French company presents ‘speaker-like’ high-end headsets

Focal, a French audio company, entered the headphone-making terrain in 2012 with its first product, the Spirit One. On Friday, the company reached tech “utopia” when it presented its flagship headphone, Utopia, together with two other headphone series, Elear and Listen.

Focal aspires to market Utopia, Elear and Listen as the “most spacious and comfortable headphones on the market,” according to reports from tech news sites The Verge and TechRadar.

Elear. SCREENGRAB from Focal’s website

Listen. SCREENGRAB from Focal’s website

It may be the “hottest” and most advanced headphones today, but Utopia’s price tag could scare off customers: $3,999 (P187,600). Elear costs $999 (P46, 800) while Listen is the most budget-friendly among the vibrant trio, retailing at $249 (P11,600).

Utopia’s price was based on the headphone’s “pricey” raw material called Beryllium, which contributes to the prototype’s rigidity and feather-like weight. Beryllium is said to be 30 times more expensive than gold.

Besides Beryllium, carbon fiber is also used for the headphone forks, while the ear pads are made from lambskin.

Focal will be releasing all three headset models in the coming months. Elear and Utopia will be out in the market on June 29 while Listen will be available starting July 15.  Gianna Francesca Catolico