Focal Listen Pro Studio Headphone Review

The combination of low impedance and high sensitivity means that the Listen Pro is more than suitable even for smartphone headphone outputs. Any decent audio interface will be able to drive them to dangerous SPL’s, so take care with the volume knob. The downside is that high sensitivity will also pick up noise very easily. 32 Ohm load impedance also means that headphone outputs shouldn’t have an output impedance that’s higher than 4 Ohms, or an audible change in the tonality will occur. Check the specs of your interface or amp to see whether it will cause problems.

I’m happy to say that Focal has very much improved upon the older Spirit Pro here. The headband on the Listen Pro uses a flexible plastic that bends without any lasting damage. To aid the headphone’s longevity both the ear pads and cables are replaceable. The only potential failure point would be the ball joint which attaches the earcup to the headband. It’s made out of plastic and might break if too much force is applied. Overall – good job!

Oh my… The W-curve strikes again! Mids are the meat and bones of any mix and the Focal Listen Pro has a +8 dB boost there, thus losing any “pro” credibility here. We could stop here and be done with it, but let’s dive deeper – for educational purposes. The lows also are boosted which will mess with getting kicks and some lower basslines right. Upper mids are scooped, probably to save the listener from that nasty 3 kHz. However that is also where distortion effects happen, so one can forget about getting the right amount of crunch in a mix. Highs are boosted, which gives a false sense of extra detail due to overemphasized overtones. Good luck working on these headphones… because only getting lucky will let you do a right sounding mix.

Not terrible, but not great either. Bass has the most imbalance, which can probably be explained by the single entry cable construction. The cable inlet takes up extra space in the left earcup which makes it less capable in low end. There is a slight imbalance throughout the rest of the spectrum, but it’s only bad when you look at the price of the Listen Pro. There’s a good chance that it won’t lead one’s mixing decision astray.

Again – Focal has done a commendable job here. The Listen Pro doesn’t clamp too hard to be uncomfortable and ear pads are plush with soft memory foam, so no pressure points appear over time. Interestingly enough, the ear pads are on the small side for an over-ear headphone, but that seems to aid with positioning – there’s not much wiggle room, so consistency isn’t bad. People with larger than average ears should try these headphones out, before buying, as for them the Listen Pro might be more on- than over-ear.

The fatal flaw of the Focal Listen Pro is its W-shaped frequency response. There are headphones like the Beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro, Audio-Technica ATH-M50x and Sennheiser HD25-II which all do a better job sound-wise for a lower price. If Focal can fix the tonal response of their headphones, then they might have a real winner on their hands, because the comfort and overall package is very good. When paired with SoundID Reference though, these are among the very best closed-back headphones!