Focal Headphones: Comparison Review Guide

The French Connection

Somehow, the brand always manages to blur the line between superior acoustics and sophisticated beauty, seamlessly.

Why Do You Need Better Headphones?

You have an appreciation for the finer things in life. This is what brings you here. You don’t just want better headphones, you crave connection to your music with more musical detail. You understand that your ears deserve better, and you’re tired of missing out. This ultimate guide to Focal headphones will serve up all the models in Focal’s product line, and help you choose the right one that unlocks the potential hiding in your music library.

Just like the celebrated wines and exquisite delicacies that Burgundy is famous for, Focal, surely, inherits its good taste and draws much of its inspiration from its historical homeland. Like its home, Focal’s rich cultural heritage has positioned the brand to offer something unique to audiophiles for the last four decades. Looking ahead, the company’s experience building world-class loudspeakers for the best sounding mastering studios and listening environments in the world, uniquely positioned the brand to offer something extraordinary to the headphone market at large.

...the company’s experience building world-class loudspeakers for the best sounding mastering studios and listening environments in the world, uniquely positioned the brand to offer something extraordinary to the headphone market at large.

Since 2016, after the release of its first flagship open-back headphone model, the Utopia, the roster of headphones continues to grow similarly to the brand’s worldwide audience of customers. Users understand best the special characteristics that beryllium or magnesium drivers impart to their music. In Focal’s over-the-ear headphones, these materials help fans of the brand deepen their appreciation for music, itself. This is why audiophiles keep coming back to the brand, again and again, for the excellent craftsmanship and the selection of the finest materials.

The Psychoacoustic Advantage

When it comes to presenting the best soundstage, over-the-ear headphones are the connoisseur's choice. Of all the fit-types available, it’s the smaller, more portable on-ear and in-ear fit-types that of course position drivers the closest to the ears. However, for many, there’s a significant sonic advantage when placing the drivers farther away from the ears rather than closer. And there’s no-one more uniquely positioned to understand this psychoacoustic advantage better than Focal.

Think of a “wider” sense of presentation as being analogous to hearing a set of loudspeakers in an acoustically treated room. For many, this sense of presentation is one step closer to the perfect audio “end-game.”

However, Focal’s engineers didn’t just stop there when they chose to focus primarily on the over-ear design. Focal loudspeakers are known for their phenomenal soundstage. But the engineers truly went a step further when they brought that soundstage to Focal premium headphones.

The engineers position the drivers at an angle sympathetic to the position of the user’s ears when the headphones are worn. By positioning the drivers inside the ear-cones to point towards the user’s ears, sound is directed better into the wearer’s ear canals. The end result is an enhanced soundstage, and an optimized sense of presentation that users hear when wearing Focal’s over-ear designs.

By positioning the drivers inside the ear-cones to point towards the user's ears, sound is directed better into the wearer's ear canals. The end result is an enhanced soundstage, and an optimized sense of presentation.

While the experience from a pair of headphones can never match the upfront soundstage of loudspeakers, you will experience a sense of resolution and intimacy you can never experience with speakers.

Why Do Over-Ear Headphones Sound the Best?

Many audiophiles prefer the “wider” sense of presentation from an over-ear headphone compared to the narrower, “in-your-head” sense of presentation that on-ear and in-ear-monitors can deliver. On-ear and in-ear types lose the extra-dimensional “width” of over-ears due to their smaller form factor. On the other hand, a “narrower” sense of presentation that’s more “centered” in the forehead is usually achieved best with the smaller and more portable on-ear and in-ear fit-types. However, where psychoacoustics are concerned, there are no right or wrong answers. There are only preferences and compromises, advantages vs. disadvantages.

On the other hand, a “narrower” sense of presentation that’s more “centered” in the forehead is usually achieved best with the smaller and more portable on-ear and in-ear fit-types. However, where psychoacoustics are concerned, there are no right or wrong answers. There are only preferences and compromises; advantages vs disadvantages.

Which Focal Headphone is Best?

Below is a breakdown-list and reader’s digest on all of the headphones Focal currently produces in order from least expensive to the most expensive.

The Focal Price Point:

The good news is that everything Focal knows about building amazing headphones for audiophiles is now available in other headphone styles to suit a variety of users and their unique listening applications.

So, which Focal headphone is the best? Well, from its four decades in the business crafting superb loudspeakers, the Utopia inherits everything the company already knows about presenting a phenomenal soundstage. So, there’s good reason to support the Utopia’s spot as one of the best-sounding open-back headphones ever made (period). It’s certainly a favorite here in the Moon Audio office. For a more in-depth impression of the Focal Utopia, read our Focal Utopia Headphone Review.

Consequently, the expertise and R&D going into the production of a flagship product of this caliber also justifies the higher price tag. The good news is that everything Focal knows about building amazing headphones for audiophiles is now available in other headphone styles that suit a variety of users and their unique listening applications.

Which Focal Headphone is Right for Me?

Now that we’ve discussed a general overview of price-points, we’ll answer this question by addressing the next most important topic: ergonomics. 

Sometimes, this over-the-ear design choice will come with a few drawbacks that could limit the flexibility and the availability of ergonomic scenarios best suited for the use of the headphone. Compared to “lighter” fit-types, this means over-the-ear headphones can typically have a heavier and bulkier weight to consider in their inherent designs. After all, “large” usually implies “bulky” and “heavy” materials all working together to both surround the wearer’s ears and to create a solid sealing condition that isolates sound, effectively. However, Focal’s innovations here have resolved almost all of the issues usually associated with the larger fit-type. This makes Focal’s over-ear headphones more flexible for many more ergonomic scenarios, and even portable.  

By perfecting the over-the-ear design, Focal continues to focus on its core competency: presenting the best soundstage possible.

By perfecting the over-the-ear design, Focal continues to focus on its core competency: presenting the best soundstage possible. It achieves this while pushing the limits of material sciences by manufacturing some of the lightest and most comfortable headphones on the market. After all, if producing a headphone with a superior soundstage is important, so should the ability to sustain the listening session comfortably without fatiguing the ears. Thanks to Focal’s engineering prowess and originality, this important ergonomic feature is on display in every over-ear headphone the company makes.

The Ergonomics of Focal Headphones: Simplified

In the table below, we’re serving up everything you need to know to better understand which Focal headphone is the right choice for your ergonomic application. Whether your goal is to improve your music listening on-the-go with a fantastic closed-back design or to listen unapologetically with Focal’s most musical open-back designs in the privacy of your home, Moon Audio has your ergonomic application covered.

So, which Focal headphone is the right model for you? As depicted in the table above, sometimes, the answer boils down to the demands of your ergonomic scenario.

For a more in-depth guide on everything there is to know about the advantages vs disadvantages between closed-back and open-back headphones in general, and the ergonomics scenarios best suited for each, read our ultimate Closed Back vs Open Back Guide to find out which style is the best for your ergonomic situation.

Materials Matter: The Sound Signatures of Focal Headphones

When it comes to building something remarkable, the most experienced sound engineers understand that materials matter. When it comes to building something that sounds remarkable, not everyone fully agrees with the same principles. However, the materials used in loudspeakers, headphones and high-end audio cables, indeed, have a sound signature. It’s the best acoustical engineers, and listeners, who recognize the difference.

Standard periodic table | Credit: Wikimedia Commons

The material selected by a manufacturer for a headphone or speaker driver, for example, can determine that hairline difference in what users experience vs what they cannot hear, precisely. This includes the perception of micro details in the music with improved transients and frequencies felt by the body even though they are technically beyond the range of normal human hearing.

Still, there’s information encoded into musical expression the human body responds too in ways that science hasn’t even fully understood yet. As audiophiles, this knowledge deepens the appreciation we share for the sound signatures of unique and rare materials. As lovers of music, this affinity for materials deepens our appreciation for the effect materials have on our connections with recorded music.

In short, the materials that possess the ideal properties to accurately reproduce music’s natural transients in its full resolution will be the choice of engineers who are music lovers themselves: they just get it. With more than 40 years building superior loudspeakers under its belt, Focal’s engineering team also just gets it. 

Focal's All-Magnesium Driver

Focal's Aluminum-Magnesium Driver

Focal’s Aluminum-Magnesium Sound Signature: Warm Side of Neutral

Magnesium is the third most common metal used in structural applications, following behind iron and aluminum, according to Wikipedia. It’s commonly infused with other materials as an alloy for producing super-strong and lightweight materials. Like titanium, magnesium is also used in high-performance vehicles because of its extremely low density and weight. Magnesium is the least dense of all stable metals, and similar to titanium, it’s also very high on the strength-to-density ratio.

For some of the best magnesium-based drivers on the market, check out the Elegia, Clear and Clear Professional, all of which are made by Focal in France.

Recommended Cable: Silver Dragon Premium

We recommend pairing all of Focal’s magnesium-based headphones with a Silver Dragonheadphone cable. Doing so will further add enhanced resolution and detail to the “warmer side of neutral” voicing offered by Focal’s current magnesium-based product-line. For mastering engineers, audio engineers or anyone who appreciates listening critically, adding the Silver Dragon headphone cable is the perfect way to add detail and top-end energy to the more neutral soundstage with enhanced room for your music to breathe.

Focal's Be (Beryllium) Driver

Focal's Pure [Be]ryllium Sound Signature: Analytical, Resolute, Detailed

With its extensive resumé designing world-class loudspeakers, Focal knows a thing or two about the best-sounding metals for its dynamic transducers and tweeters. This is why the brand focused on perfecting beryllium for its top-of-the-line headphones. Beryllium is an extremely difficult and expensive metal to work with, and yet Focal has earned its reputation as the king of pure beryllium. According to Focal, "Beryllium is seven times more rigid than titanium or aluminum, the latter two [being] well known for their rigidity.” For its top-of-the-line headphones and loudspeakers, Focal takes full advantage of the metal’s ideal physical properties and unique acoustic characteristics. In terms of pure beryllium-based drivers, this includes both of Focal’s top-of-the-line open-back and closed-back headphones: the Utopia and Stellia.

But why beryllium? To represent sound waves more accurately, a dynamic driver or transducer’s diaphragm requires the right balance between weight, stiffness, and rigidity. These properties allow the driver’s diaphragm to vibrate back and forth like a piston, which produces the sound waves we hear. If the material of the diaphragm is not stiff enough, the diaphragm will be too flexible, and this flexibility will distort the sound waves it’s responsible for producing.

On the other hand, the diaphragm should be light enough to vibrate rapidly. It’s difficult getting a heavy diaphragm to move back and forth fast enough to produce the frequencies accurately as they normally would naturally in the real world. So, the ideal material is one that’s extremely light, but also exceptionally rigid.

Unfortunately, most metals become increasingly flexible, and less rigid, the lighter and thinner the material is worked during the manufacturing process. This is what makes beryllium and Focal’s manufacturing process so incredibly special. Beryllium has one of the highest strength-to-weight ratios of all known materials. Being such a strong metal, beryllium is an extremely difficult and expensive material to work with. However, Focal’s manufacturing facilities in France have mastered the process.

So, what’s the sound signature and physical result gained when the most rigid and lightest metal on the periodic table of elements is used in a headphone’s dynamic transducer? The most articulate, resolute, and highly detailed sound waves available in a dynamic driver, that’s what. Both you and your music will enter a new sonic dimension of high fidelity sound that's more similar to the resolute detail found in planar magnetic drivers. However, your music will retain that classic loudspeaker-esque low-end energy for which dynamic transducers are simply the best. 

Recommended Cable: Black Dragon Premium

Focal's Pure [Be]ryllium-based Headphones: In Focus

In the headphone industry, the Utopia is constantly referenced as an example of excellence. The Utopia even won the Inner-fidelity Editors Choice award in 2018. Because of its open-back design, the Utopia is the supreme choice for getting the most out of your music at home. It’s important to note the Utopia has a higher impedance of 80 Ohms, so an external DAC/Amp is required to use the Utopia’s. We recommend the Chord Hugo 2 DAC/headphone amp as the best DAC/Amp to pair with this headphone. For a more in-depth impression of the Utopia, read our Focal Utopia Headphone Review.