expirediconian | Staff posted Dec 25, 2022 07:25 PM
Item 1 of 3
Item 1 of 3
expirediconian | Staff posted Dec 25, 2022 07:25 PM
Focal Elegia Circumaural Closed-Back Audiophile Headphones
+ Free Shipping$299
$890
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Apple has always had very little codec support for BT (AAC and SBC, and very rarely, ALAC), so if you use bluetooth, audio quality will take a hit. Whether or not that bothers you, is up to you.
If you dislike that, you can use it as a dongle (you just need to get your own USB C to lightning cable (or adapter) as they only provide USB A and USB C to C).
There's also the option of finding some way to velcro or otherwise stick the Qudelix to the headphones (these are closed back, so pretty easy to stick it on the sides or on top of the headband). If you stick it on the side, you can use the Qudelix's mic as a headset. Just be aware that the mic sucks (though a fun feature they added is that you can enable the mic while connected via USB).
Other optional longer term upgrades: you can get a balanced cable to connect to the Qudelix's 2.5mm output. Not going to get into details, but balanced essentially doubles power output because it has two in-phase signals instead of one (unbalanced) [boxcast.com]. Dedicated amps generally don't lack for power, and outside of very very long cable runs, EMI on unbalanced doesn't matter. But for portable devices, which are power limited, balanced provides a pretty large power benefit. Shouldn't need it for this pair, but harder to drive headphones would receive some benefit. Just never plug a non-balanced audio device into a balanced port.
You can also use the Qudelix 5K as your desktop dac/amp, or as a preamp (to enable EQ and other settings) to a dedicated amp. You would enable car mode for that; their website has great guides and the support team is very active on the forums.
I use mine for both on the go and on my desktop; I have a USB C cable fixed to my desk that I plug it into. Nice thing about doing it that way is that it'll always be charged for when you want to take it out for portable use. Though you can set it to charge from your phone (or not) or just use a portable charger.
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Relatively neutral sounding headphones with solid detail and clarity.
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To really make these shine I recommend grabbing a set of Dekoni pads. I was skeptical it would make much of a change but with the "Dekoni Audio Custom Series Replacement Ear Pads for Focal Headphones" they're probably my favorite headphones I've owned. I had the Celestee for a brief period and with the new pads the Elagia are just as good.
Or do I need some sort of external amp to drive these?
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Or do I need some sort of external amp to drive these?
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Or do I need some sort of external amp to drive these?
Free EQ software available on phone and PC
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ialbitf...a.pdf
Or do I need some sort of external amp to drive these?
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