Looks like a good deal for a wireless headphone from a well known brand. Please share your feedback if you have one.
Focal Listen Wireless Headphone $149 Delivered @ Addicted to Audio
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Pqt139 on 24/04/2021 - 22:39 addictedtoaudio.com.au (581 clicks)
Last edited 26/04/2021 - 14:26 by 1 other user
Last edited 26/04/2021 - 14:26 by 1 other user
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jv's feedback
correction: jv's precious feedback
Discount/saving is literally in the title guidelines. Why are numpties negging you?
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/wiki/help:title_guidelines
Also, was $499
Been holding out for a good deal on the Elegias. Adorama has been clearing their stock at US$399, which is an excellent price. If I'm not mistaken A2A has dropped to as low as AU$599 in the past (which to be fair, is about equivalent to the Adorama price, with GST) - but hopefully they drop to AU$499 like they did with the Elear last year.
Love my Elegias, think I paid around $700 bundled with a Dragonfly Red. Shame I don't get to the office to listen to them, may as well use open backs working from home…
That's great to hear! I'm planning on getting them as a pair of headphones to take into work - I currently own the Elears and an LCD-2 that I use at home, which have both been excellent.
That said, I'm a bit concerned about the Elegias being on the bright side, especially compared to the warm signature of my other headphones - do you find them to be overly bright or fatiguing?
I have Clears (which I listened to most days last year), and Elears (different to Clears, not worse). Recently I picked up some LCD-2C for a decent price and find these more comfortable to the Clears so mostly using them now. I really like Focal products as (except for Utopias) they use standard 3.5mm cables. So, I have picked up various length cables for my DAPs and Desktop AMPs, 2.5mm, 4.4mm, plus the Elegias come with 3.5mm, 6.5mm and XLR.
I picked up the Elegias just before Covid to take to work and have been WFM since, so they have not had much use. A few weeks back Zeos did a review raving about them, so I got them out for a listen and wow they are great closed backs, not fatiguing at all. I don't find them as bright as people say, but I'm 54, so I would be lucky to hear past 14K:( Still, I'm on the look out for some bargain LCD-XCs, addictive hobby;-)
@mostlygordon: Thanks for sharing, that's reassuring. I did watch the Zeos review, which is what made me consider the Elegia again - quite interesting that other reviewers including DMS seem to consider the Elegia to be on close footing to Focal's higher end closed back offerings, or even the Celestee which will replace the Elegias. Seems like great value when it dropps to $599, I think I might just pull the trigger next time.
It's so difficult to find high quality closed backs that get the tonality right, I've demoed so many and haven't really found any that impressed me the same way open backs at so many different price points have. All the best with the hunt for the LCD-XC, it certainly is a delightfully addictive hobby!
https://www.whathifi.com/au/focal/listen-wireless/review
no anc
but they are cheap because they're shit
I usually dont trust most hifi magazines, as I used to spec and sell 10k 2 channel systems… i personally refused to rip the customers, but half of them would do it to themselves. Like how a digital cable is literally 1's and 0's with error checking… there is no "quality" it either makes it, or it doesnt.
But at least monthly you'd get someone ordering a 5 grand optical cable; but refusing to order the FLUKE optical tester to make sure it was microscopically clean…. Humans and audio man.
Im an audiophile, but im also a nerd, opinions are fine, but sound doesnt trump science.
ANYWAY.
Im not surprised they sound average at best. I havent used them, but Focal were always about high note reproduction. Especially in cars, if you ever tried to use focal gear without a few hundred watts to push through, they'd be peaky as hell.
At the other end of the spectrum was mb-quart; pure mud, until you fed them big power…
If morel ever make headphones, ill buy them blindly.
Until then, sennheiser if you're a mid and low's type of guy. And KOSS if you're an accuracy and clarity fella.
What about Adam speakers? Particularly the A5x series
I personally hate ribbons. All of them.
My opinion is that they're only good for mastering; things like guitar strings and fingernails were never intended to be heard.
And I dont think I ever sold anything lower end like that.
The lowest we really went were things like Jamo C series and marantz amps. Made a nice 5k system for people to enter with.
Snake oil in audiophile circles is fascinating!
I'd say that Focal's high end headphones are actually considered to be some of the best you can buy period - when on sale they also represent some of the best value.
For example the Elears at $499 last year and the Elegia at $599 on sale represent some of the best bang for buck on open and closed headphones respectively.
Beyond Sennheiser and Koss, there are also plenty of excellent options for mid/low centric headphones and accuracy/clarity centric headphones under $1000 (Focal being one of them!)
I agree there are other options;
I just consider myself somewhat of the 'go to' for family and friends when they're buying tech; and as such, I dont think the other brands have quite refined themselves enough for me to just blanket state: Buy this brand. Without having to worry about model….I might add audio technica to the list of 'whole brands' I'd OK, but most of the others really range from rip off to gold based on model.
At least with the 3 aforementioned brands, a $50 pair will impress you for $50; and a $500 pair will still do the same.
@MasterScythe: Yeah, that's true - the Sennheiser and KOSS house sound is very agreeable and easy to recommend! The Portapros were actually my first foray into 'nice headphones' and completely blew me away with the details I could hear - and that started the descent down the rabbit hole!
So you have a strong opinion about headphones you have never tried and want to buy headphones that don’t exist from a company that doesn’t make them.
Humans and audio man indeed.
Not at all, If you read my comment, you'll notice I was 'not surprised' at what the professional review had stated; I didn't state any opinion on the product itself.
However, yes, I find the house sound of strong mids and controlled highs in Morel to be pure bliss, from their bottom line, to their most expensive.
And since all their speakers are all made in their own factory in Israel, and tuned in-house, I would indeed be willing to blindly risk a purchase, if they stepped into the market.Which bit is so odd to you?
Is it the blind purchase part? Because sometimes when a brand controls all of their production and tuning line, that's not as risky as it sounds.
Useful and interesting. I'm a scientist & nerd and hear what you're saying - the $$ people waste on buying expensive digital cables is crazy.
But I am not a real audiophile - I love a wide range of music, but my budget is limited. What I do want is something that reproduces the recorded around as accurately as possible. I don't want "warm" or "colour" - I want as close as possible to a linear response. Unfortunately, reviews (both professional and public) don't help much in that regard.
So now looking to spend about $200 on some wireless, over the ear headphones, which is why I'm in this thread. I would prefer noise-cancelling as I will be using them on airplanes a lot. But not if that means taking a bit hit on sound quality, I suppose.
Was considering the Beyerdynamic Lagoons. Considering also at Sennheiser HD 450.
Any thoughts?
Unfortunately every brand will have a colour and flavour; Rather than matching your headphones to a music-type, consider what you like or dislike when you listen to someone playing music.
Using myself as an example; I spent 3 years of my life legally blind; as such my brain really learned how to pick out high's; Little clicks or whistles from cars or bicycles were key signals to listen for.
Anyway, as such, I really dislike highs (usually -3db on the 8khz), but still like 'sparkle' (usually +2db on the 16khz).
Some guitar fans (mainly rock) love to "scoop the mids", making sure there's solid bass for reverb, and tons of hiss for the shred.You get the idea :)
As such, even with a HUGE range to choose from (the place I used to work still exists, so I get to play with the whole rep's van of gear from time to time); I still come back to Sennheiser.They aren't what most would consider 'clear' because they are known for strong lows, and powerful mids, and they miss that high end clarity.
Thats where the personal hearing comes in; I need only about 75% of what others seem to need, for highs to shine through; so for me, Senn's are super clear and I can almost max the volume without getting the 'pinch' in the ear you get from treble poking you.In the $200 range, you're kinda screwed for choice, there's not a lot. the HD450's sound 'fine' in my opinion.
If you want clarity, consider saving up to a $350 budget, and looking at the: AIAIAI COMFORT - Wireless.
AIAIAI make some amazing cans, and they use a nice thick foam and closed back to 'isolate' the listener, rather than damage the experience\clarity with noise cancelling 'features'.
@MasterScythe: Thanks.
Yeah - the more I think about it, the more I doubt I need noise cancelling. At very least I would want headphones that allow it to be turned off and sound great.
I'm also reconsidering the need for wireless - if 75% of my listening can be done wired, then maybe I'll just get a bluetooth headphones adapter for the other 25%.
I'm very happy to trade "features" for better sound quality.
@doddles: If you like strong mids like I do, the MOMENTUM range by Sennheiser is actually well priced in the market.
If you're listening through a PC or a Phone, it's easy to use the EQ to bring the brightness some people think is lacking, also. (as above, they're not lacking for me, but I know my 'comfortable' is very tame for most)
WHAT Hi-Fi is run by hearing impaired people. I'd read some of their reviews before going to audition a range of headphones at Addicted to Audio. Cannot describe what a disappointment were the 5-star rated, awards 2020 winner Sony WH-1000XM4. Dull and muddy sound, lacking details and dynamic they sounded like I was listening them in a swimming pool. The only positive compared to Focal Listen was that Sony were more comfortable to wear.
I don't get that either. I own the XM3, and I know it sounds pretty much the same as XM4. I don't understand why so many people rate the Sonys so high. To me they are muddy, lacking clarity and dynamics. I guess those people probably never owned or even auditioned decent wired headphones.
feedback was great when guitarists tried to entertain and do things differently every night… but sound systems work against that now..
Focal was primarily a car audio specialist… they were/are very good in the car audio space.
Then they decided to expand into home and personal audio.
Now realistically they need to engage the service of the chinese and they traded on the 'Fo-Carl' name and tried to set a high price on a set of headphones that is realistically a $100-$200 set.
So for headphones like this… they may be bad at $400 but they may be ok at $200.
Focal Clear Pro is quite good from my experience, don't really know about their lower range but the sound is quite good, just the build quality is a bit lacking (heard lotta stories of cold solder joints, etc.)
Focal started with Bookshelf speakers. The car audio division opened up 10 years after the company was established
Yep. And their bookshelf series was great. You couldnt get a "thump" from such a small enclosure anyway, so they focused on accuracy (kind of like DynAudio).
Issue was their car division followed suit, however, big open door skins, and an enclosed listening environment meant peaky peaky peaky sound.
They make GREAT show car speakers; because they sound good from outside the car.
But a really simple rule of car speaker choice is: "if it sounds crystal clear outside the car? Its going to be overly bright inside."
That rule has never failed to be true yet… alpine C and X series suffer the same…
Eq any of the above? and wow! But just amplified in a stock car? Ow.
Yep, I've always found them bright.
I'm no home audiophile but I've had DynAudios in my cars for close to 20 years. Love them!
$149 now.
Would be $129 if Afterpay card works in store.
How much are they normally?