference, doesn't go through my head that closed back with the same design could have a larger one.

[@PBlaik]

For home use, would you recommend the Stellia or the Utopia?

[@GamersInkInfo]

Two different headphones, I own the Stellia, its a more relaxed fun sound but highly detailed. The Utopia I have not heard but from my understanding its far more analytical sounding. The highs on the Utopia can be a bit bright. The lows can be a beat rolled off too. The Stellia has an elevated bass presence, but does not drowned out the detail because the driver is so fast. If you need noise isolation for sure a closed back headphone or IEM is the way to go. I think the Steallia is a more enjoyable headphone from my understanding. I would get that or look into the ZMF VC. Unless you want that super high detail analytical sound, go for the Utopia then, but it might not be what you are looking for, it all depends. The Utopia as a smaller stage too, but its imaging, detail, frequency response I guess are really good.

[@fastlanerc8]

@@GamersInkInfo the utopia has a smaller soundstage than the Stellia even though it’s open back?

[@devenmajmudar839]

What Amp/Dac did you use to test them???

[@TheHEADPHONEShow]

I'm not sure about the DAC but I believe he used the SPL Phonitor XE for the amp

[@devenmajmudar839]

@@TheHEADPHONEShow Please try chord hugo 2. I was floored by the combination. Thanks

[@Josh-os2px]

@@devenmajmudar839 u waited 11 months to reply to him lol

[@Jimmy-Chin]

I heard these at an audio show once...made me glad that I owned the T60rp Argon's

[@rhodey2952]

Wut

[@mihirchitnis905]

Why do audiophile reviewers insist on headphones having a flat freq response ? A flat freq response is only useful for studio mixing purposes, not enjoying music. While mixing the audio by an audio engineer, he/she always takes into consideration on how the music will sound on average speakers/headphones which usually have a V shaped curve, as a result it is expected that the speakers/headphones will have the bass and treble bump which will then make it sound as expected.

[@ResolveReviews]

Hey, thanks for your question. So first of all, a 'flat' frequency response is not actually desirable when it comes to headphones when looking at raw graphs. It should only be used when referring to a compensated measurement. Really, all that 'flat' means for headphone measurements is that the frequency response of the headphone in question adheres to the target curve. This could be anything, but in most cases this reference curve is some version of the Harman target - which is based on consumer preference research. In short, the most common target that gets used is some version of a frequency response that most people prefer, and this then gets normalized to look like a flat line on a compensated graph. On a raw graph, however, this doesn't actually look like a flat line. It has a bit of a bass elevation, and then also an elevation above 1khz that correlates to a certain extent with how the ear amplifies certain frequencies, and then comes back down again around 9khz. So, really we want a frequency response that's similar to what the brain expects to hear in this region. Note that it's not exactly what the brain expects to hear necessarily, merely that it correlates reasonably well with an elevation that the brain expects to hear. This is what will end up sounding the best for most recordings for most people. If you want to learn more about this subject, I highly encourage you to watch this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pIOVcpuPpqt8lZo As for the mixing/mastering comment, this is something that ends up being one part of what Sean Olive (Harman Research) called the circle of confusion. You have a wide range of recording/mixing/mastering styles, especially for older recordings, and then you also have a wide variety of different tunings for playback equipment. This is one of the reasons why consumer preference-based research is a solid anchor point for identifying what an ideal target should be. So rather than trying to base it on something to do with the anatomy of human hearing, it instead asks people simply what type of tuning they preferred, and this is now what we commonly normalize to 'flat'. While I still think it's worth considering the recording style (or at least the recording trend for certain instruments), in theory the use of the common Harman target as a reference curve eliminates one element of the circle of confusion - namely the varied tunings of playback equipment.

[@hpol3603]

Its a nice headphone but they are not worth the asking price.

[@demokraken]

do you mind to share the grounds you used for your flat opinion?

[@hpol3603]

Alex In my opinion there is better sounding headphones for the money. The Stellia sounds great but I would not pic it for that price.

[@demokraken]

@@hpol3603 It gets interesting. What are those, to your taste?

[@hpol3603]

Alex I would pick Abyss Diana V2 or Hifiman He-1000 SE 😉😂👍

[@demokraken]

@@hpol3603 These are open backs, Stellia is not. Well, whatever pleases you. 😉

[@InternetUser-d7s]

It's hard to see beyond the aesthetics, which are so tacky/chintzy. Soundwise they also don't do much for me. I'm the proud owner of both ZMF VC and Audio-Technica AWKT, which to my ears are superior as endgame closed backs in every respect.

[@falcodarkzz]

Different strokes. I tried the verite and stellia side by side recently, to me the energy and speed of the stellia put the verite out of the fight for me

[@bunozen1]

🤮