Yeah I know the resolution was absurdly good but they actually improved.
I am listening to the Beatles Helter Skelter as I write this. This song isn't exactly a piece of beautiful music but it is one of the first, if not the first, head banging music ever recorded.
The Focal Clear's reproduce Helter Skelter in a manner that demand to be heard. Its hard to describe but the Clears pull of the magic act of reproducing hard core R&R and do it while sounding relaxed.
The Clear's do not miss any of the punch and the head banging that this music demands but it does it without added distortion of it own. You get what the Beatles recorded without added distortion.
A lot of headphones manage to sound very good and have very high resolution. Other headphones add a certain distortion character of their own that some people like. We end up choosing a set of headphones based on their weakness, their distortion, non-linearity and failure to stick to the job of reproducing music.
All of these headphones that I have listened to draw attention to themselves and the music misses something while you listen to the headphones and the system driving it. We listen to the headphones, enjoy their portrayal and then shift to another picture with our speakers or other headphones.
The Focal Clear's are the only headphone I have tried that does all of the resolution stuff but it never draws attention to itself. It just reproduces the music with beautiful accuracy and never sounds like a set of headphones or an Audiophile anything.
I don't know if the Clear's are super good at low distortion and sticking to the frequency response curve but what they do certainly works very well. If you get the chance audition a set of Clears, do it in a quiet environment. Also audition the Clears with familiar program material and don't rush it.
Sit down and enjoy a comfortable set of headphones that do so much right.
They really are very good at playing music and getting out of the way of the performance. They are really that good. Very, very well done Focal.
Ed
We don't shush around here!
Life is analog...digital is just samples thereof
