The Watercooler-- Impressions, philosophical discussion and general banter. Index on first

The Focal Clear was one of my first headphones. This particular unit I had sold to a friend and brought it back today for review.

I was far less experienced with sources when I had sold the Clear. I remember I had a Topping A90 and a D90 at that time which was well-lauded by many around me.

It was not until I had driven the Clear off the GSX Mini and even more so with the Ferrum Stack and later off the Feliks Euforia AE that I realized how much the timbre imparted by sources matter, more so for Focal headphones.

Off my Sony WM1ZM2, the Clears undergo a dramatic improvement in timbre especially in male and female voices. I loved Seal and Joni Mitchell. Metallica and Tool were slightly less enjoyable. The Clears are damn dynamic off the Sony even but the “neutral” Harmanish sound signature never really works out for me with metal.

The Clears are also far less resolving than the Symphonium Helios and not in the same league as the other flagship IEMs I own.

But great headphones no doubt, in many ways.

Sources: Sony DMP-Z1 | Sony WM1ZM2 | Brise Tsuranagi Transducers: Campfire Trifecta + Effect Audio Centurion | Dita Perpetua + Dita Celeste | Aroma Fei Wan (Incoming) + PW Audio Orpheus YT Channel: Amplify Audio Show