Focal Utopia headphones...with Beryllium driver

[kevin gilmore]

if you sds xlr breaks down you ship it to me. With a bottle of scotch.

Dead output caps are a problem, but rare, usually the power supply does evil things.

Can't imagine anyone else stupid enough to touch it.

[purk]

 wish I have that option.  I already miss that amp.

[Wmcmanus]

On 8/31/2016 at 7:16 AM, kevin gilmore said:

if you sds xlr breaks down you ship it to me. With a bottle of scotch.

Dead output caps are a problem, but rare, usually the power supply does evil things.

Can't imagine anyone else stupid enough to touch it.

Thanks, Kevin! I'll definitely keep that in mind. Scotch, I have. Much.

[Dusty Chalk]

On 8/31/2016 at 8:16 AM, kevin gilmore said:

if you sds xlr breaks down you ship it to me. With a bottle of scotch.

I just have one of the old toaster Supra++/SDS--, if it breaks down, can I send it to you as well?  And I presume you want something better than a Glenfiddich 12...AYE KEED, AYE KEED...I mean, I'm not kidding, but I already know that the answer is yes, you'd want something better than Glenfiddich 12...

[TMoney]

I never thought they'd get booted to the curb so quickly, but I have gone ahead and brought in the HD800S to use at work. No need to keep them at home any more when the Utopia is around.

[Wmcmanus]

Fucking Utopia, man! That's another 4 grand ready and ever so anxiously waiting to be flushed down the headphone toilet! Waiting, awaiting, whatever. Fucking Utopia, my ass! This is going to be a hard one to resist.

[MexicanDragon]

2 hours ago, Wmcmanus said:

Fucking Utopia, man! That's another 4 grand ready and ever so anxiously waiting to be flushed down the headphone toilet! Waiting, awaiting, whatever. Fucking Utopia, my ass! This is going to be a hard one to resist.

May as well get a new amp to go with them too, and a new DAC, and a new Bendy Head to display them! (Need my address for the commission check, @Iron_Dreamer?)

**BRENT**

[Wmcmanus]

3 hours ago, MexicanDragon said:

May as well get a new amp to go with them too, and a new DAC, and a new Bendy Head to display them! (Need my address for the commission check, @Iron_Dreamer?)

**BRENT**

Oh, the Bendy Head is the easy part. Got one of those here waiting to be put to use.

[blubliss]

Ok, so these are the real deal. HD800 is probably kicked to the curb. These are very different from the HD800 in all good ways. I read somewhere a guy saying that if you have a tuned HD800 (whatever that means) the Utopia is not necessary.  Total nonsense.  Initial reaction is that  these are playing on another level. The bass seems to be like nothing I've heard before and along with that bass is incredible detail which is tonally incredible. 

Chain is Yggdrasil > L-2 > Utopia

This is the first headphone that I could probably live with alone and I've never really thought that about anything, including R10s, HE90, SR-O, 009, etc.

Maybe that'll wear off, only had them for a few hours but it's doubtful. And they're not even burned in (:

 

[EdipisReks1]

9 minutes ago, blubliss said:

Ok, so these are the real deal. HD800 is probably kicked to the curb.

Considering the price, I find the "probably" to be disappointing. 

[blubliss]

Ok, definitely, by a lot.  Better?

The Elear is crazy good too.

Edited September 18, 2016 by blubliss

[Bjorn]

Got a quick ears-on with both of Focals new front-runners. Really unfair of me to say anything really as the conditions were the worst, stressed and with gear & music I wasn't at all familiar with. The Elear is certainly a lot richer sounding with the Utopia sounding more reserved and refined. Both sounded tonally balanced to me with no obvious annoyances to them. Can't say either one had that "magic" my O2s do though. But need more time with them to say for sure. 

I'm liking Focal's new direction. The Sopra speakers sound pretty sweet as well, velvety smooth and with a nice richness to them. Also, Lamborghini orange! 

[purk]

Please keep the impression coming Andy.  I have been on the fence about the Utopia for a long time and really want one.  

[blubliss]

Meets are a bad place to judge.  I was at a mini meet at a dealers place yesterday and first listened to the Utopia on some Questyle stuff and would not have bought them after that listen. Nothing special.  Then the dealer set me up in a private room where I had my L-2 hooked up to a $15K MSB spinner and some Kimber balanced cable.  I listened to the Utopia, Elear and my HD800s.  There was no contest between the HD800 and the Utopia or the Elear I would say, except with soundstage.  The HD800 just sounded thin.  I said first that the HD800 may get kicked to the curb, not that it was on par.  I like different sounds so may keep them.

After the session I walked away with a Utopia and an Elear (for my friend who was with me and builds my amps). Listening at home confirmed what I heard at the shop.

I had previously bought other phones like LCD-2, HE-6 looking for the missing bass in the top end stuff.  Those had other issues either being veiled or muddy.  The Utopia has all the bass and none of the downsides.

Sorry Al & Wayne, you're gonna need a pair of these (:

[blubliss]

Couple more things.  The Utopia is correctly called by Tyll a "bright" headphone in that it is not veiled like the 007 and if you're gonna listen to ear-piercing music, you may have issues. (Relax birgir, I still like the 007 with the T2). I still ned to switch over to my stax stuff to see how it holds up but I doubt I would let go of the T2 and 009, SR-O, 007 even if I thought the Utopia was better in some ways.

There is a cool trade up program on the Elear, you can trade it in and get $850 towards a Utopia, not sure the time frame and I think it's only going to be through the dealer I used.

On this dealer, The Source A/V in Torrance, CA, you get a 5 year warranty from him, not the same elsewhere.  First four years are a straight replacement and the last is repair.  This made the tax and full price bearable for me.  He mentioned the drivers are floating or something so the warranty is a good idea.

[johnwmclean]

^What I'm also hearing from this is how well the Yggydrasil holds up against $15K MSB.

Edited September 18, 2016 by johnwmclean

[blubliss]

for sure...i'm feeding it with a really clean source too, Sonore Signature Rendu.  No more USB for me for now, seemed to always have issues in my setup.

[Voltron]

4 hours ago, blubliss said:

Sorry Al & Wayne, you're gonna need a pair of these (:

I should get back into listening to headphones enough to justify even what I already own.  Not very likely to drop thousands on another underutilized pair...

[blubliss]

makes sense, if i had speakers i'd never listen to headphones.

[robm321]

49 minutes ago, Voltron said:

I should get back into listening to headphones enough to justify even what I already own.  Not very likely to drop thousands on another underutilized pair...

My situation exactly. 

[Voltron]

48 minutes ago, blubliss said:

makes sense, if i had speakers i'd never listen to headphones.

I should listen to those more too!

[TMoney]

7 hours ago, blubliss said:

 I said first that the HD800 may get kicked to the curb, not that it was on par.  I like different sounds so may keep them.

Glad to hear you liked them as much as I do.

I moved my HD800S to my office and I'm very glad I kept it. The Utopia is the one I'd reach for if they were both together, but having 800S at work and Utopia at home is the best (and most expensive) of both worlds.

Gotta give kudos to Jude for being way out in front of the pack on these. Some may boo and hiss, but I think Jude has become the second most important reviewer in the hobby after only Tyll. Jude's calls lately have been spot on.

[Wmcmanus]

7 hours ago, robm321 said:

My situation exactly. 

Me too. Don't do enough listening to headphones or speakers these days.

[EdipisReks1]

I'm interested in the Elear.  I still need to get my DAC-1 and my HeadRoom Stack fixed (should be sending both out this week), but I was thinking about getting the HD-800S.  I loved the soundstage of the HD-800 (owned them twice), but even modded, the treble and lack of warmth eventually grated on me.  If I could use my Extreme I would, but it picks up radio signals in my apartment (perfect storm of bad locations).  

The Elear is pretty warm, right?  I'd love something that split the difference between my vintage RS-1 and the HD-800, while being better than either.

[mwl168]

I am also interested in how the Elear compares to the Utopia being at 1/4 of the price.