Description
Focal Listen Professional
LISTEN TO YOUR MUSIC, NOT TO YOUR HEADPHONES
Focal – Listen Professional Professional Studio Headphones
Listen Professional has been designed to meet the demands of sound engineers and music producers. Listen Professional circum-aural closed back headphones are the fruit of this research, and are an essential tool for giving sound engineers total control over their work, whether in the studio or on a business trip. Besides their undisputable acoustic performance, they also provide maximum comfort.
Focal’s numerous exclusive patents and technologies are proof of the extreme attention the French manufacturer pays to designing its speaker drivers. The transducer in Listen Professional headphones proves this even more. They have been given a newly developed cone. The goal was to provide a solution which respects the dynamics of the original signal, while reproducing the details of the recording with precision, whether in the low end or the high end. Although these are closed-back headphones, Focal wanted them to sound lively, and offer an experience similar to that with semi-open-back headphones, with the additional benefit of the isolation provided by closed-back designs.
Design
FOR A FREQUENT AND INTENSIVE USE
Listen Professional is also equipped with a headband boasting a unique design to ensure comfort and durability. Its curve remains consistent, regardless of the shape or size of the user’s head. Combined with the layer of silicone underneath the headband, this ensures that the weight is spread out evenly over the head, preventing the user from feeling any pressure in certain areas, which can be very uncomfortable during long working sessions.
The horizontal and vertical rotation of the ear cups operate thanks to one single part: a joint integrated into each one. The ear cups also feature a black structured covering, making them resistant to impacts and scratching.
Listen Professional gives a nod to the brand’s monitoring loudspeakers when it comes to tonal balance and its colour code.
Acoustic
FOCAL’S CORE EXPERTISE
The speaker driver has been given a 100% Mylar suspension, whereas the central dome is composed of a Mylar-titanium alloy to provide more rigidity and extended frequency response in the upper end of the spectrum. Thus, the moving part is light, enabling the transducer to exceed 40kHz on a flat baffle.
The reproduction of the bass and sub-bass registers also received a great deal of attention. The lowest possible tuning frequency is combined to an extremely low distortion (0.3% at 1kHz – 100dB).
Isolation
EAR CUSHIONS : THE IDEAL ACOUSTICS
The size of the ear cushions (height, width and depth) gives them a volume which makes it possible to achieve very balanced acoustics.
Focal had recourse to two materials. Microfiber provides a more linear bass register and favours acoustic output, whereas the acoustic tissue, which is closer to the speaker driver, offers great absorption and linearity in the 3-9 kHz register. The bass and also the lower mid-range registers benefit from remarkable tonal balance and excellent articulation.
Focal had recourse to two materials. Microfiber provides a more linear bass register and favours acoustic output, whereas the acoustic tissue, which is closer to the speaker driver, offers great absorption and linearity in the 3-9 kHz register. The bass and also the lower mid-range registers benefit from remarkable tonal balance and excellent articulation.
Key points
• Exclusive cone technology offering acoustic transparency and excellent dynamics
• Precision and neutrality
• Total control over the audio spectrum
• Excellent isolation
• Compact, rigid carrying case
• Optimal comfort
