FOCAL Clear Professional

£1,228

Headphones are certainly becoming more important for music production, as more and more people take up this most satisfying of pursuits, only to perhaps find out they don’t always have the ideal setup or space for ‘proper’ monitoring. Manufacturers are willingly stepping up to meet that demand – of course they are – and specs are rising as quickly as that demand is being met. Prices are on the up, too. Previous to this, my most expensive phones experience was just into four figures, but the Clears from Focal weigh in at around £1,290 street, so they will easily cost you as much as a decent set of speakers.

We looked at Focal’s other pair of new headphones, the Listen Professionals, last issue. At around £168 street, they’re obviously more entry-level, but they delivered great results. So, are the