Focal Clear Review (and other headphones I've tried)

Hey guys, I was recently able to get my hands on a set of Focal Clear OGs and after some time with them, I think I'm more than ready to write a quick review.

A bit about me and the application I intended to use them for:
I've been an audio engineer for the better part of 8 years. I don't do a ton of mastering work (mostly mixing), but I can pump out a radio ready master if needed. I mix primarily on headphones, with a set of Focal Alphas that I reference for general balance and feel, but again, mostly headphones.

I've used the same set of DT990 Pros for most of that time, not because they sound particularly "good" but because I've found my mixes with them tend to translate the best, even with the limitations the introduce with regards to low end distortion.

For the past couple of years, I've been slowly working my way through various headphones in an attempt to replace my beloved 990s. I'll list them and give a brief summary of my thoughts so that you, the reader, can gauge how many personal preferences align with your own tastes.

Source:

All headphones I've tried have been through a basic Topping E2X2. The specs on the headphone amp in this unit are more than adequate to push imperfections beyond the bounds of human hearing. I know the Clear is often recommended with a tube amp, but I can't afford to be intentionally adding distortion to my signal chain just because it sounds good and masks the shortcomings of the headphone.

Hifiman Arya (V2)

Incredible soundstage, crazy imaging and the mind blowing detail. These were by far my favorite. After 8 months of consistent use, my issue was that they sounded so good, it was hard to tell if my mix was where it needed to be, or if it was just the headphones. Does my mix actually sound huge or is it just the headphones? I would have loved to keep them just for listening, but listening on one pair of headphones and mixing on another is just bad practice in my opinion.

Audeze LCDX, LCD2C

Both of these were a fun listen. However, the LCDX (as expected) has the most unhinged frequency response of any headphone I've auditioned, and EQing them proved to be too much of a pain. The LCD2C was better, but both of these had an issue that's hard to explain fully. It was like I had 2 huge subs in front of me with very small 2 way speakers on top of them. That's not to say that the bass was overblown, it just felt like the mids were a bit recessed and the high end was overly diffuse/spaced out. Neither came close to the Arya's well rounded presentation IMO. Also, these SUCK to wear for long periods of time. They are super heavy, and the clamp force is low enough, even on my huge head, that the earcups will come off my ear if I tilt my head.

Beyerdynamic DT1990

I really thought these would be the ones. Unfortunately, they were just too closed sounding compared to what I'm used to. Great headphones, but somehow smaller soundstage than the 990 to my ear. They do fix the distortion problem to some degree though.

Sennheiser HD650 and HD600

I totally get why people love these. They're inoffensive, intimate, and a pleasure to listen to. The main shortcoming of both of these is that they have a tiny soundstage, and poor imaging. Without proper soundstage, I can't confidently mix on them.

Lets get to why we're really here:

Focal Clear OG

Build Quality and Comfort:

  • Mostly metal build provides some confidence in terms of longevity (more than the Arya and HD6XX).
  • Decent clamp force but still comfortable.
  • These are are approaching being heavy, and the headband doesn't do a great job of distributing that load. Would like to see a suspension strap more like the Arya of LCD series headphones.
  • Sourcing a new set of earpads is expensive, and they're difficult to source. Poor design in my opinion, especially given the color and material of the pads, which visibly degrade over time.

Sound

Bass/Low Mids:

It's no secret that the sub bass on these is lacking. I'm no stranger to using EQ, but these really struggle to push a good amount of bass without distortion. The mid bass is fine. Outside of distortion (there wasn't any I could hear) it's hard to evaluate this alone without relating it to other areas. The response itself is extremely flat between ~60hz-1khz.

Mids:

Other than a bit of a bump around 1-2khz, the mids are pleasant, if not a bit nasally. This is easily fixed with a bit of EQ. The Clears are known for their mids, which I would expect coming from a brand like Focal, so this was no surprise.

Highs:

This is where the Clear completely lost me and I don't know why this isn't a more common talking point. These have insane peaks at 6khz and 11khz. I can't listen to these for more than 30 minutes without my ears feeling extremely fatigued. The problem isn't just that there are peaks. I'm a Beyerdynamic enjoyer, I'm used to an overly bright high end. The problem is that these peaks are extremely narrow, leading to a borderline resonant sound. I think this is where some people would call the Clear "metallic". These sharp resonant peaks are an absolute dealbreaker for me and make these borderline unlistenable, and unquestionably disqualify them for my application. Attempting to EQ out this peaks is extremely difficult, and given how sharp the Q factor is, successfully attenuating these peaks leads to phase issues and a smeary top end.

Soundstage and Imaging:

Pretty small soundstage, comparable to HD6XX. Imaging is ok but feels a bit left-right-center without much in between.

Conclusion

I had high hopes for the Clear given the overall positive reviews I read, and the general consensus that they were a well rounded, agreeable listening experience. I was surprised that they had such glaring issues at the top of the frequency range, and was disappointed by the lack of sub bass. Comparing to the other headphones I've tried, these go straight to the bottom of my list. The issues cannot be rectified with EQ due to distortion in the low end and resonance/peakiness in the top end.

TLDR; This is going to piss some people off, but I actually hated these due to the poor sub bass and extremely peaky high end. Comfort was also not great. Do not recommend.