The Focal Clear MG Professional is 55Ω at 104.0 dB/mW; the Focal Elear is 80Ω at 104.0 dB/mW. This page covers what they ask of an amplifier, not how they sound.
In amplifier terms these two are the same headphone. The gap between what they need for 100 dB is under half a decibel, which is smaller than the step between two clicks of most volume controls.
| Specification | Clear MG Professional | Elear |
|---|---|---|
| Impedance | 55 Ω | 80 Ω |
| Sensitivity | 104.0 dB/mW | 104.0 dB/mW |
| Sensitivity (voltage) | 116.6 dB/V | 115.0 dB/V |
| Power for 100 dB | 0.40 mW | 0.40 mW |
| Voltage for 100 dB | 0.15 V | 0.18 V |
| Current for 100 dB | 2.7 mA | 2.2 mA |
| Highest source impedance that leaves them alone (one-eighth rule) | 6.88 Ω | 10.00 Ω |
| Sources that reach 100 dB out of 280 | 280 | 280 |
Every source in the database that drives one of them drives the other. On power, the choice between these two changes nothing about what amplifier you need.
9 sources are low enough in output impedance for the Elear under the one-eighth rule but not for the Clear MG Professional (Zoom AMS-22, Arturia MiniFuse 2, Arturia MiniFuse 1, 6 more).
280 of the 280 sources here reach 100 dB on both.
The Elear is more demanding than 53% of the 567 non-electrostatic models in this database; the Clear MG Professional than 46%.
| dB SPL | Clear MG Professional power | Clear MG Professional voltage | Elear power | Elear voltage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 80 | 4.0 µW | 15 mV | 4.0 µW | 18 mV |
| 85 | 0.01 mW | 26 mV | 0.01 mW | 32 mV |
| 90 | 0.04 mW | 47 mV | 0.04 mW | 56 mV |
| 95 | 0.13 mW | 83 mV | 0.13 mW | 0.10 V |
| 100 | 0.40 mW | 0.15 V | 0.40 mW | 0.18 V |
| 105 | 1.3 mW | 0.26 V | 1.3 mW | 0.32 V |
| Source | Price | Headroom, Clear MG Professional | Headroom, Elear | Output impedance | Noise |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JadeAudio JA11 | $20 | 16.4 dB | 14.8 dB | 0.5 Ω | 1.7 µV |
| FiiO KA11 | $29 | 24.7 dB | 23.1 dB | 0.7 Ω | 1.7 µV |
| FiiO BTR11 | $36 | 16.4 dB | 14.7 dB | 0.5 Ω | 8.0 µV |
Of the 280 sources here, 280 reach 100 dB on both. 69 of them also publish an output impedance low enough for both under the one-eighth rule and a noise figure that stays below the audible-hiss threshold with both.
The cheapest of the 69 is the JadeAudio JA11, at $20. It leaves 16.4 dB of headroom on the Clear MG Professional and 14.8 dB on the Elear, its output impedance is 0.5 Ω against a one-eighth limit of 6.88 Ω and 10.00 Ω, and its noise figure puts the hiss floor 19 dB and 20 dB below the 20 dB SPL this site treats as the point where a quiet room stops hiding it.
| Model | As printed | Tolerance | Standard |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clear MG Professional | 5 Hz – 23 kHz | ±3 dB | not printed |
| Elear | 5Hz – 23kHz | not printed | not printed |
Focal prints 5 Hz – 23 kHz for the Clear MG Professional and 5Hz – 23kHz for the Elear.
Clear MG Professional: Focal puts the tolerance in the row heading rather than beside the numbers: the label itself reads "Frequency response (+/- 3dB)".
Only one of the two is a specification. The range printed for the Clear MG Professional comes with a tolerance; the one printed for the Elear does not, and a range without a ±dB figure says nothing about how loud that model is at either end of it. The two cannot be compared number against number, however similar they look in the table. Of the 490 models whose maker prints a range, 58 print the tolerance.
Not a measurement; maker by maker.
Both have a page of their own. In full: Focal Clear MG Professional and Focal Elear. Every figure on this page comes from what Focal published, or is derived from it — what that maker publishes, counted.