Massdrop x Focal Elex Headphones Reviews | Drop

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Massdrop x Focal Elex Headphones

Audiophile

FULL DISCUSSION

kiantat

Feb 25, 2021

Verified Buyer

Great sound for the price...if not for QC ISSUES!

EDIT #1: Ok, 4 months in of daily use. No abuse, damage not loud volume playback. Right driver just stopped playing sound. I guess this is the notorious QC issues for the elex....Attempt to get a replacement is underway. EDIT #2: Got a replacement. The new unit had a quite a noticable different pad, it was a bit firmer, slightly less deep, and the memory form took more time to return to its original position after squashing it (it returned instantaniously on the original). It feels like the new replacement pads (2021) avaliable on drop uses according the experience people are having there. Well at least there is not much noticable sonic changes and it id at least working for now. EDIT #3: After a little over 2 months of use for the replacment pair, i've faced the same issue again. Again right drivers stop working... And is it is clearly a brand new set, rather then a repaired one. I really don't know what to say....I'm just disappointed EDIT #4: Got a refund instead and decided to get a 2nd hand Clears. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- After using it for about 4 weeks, so far no issues with it. Coming from the 6XX, this fixes many of the minor issues I had with the 6XX, it has the treble which the 6XX was lacking, a decent soundstage and great imaging, as well as better bass and treble extension and most importantly for me, a noticeable better detail retrieval. It is basically an upgrade in almost every way except maybe comfort, The first thing that I noticed from this is the very detailed bass. Its almost as fast as a planar, but have a great punch, tight but not sounding thin, especially compared to the hifiman anandas which i used to own and are of a similar price. Deep bass extension, espcially for a dynamic headphone and very satisfying. blows away anything I've owned so far in this regard. Secondly, the dynamics of this headphone is insane, in fact I would say its too dynamic for its own good. As different songs that have different dynamic range would meant that I have to constantly adjust the volume with this headphone which I did not have to for any of the past heaphones that I've owned. It is also a very loud headphone, as It can sound loud even at very low volumes. The imaging is great, pretty accurate and great for gaming use. It has a nice rounded sound stage that is fairly wide, but nothing mindblowing. The Tonal balance is nice and neutral, except of some slight coloring in the treble. This headphone however can sound "shouty" especially in the vocals. The vocals can sound like it is "in your face" which is something I didn't really liked, but wasn't too bad. It was clear and well defined. Instruments are very clearly defined and VERY detailed, which is great, and orchestral music sounded suprisingly smooth and clean even when compare to the 6XX. The details and clarity are great for the price, although the anandas was slightly clearer to my ears, the detailing of this was slightly better than the anandas. Overall,, Im glad I sold my Anandas for this. The only real other choice I had to make was this or the LCD2c which while sounded beautiful, I did not like the tonality and im not a fan of eq. However, there seems to be alot of reports regarding the driver isuue, which was why I decided to get the Ananda's first, only to not like the tonality of that. If this headphone could last me for the next 3 years with no issue, i will keep this review as it is. but if there is an issue down the line in the future, I would update this post. (post has been updated...)

(Edited)

Recommends this product? No

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manuelf

Feb 25, 2021

kiantatThank you for your review, I'm deciding between this one and the Ananda since they are similar priced, how you would compare them in terms of comfort, sound quality, better for rock music genres, etc. I do appreciate your comments as an owner of boths cans, would be helpfull in the purchase decision.

Feb 25, 2021

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kiantat

Feb 25, 2021

manuelfWell comfort wise it really depends on the indvidual head. The Anandas have a pressure on my lower jawline which makes it uncomfortable for long sessions even after 3-4 weeks of daily use, and the exterior build feels cheap. I did not have any issues with the Elex comfort. both headphones are deep enough that my ears barely touch them. Both are very detailed headphones for the price, so I can't really say which is better from memory in that regard unless I have to chance to compare them side by side again. The Ananda for me have a weird dip in the high mids, which makes speech have an hollow sound, however I only really noticed this on speech and not vocals. On the other hand, the Elex sounds pretty natural. The bass on the anandas can sound abit thin on certain songs, while the elex bass is well, beautifully tight and punchy. The Anandas also was a little too bright for my ears, its more of a neutral-bright compared to the neutral-warm elex. The anadas are also noticeably more colored in the the whole spectrum, while elex only sounded colored to me on the treble. So if you want a flatter and more reference sounding option, the elex is a better choice. The Anandas however, really shines on well mastered tracks,(e.g. daft punk), sometimes even better then the Elex in this regard. Both headphones do work well with pretty much all genres, however for rock, the Elex definitely sounds more exiting and fun due to the dynamic nature and better defined bass. The Elex also shines on jazz music. Both headphones sounds great on orchestral so its more of a preference which tuning you prefer for that case.

Feb 25, 2021

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