TECHNOLOGY

Elear: Aluminium Headphones from Focal

Lightweight and durable, aluminium is a popular choice for producing smartphones and other personal electronics.
15 August, 2016
French manufacturer Focal is regarded as a world leader when it comes to delivering high-end audio equipment.
What Focal has done for speakers is the kind of experience users can now expect from headphones too. The Saint Etienne-based company has introduced three new high-end models of headphones – including the Elear.

The Elear, available by pre-order for $999, is an affordable option for serious enthusiasts and professionals who want exceptional performance and luxurious appearance at a real value. The sophisticated open-back design features a solid aluminium yoke with a leather headband, creating a smooth and seamless style ideally suited to ensure high-end sound quality in noisy environments. When combined with memory foam ear cushions, the headphones promise serious comfort as well. The 13 foot (4 meter) cord is designed with an 80 ohm impedance and ships with a self-locking jack and jack connector.
In the Elear model, the speaker drivers are made from M-shaped, aluminium-magnesium domes that render impressively realistic sound. Reviewers report that the listening experience for guitar, piano and vocals is consistent with Focal's reputation for quality, with midrange frequencies described as top-notch. Its manufacturers say the Elear is inspired by the research that went into Focal's flagship Utopia model.
The Utopia has some design similarities, but uses lambskin leather in the headband and carbon fiber at the yoke. The $3,999 USD headphones, also available by pre-order, are designed for low-noise environments, and perform with a superb Focal quality. Some reviewers claim it is the best dynamic headphone ever made, and makes recordings sound closer to live music than its competitors.

In its own description of the Utopia, Focal claims to have made an unprecedented breakthrough based on 35 years of experience and cutting-edge research. It puts a fully open-back loudspeaker into a set of headphones, using pure beryllium in the M-shaped dome configuration to deliver sound kept at frequency responses between 5 and 50kHz. Comfort, too, is as important as the aural experience.
There are still many high-end headphones which no doubt offer excellent performance, but comfort is a difficult issue over long periods. So, Focal focused on designing a headband with a constant bend, regardless of the size of the user's head size. This spreads the weight of the headphones evenly over the head to avoid the feeling of pressure on the head or ears, which is all too often the case with other products.
— Focal
Finally, so as not to be left out of the mobile headphone market, Focal offers the new Listen model as an option for premium portable headphones when traveling or on the move. The Listen model has been described as a straightforward, though capable, pair of closed-ear headphones.

In the Listen model, the headband moves toward a lighter soft-touch component, with thick memory foam and chrome-plated ear cups. The driver is a combination of Mylar and titanium, with the latter coating applied to the dome only. The Listen cable features multifunction remote and an omnidirectional microphone, with Focal's pricing set at $299.
Banner image: Head-fi.org