Recording - November 2013 - 44

BY LORENZ RYCHNER

coiled, the other is straight and has an inline remote control that—to quote the booklet and the website—”enables you to use
your headphones in hands-free mode with
your telephone or other devices equipped
with remote-control functions compatible
with this remote control”. Not being in possession of such a device, I can’t report on
usage—if you have such a device then I
trust you’ll know how this works.
The headphone is a closed-back circumaural design, not as wide a circle as some
I’ve seen—the inner diameter of the cushion measures just under two inches.
Padding is extensive and comfortable, also
on the top inside of the headband. There is
plenty of scope for extending the band on
either side. The tension is rather rigid.
Specs
At 32 Ohms these phones yield plenty
of sound without the amp needing to be
at 11. Sensitivity is listed at 102 dB SPL /
1 mW @ 1 kHz—surely more than your
audiologist sanctions if you want to preserve your hearing. Frequency response
This reference headphone for the studio is a
first from the company that
so far has offered headphones
for on-the-go listening only.

Focal Spirit
Professional Headphones

A company known for monitors takes on the studio headphone world
Focal has been making high-end audio
gear for many years, from mid-priced to
higher-than-high-end equipment for the discerning hi-fi buff. About a year ago this
reviewer stood in a studio in Montreal,
being dwarfed by a pair of Focal Utopia III
towers; you have to see them to believe
them (www.focal.com/en/10-utopia-iii).
And hope that one day you will also get to
hear them, in a well-treated room and powered by the appropriate preamps and
power amps—I will not soon forget that
aural epiphany! Now if you have to ask
“How much?” then they are not for you. You
can get a nice house in the suburbs for that
kind of money, so don’t hold your breath.
Other Focal product lines cater to the
home-cinema and car-audio markets,
rounded out by multimedia and wireless
technology products and custom and public address systems.
But as our readers know, Focal has a
strong history of monitors for the recording
studio as well, from the beryllium-tweeter
Solo 6 Be and Twin 6 Be to the CMS line—
44

RECORDING November 2013

three models of two-way cabinets with 4",
5" and 6.5" woofers plus a matching sub—
and the SM line—two kinds of cabs, a twoway with 6.5" woofer and a three-way with
two 6.5" woofers plus a matching sub, and
the SM9, a hybrid two-way/three-way combination in a box.
Now comes a headphone designed for
sound engineers and musicians, a product that promises to benefit from the years
of Focal design experience. Time to open
the box and check out the Spirit
Professional.
Presentation
A black box slides out of a white glossy
wrap with a product photo in front and all
specs on the back—sure to draw the attention of any potential buyer in a retail location. The box is foam-lined with a cutout for
the headphone, and the following acessories are included: Two detachable cords,
a screw-on converter piece (from mini
3.5mm to 1/4" plug), a product booklet,
and a cloth baggie. One of the cords is

is stated as 5 Hz–22 kHz, with no curve
given, so the optimists are on the winning
team. Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) is
given as <0.3 % / 1 kHz / 100 dB SPL.
Specs in headphones are notoriously
hard to measure, so the ears will have to
have it. Which brings us to our listening
tests...
Sound
This is what matters more than any
specs on paper, and the news is good.
I’m not sure if my review unit had been
“burned in” (it came in a pristine, previously unopened box), but the sound didn’t change by much from my initial quick
listen to the next session, after a day of
banishing them into a closet with continuous music being pumped into them. With
that much time gone by, I couldn’t tell one
way or another, so maybe they don’t
need this initializing procedure after all?
The latest BBC Music Magazine had
just arrived, and the cover CD was Verdi’s
Requiem (BBC Symphony Orchestra)—

http://www.focal.com/en/10-utopia-iii

Recording - November 2013

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