Focal Elex Review 

I've watched a couple of reviews of this headphone and yours is hands down BY FAR THE BEST out there, as usual. The way you describe the headphone is so relatable with many important references to others and all put so well into just the exact right words. I can't imagine someone possibly making a better understable but still easy to watch job. You give credit where credit is due but still keeping it critical at all times without ever overhyping something like so many others do without being able to backup the hype, nothing is perfect and you get to those imperfections so well. Thanks so much

Loved the review! You always really do an excellent job of explaining sound signature in a very relatable way.

Whoa! the production leap is another level. Great job Joshua! Makes your videos more fun to watch. I think maybe add more headphone videos from all angles. It's great hearing your reviews while the camera keeps panning over the headphones or gear.

Surprised you don't have more subscribers. Please keep up the great work. I really enjoy your channel.

thanks for the upload. Excellent quality review Mine should be here tomorrow

Very detailed review, thank you!

Great job with all your reviews man! Looking forward to see a Hifiman Edition XX review from you, and comparison with the Focal Elex... Just saying... Greetings from San Jose, Costa Rica

Thanks for the review, good job. It's now on my list.

Excellent Review! I like the new setup too.

Thanks for the feedback! I just picked them up and super stoked.

ok. i'm on 3:50 time on video. I got to say. Video 10/10, Audio 9.5/10. This channel is improving so much lately. And joshy as a host, great job. I like this more and more. well done.

Great review Josh. One of your best.

hello josh, great review btw! would you recommend this elex over lcd2c?? im considering buying lcd2c but also looking for some alternative if there is one. thanks!

Great review. I received my Elex 2 days ago and I have to say Amazing! Dynamics are amazing at the volume levels I listen. First time I hear detail even after home auditioning a couple more expensive headphones. These are my endgame. I’m supper happy. Thanks.

AMAZING review, Josh. Very comprehensive. I've had a lot of Qs about the Elex, and this is has been helpful. I'm wondering where to go next. Was looking at these and the LCD2Cs. I've heard the 2Cs before but worry they're a bit too relaxed and dark. I'm curious about the 1990s, which I haven't heard, but it sounds like they may be a bit too analytical. Would this fall something in between, or does it lean more towards the 1990s? What should I take a look at? Awesome channel!

Love the look of this headphone. The murdered-out Elex is the handsomest in the range I reckon, not huge on carbon fibre or chrome myself.

I think this is your best review - at least that I've seen. A++

I enjoyed this in-depth, impartial review.

Great review, as usual. Are you wearing a Sinn U2 PVD watch? That’s my go-to watch. I love it on a silicon strap.

This is exactly how I feel about the Elex during my time with them. They are so damn good at what they do that it can be bad. Coming from dark planars, I was not impressed with them when I first put the Elex on. But after a short period of forcing myself to listen to them, I began to appreciate the detail and the flaws in my music. This headphone does not lie to you. It's like you are getting your music downloaded into your head. I thought I wanted this neutral and extremely detailed headphone. But I realized that I really don't. These headphones are intense, all the time. I listen to a lot of ambient music and these headphones, although might work for some for this type of music, don't work for me. I really want a large soundstage to relax the intensity. If these headphones were wide, they would be endgame for me.

Awesome review. Subscribed

Wait you live in washington? That's rad! hopefully we get a bunch of snow this year.

Great video! I'm curious how do these compare to the newer Senn HD 560s?

Your videos are so good. I really want these

i loved the production of this video. this one has a lot of style and professionalism

Just got the Elex yesterday, and you were pretty spot on with your review yet again. I go to Z to check things out, but I go to you when I narrow things down. As for the dynamics, I think it can be a little bit hot in the treble depending on the mixing, but it also makes music that seemed to be a bit of a compressed muddled mess with other headphones sound better in my opinion. The album The Ascension by Otep sounds so much better with these versus the HE-4XX, DT-980 Pro, or SHP 9500. I have a Magni Heresy and Modi.

I like your reviews, im on hd800 and i just need to point out that your mic is producing quite Harsch S sounds in the upper freq

best review on this can.

I'm a new audio file at the grand old age of 52. That said I've gone through several purchases, including a Monoprice Monolith 124459 (used, complements of eBay) which is working beautifully with my new Sennheiser HD650's. I also have an XDUT00-10R coming in shortly with a Genalex Gold Lion Tube to roll. I wanted to say thank you for the great product reviews, and nonbiased presentations.

Going to pair these with my 789 🔥

0:25 that hurt my brain.

Would you recommend this for studio & personal use? Thank you

Is the intro a song or a little riff you made? I'd love to listen to more of that!

Nice review , thanks . I am about to buy thé elegia, what is thé différence between thèm?

Properly-mastered acoustic music (classical, jazz, folk, etc.) recordings should be highly dynamic for the best reproduction of natural sound. Only the various genres of pop music are especially compressed these days.

Thoughts on these vs clear? If they were the same price?

I just picked these up recently and am very impressed. Got a great deal on them since it looks like they have been out a while, substantially less than the $500-$1000 range you mention in your video. I hated the cables though, they are stiff and inflexible so switched them out with some Hart cables with the balanced interconnect so I can put different connecters on it depending on what I am hooking it up too. Right now it is hooked up to an audio engine DAC connected to my laptop (watching this video). Listening to Apple Music in lossless blows me away. Best headphones by far I have used including my Sennheiser and Bowers & Wilkens headphones. I can't imagine Focal's more expensive offerings being better enough to justify the price difference between them, these are just that good.

Hello, Joshua. Could you please tell, what degree do you have, and in what particular major? Thanks

You say there's better imaging headphones in the price range? Mind specifying them? The best? I'm interested from a gaming perspective but still want the best dynamic headphones from the $300-1000 range, since I already have good planars.

The focal elegia is the alternative if you want more bass less warmth

Despite ergonomic complain on the stock cable, just for sonic performance, is it fine enough, or getting a upgrade cable is necessary? Also, i plan to pair it with Liquid Plarinum amp. Any opninion?

Best Elex review ive seen.

Man, you really know how to break down headphones! Here is a dumb question, most enjoyable headphone lcd-1 or elex

I have the ELEX in my sight for a while now, i wonder if i can power them efficiently with my Schiit Magni 2 or my Little Dot i+

WOOHOO!! a channel i can follow and rely on after innerfidelity finished up!!!!! someone who knows what he's talking about and knows what neutral is!! Thank goodness Joshua! too many channels just talk drivel.

So you suggest these as a cheaper alternative for Abyss?

Hey man, I have a question about imaging. You mentioned the k7xx in regards to Soundstage, and so I figured I'd ask... Basically I have k7xx, ad1000x and hifiman 400s. The hifimans are really great but horribly uncomfortable, even with the brainwaves pads. The 1000x imaging in the middle feels like dead center is 45 degrees wide. I cant work with that being a fps gamer, so I got the k7xx. They're perfect as far as imaging but they're a little too hard to drive with my current dac/amp (have a more powerful one being delivered tomorrow). Basically.... The 1000x sound 5x better than the k7xx and are more comfortable... But that imaging.... Is there a way to adjust imaging with a certain piece of hardware? Or is it always going to be the same? I'd hate to get rid of the 1000x but if the k7xx sound better with more power... Then I guess those are my go to, even if they're not Japanese perfection and are probably going to die in a few years. Sorry this is long and kinda wandering.

is that good dynamics is only in the mid-range ?

Ahhh. The con part is EXACTLY what i would say... this is my first upgrade from a 6xx and its exactly That.. so. now i know i can trust this guys opinion and that my ears are spot on.. im new to this.. perfect... aside from being stuck with these headphones now or having to exchange... although... as he said for music mastered correctly .. certain types of music.. its great but its also missing some type of cohesion in a way.. but it sounds bigger and captures everything very well that other headphones might not be able to do.. but like he said it doesnt work on all types of music and qualities and thats also something related with me.. i have the same mix of music so.. the weird loudness thing really gets me... its like the drums and the high parts can be too much and you cant get it louder without blowing your ears out somehow.. (of course im being very critical atm for a reason, its nuanced and i see both sides here, but these are big issues for me i would like to still resolve with an improvement in my headphone choice is thats possible..The detail is really amazing. listen to some Plini or soemthing.. the mix and master on that stuff is so well done to me for example.. the ability to capture each instrument individually and really get all the detail is superb... it sounds very big and clear, well defined.. but yea im just focusing on the cons and what i want to fix rn. most of the music isnt mixed well enough to get that same sound.. and even still with that way of listening its missing something to my ears.. but its a different experience.. yeah i mean, basically joshua said it all.. now i have to do some research on what he would suggest as a replacement from this since his cons resonate so much with me id like to accept that its the case with me and just resolve it.... Just someone help me out here please! Josh? anyone? makes me wonder if i had a trial with more headphones how itd turn out.. since this is my first time around even doing this with upper level headphones in my life... mannn i need joshuas opinion on this here.. .JOSHUA!!! @JoshuaValour

How would you describe these compared to the Beyer DT1990?

What is the difference between this and the Focal Elear? From my understanding, they use the same driver but have different pads.

I want a all round great headphone, I was looking at sennheiser 660s, what is your best headphone you would recommend? Thanks

Hey Josh, I wanted to know if you do your own music in your videos?

I would love to see a comparison to final audio's headphones in the same price range?

Excellent review! Simple and straight to the point. I’m torn between lcd2 classic and these. I’m listening all types of music. Rock, edm, classical... What do you think Joshua?

Hi #JoshuaValour, are you planning to review Focal Clear anytime in the near future?

Sounds like the perfect addition to my sundaras

Josh, bringing this up from the dead. You had called the LCD X your 10/10. What do you think of these compared to those ?

Josh, what’s your watch at 7:00

J. If you Know? Is the Elex going to be available from MD, in the next 4-6 weeks; when I then have funds? Best, D.

in this video you sounds better than other videos

no issue with distortion?

Nice 🎧 !!!

Probably most asked question, but would I as a owner of a hd6xx and a topping nx4, feel robbed if I change to theese ?

Josh, when you say mastered with regards to dynamics etc. what you mean is mixed most likely. Those decisions are taken in the mixing process. A mastering engineer can try to “fix” issues that the mix engineer left, but it’s not what mastering meant to do. In fact if there are significant issues a mastering engineer should advise a redoing the mixing session.

Hi joshua, can I use this with a Earmen Sparrow amp dac?

I'm looking for the best headphones for playing my digital piano sound libraries through. The detail is enough to sound just like a real piano under the correct playback hardware. Are these the ticket? (I hope so because I ordered them yesterday haha) I have Sennheiser HD558s right now and like them but they are a little muddy sounding for piano to me. How would you compare these to those?

Do they sound $500 better than the HD6XX though?

I have the sundara, would this be a significant upgrade?

Are these as comfortable as HE1000v2? I tried many headphones and none of them (including DT1990) were as comfortable as my HEXv2 (same as HE1000) for longer than 30 minutes.

Are these better than Senn 660s?

Love my Elex and love my Clears. I will state that the earpads break down pretty fast with daily usage and replacements are not cheap. Kind of sucks.

Man, i think you do better reviews compared to Z or DMS.... Explaining science with it.

To anyone with experience: Would the Elex be a good upgrade to my HD600 for Rock Music? I listen almost exclusive to varying Rock type genres 90%+ of the time. Or would something like and LCD2 or 2C or X be better? Budget around $1k please help I am confused where to go for ROCK GENRES (Punk rock, post hardcore, metalcore, etc..)!

I had the elex for couple months, glad I didnt buy into the hd650 hype. I prefer planars iver dynamics but these dynamics changed my mind because its has a special tone.

Darn. I was hoping these would be a clear upgrade over the 6XX's. But it kinda sounds like they are just a slight improvement and a decline in some areas. The part about them sounding off-putting for non highly mastered tracks is off-putting in itself and you didn't sound that convinced about its gaming performance. So what's your strongest overall recommendation for this price range (600-700)?

Hi Josh! Where in Washington are you located? I'm in Portland and have a pair of surprisingly amazing IEMs (described by some as Andromedas, but you don't have to sell your liver). If you're not far, I'd be super glad to lend them to you - BGVP DM6. Would love to get your thoughts on them. Please PM me.

Has anyone done any pad swapping on the Elex? I'm wondering what a leather/pleather pad would do to the Elex sound signature.

These or sundara?

Nice review as always, Joshua! I always enjoying your videos! I didn’t have a chance to listen this model but I experienced elear and utopia at the Canjam London with really expensive amps, and DACs, cables..Actually Focal team were prepared properly for that show. They are really incredible headphones, but to my ears they both lack of bass. I owned Beyerdynamic DT 1770 and 1990, but sold them both. 1770 to aggressive. 1990 I kept for 2 years I liked them a lot. But one problem I had with them, cymbals presentation was too bright and harsh on some albums. I’m in to extreme metal, rock. Now I have B&W P9! To my ears I have much more fun then with 1990. And the problem with cymbals and brightness was solved. Treble very smooth and enjoyable. Compering to elear and utopia, p9 sounds quite similar but with much more body and bass! They are very powerful They like semi-open, so the soundstage not so wide, for my music is perfect, for classic lovers would be problem I guess not sure. At least 30 hours to burn them, and of course need to be connected to the proper source, like high quality amp and so. My question is: are thinking to review them in the near future?Would be nice to hear your opinion.

so what 500-1000 headphones make compressed recordings sound good? imo compressed recordings sound like crap on all speakers/headphones

Great review ... by way of the description it looks like it's one of those headphones that does the opposite of enhance your listening experience when you don't have good mastered music.... which means that the music of the past 20 years or so will sound like garbage ... pity really.

Awesome review! Just wanted to say that on my phone, your video comes in as sibilant and fatiguing, might want to bring s’s down in volume.

the Focal Elex is a headphone that really taught me I should avoid bright sounding headphones. Especially, on the THX 789, my ears just get super tired after 30 minutes of listening time.

I am having this troublesome issue where my current favorite setup is still using the HD6XX combined with a tube amp (specifically the Darkvoice 336SE and a dac ofc). I have a huge preference majority of the time to listen to songs with vocals and prefer them being forward. I own other headphones and still currently use them for certain things such as the TH900's, HE560's, HD600's, DT177x, M100's, Meze 99 classics (original pads), and an MX3 for wireless use. The issue I have is that I have quite a few headphones more expensive than the HD6XX's and while I enjoy some of them still for certain types of music, I still prefer the 6XX for majority of music with vocals I'm attached to. Is there any headphone under $1000 that you could recommend me to replace these for my vocal listening needs?

Simple guy, I read Review and click.

This or Edition XX?

what camera are you using? your face is sharp on point

I guess one would ask LCD2c or Elex?

Am I the only one who has issues with the fit? personally focal headphones do not have enough movement pressing hard against the front of my ear and leaving the back kinda loose even if it still seals. tested on elegia and Utopia (the latter not as much tho).

So, they aren't a super HD650 then, kind of eliminates this from my list, any issue with the infamous clicking?

Could anyone recommend a great amp that works well synergy with these headphones? Needs to be used around £200-£300. Thinking of Lakepeople amp?

Haven't even watched the video yet but I just wanted to say that the production levels are almost too good lately. Wonder if he personally knows MKBHD? :P

Josh did you get a camera upgrade? Production quality is just mwah

I watch review videos on the Focal Elex for confirmation bias :drool: That aside, this is one of your best reviews yet. Awesome content as always.

Hi Joshua, love your videos. I'm trying to see whether I should get the Massdrop Focal Elex or the Audeze LCD-2C to pair with my MOJO Chords. I am currently using the Fostex TH-X00 and would like go to the next level. I do love strong, impactful, clean bass, and a bit more fun sound. I understand the Audeze is a bit more warmer and darker, but I wonder if it's really that dark. Vocals, especially female vocals, is important to me, as well as soundstage. I listen to a lot of R&B, hiphop, EDM, and classic rock/motown

Please do ananda vs elex comparision 😗

Focal Elex or Audeze LCD X??

Wish i head the money lying around...and wish they would ship to germany 😅

Is Elex a closed or open cans?