That is acting like the mindset behind the Elegia.
Mercifully, Focals pricing is more reasonable.
Despite all its merits, the HD820 is a much tougher pill to swallow at $2,400.
For the most part, Focal succeeded.
Aesthetically, its very much a Focal headphone.
Its a classy and comfortable headphone.
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They dont leak out much noise either, making the Elegia suitable for portable and office use.
That said, Sonys similarly-priced MDR-Z7M2 manages to be both slightly more comfortable and significantly more isolating.
This cable is annoying though.
Thankfully, its replaceable and aftermarket ones are cheap.
Now for the important part: The Elegias sound is… unusual.
The first thing that hits you is the spatial presentation.
But where it excels is with a sense of openness.
Yes, a headphone can sound open without a huge soundstage.
Its tricky to describe, but the Elegia doesnt sound stuffy or closed-in.
Its transparent enough to almost make you forget youre listening to a closed-back headphone.
Again, its very akin to the Clear and Utopia intimate, but with distinct instrument separation.
Focal did a fantastic job with eliminating the offending resonances, perhaps even better than the HD820.
To achieve that clarity, Focal made some interesting choices designing the Elegias frequency response.
Spend some time on headphone forums and youll see the Elegia has been somewhat divisive since their launch.
Some people including me think its a bit bass light.
Others think the bass is neutral.
Some think the Elegia is bright.
Others think its neutral.
For more on how to read a frequency response graph,heres a good resource.
Im using the EARs default target curve you’re free to read more about target curveshere.
In blue is the Focal Clear, in purple is the Elegia.
This is presumably to avoid the bloated-bass so typical in closed-back cans the Sennheiser HD820 does something similar.
It works, but like the HD820, I think the Elegia overcompensates.
Going further left into the frequency graph, we see the Elegia picks up the slack in the sub-bass.
See, its pretty unusual for a closed-back headphone to dip down in the midbass like that.
Either way, no one will think it hastoo muchbass.
The treble is less contentious.
For the most part the treble sounds smooth and detailed, but it can be harsh on some tracks.
More than anything, its just a sound signature I had to get used to.
I had immediately loved the Focal Clear, but the first week or two using the Elegia…
I just couldnt get into it.
Once you acclimate if you acclimate the typical strengths of Focal headphones are there.
Very low distortion and excellent resolution, transient response, imaging, and dynamics.
Despite a fairly dry sound, the dynamics of the headphone prevents them from coming across as boring.
And in terms of detail, I have to give kudos for what Focal has done here.
Its better than the HD820 in this regard, which has a more pronounced mid-bass dip.
While its size and stiff cable limits the Elegias practicality, it isolates well and leaks little sound.
This is about as commute-friendly as audiophile headphones get without opting for earbuds.
You might want to consider Sonys similarly-priced Z7M2 as an alternative that better exhibits these qualities.
But with the Elegia, Focal is asking you to reconsider what closed-back headphoneshouldsound like.
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