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Massdrop Focal "Elex"


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10 hours ago, buonassi said:

So I do have to agree with this partly.  There is always a tradeoff when using EQ, of which I am a huge fan BTW.  The purists claim that EQ destroys the subtleties of the headphone's response, and they are not entirely wrong either.  'Destroy' seems to be blowing it way out of proportion however.  Whenever you EQ, you will alter the phase relationship of frequencies.  What you correct in the frequency domain becomes somewhat skewed in the time domain.  This is what "smearing" of transients is all about.  BUT.... I believe that EQ, despite the minuscule effect it has on phase when done properly, corrects the bigger problem - the frequency response!  To me, and many others, this is a perfectly acceptable tradeoff.  Especially if you know what you're doing, how much to EQ and where, which frequencies to treat with a linear phase EQ, and which are better suited to minimum phase processing.  It should also be noted that opponents of EQ usually haven't had experience with a top-shelf software plugin.  I tried countless very good free EQ plugins.  But when I went with Fab Filter, there was a distinct sonic quality the others didn't present.  No I am not affiliated with them nor did I buy this when it was on sale.  You can google me (Vincent Buonassi) and find out that I work in transportation.  I forked out the $179 for it like a regular schmuck.  You really get what you pay for, especially if you take the time to learn about the effects of EQ on phase.  Here's a great video that explains the basics of EQ processing mode and how phase affects frequency:

 

 

 

I do like the presentation of this post, however, at $179 (cheap for audiophiles), it's nowhere near the "app store" prices we see for Audioforge et al.  Today, phones will play at least 44-48 khz files, and can serve as a good transport with small DACs like the DF Red.  If a really smart vendor can get the average shmoe into a $6 equalizer app, which somehow automates the phase issues (at least to some improvement despite errors), that I can sell.

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2 minutes ago, dalethorn said:

The problem I see in your contentions, and those other very techie contentions here, is it steers users toward a reliance on elitists, and as a long-time software dev supervisor, we don't need those at the level that serves ordinary users.

 

I wouldn't say the majority of us are here specifically with the intention of serving ordinary users.  Many of us are here because we want to take our hobby to a level that ordinary users would laugh at - and we find others who share this same affinity.  The irony in all of this...... is that through our "techie" talk, we end up educating, thus serving, the ordinary users.  

 

Still...I have to yield to you here and say you're right.  At least for this topic.  This is supposed to be about the Focal Elex, not standing wavs and physics.  For that, I apologize to the OP @crenca, sorry about that.  

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1 minute ago, buonassi said:

 

I wouldn't say the majority of us are here specifically with the intention of serving ordinary users.  Many of us are here because we want to take our hobby to a level that ordinary users would laugh at - and we find others who share this same affinity.  The irony in all of this...... is that through our "techie" talk, we end up educating, thus serving, the ordinary users.  

 

Still...I have to yield to you here and say you're right.  At least for this topic.  This is supposed to be about the Focal Elex, not standing wavs and physics.  For that, I apologize to the OP @crenca, sorry about that.  

 

You missed the point, maybe.  It's not that we can't have a high-tech thread on EQ, it's the tone of many of these posts that say "you can't" this or that, or "that won't work" for whatever reason.  If there were a way to label such a thread to warn non-technical types away, then that might ease some of the contention.

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2 hours ago, buonassi said:

I can't believe I didn't join this drop.  By all accounts, reviews, graphs, etc, this is one hell of a headphone.  Then again, I can grab a used Elear for $550 and EQ the crap out of it.  I have to research the REW software some more.  I have been too intimidated to download it thus far.  Then again, I'm ready for my next adventure, so....

 

I almost did as well - but I already have an Elear!  

Hey MQA, if it is not all $voodoo$, show us the math!

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2 hours ago, buonassi said:

 

I wouldn't say the majority of us are here specifically with the intention of serving ordinary users.  Many of us are here because we want to take our hobby to a level that ordinary users would laugh at - and we find others who share this same affinity.  The irony in all of this...... is that through our "techie" talk, we end up educating, thus serving, the ordinary users.  

 

Still...I have to yield to you here and say you're right.  At least for this topic.  This is supposed to be about the Focal Elex, not standing wavs and physics.  For that, I apologize to the OP @crenca, sorry about that.  

 

No worries, I like how these treads eb and flow.  Besides, when talking about the Elear (and possibly the Elex - we will see), or with most HP's, you have to talk about DSP and EQing.  Most HP's should come with a warning printed on the box that says "Do not eat use without DSP"

 

I find what you are saying about standing waves in HP's fascinating and like you point out, the same thing (on the level of physics) as room interactions and two channel.  Don't stop!  :)

Hey MQA, if it is not all $voodoo$, show us the math!

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  • 4 weeks later...

and while I'm enjoying my new elear, nearly perfected with fabfilter, others are waiting months to get this knight rider version with fenestrated velvet pads.  Maybe this is new toy syndrome speaking, but if you kick up the 4K upper presence region, notch out the 10K tizzy peak, and boost the top octave, each by 6 db, you've got yourself a perfect set of cans.

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15 hours ago, buonassi said:

and while I'm enjoying my new elear, nearly perfected with fabfilter, others are waiting months to get this knight rider version with fenestrated velvet pads.  Maybe this is new toy syndrome speaking, but if you kick up the 4K upper presence region, notch out the 10K tizzy peak, and boost the top octave, each by 6 db, you've got yourself a perfect set of cans.

 

It seems that you're perfectly happy with these... B|

Our PowerStation is here: click me!

 

Check out our Tidal MQA Set-up Guides below. 
Android (Renderer) Mobile
Desktop (Decoder) via USB
Desktop (Decoder) via SPDIF

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  • 2 months later...

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