Good sounding headphones, but beware durability concerns. Even people who've babied them have had major failures, I believe it's the headband causing issues.
Best way, without jailbreaking, is to get a Qudelix 5K. It's by the man who made the ES100 that took the headphone community by storm several years ago. He split off to do his own thing, which was Qudelix. Really amazing little device and you can tweak everything through the companion app (also has a chrome extension that does the same). Then apply the oratory1990 EQ settings someone linked above. Or if you dislike the Harman target, use AutoEQ to spit out an auto-generated EQ profile for w.e target curve you like.
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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Our community has rated this post as helpful. If you agree, why not thank Cujobob
12-25-2022 at 12:49 PM.
Good sounding headphones, but beware durability concerns. Even people who've babied them have had major failures, I believe it's the headband causing issues.
Can someone share how to connect these to an iOS device and have equalizer (e.g. autoeq or some other) automatically applied for all audio? Thanks in advance.
This is a fantastic price for a great pair of headphones.
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.
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12-25-2022 at 02:38 PM.
Quote
from snakcaz
:
I'm probably going to sound stupid but. Can I plug these into any 3.5mm jack (ie phone or computer)?
Or do I need some sort of external amp to drive these?
I have an external DAC and a headphone amp. Sounds great. But I have also plugged this into my iPhone with the regular dongle and to my pc and sounds great there too. Is the DAC better ? Yes of course. Is playing this directly better than a lesser headphone through the DAC ? Yes. This headphone without a DAC will sound better than a cheap headphone through a nice DAC.
I'm probably going to sound stupid but. Can I plug these into any 3.5mm jack (ie phone or computer)?
Or do I need some sort of external amp to drive these?
Hi- yes you can. The default cable has a 3.5mm termination (and a gold 4.4mm converter). The elegia does not require much power so you can easily use it with your phone or laptop. An amp is recommended but not necessary
Good sounding headphones, but beware durability concerns. Even people who've babied them have had major failures, I believe it's the headband causing issues.
I'm interested in this. I believe Adorama is an authorized Focal retailer, so these should be covered under Focal's manufacturer's warranty. Isn't this the same design as the Focal Clear, Elear, etc.? Or is there a difference in the design as a whole? Also, for anyone who owns this, how worried should one actually be about this "defect"?
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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.
Our community has rated this post as helpful. If you agree, why not thank Cujobob
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?
Our community has rated this post as helpful. If you agree, why not thank LootPirate
Or do I need some sort of external amp to drive these?
I have an external DAC and a headphone amp. Sounds great. But I have also plugged this into my iPhone with the regular dongle and to my pc and sounds great there too. Is the DAC better ? Yes of course. Is playing this directly better than a lesser headphone through the DAC ? Yes. This headphone without a DAC will sound better than a cheap headphone through a nice DAC.
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The default / stock cable is 3.5mm.
Oh well ..
Or do I need some sort of external amp to drive these?
Oratory1990 EQ is a must. Amp is optional if you're not an audiophile.
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?
Hi- yes you can. The default cable has a 3.5mm termination (and a gold 4.4mm converter). The elegia does not require much power so you can easily use it with your phone or laptop. An amp is recommended but not necessary