Focal Clear Review (headphone) - Audio Science Review ...

In some sense the sins of Focal Clear in frequency response is less severe than other headphones we have tested so far. Naturally, the no-EQ ... Reviews ReviewIndex Forums What'snew Donations Members Login Register What'snew Search Newposts Searchforums Menu Login Register Installtheapp Install WANTED:Happymemberswholiketodiscussaudioandothertopicsrelatedtoourinterest.Desiretolearnandshareknowledgeofsciencerequiredasis20yearsofparticipationinforums(notalltrue).Therearedailyreviewsofaudiohardwareandexpertmemberstohelpansweryourquestions. Clickheretohaveyouraudioequipmentmeasuredforfree! Forums Audio,Audio,Audio! HeadphonesandHeadphoneAmplifierReviews Headphone&IEMReviews&Discussions Youareusinganoutofdatebrowser.Itmaynotdisplaythisorotherwebsitescorrectly.Youshouldupgradeoruseanalternativebrowser. FocalClearReview(headphone) Threadstarter amirm Startdate Dec20,2020 1 2 3 … 39 Next 1of39 Next Last amirm Founder/Admin StaffMember CFO(ChiefFunOfficer) Joined Feb13,2016 Messages 36,887 Likes 151,015 Location SeattleArea ThisisareviewanddetailedmeasurementsoftheFocalClear.ItisonkindloanfromamemberandcostsUS$1,490onAmazonincludingfreeshipping. TheFocallooksstylisticandmodern: IamnotsureifIlikethefitthough.Ithasaverystiffheadband.Yougofromnopressuretoalotofpressureonyourhead.Thatsaid,afterwearingitforafewhoursIstartedtoforgetaboutitsonotterrible. Whoeverdesignedthecordthoughwasonlyafterlooksandnotfunctionalityasitissuperstiff: Atleastwiththosestandardconnectors,itiseasytomakeyourownorbuyaftermarket. ThemeasurementsyouareabouttoseearemadeusingastandardizedGras45C.IsearchedforanyandallmeasurementsIcouldfindonline.Alaswhileanumberofthemareclosetomine,noneareusingtheexactfixturedowntocouplerandpinna.Asyouwillsee,IhaveconfirmedtheapproximateaccuracyofthemeasurementsusingEqualizationandlisteningtests.Ultimatelyheadphonemeasurementsarelessexactthanspeakersaboveafewkilohertzsokeepthatinmindasyoureadthesetests. Ihavecalibratedmyheadphonefixturewith94dBSPLtesttonesanddecidedthatIusethesameforheadphonemeasurements.However,insteadofusing1kHztoneIhaveoptedfor425Hz.Thisseemstobettermatchresearchdata. Ihavealsomadealotofprogressinbuildingabettertestsuiteforthemeasurements.MoreupdatesandchangeswillbecomingbutIamstartingtofeelgoodaboutthisset. FocalClearMeasurements Thereisnothingmoreimportantthanfrequencyresponseoftheheadphoneaseachisseeminglydifferentandthatdifferenceleavesaverydistinctcharacter: Let'scoverthegoodnewsfirst:responsebetween1and3kHzfollowsourpreferencecurveunlikeanumberwehavetestedsofar.Bassresponseisalsohigheraswell. Missesaretheovershootbetween600and1.6Hz.Thelowerrangeofthisfrommyspeakertestingusuallyhidessomedetailinthemusic.Thereisaflatareaasindicatedbythearrow.Clearly,punintended,thedriverisdoingsomethingstrangethere.Groupdelayshowssimilarproblem: Hereisourdeviationfrompreferredfrequencyresponse: Forrelativedistortion,Idecidedtoaddathirdtierat114dBSPL: Thiswayyoucanseethetrendbetter.Thattrendiswhatwehaveseenbeforewhichisthebassareageneratingthebulkofthedistortion.Andthatdistortiongrowsexponentiallywithlevelasopposedtolinear.Wewillrevisitdistortioninthecontextofequalizationlater. Usingalogscaleandlookingatthelevelsweseeourthresholdof40dBSPLisexceededmostlyinbassfrequencies: EDIT:forgottoincludetheimpedancegraph: FocalClearListeningTestsandEqualization InsomesensethesinsofFocalClearinfrequencyresponseislessseverethanotherheadphoneswehavetestedsofar.Naturally,theno-EQresponseacrossmytesttrackswasdecent.Therewassomedetaillackingandsomebrightnessthatwasbothersome.Itcreatedfairamountof"lispiness"withfemalevocalsforexample. Itestedsmallmagnitudecorrectionsbutsoongaveuponthemastheydidn'tseemtobeworththeeffort.InsteadIwentafterlowhangingfruit: Basicallywehavesomebassboost,somereductionofenergyaround1.1kHzcenterfrequencyandloweringofthepeakat11.3kHz.Thelatterwasimportanttogetridofthebrightness. Theimprovementwasquitenoticeableandpleasant.Morebasshelpsbalancetherestoftheresponse.Detailresolutionimprovedwiththe1.1kHzfilterandasnoted,thefinal11.3kHzfiltertookcareofremainingbrightness.Therewasacostindistortionbutnotaudibly: Asexpected,bassdistortionshootsupbutduetoourlowsensitivitytosuchdistortion,therewasnotradeoffthatIcoulddetect.Thesoundsimplybecamewarmerandnicerwithbetterreproductionofdeepnotes.Wenaturallygainedsomedistortionreductionwiththedipfilteraround1.1kHz(duetobroadshouldersitimpactsalargerregion). FirstandsecondtrackssoundedgoodandthenBAM!Theheadphonejumpeditsgapresultinginnastystatic/cracklingsound.Thekindofsoundthatstopsyourheartbeatingforafewseconds!Basicallythedriverisrunningoutoftravelandgoingoutsideofthemagneticfieldandthenjumpingbacksuddenly.Ihearthisroutinelyincheapbookshelfspeakerswhendrivenbyhighamplificationanddeepbass.Icouldgetthistohappenevenininstrumental/femalevocaltracks! Granted,weboostedtheEQbutIhaveboostedEQmuchmoreinotherheadphonesandtheycanhandlewithease.NotsowithFocalClear.Still,IturnedofftheEQandturnedupthevolumeandthereitwasagain:nastyclicks.Grantedthelevelwasprettyloudnowbutnotoutsideofwhatwouldbelistenable. Searchingonline,IseereferencestoClear"clipping."Isuspectthisiswhattheyaretalkingabout.Ifso,itisrealflawinthisheadphone. Conclusions TheFocalClear"outofbox"(noEQ)responseisclosertowhatweliketoseesotonalityisnottoobadasis.Equalizationcantakeitsperformancesignificantlyhigherbutduetopoorlydesigneddriverswithtoolittleheadroom,thisisnotapracticalpathunlessyoukeepvolumeslow.WithoutEQislessofaproblembutyouwouldfacesomebrightnessandsomelackofclarity.Atthesepriceswebetternothavesuchcompromises. Ican'trecommendtheFocalClearwithorwithoutEqualization.IexpectmorefromacompanylikeFocalwithincredibleverticalintegrationtobuilddriversandsuch. ------------ Asalways,questions,comments,recommendations,etc.arewelcome. Anydonationsaremuchappreciatedusing:https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/   Attachments FocalClearFrequencyResponseDeviation.zip 16.3KB·Views:296 Lastedited:Dec20,2020 Amir Founder,AudioScienceReview Founder,MadronaDigital ContributingEditor,WidescreenReviewMagazine ClickforMyTechnicalBackground MyYouTubeChannel TheHighContemplator ActiveMember Joined Oct14,2020 Messages 111 Likes 183 Location Canada IcheckASReverydayforyournewreviews,andyoudon'tdisappoint.Thankyou,Amir.   Bach=Universe,Beethoven=Light GDK SeniorMember ForumDonor Joined Aug8,2020 Messages 447 Likes 1,080 Location Toronto   sweetchaos MajorContributor ForumDonor TheCurator Joined Nov29,2019 Messages 2,646 Likes 6,911 Location BC,Canada Ifyou'reusingEqualizerAPO: Spoiler:FocalClearDiscrepancy IntheFocalClearreview,Amirincorrectlyreported+2dBgain(for11,319Hzpeakingfilter)whenhepostedthePEQfiltersphoto. Butinthereview,hesaid"loweringofthepeakat11.3kHz".Thismeansgainshouldbe-2dB(not+2dB). Mycodeshowsthecorrectvalue. Preamp:-5.3dB Filter1:ONLSFc40HzGain3.0dBQ1.0 Filter2:ONLSFc75HzGain2.0dBQ1.0 Filter3:ONPKFc1100HzGain-2.0dBQ2.0 Filter4:ONPKFc11319HzGain-2.0dBQ3.0 Clicktoexpand... Formoreinfo,seeListofAmir'sHeadphonePEQfilters.   Lastedited:Jan6,2021 SpeakerCompanies BookshelfSpeakers(