Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Focal Clear Open Back Headphones - Grey at Amazon.com. It excelled at delicately balancing complex and tricky textures like the stinging guitars in Led Zeppelin’s “Dancing Days” (24-bit/96kHz FLAC) and the strings in the opening movement of Beethoven’s Fifth with Carlos Kleiber leading the Vienna Philharmonic (24/88.2 FLAC). If it sounds like I’m gushing, that’s because I am. Focal Clear Review. Reviewed back in SOS January 2014, the Spirit Professionals boast a clean, crisp sound, are easy to drive from low‑powered sources, and offer outstanding isolation. Focal Clear ($1499) The Focal Clear is an over-ear, open acoustic, dynamic driver headphone. The true, uncolored timbre of the oboe contrasted with the apparently more distant-miked orchestra, which emerged restrained but not softened. This same design has found its way into the Focal Clear headphones—which are just as sleek and bulky. Listening Afresh To be fair, it’s rare for one product’s listening sessions to be so heavily overshadowed by another’s, so the Clear deserved some fresh perspectives with different material. These headphones will only run you $1,500—which is less than half the price of the Utopias—and also don’t slide off your head every time you look down. Headphones. The Clear is made in France and is intended to be used Neil Young’s Harvest (DVD-Audio, MLP stereo) was completely fulfilling, with the Clear delivering believable acoustic guitar, crackling electric guitar, and a focused but highly natural approach to voice, including the delicious A-list backing vocals of Crosby, Stills, Nash, Ronstadt, and Taylor. The Clear do a great job at being heavy enough so that you’re aware that you’re wearing headphones, yet light enough that you’re okay with it. While I have a penchant for stealth black audio gear, I find the light gray/metallic silver of the Clear an immensely appealing design. At $1500 most people probably won’t buy these. But there were some things that I didn’t like about them, mainly the loose fit and of course that $4,000 price tag that I could never afford. Besides that you’ll get the quick start guide and instruction manual and that’s about it. The imaging of these dynamic headphones was scrupulously focused—perhaps not as gossamer and airy as a comparably priced planar model, but more dense and concentrated. 14 Comments. The Focal Clear headphones sitting on a desk. It is an unusual color choice and a great look. The softness of the earpads makes the Clears even more comfortable. If you couldn’t tell, I love these headphones. Yes, if you’re the questing type and money is no object, you can spend more and get more—but a lot of folks with four figures to spend might want to stop right here. When you look at the Focal Utopia it jumps out at you. There is also a Clear Professional version, with black and red cosmetics but the same specs, for a couple of hundred dollars more. These are built spectacularly well, though they’re not perfect. That same level of detail extends all the way up throughout the vocals in the middle and the cymbals and hi-hats in the highs. Associated equipment included an AudioQuest DragonFly Red amp/DAC fed by a Windows 10 desktop PC for hi-res files and a Moon by Simaudio Neo 230HD amp/DAC fed by the analog output of an Oppo BDP-83 Special Edition universal disc player. (You do get a spare set of the snazzy red earpads, and a different compliment of cables, though.). The ‘M’ –shape Aluminum/Magnesium dome isequipped with a revolutionary copper voice coil that provides remarkable dynamics across the audiospectrum, bass that is always controlled, even at high volumes, and exemplary linearity in the high-end. The Focal Clear is an exquisite-looking and brilliantly executed pair of headphones. Shaking the earcups slightly when testing flexibility just reveals a soft squeaking coming from inside the headband, as if the adjustable headband is a little too loose in there. This foam is coated by perforated microfiber. Until recently, however, Focal only made one pair of headphones targeted at studio use. The most visually prominent features are the silver mesh that conceals the backsides of the drivers and the pale gray perforated microfiber earpads and headband pad. Focal Clear. FOCAL has said they want you to forget you're wearing hp and think you're listening to loudspeakers. Focal Clear review: FOCAL’S OPENNESS. Bespoke Tailoring Focal’s Clear is a departure from my preferred cans. Focal Clear. To see how it stacks up, see our list of the best high-end headphones. Its latest offering, the Focal Clear, borrows technology developed for the Utopia and cuts the price by more than half. On its underside is a layer of soft foam. The Clear is … A hard-shell case is also included. Plus The critics say the Clear gives you 95% of the Utopia sound quality, just as the Elear is said to bring 90-95% of the Clear's sq. It looks like you are browsing from . All three cables are covered in a beautiful, durable fabric, and they all get plugged into the bottom of each earcup via 3.5mm connectors. These are meant to be used at home; not on the bus. For casual break-in listening I streamed Spotify on a Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1. So whatever you’re going to be using to listen to your music Focal has you covered here with three high quality options. Hello / Greetings To Everyone, So Today I am going to put my true views on Focal Clear Review. Is $1,499 a lot to pay for headphones? These dynamic headphones scrupulously imaged the decays, though the familiar ambience of Concertgebouw Hall was not as spacious as either the real thing or the approximation I’d expect to hear with a good set of planar headphones. You need to find a spot for them in your house and leave them there. And here’s why I think you should too. Previous article Wayback Wednesday: Victor/JVC HA-FX500. Go to Close. Up Next NAD VISO HP70 Wireless Noise Cancelling Headphone Review The Focal Clear headphones are a benchmark design that is one of the top performing headsets I’ve experienced. This formidable loudspeaker manufacturer gave its emergent headphone line its best shot in the Focal Utopia, a four-thousand-dollar product that we hailed with a five-star review. The most startling moment I spent with the Clear came during Debussy’s Complete Music for Two Pianos, with Stephen Coombs and Christopher Scott (CD). If you’ve made it this far into the review, you probably know what that means for real-world usage. It’s a beauty to behold, although I can’t say I preferred the brighter look of Clear over the darker Elear, they’re both stunningly modern designs. As far as connections go, Focal made sure to provide almost every kind of connection in the box with three different kinds of cables. As if memory foam wasn’t comfortable enough, the padding is covered in a perforated microfiber fabric that keeps them from becoming too warm during long listening sessions. The company also claims that they ‘disappear’ when in use, possibly the greatest compliment you can pay a pair of phones when mixing. The Focal Clear headphones are a new $1500 open back offering designed and developed in France. Listening led me to change the emphasis. The Concerto for Oboe and Small Orchestra and other works for wind instruments by Richard Strauss featured soloist Alexei Ogrintchouk with Andris Nelsons conducting the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (Bis SACD stereo). I could wear them for a couple of hours before becoming aware of the weight (about a pound). When you take the headphones out of the box, you’ll immediately be dazzled with the metallic look and great feel. I did do a little bit of listening via the ¼” jack plugged into my audio recorder for work, but that was about it. Balanced presentation Bass was tight and disciplined. Photography & Video. What I missed in comparison with the Utopia was the nth degree of refinement, the more intense tone color, the sense of barriers falling, and the kind of transparency that’s an emotional sucker-punch. The Focal Clear is an exquisite-looking and brilliantly executed pair of headphones. It is specifically designed to distribute the weight of the headphones across the entire head so that it feels lighter and more balanced than in would otherwise. Despite this bias, now served by Audeze LCD-Xs. Both are equally comfortable on your head too. (Balance was a word that came up repeatedly in my notes.) Read our detailed review of the Focal Clear including comparison of features, user feedback and awards. I have favored planar types over dynamic drivers. A few months back I got a chance to check out the Focal Utopia headphones, which are easily one of the top 3 best sounding cans I’ve ever used. Because these have an impedance of 55Ω (and a decent sensitivity), I had no problem playing them just straight from my Android phone. They are very well-built and very comfortable for long listening sessions thanks to well-padded ear cups and headband. Select Your Cookie Preferences. The leather-topped headband and solid aluminum yoke are designed to distribute weight evenly, with vertical earcup adjustment via an unseen mechanism inside the leather-topped headband. My only qualm with the build is that the headband is a bit squeaky at times, and though this isn’t a problem when you’re wearing them: if they’re fresh out the box, it could very well become an issue over time. Clear. ocal Clear Circum-aural Open Back High End Headphone CLEAR, a new circum-aural open-back headphone for audiophiles represents a new evolution of Focal’s nowfamous open-back, full-range speaker headphone family. One of them ends in an XLR so you can plug into higher end equipment or interfaces, while the other ends in a ¼” jack. Cooking Appliances. When the song started it gave me a bit of a jump because the soundstage is just that good. We use cookies and similar tools to enhance your shopping experience, to provide our services, understand how customers use our services so we can make improvements, and display ads. Focal clear comfort and fit At nearly a pound (15.8 ounces), the Clear is in the same weight class as the Elegia, but far heavier than most noise-cancelling headphones. Review written by @Chrono Review unit provided on loan by headphones.com Introduction The Clear is an open-back dynamic headphone designed by Focal that retails for $1,499, and it utilizes Focal’s full-range speaker driver with an ‘M’-shape Aluminum/Magnesium dome. If the black-and-silver Utopia is “like a rock star in a leather jacket,” as I wrote, the Clear is more like an aristocrat in a dove-gray Savile Row suit. Its balance of frequencies, especially in the crucial midrange, was beyond reproach, free of gross flaws and even minor ones. By. Like its older brother, Clear uses a 40mm aluminium-magnesium m-shaped dome driver. It turns out that all such sources consider the Focal Clear (2017) to be the superior product. COPYRIGHT © 2021 SoundGuys, All Rights Reserved. If you do have a headphone amp: power to you, but you probably don’t need one here unless you’re using a standalone DAC. CLEARPRO . That’s to say, while they have a number of different design elements than other Focal headphones, including color offerings, they carry that classic Focal headphones look, the beautiful mesh grills on each ear cup, and so on. Share on. Still, had I never heard the Utopia, I’d have found the Clear as satisfying in its own way as any other headphones I’ve tried. Reply June … The headband of the Focal Clear Professional headphones is remarkably comfortable. Like all of Focal’s high-end line, Clear is an example of headphone design elevated to art. Household. The design is bold, and the large, industrial looking cans are unapologetic about the fact that they’re not portable headphones. It perfectly suited the album’s mellow tonal balance, and conveyed its characteristic richness without any thickening. The review continues on Page 2, after the click HERE or the jump below / Pages: 1 2 3. Less than spacious imaging. White Goods. Aluminum/magnesium diaphragms The Clear entertained and satisfied me, but the Utopia kept me in a constant state of surprise and amazement. As for a direct Sennheiser HD 800 S (2016) vs. Focal Clear (2017) comparison of their review performance, we examined sources that tested and rated both products, like Head-fi. They look absolutely stunning! Today's Deals: Home. It sounded like the plucks were coming from right next to me. Now the French audio company is back with their newest pair of cans dubbed the Focal Clear. CLEAR completely envelopes the user in musical purity, as one of thebest headphones on the marketFocal Clear high-fidelity headphone made in France by Focal. In the 19-minute Yes epic “Close to the Edge” (Blu-ray, 24/96 LPCM stereo mix), the Clear got the bold strokes right (pipe organ not too sizzly) while delighting in the small details (Jon Anderson’s slight smoker’s rasp in the quiet passage of “I Get Up, I Get Down”). December 31, 2020. iFi Audio Micro iDSD Signature Review. Though I should mention that if you’re wearing these in the summer that probably won’t be the case for you, They’re not that breathable. As I revisited test tracks I’d used for the Utopia, the Clear checked many of the same boxes. Focal Clear have plenty of padding for ultimate comfort. Focal have down a great job of maintaining top quality build … The cavity in the middle is also perfect for storing the three cables that it comes with, two of which are 10-feet long. Now don’t get me wrong I know $1500 is a high price tag for anyone (high might even be an understatement), but I’m still going to be adding these to my wish list. Impeccable construction The headphones are largely built from met… Similarly, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to justify purchasing the Focal Utopia headphones unless I hit the lotto, but at $1500: the Focal Clear headphones are both amazing and decently priced for what you get. They don’t have hinges on the headband, so there’s no folding them into a more compact size. ifi xCan - iematch for Focal Clear / Tin T2? Minus But besides that, you’ll also get two more cables, each 10 feet long. One of them ends in another 3.5mm connector so you can plug them into your average mobile media device and is roughly 4 feet long. In this review, we break down the Clear’s sound, design, comfort and fit, packaging and accessories, specs and more. Here’s how Focal thought through the problem. In the box you’ll get a nice hardshell carrying case, with the headphones tucked away nicely inside. We’ve compared it to its closest counterpart, the Elegia, and paired it with the iFi IDSD Neo to see how much potential this headphone has, as well as grow our understanding of where it stands in Focals library. To my ears, I can tell you they've succeeded admirably. The catch is that it’s sometimes 2 times … That said, this basically becomes a non-issue when you put it on. Well, how much is a lot? This will reveal the journey I took … Dave . Its extremely well-balanced performance would provide long-term satisfaction for an overwhelming majority of listeners. When it came to testing sound quality, I mainly used the cable that ended in a 3.5mm jack since that’s what most of my devices have. Hiby R6 2020 Review. On the end of the cable is where you get the options. Priced at $1500, the Clear is the top end of Focal’s aluminum/magnesium driver consumer headphones lineup – with Focal’s flagship models, the Stellia and Utopia using beryllium drivers. Everything benefits from the space you get with open-back headphones, but these somehow take that to another level in the same way that the Utopia did but for way less money. … The opening bars of “En Blanc et Noir” surprised me because they seemed to be coming from speakers, or perhaps even from pianos, but not from headphones. TVs & Displays. 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Price-wise, it’s actually in the middle of the Focal open back lineup, between the more expensive Focal Utopia and the … AT A GLANCE Inside are 40mm drivers suspended in the open for all to see, though they’re thankfully protected by the aluminum grill. Bass kicks also push a good amount of air making giving them just the right amount of power, so if you’re an intense bass head you won’t like these. THE VERDICT Technology. The Focal Clear headphones are unmistakably Focal. Focal Clear have plenty of padding for ultimate comfort When you look at the Focal Utopia it jumps out at you. I have a deep and abiding respect for a number of B&Ws. You may also like. Priced at $1499, the Clear is intended to be the best option Focal offers for under $1500. Now let’s get into the reason why you should buy these headphones. These are open-backed headphones, hence the mesh, which allows unwanted soundwaves from the rear of the drivers to pass through the shell (and works in both directions, so you can also hear the doorbell ring). Clear is equipped with a new generation full-range speaker driver developed by Focal. A frameless copper voice coil with a diameter of 25.5mm, and a height of 5.5mm was also developed. Focal Clear headphones review Focal’s Clear headphones don't just live up to their name, they define it By Ryan Waniata October 6, 2017 Previous Next 1 of 11. Focal Clear. You need to find a … Rather than a compiled retrospective review, I decided to present stream of consciousness impressions. Before listening I’d have guessed that my review would be about the Clear delivering a large percentage of the Utopia’s virtues at less than half the price. If you want to take them anywhere, you’ll have to make space in your bag for the hardshell carrying case which is just as sturdy and finely designed as the headphones. That is, unless you don’t care that everyone around you can hear what you’re listening to. You can really hear this in the song “Plants” by Crumb which features the drums prominently throughout the song. The Focal Elear are good open-back critical listening headphones. Everything that comes in the box with the Focal Clear headphones. The Focal Radiance has made quite the impression over here at MajorHiFi. Last summer, a high-end speaker company out of France shocked the audiophile world with two of the best pairs of high-end headphones, the $1,000 Focal … My first experience with them was playing the song “In Us” by Lexie which starts with some guitar plucks descending into the main rhythm. While the Clear was an excellent pair of cans, even for the price, the Utopia ended up being more compelling in a way that justified its higher price. The Clear includes two 10-foot cables, terminated in quarter-inch unbalanced or XLR balanced plugs, plus a 4-foot cable with unbalanced mini-plug. These aren’t an everyday pair of headphones for the average commuter; these are for the person who loves their audio setup and wants their listening sessions to be an experience. They are therefore designed mainly for indoor, not outdoor, use. three cable options Clear, Focal’s newest reference headphones, are one of the best I have ever reviewed. The Japanese SACD is a bit soft-edged, but luscious, and the Clear let it be that way. 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