What if any effect does putting clear pads on Elears have? My main issue, subjectively is the mids and the highs. I love the bass. But the mids and highs seem scooped out or distance, the timbre of voices and instruments seems good but I have to sort of struggle to hear them adequately. I guess to summarize, great Bass, really quiet, or pulled back mids and highs. Oddly enough there seems to be the beginning of some sibilance when I turn up the volume to higher listening levels. Any thoughtson how new pads might effect the frequency response would be helpful. Thanks

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SupOrSalad t1_it30pxy wrote on October 20, 2022 at 3:52 PM

#154,425

That's pretty much what the Focal Elex is right?

toastyhoodie t1_it35p9t wrote on October 20, 2022 at 4:24 PM

#154,747

Replying to SupOrSalad (#154,425)

That it is

atyne_mar t1_it3imbl wrote on October 20, 2022 at 5:46 PM

#155,644

I've never heard them but here are some FR comparisons:

Elear w/ stock pads by Oratory (orange) and Crin (green) - pretty much the same except Oratory using a regular coupler and more smoothing (Crin uses the hi-res coupler) so you see a bit more detail and peakiness in the Crin's measurement.

Elear w/ clear pads vs elex pads by Resolve (clear pads - purple) and Crin (elex pads - red) - more or less the same, both using the same measurement setup but different units.

Elex by Oratory (orange) and Resolve (brown) - the same low-end and air but strangely, Oratory's measurement shows peakiness in the lower treble and smooth mid-treble while Resolve's on the opposite is smooth in the lower treble and peaky in the mid-treble.

Here is the gross average of Elex (green) vs the gross average of Elear w/ clear/elex pads (blue) - except for those weird inconsistencies in the lower/mid-treble, they seem about the same.

Here are Elear w/ stock pads vs elex/clear pads. Should have a positive impact on the treble evenness but adds a bit of midrange honk.

BDTDSQ OP t1_it3ukpp wrote on October 20, 2022 at 7:04 PM

#156,470

Replying to atyne_mar (#155,644)

I really appreciate the in depth response. I'll study these a bit and see what I can gather. I'm fairly new to reading detailed fr days but get the gist at a larger level. These will help.

dongas420 t1_it48g8r wrote on October 20, 2022 at 8:33 PM

#157,449

The pad swap brings up the upper mids to correct the suckout/lack of presence that the Elear suffers from, though it goes a bit past neutral and ends up sounding forward. The bass loses some oomph, but enough of the original slam is retained that you may or may not mind depending on your bass preferences. If you've got a problem with the Elear sounding too intense at high volumes, using Clear pads might potentially exacerbate that, though I don't have complaints about sibilance myself. Tuning-wise, the Elear w/ Clear pads are neutral-ish but upper-mid-forward and bright-leaning, basically existing to listen to J-pop with, though it'll sound at least okay with most stuff that's thrown at it.

BDTDSQ OP t1_it4cpuq wrote on October 20, 2022 at 9:00 PM

#157,769

Replying to dongas420 (#157,449)

Thanks for more helpful input. The Clear pads are on sale for $79 pair. Although that's not cheap, it seems to fall inline generally with other after market pad, Dekoni pads etc. I might consider them. I can always put the originals back on. Albeit after losing 80 bucks. Well see. Thanks for the info