Focal Sphear High-Resolution in-Ear Headphones

Came here after losing the focal spark a few years back. The Focal sphear's provide you a crystal clear listening experience. Electronic and Classical genre sound extremely rich on these earphones. The foam buds add up to make the bass more defined and eliminate outside noise. Love the design! It's actually unbelievable that focal are giving these out at 6.5k - Steal for the deal. Give these a try, I'm sure they'll surpass your expectations.

Normalerweise warte ich mit einer Rezension ein wenig, damit der Eindruck "sich setzt". Nachdem die "Sphears" meiner Meinung nach bisher zweimal krass fehlbewertet sind, möchte ich meine Eindrücke aber gleich loswerden. Einige Stunden habe ich zumindest schon gehört. Und um zu sagen, dass es sich bei den "Sphears" um wirklich ausgezeichnete Kopfhörer handelt muss man sie nicht erst monatelang benutzen. Die ausgewogene, natürliche Wiedergabe über das gesamte Klangspektrum gefällt auf Anhieb. Die Bässe haben genügen Druck und Tiefgang, Stimmen werden klar und unaufdringlich wiedergegeben. Instrumente sind gut zu orten, also auch die Räumlichkeit der Wiedergabe stimmt. Für meinen Bedarf sind die "Sphears" auch bei weitem laut genug, bei Nutzung an einem Samsung S5 brauche ich nicht ansatzweise die maximale Lautstärke. Für den guten Sitz liegen Silikon- und Memory Foam-Polster jeweils in drei Größen bei, so dass jeder das Passende finden sollte. Bei mir passen die "Sphears" perfekt, ohne unangenehmen Druck zu erzeugen, nach einer Weile nimmt man sie nicht mehr wahr. Der Grad der Abschirmung von Außengeräuschen ist für mich absolut ausreichend. Wer sich noch unsicher ist sollte auch mal die amerikanischen Rezensionen unter amazon.com lesen. Diese sprechen Bände und ergeben im Schnitt 4,5 von 5 Sternen, für Kopfhörer eine überaus positive Bewertung, der ich mich voll und ganz anschließe. Allerdings habe ich bisher nicht das "Haar in der Suppe" gehört, für das man einen halben Punkt abziehen müsste...... ________________________________ ERGÄNZUNG: nach längerer Nutzung gefallen mir die Sphears immer noch und in jeder Hinsicht ausgezeichnet, Tests von Profis (bspw. von computerbild vom Oktober 2015) bestätigen die postitiven Eindrücke. Auch für mich sind Bewertungen mit "einem Stern" objektiv nicht nachhvollziehbar. Ich bleibe jedenfalls bei meiner uneingeschränkten Empfehlung.

I had a very difficult time deciding between these and the V-Moda Zn. I was listening to both back to back, and also switching over to the Panasonic Ergofit every now and then as another point of reference. These were amazing and sounded just as good as the hype, but I ultimately chose the Zn's. Everything you hear is true: these are ultra clear and crisp and do very well to capture voices and live music. You do hear artifacts in low quality recordings, and high quality recordings are amazing. These were clearer and crisper than the Zn's and the Ergofit. The bass was decent, and did require a "burn in", but was weaker than the Zn's, and slightly better than the Ergofit. These were comfortable, as you have a lot of tip options to chose from. I'm unique in that my right ear is slightly larger than my left, but the options still worked out. One minor bit is that the earbuds have to be in a specific orientation to sit in your ears, but I think this may be by design as it gets cradled in the shape of the ear. One bit I did not like was the sound bleed. People next to you will be able to hear what you are listening to pretty clearly. On the other hand when you pause your music you can hear the outside without having to take the earbuds out. The carrying case is a nice touch. Has a zipper and is a hard, and enough room for the earbuds. The Zn's case is lacking in that it is a leather pouch, doesn't add as much protection and can hardly close with the earbuds in. The Sphear case is nice. So why did I choose the V-Moda Zn over the Focal Sphear? Sphear's potential for good sound was higher. My lossless collection of acoustic music and live concerts was amazing and better than the Zn's. However, the majority of my music is not like that, mostly mp3's of a wide variety of genres. The Sphear's had a weaker bass and revealed artifacts from lesser quality music that the Zn's smoothed over; The Sphear's felt too specialized while the Zn's felt more versatile. I'm giving 5 stars because I believe these are perfectly engineered music devices that do what they are designed to do: produce clear, crisp, beautiful sound. I may not have kept these in the end, but that is not because these are poor devices, these just aren't what I was looking for. I was looking for a luxury daily driver, and these were fined tuned specialized track car.

I was wondering when someone was going to de-throne the Sennheiser Momentum M2 In-Ear as the top in-ear headphone in the sub £100 price range. I wasn't expecting it to be Focal, who are more known for their speakers than their headphones. But boy, the Focal Sphear does clean up in this bracket. I've been A/B testing the Focal and the Sennheiser M2s and the Focal comes out on top in every aspect. BACKGROUND The mic on my Sennheiser M2 Momentum In-Ear broke, so I was looking for the best in-ear headphone under £200 I could find. THE COMPETITION - Since I needed headphones that would work on Android, that ruled out RHA T20, since the only version with a mic is for iOS. Ditto for B&W C5 s2, iOS only. If you're looking for a headphone for iPhone, I'd add those two options to the shortlist. If you're using Android...well, your options are fewer. - The Bose QC 20 come in just under £200, but since I own multiple noise cancelling headphones, including the Bose QC 25, I didn't feel the need for yet another NC headphone. If you don't have a noise cancelling headphone, have £200 to spare and would use them for travel - the Bose QC 20 are a no-brainer. - I was looking for a well-sounding headphone that does the music justice, giving as life-like representation as possible (can you see how much I'm trying to avoid using the word "audiophile"?). My search limited it to Sennheiser's M2 Momentum In-Ear (to replace the pair I have), or to try the Focal Sphear. After reading many very positive reviews, I decided to give Focal a shot. A decision I'm extremely happy with now. COMPARED TO SENNHEISER MOMENTUM M2 IN-EAR (I'll compare with the Sennheiser M2 as a reference, since they've been considered the top model in the £100 segment for years) - Handles detail much better. A/B testing the intro on Aerosmith's "Janie's got a gun", where there's so much happening...that's when the difference became very apparent. The Focals are talented, very talented. - Big sound stage, remarkably bigger than others in this price range. - Power output: due to larger driver size, these can go much louder than my other IEMs. This is especially important if you're using an Android phone (less so on iPhone which has better power output). On my Nexus 6P, the Sennheiser M2s some times can't go loud enough. The Focals are easy to drive, couldn't go full volume. - Balanced sound that has plenty of power in high, mid, lows...without being fatiguing. In comparison, the M2s are a bit too aggressive in the mids and highs (in Crowded House's "Weather with you", the S-sounds in the vocals became annoyingly harsh). - Transparent, neutral & lifelike sound: I usually test with Fleetwood Mac's "Rumour", since it's such a well-produced album that it reveals many flaws of headphones. The Focals did so well here, that for a moment I forgot I was using in-ear monitors. - Engaging: one of the drawbacks with neutral sounding headphones, is that they can sound a bit...bland, for the lack of a better word. The Focal Sphear is on the contrary very engaging. It made "How to disappear completely" from Radiohead's 'Kid A' album sound so great and full, that I forgot I was testing the headphones and got lost in the music. - Comfortable: these don't go as far in as other IEMs, so they're really comfortable to wear for longer stretches. Comes with 6 different tips (3 silicon and 3 memory foam...I love the latter). FINAL VERDICT I've loved the Sennheiser Momentum-line (their over-ear model is my go-to for regular outdoor use). The M2 in-ear has been the top rated model by What Hi-Fi in the below £100 price range for a few years now. Sooner or later there comes a time when the torch needs to be passed on. Focal Sphear is the new reigning king, there isn't anything else to be said. These sound like they could be twice the price.

I had been using Klipsch Image S4 headphones for about 3 years prior to purchasing these, but over that period of time I saw the manufacturing quality slip so steeply on that model that I decided it was time to try a different brand. I read a lot of positive reviews on these so I splurged for the upgrade (these are about twice as expensive as the S4). First to note: the packaging is very elegant and sleek, and the portable case to store the headphones in during travel is lightweight and compact but quite durable. On the headphones themselves: sound quality is very good and picks up a lot of detail. Even at their worst, Klipsch Image S4 had a pretty respectable sound quality compared to your average earbuds, and Focal is a noticeable improvement over even that. Excellent frequency response and solid dynamic range of sound and very well-constructed too (no "rattle" on loud bass noises). The standard earbud outfittings fit very comfortably and the headphones sit snugly in the ear. The cord seems durable and doesn't pick up noise when jostled, and a sturdy horizontal jack is another superior design choice. The durability of the design on these is really a far cry above the modern Klipsch model, which after many headphone replacements is what I was hoping for. Time will tell whether these last in the long run, but the quality of the design inspires some confidence in that regard. Definitely a quality product.

Sorprendentemente buone. Da tempo ero alla ricerca di cuffie che 1)fossero comode 2)non cadessero continuamente dalle orecchie e 3)suonassero bene. Il mio orecchio ha una conformazione particolare e non sopporto l'effetto tappo che danno le in-ear normali. Devo dire che queste cuffie, dopo aver selezionato i giusti adattatori fra le 6 paia a disposizione (3 in silicone e 3 in un particolare materiale a memoria di forma che non ho trovato in nessun altro modello), si avvicinano molto al mio obbiettivo. Qualita' costruttiva buona, suono equilibrato e ben definito, bassi profondi quanto basta, comode anche se portate a lungo, "effetto tappo" modesto e tollerabile grazie soprattutto agli adattatori a memoria di forma. Anche per l'uso telefonico nessun problema: c'e' un microfono di buona qualita'. I comandi sono ridotti a un unico pulsante che comunque permette di rispondere alle chiamate o skippare avanti/indietro i brani musicali con 2/3 pressioni come si usa su android (presumo anche su iphone). Manca il controllo di volume.