Headphone Heights

Posted by texanater (A) on May 03, 2015 at 16:19:01

Forward:
I recently purchased a pair of Focal 836V speakers and just fell in love with them which made me really curious about the Focal headphones. Surprisingly there really isn't that much buzz out there about them. I know they are not unheard of or anything but their competition gets a lot more attention. Anyway, I already own a pair of DT880s (32 ohm) but they are open and I have kids and dogs and an open floor plan. They only time I get to listen to them is at night, and of course open back headphones aren't great for listening next to a sleeping wife! The focal is closed which scratched an itch plus the curiosity and honeymoon I'm having with my speakers got the best of me and I found a used pair of Focal Classic on amazon and picked them up for $230 plus tax. I went with the classic because that was supposed to be the best of the focal line. The focal Spirit S looks like the second in line with followed by the pro and then just the basic Focal Spirit. I also own a pair of JVC FX850s which I'll throw into this comparison for free. For the comparison I used either my VPI traveler through a DIY boozehound labs phono preamp, through a Parasound Halo P-5 and finally to a Ray Samuels P-51 Mustang headphone amp. Or, lossless files through an Audioquest Dragonfly v 1.2 and the same RS headphone amp. I also own Etymotic Hf5s with the custom ear molds and Future Sonics Atrio M8s, but they are not quite in the same league so I'm leaving them out. I've owned JVC FX700s and Sennheiser HD600s. The FX700 were eaten by the dogs and I sold the Sennheisers. The sennheisers never really did it for me, they were just too polite. It is a personal taste thing, you can't go wrong with those headphones if you are in the market. They are great and I can see why they have such a loyal following but I like my headphones with a touch of dirty!

Build:
They all have great build quality. I think I have to go with the JVCs for this category, they are just gorgeous and feel like they were made with a lot of give-a-damn. Next would be the Beyerdynamics followed by the Focals. This is a slightly irrelevant topic for these headphones because they all feel like they are built very well. I think the Focals look better than the DT880s but they all look pretty cool. The Focals are sleek and modern while the DT880s are a little more focused on comfort. None of them feel cheap though!

Comfort:
They DT880s are by far the most comfortable. You could wear them all day I think with no fatigue at all. The ear pads are very soft and large and just great. They FX850s are very comfortable for IEMs but are IEMs. Unless you have IEMs with the custom ear molds you will fatigue eventually but the JVCs are very comfortable IEMs. The only thing that comes close to a criticism of the Focals is their comfort. They are over the ear headphones with pretty small ear pads. There is a decent bit of pressure on your head too. I am 5'9 with larger than perfect ears. Not overly large but bigger than average and I kinda have to stuff my ears in the ear pads. They fit but just barely. If you don't have air conditioning they could get kinda hot too with their close fit.

Isolation:
This isn't a good or bad category necessarily, you may want isolation or no isolation. The Focals are most isolating, but nothing like custom ear molds. They JVCs are somewhat isolating but still fairly open and the DT880s have no isolation at all, you can hear your surroundings the same as not having them on at all.

Drivability:
The JVCs are by far the easiest to drive followed by the Focals and the DT880s (32ohm) were the toughest to drive. I think all these headphones were meant to be fairly portable so none of them are difficult to drive. They all benefited from the P51 mustang over the onboard headphone section of the P5 or the dragonfly built in amplification.

Sound Quality:
The Focals are definitely my favorite sounding headphones. They do everything wonderfully. They really excel at tonal color. I think they are still well within the definition of neutral sounding but they are very rich when need be. You can really tell a euphonium from a trombone for example. I am hearing tonal colors and textures I simply haven't heard before. They had a deep and wide soundstage and are pretty good at not sounding "in your head."Lots and lots of detail with great voice separation. The base is very authoritative and deep. They really excel at female voices. I heard a song with strong multiple female voice harmonies and was just floored. I have honestly never heard anything like it. Words like rich, liquid, lush, tight, fast, articulate come to mind to describe the way they sound. I can't think of anything they do that comes up short. They are a great headphone. In general I preferred them over the DT880s but the DT880s were extremely good at orchestral music. I don't why, I've always thought that quality products will sound better regardless of music but I have to say in some ways I liked DT880s slightly better at orchestral stuff. If that is all you listened to, I dunno it would be hard to let go of the Focal's richness. The DT880s had a great ability to capture the sense of space. You really felt like you were in the room with the orchestra. They do all the other things I discussed regarding the Focals, just not quite as good. They lack deep base needed for pop music. They certainly couldn't handle anything like hip hop. Don't get me wrong, they have plenty of base and they base they have is very very good. Very tight and controlled, but it kind of stops at what you might here in an orchestra. You are not going to get subwoofer level of base. The Focals go a bit deeper. I think the quality of the base for these two headphones is about the same with the Focals going a good bit deeper. Now the JVCs on the other hand are out-friggin-standing with the base. They would hold up to hip hop or every action adventure movie. It is like having a subwoofer in your head. The JVCs are very fun and have an addictive quality to them. When my dogs at my FX700s I just had to get the new ones, it just wouldn't be the same without them. But hey come in third regarding general preference, although if I had to sell two of the three, I might end up walking away with the JVCs. Like I said there is just something addicting about them, plus they are IEMs so they are extremely portable.

So long story short, these are all great headphones. If you want a pair and need to be assured it is a good choice, yes they all have my full recommendation. My all around favorite is the Focals by a good margin. They hit my exactly where I am susceptible, dynamics and tonal color. The DT880s are best with string and orchestral music and are ideal when you need to keep an ear out for naughty kids who might be up to something. The JVCs are wildly charming and very portable. If I had a choice of what to wear if I had a daily commute on a bus or subway or something I would go with the JVCs.

I'm not getting rid of any of them!

Side note:
The Etymotics sound great too! Plus if you get the custom ear molds they are perfectly comfortable and extremely isolating. I'm active duty military and been on more than my fair share of 50 hour plane rides with associated layovers in less than ideal air fields. I would keep the etymotics in my ears just to keep the sound down. I wouldn't use them in an active war zone but to and from was fair game! I also use them for mowing the lawn using my table saw etc... Very very handy!!! The Atrios I know are discontinued but they are the best I own for base. I use them for watching movies. It literally is like having a subwoofer in your head. I understand they coming out with a new line soon, I bet they have the same great base!

Nate
You can't cheat an honest man, never give a sucker an even break or smarten up a chump -- W.C. Fields