Amazon.com: Customer reviews: Focal Closed Back Circum-Aural Hdphns

Reviewed in the United States on May 17, 2014

Let me just say that I have been a radio broadcaster for 25 years and I have used every kind of high end cans over the years. These cans are so neutral and so beautifully balanced. They make up entirely for the pair of Focal Spirit Classics that I had to send back. The packaging is on par with Apple products. It comes with a 1/4 inch adapter for use in a studio. They have taken about a month of heavy use and they are way more durable than the Classics. They really do sound great. I don't use them to mix, I use them to broadcast. I used to use Sony MDR-V6 (the industry standard) for years and I love trying new cans. These are the cans I will use the rest of my career. They are very comfortable. I bought a headphone stand to cut down on the wear and tear and these are holding up great so far. Great buy!

4 people found this helpful

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G Snap

These are fantastic.. I was very picky about finding a ...

Reviewed in the United States on June 3, 2018

Verified Purchase

These are fantastic.. I was very picky about finding a closed back headphone that had crisp low, mids, and highs, but also a very well blended sound. I tried beyerdynamic DT 770 PRO 32 Ohm Studio Headphones first, but sent those back after a week. Sounds were too isolated with those headphones - the mix would easily get dominated by little sounds in the highs. It annoyed the hell out of me, not accurate, and not consistently fun to listen to. The Focal Spirit was immediately heads and shoulders above the DT 770 32 ohms's. I paid about $200 for the spirits, and about ~$160 for the DT 770's. They were in two different worlds, although the price similarity would suggest they are competitors. I did get these on a good sale on amazon, I think retail was $349 at the time.

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C. Horton

Beautiful sounding headphones, that are painful to wear.

Reviewed in the United States on November 4, 2014

Verified Purchase

Really sound fantastic, especially when compared to my Beyerdynamic DT880 Pro's (my current favorite-really fantastic) when powered through my Universal Audio apollo twin. The sound is much fuller in the low frequency range. The construction is mainly plastic, and that seem's a little cheap, especially when considering the price. The deal breaker here is the comfort. Not just uncomfortable, but painful. It's weird, the cups are really small, they sit on top of my earlobes, instead of around them. After 15 minutes, I have to take them off. I hope Focal come out with a similar design that surrounds the 'lobes, instead of crushing them, because I'll be first in line to buy. I would recommend giving these a try, because if you find them comfortable, you'll probably really appreciate their sound.

15 people found this helpful

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Knowledgeable Shopper

Most Uncomfortable Headphones... Ever!

Reviewed in the United States on May 18, 2014

Verified Purchase

May 17, 2014: Initial rating was one star
These are the most uncomfortable headphones I have ever used. Well, maybe the free headphones you get on an economy class flight might be slightly more annoying. I think these were designed for women and small children, because the ear cavity is so small. As a matter of fact, my daughter loves them, so let her have them.

If you are an adult male, DO NOT BUY these headphones. They will smash you earlobes and you will get a headache after about 15 minutes of using them.

After 18 month of my daughter using the headphone, they are still the most unconformable headphone I have ever bough. However, they do sound pretty good for their price and they have held up very well to over a year of my daughter's abuse. If you have small ears then these aren't bad. I recently bought a pair of UE 18 Pro in-ear headphones, and if you want comfort and amazing sound, these are the best. But at $1,400 they are not cheap.

13 people found this helpful

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Eric Rhinebaum

Better than fine sounding headphones capable in a pinch (or not) for use in mixing or mastering, but...

Reviewed in the United States on January 15, 2014

Verified Purchase

Focal is interesting. The Focal headphones, like their speakers, are designed with a very flat and transparent top
-end, as well as a general unexciting but very, very true presentation. A few people find their higher end speakers (SM9 for example) tricky in the bass, loud and frequency appropriate, but a bit non
punchy, where a kick sounds loud but sometimes does not hit in the chest as a real kick drum does 2 or 3 meters feet in front of it. These headphones have the same top, silky and present but never screechy in the 3kHz to 12kHz three octaves. But, unlike the drum issue, the bass is immaculate. Others are reporting these headphones are spectacular. Some people require open back phones due to a misguided sense of cross head leakage they miss as well as the belief that closing the headphone somehow, unlike closed speakers, distorts the bass. Our opinion is quite different.
Now the issues: at our business (mastering and mixing) their are five heads who have tried the phones on, all but one pro felt they were too tight, from a little to a lot. As well, the bit of foam under that top head band is fairly narrow, and after some use you feel something pressing to apparently on your head. How much would it have cost to make the foam under the band be as wide as the band? But worst of all, the inner diameter of the memory foam cup is simply too small for two of our five guys. This reviewer included. We solved (sort of) the too tight dimensions by leaving our set of Focal Spirit Professionals stretched all night over two gobos total about 15" wide. We will probably beef up the top foam at some point (we're not in the business of looks in the control room) but the inner ear issue… Focal are you listening? We may only be a data point of five individuals, but maybe you could sell a mod kid that give a bit more top to bottom room, but people with… "ears". Seriously, wonderful sounding phones, some sort of form factor issues that should be dealt with by the buyer or Focal, but wonderful phones. Measure your ears from top to lobe, and look on the Focal site and see if your are within the cup oval dimensions, if so, buy these headphones! Depending on your taste, they may be as good as headphones get, sound wise.

32 people found this helpful

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Simon Harris

Focal Spirit Pro are THE mastering headphone to get! SUPERB.

Reviewed in the United States on November 27, 2013

Verified Purchase

Fantastic headphones, the build quality is top notch, very durable and high quality with professional look and feel, the sound quality is exactly as I wanted - FLAT, suitable to mastering and mixing, reliable in the professional sense. I have been mixing and mastering for 30 years and would absolutely trust the the results of the Focal Spirit Pro, as anyone in the pro audio field knows, the produce some of the top near field monitors in the industry, this is the portable version of just that and they work fine with an iPhone or iPod too (cable included), they are loud and flat in this regard too. Very happy. GREAT product and I do not use the term great lightly. Thanks! AAAAA+++++

9 people found this helpful

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em-mohv

Atrociously bad build quality that Focal will not own up to or repair.

Reviewed in the United States on December 2, 2016

Verified Purchase

I normally don't write reviews - but these are literally the worst built headphones I've ever used, and I've owned plenty of them over the past 20 years. For the price, you'd expect them not to fall apart within the first year and Focal's response to it is more or less "deal with Amazon" (go ahead and go to their site, and look at the reviews they've quietly tried to hide). At this point, their sound quality doesn't matter if they can't properly fit on your head because the hinges literally crack and break from the lightest use. To be clear: I never traveled with them, they always sat on my desk, and I never wore them in an awkward position.

After 4 months, the left hinge started to split and I had to use a zip-tie to prevent it from further falling apart. The problem is in the design: the bottom of the hinge has so much flex for a stress point where two pieces of the headband adjustment come together. Even the most gentle of use will eventually cause this stress point to loosen up.

Fast forward 5 months, and today when I put them on, the other hinge literally snapped from the inside and now they don't even rest properly on my head. Both joints completely fell apart within a year and that cheap, soft plastic they use is the culprit. As a company, they have little integrity to address this glaring quality control issue.

They sound great, but that doesn't amount to anything if they're this disposable. Save your money and look elsewhere.

38 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

as I simply enjoy the, for lack of an all-in-one in term

Reviewed in the United States on July 21, 2017

Verified Purchase

I was nervous about spending so much money on a pair of headphones.

Honestly the pair I have received has been the most please experience working with sound period. I have even taken to using them out of the office at home, as I simply enjoy the, for lack of an all-in-one in term, focus.
My audio engineer has taken to using these when mixing live and mastering vocals and instruments, as he believes they give a better, direct vision of the sound than any of his sets of opened-styled headphones.

Well worth the investment, all our stuff sounds amazing across many devices thanks to these.

One person found this helpful

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Alex Wood

Wow these headphones are nice. Let's start with my review of them

Reviewed in the United States on October 16, 2016

Verified Purchase

Wow these headphones are nice. Let's start with my review of them. First off the durability of these cans is quite good. Mainly plastic but high quality plastic. I think these headphones are pretty darn solid. In terms of comfort wow these things are very comfortable. The memory foam earpads are very soft and I love how they hug your head. These are the most comfortable headphones I've ever worn. And when you put these on they seal so so well you can barely hear a thing. I just love the feel of these headphones in every way. However they do have a fairly strong clamping force but still I think it's quite nice cus they seal well bc of that. Alright now, sound quality. Let me tell you that these things are very very nice. The first thing I noticed is the strong bass on them! They're just so full bodied and have a full rich sound. The bass is just spot on and very articulate. Midrange is very nice. Treble is nicely aligned as well just the whole sound signature is spot on and everything mends very well together. They just have a overall smooth nice sound that will appeal to anyone's ears. Simply amazing. I love these and I recommend these to anyone who has the cash. These are a quality pair of headphones!

One person found this helpful

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Steven H

It's almost the holy grail

Reviewed in the United States on March 4, 2016

Verified Purchase

Pros: Amazing definitions, much more detail compared to M50x, DT770 Pro and MoFi, very neutral and balanced,

Cons: Would prefer slightly more low end(it has less low frequency compared to all other headphones I mentioned). Build quality around the extension feels fragile, ear cup sits directly on your ear, uncomfortable if wearing more than an hour.

Verdict: Because this headphone is designed for professional use, I quite often have to wear it for more than an hour, and my ear hurts from the pressure of the ear cup, I gave it 4 star because it's sound quality is unbeatable by other headphone in similar price range. Even though it has low impedance and can theoretically work with computer headphone jack or mobile phone, it's definition is high enough to reveal problems in the circuitry of these consumer grade device so you may find the listening experience unpleasant if you are picky. These devices also can't really drive its low frequency, transient is much less controlled and sounds loose. My opinion is based on comparing the sound from an iPhone 6 Plus and an Universal Audio Apollo Twin Duo playing the same wav file.

2 people found this helpful

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