I'm sure most of you guys heard of Focal Speakers but not sure anyone heard their Focal Bird 2.1 Series. They are remarkably among the best for Multimedia Speakers with iPod Connectivity, but of course at a cost:P




Lots of good reviews:
http://hometheaterreview.com/focal-bird-21-system-reviewed/
http://www.avguide.com/review/focal-bird-c...tem-playback-48

This post has been edited by D_Y2k.4^: Apr 4 2012, 06:30 PM

Personally own one of this not only because of its looks but mainly the sound it produces. It represents an astonishingly capable and refined all in one box that is close enough to satisfy most hi-fi enthusiasts.

Installation is a breeze, it only took me 15 minutes to fix up, connecting the speaker cables from the satellites to the power bird (amp & dac) and connecting the power cable.

The best feature of the Focal Bird 2.1 would have to be its wireless playback capability with the Focal iTransmitter. This feature would be ideal for those who would like to use their iPhone or iPad around their rooms without the need to
sit their device on a dock. All I need to do is connecting the iTransmitter to my device and it will automatically transmit to the Power Bird in wireless mode with no compression or loss to sound quality.

Sound it produces is smooth and rich, giving a very natural sounding nature without being overly bright. Sound stage is large and I must say, these little bird satellites are capable to push towards my ears despite sitting around 8 meters away. Playing Filippa Giordano' Bizet: Carmen was really enjoyable with the vocal being "voiced out" rather than shrieking, drums were deep and responsive thanks to its flat subwoofer (6.5" driver). Violin and other instruments sounds rather well separated as they sounded rather wide and clear without intruding the vocal's centre imaging.

Next I tested with my favourite, Livingston Taylor's Isn't She Lovely. Vocals are deep and rich, giving me the sense of involvement. Again, the Bird Satellites shines with the capability to manage seperation well. Guitar notes are well produced with exceptional clarity.

Despite having a high price, I would highly recommend this product as I would say this is among the best hassle free multimedia speakers money can buy. Do share your thought to those who owns it or have experienced it

*Setup:
Room Size 15 x 24 meter bedroom
iPad 2 32gb (Golden Sound application with FLAC files through Focal iTransmitter)



This post has been edited by D_Y2k.4^: Apr 3 2012, 06:42 PM

The name Focal or JM Labs already give my wallet the shudders mang... lulz

more pictures please

Will be coming soon

damn nice sq this

6.5" woofer.... interesting...

downfiring woofer?

how well does it sound?

As promised guys, here are more photos:)

The Power bird (Amp,DAC & Sub:Amplifier 2 x 35W + 80W, 2 digital inputs / 3 analog inputs with Autopower, 6-1/2" paper cone woofer with frequency response 42Hz – 120Hz








The level just slightly above 12 o'clock is more than enough to rock my room


The iTransmitter (Allows to play wirelessly up to 10 meters):

Despite having a small driver, I would say it is capable to go low enough for most music with 42hz being the lowest frequency it can go. However though, it would not be heavy enough for those disco loving bass heads.

well if placed correctly I bet it'll still sound huge

nice review, the system is bigger than i though, can get a pic of overall setup?

Is the oval shape in front of the amp the sub? cos i dun see any other thing which looks like a sub.

Considering its a 2.1 with built in dac and amp, not bad for those who are not keep to go and built their system with separate components.

Which country is it made in?

This post has been edited by dlyz: Apr 4 2012, 12:49 PM

Thanks for the comments guys. Will upload the images next week as I'm in outstation business trip. Note that the images I uploaded earlier is not the exact setup area that I've tested on. I will give the system a more thorough test later on. Will try to hook it up with my Wadia 171i transport and give it a comparison to the iTransmitter:)

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Added on April 4, 2012, 3:44 pmYeap. The sound stage does blend in well together with a huge staging. Bass is deep, musical and involving despite being limited to a flat sub. It does sound better compared to certain 8" subs.

I will rephrase my earlier sentence, what i meant was, the subwoofer is capable enough but do not expect it to be sofa shaking. So far I find the best placement for these speakers would be 8 feet apart with the subwoofer being placed on ground with a sitting distance of around 12 feet away.

I will be arranging a ceiling mount for a client soon

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Added on April 4, 2012, 8:09 pmThe front oval shape is actually the bass port while the driver is below (I'll upload more pics). The unit is made in China and not France.


This post has been edited by D_Y2k.4^: Apr 4 2012, 08:09 PM

As promised! Here's the driver below:



Recently tested with my Wadia 171i:

Will give a side by side comparison with a Monitor Audio RX1 soon

went to Focals' booth during the PC fair, nice guys over there. Tested the Spirit One, but can't really do the justice, Bass from Editifier speakers are filling the whole room.

This post has been edited by Iqbal_kakashi: Apr 16 2012, 11:42 PM

wonder why they put the sub in there, some ppl in hifi go to great lengths and costs to isolate their gear from vibration

This post has been edited by dlyz: Apr 17 2012, 04:28 PM

I was pretty doubtful on the Bird's performance initially with this audio architecture approach. I think there are hardly any manufacturers that combines their DAC and amp into a sub.

well I know my Edifier S530D has a DAC and amp in it's subwoofer

Edifier vs Focal!

haha... one day I'll test the bird to hear how it sounds

and to give comparison via memory (cannot side by side unless someone bring their rig to my house XD)

was about to go there... but the shop owner was busy rushing to another branch... oh well...


-offtopic-
dayum... I wonder when will that shop bring in the replacement pads for my Alessandro MS-1i

Focal cms 40 or 50 available here or not ? In China a lot of people using

them......

It is rather unfortunate that we cant get the CMS series in Malaysia nor Singapore. I've tested CMS 50 the last time I was in Guangzhou.

Sounds generally better compared to Audioengine A5+ but It emphasises more on the highs which may not be everyones liking.

Tested the Focal Mini Bird at "music by design'

if you are gonna compare Edifier S530D with Focal Mini Bird... lol...

The Edifier lose in all aspects except in volume... like srsly lol omg...


THE BIRD IS AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
THE SUBWOOFER SOUNDS LARGER THAN THE WAY IT LOOKS!!!


I heard someone here said that it sucks for clubbing music? I don't remember.
But I know that the subwoofer is ridiculously powerful... my jaws drop every single drop of bass XD

moving on to clarity,... oh em gee...
while I was playing 'There' by Taishi (Progressive trance remix), the bright piano lines shines loudly...
the way the hammer hits the string is bright,strong and clean.

The trebles though very sharp,bright and strong, it doesn't sound fatiguing.

furthermore, the mids are strong and forward. but it depends on the recording.

soundstage is amazing toooo.... oh my...
when the av consultant showed me the demo on what optimum speaker placement tuning is... it's amazing. I get to hear the stage as if singer in middle, drummer on left, lead on mid left... oh you know what I mean

seriously... the bird puts shame to my Edifier S530D in all aspects even on the deep sub bass frequencies.
by playing 'Beats for my Van' by DJ Billy E

the drop of bass on my edifier is muddy but loud.
however on the focal bird 6.5" subwoofer, you get to feel the subbass rumble on your lungs, much powerful compared to the huge 8" subwoofer of my S530D

ok I think I'm weeping painfully now with my poor Edifier...


I tested both speakers via analog because I do not have the optical cable with me... however, I can bet that the focal will do better in this aspect too

but looking at the price range of the cheapest bird and the S530D

The bird costs RM3k+ while the S530D costs just RM800 which leads to a very unfair comparison in my opinion.

Bro, the Bird 2.1 cost RM 4,599, which is 5.5 X of S530D...


You are comparing Audi A4 with Myvi!! :S

Conclusion: The Audi A4 is amazing!! :S (everyone know~)

haha I know XD
somebody requested me to compare my S530D with the focal bird lol
you know who you are...

but dayum... I love the tightness of the subwoofer tho, real deep without bottoming out

Edifier cant fight with this burung la...

no shit that's true XD

I think because of this burung is 2.1 speaker most people will bring it to compare to a typical PC speaker.

This post has been edited by Cosef: Apr 25 2012, 06:54 PM

but this one nice le... if wanna compare, Aego M is the best comparison...
Aego M will still lose kaw kaw especially the trebles... super clean trebles mann........

Aego M still not in the league eh...
Need an active speakers that around the price range of that burung.

I see you got poisoned badly

damn poisoned... everyday after college took a visit to listen to some tunes XD
and I tot trance would be poor sounding with these... no way, this made the ecstasy music more lively and drugged me badly

This post has been edited by power911: Apr 25 2012, 09:56 PM

Just did another setup for a very happy owner

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Added on July 28, 2012, 11:51 ampppsssttt....power911, when will the poison spread all over you

This post has been edited by D_Y2k.4^: Jul 28 2012, 11:51 AM

poison stopped... I think it needs money to enhance the power of the poison LOL

best for movie?

I would say it is a pretty balanced sound system, meaning good for movies and music But personally I prefer it on the musical side

Wow, @.@" can consider hi-fi already... studio clarity? Sub-woofer aside.
How comparable against other 2.1 "computer" speaker?
Creative Gigaworks T3 (some years ago)
Logitech 2.1 THX Z623
Antec Soundscience Rockus 3D 2.1
Corsair SP2200
Creative Zii Sound T6
Sony SRS DB500
Teufel Concept D500 THX

Well, just found some list on the web... gehehe... anyone got any of these for comparison?
I think some might own the Corsair and the Logitech.
And just Note: Those speakers all under 1k, except the Creative T6 & Teufei Concept D500.

studio clarity wise yes... it's better than the m-audio bx5a in my college
but studio sound then no... it has a very good color in the sound

comparable to other 2.1?

I think Aego M is the only one that can compare cuz it sounded quite similar to it... just with lack of clean trebles only.

Creative T3 and T6 is like overbloated bass if compared with this lol
and the mids for creative is not as creamy as the bird

Ho ho, it makes those Creative sounds like a child play toy, and I look up the Aego M.. almost Hi-Fi ady.. cool~
And yeah, this is 2.1 for entertainment so... can't compare the sound factor with studio one hehe, but darn if it has those clarity then that price is definitely there, just too much for commoner like me, hahaha

and that's why I'm suffering right now

This post has been edited by power911: Jul 29 2012, 10:49 PM

Well as Power911 mentioned. Aego M is undoubtedly the closest in term of sound quality, but of course with much more depth, larger sounding and oooommppphhh

Btw, check out my next review on Focal Spirit One Headphones!

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Added on August 22, 2012, 2:21 amｔｈｅ　ｕｎｉｔ　ｈｏｌｅ　ｐｕｍｐ　ａｉｒ　ｌｉｋｅ　ｉｔ　ｗｉｔｈ　ｂｕｉｄ－ｉｎ　ｆａｎ／ｂｌｏｗｅｒ　ｕｎｉｔ
the sub driver so powerful can pump so many air.
Last time I like sony, now focal

fuufuufuuu....　
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=432...&type=1&theater
THE ISC setup

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Added on August 22, 2012, 2:52 am bose,onkyo, jamo leh?

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Added on August 22, 2012, 3:01 amhttp://www.final-audio-design-e.com/products/sus-horn-speaker-opus-204/

ini memang gila

This post has been edited by wkkm007: Aug 22 2012, 03:01 AM

id take creative t3 over aego m anyday, anytime

I heard many people saying aego m is doing better than ssIII and t3 in term of mid and highs.
what is the advantage t3 provide that caught u bro?

mids, and good bass

while some consider it overbloated, id consider the aego m having no bass at all, lol.

LOL~
what about ssIII vs creative t3?

ssIII would be...?

sound stick III sorry bro~
lazy to type long long

no experience on that so cant comment

T3 fails to impress me and it's overpriced. Do you use any soundcard or DAC?
My Aego M now is set at Bass level 1 and sometimes feel like it's more than enough..

auditioned it at creative center singapore, using pmp > aux in direct (so basically DAC at the internal amp).

i dont own the t3 as i have the gigaworks g500, maybe that is an option in the future. i have however auditioned and even have friends that own the aego m personally, and i just cant deal with the lack of bass

now, considering im decently familiar with focal in the ICE scene, i wonder where can we audition this
IINM machines klcc has it? but with such noisy environment, lol forget it. somemore paiseh to get them to move to the private room as im not buying >.>

Your friend needs a good DAC.
Focal has very nice design.

it's more towards preference.

no bass is still no bass. having that artificial "bass level 3 boost" is just... bad. lol. (at most i can tolerate is lvl2, 1 is ideal, 0 is the absolute definition of no bass lol)

If you know what is DAC, it gives you cleaner sound signal which includes bass (it can be significant).
For music listening, level 1 is good. Movie then level 2. Never need it at level 3. I must say this is personal preference.
Perhaps other system is producing too much bass. I like bass but I like nice solid bass.

my personal opinion regarding aego m's bass performance, it very depend on how you placed it; i placed it around 18cm~25cm apart with wall

myself found it level 1 is ok for most song (what i feel is blend well, and bass did not overwhelmed), level 2 maybe ok for movie and some song that require stronger power, but it did not go deep, probably just 45~55hz, and it is kind of slow bass.

for my music preference, i found aego m do quite a decent job to me, except it lack of lower mid to me, vocal thin.

anyway wonder how focal xs 2.1 compared to focal little bird...

yeah i know what is a digital-to-analog converter is
i have a pretty *decent* audio setup after all

i'll just put it very simply of this:
the aego m subwoofer is puny. and size does matter in pushing volumes of air which indirectly is how much frequencies can be moved, aka how much bass depth/quantity you can have. quality on the other hand is another different matter.

personally, i'd like to have both. quality without amount is just not enough. and i believe T3 is simply an aego m (i believe the clarity is very on par with the aego m. granted, the highs/trebles of the aego m is very clearly superior than the t3 no doubt) with bass. and bass is something that creative speakers aren't bad over the years. comparatively, you can look a logitech speakers, they have WAY more bass amount than creative. however they just lack the control/tightness that creative can have (which in other words, quantity without quality, which i don't want either)

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Added on August 23, 2012, 10:37 amthanks, you kinda convey it better on what i am trying to point

to TS:
do you have any unit/location where we can audition this? preferable in a suitable environment as well

This post has been edited by Quazacolt: Aug 23 2012, 10:37 AM

there's no like button in lyn.. lol
pretty much agree with u. my old version aego M at level 1 bass can shake the room door until it's vibrating and producing noise.

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Added on August 23, 2012, 1:29 pmaego m woofer has front firing bass driver and back firing passive driver, so it is kinda tricky to get the position done without actually cancelling it's own bass.
as long as u can nail the correct position for it, i don't see any trouble for it to produce enough mid bass.
of course, don't expect that you can simply put it over the corner and expect it to sounds right, as the woofer itself using passive radiator might have slow down the sound and u might getting trouble into coupling it over to satelite sound.
but if you set it right in middle of listening position, most of the user out there found it is producing "good" bass.

to me a good pair of speaker at least should have overall tonal balance. i had tried T3 out there, despite a lot claim that it is comparable to Aego M. but the mid quality is Super dry and sibilance. that it make me not even can withstand to hear a few song over it. i feel it kinds scratch my ear. i guess that's what about people saying about "what ever floats your boat" . and "personal preference thingy kicks in"


This post has been edited by PcWork: Aug 23 2012, 01:33 PM

Beautiful product.

Comparison coming soon?

Is this good use as living hall tv speaker?
To.watch drama, local broadcasts sometimes movie

Reviving an old thread, but anyone knows if there's an updated version coming out soon ?

And if not, who still has stock at a good price ?

How this speaker compare with audioengine a5+?

Just setup one for my computer... was using Edifier S4.1 (using only 2.1 tho)
Now I realized most of my mp3 are junk.
Have to go search for some good source or record from cd again...

This post has been edited by yushin: Jun 15 2015, 10:28 PM

did you get your set from M'sia ? trying to source a seller.

Got it from warehouse sale lol. Its a used/demo unit tho.