Review: FOCAL Listen & Listen Wireless

The bass is a little above neutral, giving the sound a firm bottom without mucking up the voice.  The impact is very good (I would have expected nothing less after hearing the Elear), and the bass sounds pretty clear.  I love rocking out to Dracula X: Rondo of Blood’s rendition of Bloodlines.  The bass just kills it.  I can’t get enough, and yes, I am THIS hopeless a nerd.

Conclusion (Listen)

All-in-all, I think the Focal Listen puts together a darn good sound package for its price and its intended use.  While I am only slightly on the side of good as far as comfort goes, I was able to get used to it well enough to enjoy 7 episodes of Game of Thrones, 18 episodes of Twin Peaks, and countless sounds and games.  Now, I would normally say, if this sounds like a headphone that would fit the bill for you, you should go for it, but Focal has something else you need to hear first, the Listen Wireless.

Listen Wireless

The Listen Wireless is debuting for $299, which is a solid 50 spot more than the regular Listen.  The obvious addition here is the Bluetooth capabilities, but there are a few other changes with the Wireless.  The design of the headphones is the same, but instead of the chrome plating on the ear cups, it is all plastic.  At first I was swinging the other way, but looking at it now, I think I like the look of this version a bit more.  The all black color scheme is sleeker, and I do like sleek.  That aside, the build feels just as solid as before.

Since this is a headphone that can be used both wired and wireless, they moved the control button and microphone off the cable and put them on the ear cups.  If they had remained on the cable, it would drop the functionality of the wireless version way down.  When using it wired, the wire connects to the left ear cup like before.  All of the buttons are found on the right ear cup.  Play, skip forward and skip back on the front, and volume up or down (when in wireless mode) on back.  I admittedly do prefer the button and mic on the wire, but this still works fine, and it does need to be this way, so this is all good.

The Wireless charges with an included USB micro cable, the port is on the right ear cup as well, and takes around three hours for a complete charge.  They claim up to 20 hours of battery life are available from one charge, and although I have to admit I lost count, I am sure I got at least 15 hours out of it.  I wouldn’t count on this dying in the middle of a trip.

Connecting to wireless devices is easy enough.  Just press and hold the Bluetooth button (also on the right ear cup) for 5 seconds, and then the rest is done on your particular device.  Once it is synced, it will automatically resync to the same device whenever it is available.  I never had any issue with the signal being lost or interrupted.  Somewhat embarrassingly, this is the first time the usefulness of having a wireless connection really made sense to me.  At first I am thinking, “Wow, this is cool.  I can get up, walk to the other room, grab a drink, and not have to worry about cables or lugging my device alone.”  My second thought was, “Wow, how slow am I for just now understanding why this would be appealing?”

Comfort is basically the same as the regular Listen, so passable.

Specs (Listen Wireless)

Type Circumaural closed-back

ear-cup headphones

Bluetooth® wireless technology 4.1

Range > 15m

Battery Up to 20h

Impedance (passive mode) 32Ω

Sensitivity (passive mode) 122dB SPL @ 1kHz – / 1Vrms

THD @ 1kHz / 100dB SPL < 0.4%

Frequency response 15Hz -22kHz

Driver Electrodynamic (137/64“)

Mylar Titanium

Microphones 2 Omnidirectional

(Clear Voice Capture)

Net weight 300g

Sound (Listen Wireless)

The sound quality when using the wired connection is also the same.  The big question is, “how does the wireless connection compare with the wired one?”  The answer to that is… extremely well.  Truth be told, during a quick listen, the differences are pretty much invisible.  Only upon closer examination do the differences become noticeable.  In truth, using the word noticeable might be over selling the differences.  In general, I am hearing the slightest bit more bass on the Bluetooth connection, and the treble is maybe just a hint more brittle.  I am very much on the fence as to whether I am hearing a touch less resolution on the wireless connection, but, overall, the differences are so minor, that for the Listen’s intended use, there really aren’t any.  I greatly enjoyed the headphone no matter what connection I am using.

Conclusion – Both models

So, which version of the Listen do I recommend: the Listen or the Listen Wireless?  Well, as the price difference is only $50, if you will ever use the wireless connection, that is absolutely the way to go.  I was able to get over my issues with comfort, and really enjoy this headphone.  It is definitely worth a “Listen”.  You guys see what I did there?