Focal Elear Review

By Ryan Davison

Hailing from France, the Focal Elear is an amazing high definition pair of audiophile headphones. Focal actually emerged into the market with speakers and audio consoles for cars. In 2012, Focal decided to try their luck with headphones. Since then, Focal has been one of the top names to go to in the world for audiophile cans.

The Focal Elear is the $1,000 version of the company’s signature model, the Utopia, which retails for $4,000. The company had received a lot of requests for a more affordable version of the Utopia, so they decided to cater to their base and release the Focal Elear, less expensive Spirit Professional, Spirit Classic.  Additionally, the company has also released an In-ear model the Sphear.

The Focal Elear is an 80Ω headphone with a frequency response of 5 Hz – 23,000 Hz which doesn’t sound all that impressive on paper, but trust me it is. There are several models of headphones that have better ranges, yet don’t have the clarity that the Focal Elear brings to the table. At 80Ω these cans, don’t NEED an amp to function, however I highly recommend using one when listening to them. Because of that, I decided to test all of the songs with and sans amp. The amp I choose to utilize in my testing was the Chord Mojo.

The Build

Structurally these headphones are built pretty solid. They are made from a light weight aluminum magnesium alloy and are very sturdy. The pads are made of a soft memory foam and covered in a microfiber material. The top of the headband is covered in leather with the underside of it utilizing the same microfiber fabric. The Yolk,or the connector between the headband and can of the ear cup, allows for a bit of shifting approximately 10 -15 degrees and which makes the headphones have a bit more give.   

Vertically the headphones can be adjusted about 20 degrees. These aren’t big adjustments. In fact, it seems that focal included them to alleviate some of the more stressed joints of the headphones, which was a smart decision.

Included in the box, is a 13 foot durable cable which has a 1/4 inch connector at one end and two 1/8 inch cables at the other. I liked the ability to possibly use different cables with the headphones. I was happy Focal didn’t try to use proprietary locking systems to force you to only buy their cables, which companies like Audio-technica and Pioneer use in their headphones.

The cans are dome-shaped and appear to be more like speakers with ear pads than headphones, which I thought was pretty nice. The headphones has a bit of weight to it, but it is not extremely heavy. They actually feel more heavy in your hand than they do on your head. I found the build and comfortably to be very note worthy, I was generally impressed by them both.

The Sound

Sonicly, there is one word to describe them… Amazing. I was so skeptical of their ability to perform that I decided to test 8 songs instead of the 3 that I normally do. I did this to see if I could find a genre of music that was unfit for the Focal Elear.  There wasn’t.

The Bass

The Bass was extremely impressive. It was clear and not muddy at all there was a great reverberance and extreme clarity. The bass didn’t overpower the mix either. If anything, it brought life to tracks like PP Arnold’s “The First Cut Is The Deepest”,  which sounded like it was made to be heard on these headphones.

The Mids

The Mids had a bit lacking when tested without the amp, but when I hooked these bad boys up to the Chord Mojo, I fount that the issues I was hearing didn’t persist. Even without the amp, horns sounded perfect. sax and trumpet sounded as if you were standing in a concert hall listening to a solo. Every instrument had a distinct place in the mix.

The Highs

Highs like symbols, high hats, string instruments, and harpsichords sounded so clear. String instruments had excellent reverberation and were crisp and clear. You could hear harmonic overtones with every pluck of a string. Synth instruments also had great sounds on theses headphones, which was also very surprising.

So are they worth a $1000 price tag. I wanted to say no, but my answer is undoubtedly a yes. That’s not to say that I didn’t find fault in them. I found myself very under-impressed with the packaging. The case had everything that you would want and need. There was a spot for the packaging materials and, the chord with a bit of spare room that a small amp could be stored in. My issue with the case was that it was made from a high grade cardboard, and covered in a high quality foam on the inside. I feel like this sold the headphones short for me. As a consumer spending $1000, I didn’t understand why the company didn’t simply charge more and provide a wood or carbon fiber case like a lot of other luxury headphone companies do. The lack luster appeal of the case could end up deterring some. If Focal threw the headphones in a plastic bag, I would say they are a great product and well worth the cost.

I would say that with all of the contributing factors, these headphones get a 9.5 out of 10, almost perfect but I had to make some deductions for the packaging.

Below is the list of songs tested with the headphones and some quick notes as to why they were chosen and, how they faired.