Focal’s latest studio‑focused headphones aim to deliver reference‑quality monitoring in a closed‑back format.
When it comes to headphones and loudspeakers, the divide between studio and hi‑fi models is sometimes more apparent than real. There are plenty of hi‑fi enthusiasts who say they want to hear music on the same type of system that was used to mix it, or at least on a flat‑sounding playback rig. So although it’s not uncommon for a manufacturer to use different distributors, retailers and publicity materials for the two markets, it’s also not uncommon for the products themselves to be pretty similar.
Visit the website of French monitoring maestros Focal, for example, and you’ll find their headphone range divided into High‑Fidelity, Wireless and Professional categories. But it doesn’t take Sherlock Holmes to figure out that they’re all built on the same basic chassis and technology, presumably with voicing tweaks to accommodate listener preferences. The Clear MG Professional open‑back headphones I reviewed in SOS June 2021 have a direct counterpart in the hi‑fi world, while the subject of this review also bears a strong resemblance to existing hi‑fi models from Focal.
Lens Flair
The Lensys Pro is a new closed‑back headphone model that, as far as I can tell, uses the same housing as the more hi‑fi‑oriented Azurys model. This means that the earcups actually resemble those of an open‑back design, with an attractive arrangement of holes laid out in four concentric rings. Behind these holes, however, what looks like a fine gauze is actually a layer of rigid material that blocks sound from entering and leaving, and the degree of acoustic isolation on offer is pretty good.
The earcups themselves are of an elongated oval in shape and, as seems to be the fashion these days, are tilted so that the lower half sits forward of the top. The yokes offer plenty of rotation on both the fore‑and‑aft and the up‑and‑down axes, and they are mounted on notched metal strips that slide in and out of the headband to accommodate different head sizes. The headband itself is padded, but rather narrow, and its pressure on the top of the head does become noticeable after a while. In general, though, these are pretty comfortable headphones, and at 306g are relatively lightweight. The foam earpads are a little deeper than most, and are field‑replaceable.
Although the outer shell of the earcups is perforated, a second layer of rigid material within prevents sound from entering or leaving.
The Lensys Pros connect to the outside world through a mini‑jack socket in the base of the left earcup. Straight and curly cables are supplied, as is a good‑quality semi‑rigid case. Internally, the Lensys Pros use Focal’s proprietary aluminium‑magnesium ‘M‑profile’ moving‑coil drivers, and Focal say that “their acoustic load has been optimised for operation similar to that of a bass‑reflex loudspeaker”. They present a nominal impedance of 26Ω and a sensitivity of 100dB SPL for a 1mW signal at 1kHz. Refreshingly, Focal give a frequency response with tolerances, in this case 5Hz to 22kHz, ±3dB. Distortion is given as 0.3% for a 1kHz signal at 100dB SPL; this is decent, though it would be nice to know what the figure is at 100Hz too.
Focal Points
Although they’re about half the price of the Clear MG Professional, the Lensys Pros are still relatively costly for a pair of closed‑back headphones. You won’t be buying these in sets of five to hand out to musicians on the live‑room floor. So, if you are considering them for studio roles, you’d want them to be good enough to use for tasks that demand critical listening: editing, sound design and mixing, for example. Are they?
There’s a subtle yet noticeable ‘thickness’ to the sound that tends to make other headphones sound ‘scooped’ when you switch away from them.
In my view, yes they are; and, moreover, they have some subjective qualities that you don’t find in too many headphones. The tonal balance is broadly neutral, but inasmuch as it departs from the flat, the most noticeable feature is not the presence boost that is typical of so many closed‑back headphones. Rather, the Lensys Pros slightly bring forward the midrange, with a broad emphasis that is most prominent around 300Hz but apparent right up to 1kHz or so. There’s a subtle yet noticeable ‘thickness’ to the sound that tends to make other headphones sound ‘scooped’ when you switch away from them.
The Lensys Pros are shipped in a good‑quality fitted case.As far as their utility goes, I think this is mostly a good thing, especially for mixing. In fact, I fancied that the Lensys Pro had just a little of the character of my Yamaha NS10s, in that they are brutally revealing of boxiness, honkiness, unwanted resonances and general low‑mid clutter. The flip side of this is that if you mix only on the Lensys Pro, I think you’d need to take care not to clean things up to the point where the mix becomes thin‑sounding on other systems, but I’m sure you’d get used to this fairly quickly. And, of course, the Lensys Pros don’t suffer from the NS10’s bandwidth restrictions at either end. Sibilants, cymbal crashes and other high‑frequency events are represented naturally and smoothly without any hype, which means the Lensys Pros don’t become fatiguing during extended use. Nor are they plagued by the artificial boost in the 100‑150 Hz region that some cheaper cans use to compensate for a lack of true bass.
Although the Lensys Pros are not cheap, then, they do offer a sound character that is relatively unusual. Not having heard the Azurys model with which they clearly share much DNA, I don’t know if this is unique to the Lensys Pro, but it’s a voicing I don’t associate with hi‑fi products, which tend to have a flattering, ‘smile curve’ presentation. And, to my mind, it’s one that is particularly useful for studio tasks. Auditioning a few of my own mixes through the Lensys Pros often had me reaching for the EQ, and the results were usually the better for it!
Summary
By gently emphasising the all‑important midrange, Focal have given the Lensys Pro a valuable USP for mixing applications.
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