FocalClear MG Open-Back High-Fidelity Over-Ear Headphones

I've had these for a couple of months now. As someone who collects headphones (I have a few dozen pairs of various brands - Beyerdynamic, AKG, Sennheiser, Audio Technica, Audeze, B&W, Grado) the major downside of the Focal Clear MGs is that I now no longer want to listen to any of my other pairs.I sometimes use the MGs with my Audiolab MDAC+ / Graham Slee Solo ULDE combination, and sometimes with my Chord Mojo 2 / Poly combination as a Roon endpoint. Both are equally sublime. The MGs have this uncanny ability to make even substandard recordings enjoyable to listen to. And it does this by delivering instruments and vocals with a vividness, clarity, power and naturalness that nothing else I have comes close to. Moreover, this ability in no way detracts from their performance when fed high-quality recordings, which come through with all the aforementioned qualities merely ratcheted up a notch or three.The soundstage is absolutely fantastic, with instruments and vocals rendered with such 3D precision and detail that I can effortlessly pick out the subtlest of sounds and place them on the landscape. Bass is deep and tight, vocals have a timbre and naturalness I have not experienced before, and treble is sweet. Despite the tons of detail, there is no ounce of harshness or fatigue. Listening sessions often drag on for longer than planned, and I often have to force myself to stop adding "just one more track" so I can attend to other duties. There is also this unusual sensation of airflow into my earholes - in that sense, they seem to have almost a loudspeaker-type quality of being able to produce a physical, in addition to auditory, sensation.The MGs are quite nice to look at - at least, not unpleasant for my tastes. They are also open-backed so leak a lot of sound, and let in a lot - a bit frustrating when the aircon is on because it's too hot and you're trying to listen. But the openness and airiness that comes with open-back headphones is worth it for me. While not the lightest pair of headphones, I find them comfortable enough - maybe not as comfortable as a few of my other pairs (the Beyer T1s come to mind) but enough not to get tiring or painful after several hours of listening. They are also just right in terms of tightness - they won't move around unless you really go mad with the headbanging.I do wonder how much better the Focal Utopias are likely to be compared to the MGs. I haven't heard them, although I understand they have a different signature. I've also heard opinions of the MGs being "90%" as good as the Utopias. Either way, given they are around three times the price, I can't imagine it would be worth the extra cost unless you really have cash to burn. Overall, while expensive, I'm so glad I got these - they've transformed my headphone-listening experience and for me proven themselves to be worth every penny.

These are really good headphones, especially when partnered with the Naim Uniti Atom Headphone Edition. They have a wide sound stage and extract every last bit of detail from a recording.I rate them as 5 stars for Sound Quality and Comfort but I have only given them 3 stars for value for money as they are very expensive, but if you can afford them you won't be disappointed.

In a word, the Focal Clear Mg headphones are excellent. To add a few more words, they have a smooth frequency response, better than the standard-setting Focal Clears of a few years ago. The bass was noticeably deeper and clearer. Highs such as strings and female voices were clear. It’s a definite improvement over the Focal Clear headphones, which I highly praised when I heard them a few years ago. These headphones are easy to drive, so portable devices won’t have any trouble.

These are superb headphones and I've owned quite a few 'high-end' models down the years. The one drawback is the very short standard headphone cable. The XLR terminated version is much longer. Why Focal could not provide both of them the same length is a mystery. Something which many reviewers have also mentioned and not many of us domestic users have a use for XLR connectors anyway.

I chose these earphones after extensive online research. They are highly rated by reviewers and I must say they live up to their reputation. The sound is open and clear with an excellent soundstage and importantly for me a bass sound which is full, deep and controlled. Highly recommended.

Wow. I hmm'd and haa'd and bought them. I actually wanted the Celestee but the delivery on them wasn't as quick. I already have Hifiman Sundaras that awakened me to open back headphones. Price for the Focal is around 3 and a half times the Hifimans. They are a class above. I will probably get the Celestees too at some point. I am running these on a 4.4 balanced cable and have a pair of leather pads winging their way to me.

I really wanted to listen to these before buying as they are far from cheap so I booked a demo at a Hi-Fi retailer. I only had a laptop with the standard headphone jack but my files are all FLAC, it's not ideal but better than spotify though a phone. They sounded good and I did a side by side comparison with Sennheiser HD660's as they tend to be a good reference point. The Focal had an obviously more pronounce bass, it's got a real good thump to it and sounded a lot fuller and more lively than the HD660. They had unopened stock and offered me a bit of a discount so I bought them. At home, I use my PC going though a nice DAC and headphone Amp and these benefit enormously from that. They feel sturdy and should last a long time if looked after, they come with a nice case. In some areas, mainly bass, these probably do justify twice the price of an HD660. I don't think you'd get what you pay for if your audio source is low quality which includes most things streamed online.

I did not get these headphones from Amazon. Bass and Mids are acceptable and fairly well produced with just a little warmth. However there is something incredibly wrong with the treble and I find it difficult to explain but compared to my HD800's and Audio Technica ATH-W3000ANV the overall sound is hugely disappointing especially at this price level.These are open back headphones yet give no feeling of width or space. Detail retrieval is ok but not exceptional. Clarity is average. Because of Focal's set up choice there is no excitement or thrill when listening to the headphones.