Their greatest attribute is the dynamic rendering of instruments; capturing their natural qualities, that add to the sense of musical realism. That is a very important ingredient to me personally in music listening, that keeps be from becoming bored, or fatigued by the job the headphones are doing,...

A paltry $699 new right now (Sep 2017

- could stand just a little more top end sparkle and air; but then they'd be exactly like the Utopia's I guess

I only had these headphones for two months and then exchanged them for the Clears. However, I enjoyed them very much when I had them.

I'm a lucky guy; I've heard almost all of the best headphones currently on the market, but I wasn't expecting something in that league from Focal. I've enjoyed their Spirit headphones for years, but Elear is radically different from what came before.

Hand-crafted in France; Remarkable resolution; Super-easy to drive

13-foot-long cable is unwieldy

I'm a lucky guy; I've heard almost all of the best headphones currently on the market, but I wasn't expecting something in that league from Focal. I've enjoyed their Spirit headphones for years, but Elear is radically different from what came before.

Hand-crafted in France; Remarkable resolution; Super-easy to drive

13-foot-long cable is unwieldy

I own an embarrassing number of headphones. Some of my favorites are Audeze LCD 2's, Beyerdynamic T90's, Grado RS1i's, Hifiman HE 560,400i's, Philips X2's, Sennheiser HD 700,650, 600's . But the Elear's take your breath away. They are that good. Nothing I own has a sound that has this kind of punch.

Dynamic; excellent sound

Recessed upper mid's and lower treble; Somewhat closed sound stage for open back; This is nit picking

A outstanding pair of headphones whilst I did not intend to spend this mount on headphones once you have listen to these you cannot go back, very comfortable stunning natural sound very pleased.

I got the Elear from HiDef through Amazon. Quick delivery and very well packaged (box inside box inside box). I am not an audiophile so I won't be describing the Focal Elear headphone in audiophile terms because I don't know really what they mean.

"These cost how much" Raina asked. "Just listen to them," I urged. Raina put on the headphones and played some of her favorite tunes." It didn't take long for her to become a fan of Focal's Elear Open-Back Headphones . But at $1000 a pair, she's not sure they would be a wise purchase.

Amazing build; Comfortable; Fantastic sound

Really need to be paired with an amp; No protective bag or case; Intended for home use only; Pricey

In my review of the new Focal Listen headphone , I mentioned that it was at the bottom rung (so to speak) of three new headphones from the French company Focal. Further up the ladder were the Elear and Utopia headphones-both very different headphones and both much, much more expensive.

Extremely well made; Open back design; Great sounding-gets better with time; Comfortable; Accurate sound

Expensive; Soundstage could be wider; Not for smartphones

At the end of the month, French speaker manufacturer Focal will launch an impressive new line of headphones, and according to the company, the three new models – Utopia, Elear and Listen – will carry the full weight of its 35-years of experience in high-end audio.