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Focal Spark and Spark Wireless earphone review

The more I review Focal earphones and headphones, the more impressed I become. Yeah, French speaker maker Focal makes outrageously priced products such as their $4,000 Utopia headphone—rated by many reviewers as the best headphone available today. But kudos to Focal for also offering affordable audio for the rest of us. Case in point: The new Focal Spark and Spark Wireless earphones.

Sometimes the only criteria used when people look at earphones is looks, price and whether they are wireless or not. Yet, audio quality is often missing from this equation. That’s both too bad and understandable. Too bad because the sound quality is (sadly) not a priority in today’s emphasis on convenience. Understandable because most of the time, you can’t try out earphones before you buy. You usually have to rely on reviews (such as this one) that can hopefully offer some help in any purchase decision.

The Focal Spark earphones have made this decision a little easier, because the Sparks are attractive, priced right and are offered both wired and wireless. And most importantly (at least to us audio snobs), both the Spark and Spark Wireless sound excellent for the money!

With the exception of wires, both the Spark and Spark Wireless look identical and have the same audio specs. Do they sound the same? Yes, with a small difference—more on that later.

The Spark comes in black, silver/white and (a really bright) cobalt blue. The Spark Wireless is also available in black and silver/white but swaps the blue for a classy rose gold/light gray combination.

Both versions of the Spark earphones use a 9.5 mm mylar dynamic speaker, which gives them a forgiving sound signature. What do I mean by forgiving? Simply put, dynamic speakers aren’t quite as accurate as the more expensive armature speaker earphones, but they can make most lower resolution mp3 music files you have sound fun. Armatures can be accurate to a fault and sound fantastic with high-resolution music files, but can result in lower resolution MP3 files sounding much less fun.

The earphone shells are lightweight aluminum—they weigh practically nothing. This (lack of) weight could make them good for exercising, but since there is no IP waterproof rating available, I would caution against using them during heavy exercise.

Both versions of Spark have an inline remote for volume/play/pause/call buttons. The Spark Wireless also has on/off capability. The wires on both are wide and flat. This can help reduce tangles but won’t eliminate them entirely. Speaking of wires, the Spark Wireless isn’t technically wireless. There is a short wire that connects the left and right earphones. This wire houses that inline volume remote as well as a battery/Bluetooth 4.0 module. This module is centered between the left/right earphones, so it hangs below the back of the neck, out of the way. One quibble with the Spark Wireless is that since the on/off button is a few inches below the left earphone shell, there is a slight off-balance in weight distribution. It’s not a huge deal, but it is noticeable.

The on/off buttons also house the call mic. Call quality is first-rate. No one I spoke with on a call could tell I wasn’t using my iPhone directly.

The Spark Wireless will fully charge in 2 hours for 8 hours of use—not bad at all. There’s a polite voice prompt over the earphones that warn you when the battery is low. It’s a nice reminder and you don’t have to look for any blinking light.

Three ear tips (S/M/L) come with both Spark and Spark Wireless. While not a great selection, it should work for most people—but not me. Even with the largest tip, I wasn’t getting the noise isolation or proper bass response that comes with a good seal. So, I had to use a go-to pair of ear tips I keep on hand because most earphones (not just Focal) I review fall short in ear tip selection. I guess I have weird ears.

Also included with both Spark and Spark Wireless is a nice zippered carrying case. The fit is tight, but the case offers great protection. The Spark Wireless has an additional charging cable and a magnetic clip for securing the battery to a shirt collar for use while moving around. There is no instructions either in the box or online about how to properly use the battery clip. I think I figured it out, though. Note that the charging cable is very short. This can be somewhat awkward for charging, but it does easily fit into the case with the Wireless earphones.

There are two important questions to ask regarding the Spark and Spark Wireless earphones: Do they sound good and does the Spark Wireless sound as good as the wired Spark?

Let’s deal with the Spark first.

When they are first used, they tend to be on the bright (treble) side. I found myself lowering treble on my iPhone equalizer. After a few hours of what’s called “burning in,” the sound opened up and I reset the equalizer to the flat setting—my usual choice.

Once broken in, the Spark has excellent sound across the frequency range. Bass is accurate and can have a potent kick when required. A good example of this is Simple Minds cover of “Bring on the Dancing Horses” from their “Neon Lights” album. The first notes are extremely low bass and the Spark earphones let you feel as well as hear them.

The Sweet’s 70s classic, “Fox On the Run” has a high pitched electronic swirling sound in the song that verges on painful with the Spark earphones—only this is not from distortion, it’s in the song. The Sweet’s recordings have always been a bit on the bright side with weak bass. The Sparks are just being true to the music.

The Knife’s “Silent Shout” is one of my favorite bass testers and the Spark earphones don’t disappoint. There is no distortion at all—even when the volume is turned up to damaging levels. Once again, bass can be felt as well as heard.

Speaking of volume, one noticeable difference between the Spark wired and wireless is the amount of volume. The (wired) Spark earphones can get a bit louder than the wireless version. The only explanation I can think of is that a direct, wired connection is stronger than wireless. However, the difference is only noticeable when both the wired and wireless are compared side-by-side. Both can get plenty loud!

Now, the Spark Wireless.

I listened to the same songs with the Spark Wireless and had trouble telling any difference (except the volume) between the two. The Knife’s “Silent Shout” had the same bass kick as it did on the wired Spark. And The Sweet sounded a bit bright on the Spark Wireless also. Basically, you can take everything I noted about the Spark and apply it to the Spark Wireless. They’re so close, that I can safely say they sound identical. You may have to up the volume button one extra press for an equal match, but that’s all.

The Bluetooth signal on the Spark Wireless held up quite well for appx. 50 feet in my house with its many walls.

Disregarding the fact that the Spark Wireless is more expensive—should you choose wired or wireless? It used to be that wired earphones always sounded better. With the Spark and Spark Wireless, that’s just not true. The only deciding factor left is the convenience of not being tethered to a smartphone vs. having to remember to charge the earphones. Unless a music source doesn’t have Bluetooth, such as an older iPod or other digital music players, I would choose the Spark Wireless hands down. It may be more expensive and require periodic charging, but wireless is the future of audio and now is as good a time as any to step into that future.

The Focal Spark earphones sell for $69 US. The Focal Spark Wireless earphones sell for $99 US.

Source: The samples for this review were provided by Focal. Please visit www.focal.com for more information and keep an eye on Focal’s products on Amazon to order one.

 

Product Information

Price: $69 US – Spark; $99 US – Spark Wireless
Manufacturer: Focal
Retailer: Amazon
Pros:
  • Sound great
  • Both wired and wireless almost identical
  • Comfortable
  • Affordable
  • Well built
  • Attractive
Cons:
  • Uneven weight distribution with inline remote on Spark Wireless
  • No waterproof rating

Filed in categories: Reviews

Tagged:

Focal Spark and Spark Wireless earphone review originally appeared on on July 15, 2017 at 8:55 am.

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Rock Jaw Resonate hybrid earphones review

The Resonate earphones are the third pair I’ve reviewed from the UK based Rock Jaw audio company. For the last few years, Rock Jaw has made quite good, yet inexpensive earphones almost anyone can afford. The Genus and Clarito earphones have veered towards a warmer, more forgiving sound anyone but extreme bass heads could really like. Since Rock Jaw hasn’t yet released what could be termed a bass head earphone, you might think that their newest model would be geared for that market, but you would be wrong—completely wrong.

I can’t think of Rock Jaw without thinking of another Brit earphones maker—RHA. The reason is that both make very affordable and well-made earphones. Lately, however, RHA has begun to move up the price and quality ladder into a less affordable, but much better sounding area with their T10 and T20 models. These dual coil speaker earphones are about as good as it gets but you pay a price for that luxury. Now Rock Jaw seems to be following suit with their take on a dual-speaker hybrid earphone, the Resonate.

The Resonate hybrid earphone is not as expensive as RHA’s T-Series, but Rock Jaw has managed to make a genuine hybrid earphone selling for less than many available today. And that ain’t no small thing.

First, let me explain what a hybrid earphone is. Most earphones fall into two camps: dynamic drivers or armature. Dynamic earphones look like tiny versions of regular cone speakers that you might have in your living room. Dynamic speaker sound quality can range anywhere from okay to quite nice. They are known to generally have more bass, resulting in a warmer sound. They are also (but not always) cheaper to produce.

Armature earphones get their tech from the hearing aid market. Armature speakers use magnetic vibrations to produce sound (this is very simplified) and are quite small taking up much less room inside an earphone. They are also (again, usually) more expensive to produce. Armatures are usually more accurate sounding than dynamic speakers. However, the downside of armatures is the perception of less bass.

A hybrid is—you guessed it—a combination of a dynamic speaker paired with an armature speaker. The goal is to reap the benefits of both technologies and their sound qualities. The reality is that this approach issometimese more successful on paper than in the real world. Rock Jaw’s Resonate earphone is a fairly successful hybrid design. However, those who like their sound with a bit more bass heavy will be disappointed—but that would be their loss.

The Resonate’s shell is all aluminum, which gives the earphone a solid and well-made feel, as well as being light in weight. At the mini plug end, there’s a tension coil that wraps around the cable, giving it an added layer f protection from bending during use. Too few earphones come with this valuable feature. There are seven pairs of tips including flanged and foam for more secure fits. The largest round tips  fit my ears the best, but it’s not perfect. I have weird ears, I guess. The earphones are designed to be worn over and behind the ear. I prefer this method mainly because it prevents microphonics—that rustling or thumping sound when earphones cables rub on clothing or bump on something. There are people who do not like cables behind the ear, so the Resonate can also be worn cable down. I like this choice.

The Resonate earphones are not just a hybrid design, they also have a couple of other tricks. First is a removable cable. Rock Jaw has used a standard micro-miniature coaxial connector (MMCX) which means if something happens to one of the cables, replacements will be easier to get. Smart move. These cables just snap into place and snap apart quite securely. The cables are cloth covered, but tangle easily. It can be frustrating untangling them, but the cables don’t develop bending memory, so that’s a plus.

Secondly, Rock jaw has incorporated their filter system into the Resonate earphones. Filters are no longer unique—many other companies offer them. Filters allow the listener to customize the earphone to have more treble (Emotion—blue filter) which adds detail to music, more bass (Energy—green) for a more rounded, friendly sound and neutral (Fusion—gold) which allows the music to be heard as the artist intended. You might think that everyone would want to hear an album as the artist intended, but no, most people prefer bass above all else. FYI, Rock Jaw also make filters for their Genus earphones, but the color scheme for the Genus does not match the color scheme of the Resonate earphones. This mismatched coloring scheme is as weird as the non-descriptive names they gave the filters.

The Resonate’s three filters work as advertised, but the differences between them is subtle at best. The Genus earphone filter’s differences are greater. This is not surprising, because Rock Jaw’s Resonate earphone is designed for a more sophisticated, audiophile crowd on a budget and audiophiles can supposedly detect audio subtleties—or so they say. My preferred filter surprised me. I usually go for a more balanced, un-colored sound which should be the Fusion (gold) filter. But I much prefer the Energy (green) or bass filter. It’s probably because of the filter’s differences being so subtle, the green filter had just the right amount of bass for my tastes. Again, bass heads will be disappointed, mainly because each filter seems to have an emphasis on treble. It’s not harsh, but it’s most definitely there.

Who won’t be disappointed are people who prefer accuracy over artificial or colored audio. The added bass of the green filter is perfect for higher resolutions recordings and more modern rock, giving it just the kick it needs. I have some hi-res AC/DC recordings with plenty of detail that holds up in the mix. What doesn’t fare so well is classic rock. Classic rock is usually weaker on bass than modern rock so you want that added “oomph”. Sadly, the Resonate earphones fall short here. It’s as if the armatures are given more emphasis than the dynamic speakers.

And there’s the rub. If you have an aversion to treble and like you music to be a kick in the gut, look elsewhere. However, if you prefer accuracy above all else, don’t assume that the Rock Jaw Resonate will disappoint because of their low price. You might get the sound signature you prefer and manage to save a bit in the process.

Source: The sample for this review was provided by Rock Jaw. The Resonate sells for $155.73 US. Please visit www.rockjawaudio.com for more info.

 

Product Information

Price: $155.73 US
Manufacturer: Rock Jaw Audio
Pros:
  • Accurate sound
  • Affordable (for hybrid earphones)
  • Comfortable
  • Stress relief on mini plug
Cons:
  • Not for bass heads
  • Filter names and colors are confusing

Filed in categories: Audio, Video, TV, Reviews

Tagged:

Rock Jaw Resonate hybrid earphones review originally appeared on on April 15, 2017 at 8:38 am.

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