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
66% offAdorama
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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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For those who are fans of Zeos, he says these are built like a tank. A creaky tank, I say.
For those who are fans of Zeos, he says these are built like a tank. A creaky tank, I say.
Free EQ software available on phone and PC
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ialbitf...a.pdf
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Our community has rated this post as helpful. If you agree, why not thank az060693
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.
https://www.themastersw
https://www.themasterswitch.com/r...cal-elegia [themasterswitch.com]
This is also a good review to read if you're interested...
I bought mine for $400, and would do so again. Maybe I just got lucky. I've certainly not babied mine, having dropped them from nightstand height more than a few times. I also have a pretty large head. I don't keep them in a case. No headband issues for me, or really any problems with these.
They do need EQ, and I've always used a player on my android that allows me to load an EQ profile, or (more recently) used PEQ in roon for my headphone DAC endpoint (SMSL C200). There are better headphones out there for bass-heavy music or people who prefer "fun" sounding headphones. I listen to a lot of acoustic music where I want to hear vocals and details of the instruments, and for this the Elegia are great--especially since my S.O. doesn't want to hear my music while I'm listening in bed. If you don't need closed-back isolation, then you may find a better headphone with open-back design.
Seeing these for $300 makes me want to buy a backup for mine. There will likely come a day when these Elegias finally sell out and it will be difficult to replace with a similar quality per price with this feature set.
Relatively neutral sounding headphones with solid detail and clarity.
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