Performance
For my listening sessions, I used the
Spirit One with my iPad, while on the move and with my Grant Fidelity DAC-09
headphone amp, when at home. I also took the time to compare the Spirit One to
my resident Grado SR80 open-back cans. Much like other headphones, out-of-the box,
the Spirit One sounded a bit constrained and dark. A bit of break-in time
resulted in noticeable improvements, including better tonal balance, increased
macro/micro dynamics, higher sensitivity and greater detail retrieval. It took
just about 50 hours for them to begin to really strut, with more subtle
improvements over the next 25 to 50 hours.
Grado
SR80
Melody Gardot is one of my favorite
contemporary music artists and her albums get a fair bit of play in my house.
Her latest album The Absence, is a new musical direction for her. Influenced by
her extended travels from the deserts of Morocco to Lisboa, to Buenos Aires and
other exotic destinations, she has successfully fused these elements into her
bluesy jazz. The Absence is a beautiful sounding album, with lovely
arrangements and melodies. When I listened to the track Amalia, on the Spirit
One, Melody’s voice imbued natural warmth with her trademark inflections
nuanced and present -yet, relaxed. The bass, though bountiful was tight and
defined with string plucks remaining distinct and resonant. Guitar plucks,
communicated both the body as well as the string reverberations in a convincing
way. I found symbol strikes had a feathery shimmer, though perhaps a touch soft
in expression. In this tune, a shaker is heard and the Spirit One not only
depicted it with its characteristic rasp but also making the granules moving
within evident. On the track, So Long, I couldn’t help but notice the lifelike
hollowness in which popping sounds were delivered. Melody’s somber tone came
across in a manner that gently drew me into the emotion of the song. On the
tonal side, xylophone percussion delivered characteristic variations in woody
tones. There was a stark difference in presentation with my Grado on these
tracks. The Grado brought across a comparable amount of detail but sounded
lighter and livelier. The bass was detailed but weak in comparison, lacking
body and Melody’s voice sounded a little too chiseled, missing warmth and a
level of humanness. Quite surprising was the fact that the Grado, in spite of
being open-back, didn’t give a sense of any greater space than the Sprit One -
not an insignificant achievement on the part of the Focal cans. That said, the
Grado did outperform the Spirit One in providing a sense of air round
instruments and in transparency but at the cost of warmth, body and fullness.
Moving
from jazz over to progressive rock - I listened to the British band Elbow and
their album Build A Rocket Boys! On the track Lippy Kids, the opening
repetitive single keyboard note was provided with a rich bloom and good impact
Moving from jazz over to progressive rock -
I listened to the British band Elbow and their album Build A Rocket Boys! On
the track Lippy Kids, the opening repetitive single keyboard note was provided
with a rich bloom and good impact. Guy Garvey’s whistle was convincing,
sounding a fair bit back, with the reflection of the recording venue coming
through and giving a sense of space. The bass line was solid, warm, yet taught.
My headphone amplifier tended to give the Spirit One a little more than neutral
bass but with the iPad direct, the tonal balance was flatter. In contrast,
listening to the track with the Grado SR80, produced a considerably lighter
overall balance. Guy Garvey’s voice was more raspy and less full - seemingly
more focused but with less meat on the bones. The bass guitar line with the
Grado was dry and didn’t ground the tune. The Grado though did reveal more airiness
and openness between instruments, as well as reverb from the venue.
Trying something different once again, I
stepped it up to Metric’s - Live it Out album and the track Poster of a Girl.
This is a very heavy track, which is great for getting an idea of how
headphones can perform with rock. The thump of the kick drum effectively
anchored the track. Bass plucks via the Spirit One, came across taught and full
with a hearty sound. When Emily began singing, the character of her voice was
all there - just slightly nasal, girlish and seductively wispy. The cymbals
were tamed to some degree but remained realistic - just as if they were a
little further off. It was evident the Spirit One had a way with rock - able to
tame the rough edges while still keeping it real. In comparison, the Grado,
delivered ruthless clarity and definition but compromised weight of the track,
diminishing its impact. Drums were reduced in perceived size and presence.
Overall, the Grado made the track more two-dimensional, robbing it of fullness,
versus the Spirit One.
In
a nutshell, if you’re looking for a good set of sealed headphones for mobile
use the Focal Spirit One should definitely be on your short list - they provide
great value
To summarize the sound of the Spirit One, I
would say that they present a very integrated and essentially neutral take on
most tracks. They provide taught, full and extended bass, polite treble and a
surprisingly out of your head soundstage. That said, they are somewhat reticent
on the extended hi-frequencies and consequently may be found as a little short
on transparency. However, this might be considered a benefit, given the
multitude of brittle and tipped up recordings that exist, as well as the less
than optimal mobile playback devices. Music through the Spirit One was
consistently portrayed in a natural and warm manner with no spotlighting or
accentuation. The midrange of the Spirit One has a velvet-like smoothness,
sounding lifelike with both male and female voices and bringing with it a sense
of humanness. Interestingly enough, though I found that detail, dynamics and
tonal color were more present with my headphone amplifier, the overall
frequency balance seemed a touch more even when I ran the Spirit One directly
off my iPad. With the iPad there was a slightly lighter overall weight that
provided a perception of greater openness. I would speculate that Focal spent
some considerable time optimizing the Spirit One for iDevices / mobile devices.
In a nutshell, if you’re looking for a good
set of sealed headphones for mobile use -the Focal Spirit One should definitely
be on your short list - they provide great value. If you’re going to rely on
your iPod/ iPad/mobile device alone to drive your headphones - the Spirit One
is an absolute must for audition. These headphones do capture “the Spirit of
Sound” and they look great while do it too!
