skullguise Posted December 6, 2016 Report Share Posted December 6, 2016 (edited) I picked up the Utopia recently, echo John's comments regarding sound. This weekend I was at a local dealer's, they had the Elear and Utopia out for listen. Indeed, not exactly the same sound signatures. Elear is still quite good at $1k, but Utopia is definitely more refined, better highs, more balanced overall, and more transparent. The bass on the Elear seemed fuller, but the Utopia is MAYBE as deep but definitely a bit more controlled IMO. EDIT: BTW, driven by an Arcam CD player, so source wasn't up to snuff. Told them they should put in a new source or set up a good DAC. So my observations could even be understated..... Edited December 6, 2016 by skullguise 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dusty Chalk Posted December 6, 2016 Report Share Posted December 6, 2016 "..and amp...", neh? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skullguise Posted December 6, 2016 Report Share Posted December 6, 2016 We don't need no steenkin' amps! Yes, of course. They did have a decent Unison amp to drive them, plenty of power and sounded good, given the source weakness..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dusty Chalk Posted December 6, 2016 Report Share Posted December 6, 2016 Arcams aren't that bad, are they? The old FMJ...whatever...I forget the nomenclature, was in at least one British magazine's "best of sources" list. But this was a good 10 years back, so what do I know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hopstretch Posted December 6, 2016 Report Share Posted December 6, 2016 To use a Britishism, they're "bang average". 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nopants Posted December 6, 2016 Report Share Posted December 6, 2016 thanks for the input, I wanted to bring up the elear but it wasn't worth making a new thread. I'll have to check the utopia out at some point after I get my dynamic setup going again 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bjorn Posted December 7, 2016 Report Share Posted December 7, 2016 23 hours ago, skullguise said: I picked up the Utopia recently, echo John's comments regarding sound. This weekend I was at a local dealer's, they had the Elear and Utopia out for listen. Indeed, not exactly the same sound signatures. Elear is still quite good at $1k, but Utopia is definitely more refined, better highs, more balanced overall, and more transparent. The bass on the Elear seemed fuller, but the Utopia is MAYBE as deep but definitely a bit more controlled IMO. EDIT: BTW, driven by an Arcam CD player, so source wasn't up to snuff. Told them they should put in a new source or set up a good DAC. So my observations could even be understated..... Yep. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NotoriousBIG_PJ Posted December 26, 2016 Report Share Posted December 26, 2016 I've been listening with the utopias a couple hours every night since I got them. I love that I can throw all kinds of recordings at them and they are always very listenable. They are my favorite headphone. Biggie. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swt61 Posted December 26, 2016 Report Share Posted December 26, 2016 And how might they look on a certain Egyptian themed headphone stand? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarlSeibert Posted December 28, 2016 Report Share Posted December 28, 2016 The Utopias visited at my house last week, in the company of my friend Jim. Pretty darned impressive. The speed and finesse of an electrostatic with the guts of a dynamic and all that cliche stuff. Wonderful top end. As in actually for real, not just prominent. Very fine resolution across the band. And super tight, tuneful bass. Somebody here (JP?) described them as "clean". That's pretty apt. They're fast,fast, fast. It's all the music and none of the noise. Sense of space was palpable in a way that I've not heard before, certainly on dynamics. In comparison to other headphones we had on hand, (HE-500s, HD-800Ses, LCD-3s) they were just "better". Of course, they cost twice as much as the next priciest unit. All were driven by my relatively modest Woo from either a Neko D-100MKII or vinyl. We didn't have a solid state amp on hand to try. All that said, there were a couple pieces of music that sounded more "whole" for me on the LCD-3s. Mind you, I doubt anybody would listen to those two phones for two minutes and fail to judge the Utopias better overall. Ditto for the other sets we had at hand. (But it does beg the question: what do the LCD-4s sound like?) So maybe we're not yet talking about the absolute bestest thing ever for all time past and future.. There's always a new world to conquer. If I was really in danger of writing that check, I'd want to listen to the Utopias for a pretty good long time to be sure they were the right musical fit for me, before putting pen to financial instrument. I listened to them for about five hours on one day. Which, now that I think about it, is something of an endorsement for non-fatiguing listenability. They were comfy, too. Maybe the comfiest I've felt. But I'm not really the princess with the pea as far as headphone comfort goes. Most of 'em seem to feel fine on my head. The Elears are very nice, but not in the same league, really. It's not that they're 80% of the Utopias. They're a different sort of thing altogether. A sample of the Woo WA 8 sort-of-portable DAC/amp was traveling with the headphones. It didn't suck, either. I thought it was curious that they would put it in the box. I mean who is going to drive $4K headphones with a portable? But it drove both the Focals really nicely. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wink Posted December 29, 2016 Report Share Posted December 29, 2016 Now, imagine if you had a GSX Mk.II or Dynahi on hand.....! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tin ear Posted December 29, 2016 Report Share Posted December 29, 2016 no need to go overboard with the amp when the utopia is so efficient Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mypasswordis Posted December 29, 2016 Report Share Posted December 29, 2016 Very powerful username to post correlation huehuehue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wink Posted December 29, 2016 Report Share Posted December 29, 2016 4 hours ago, tin ear said: no need to go overboard with the amp when the utopia is so efficient It's not only the power that matters, but also the quality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swt61 Posted December 29, 2016 Report Share Posted December 29, 2016 And obviously length and girth. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spychedelic Whale Posted December 29, 2016 Report Share Posted December 29, 2016 So how would you describe the Elears sound ? the 1k mark for a hf could make it a excusable purchase. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dusty Chalk Posted December 29, 2016 Report Share Posted December 29, 2016 I think the Koss 950s are considered the "excusable purchase". 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tin ear Posted December 30, 2016 Report Share Posted December 30, 2016 17 hours ago, wink said: It's not only the power that matters, but also the quality. audiophile myth #(insert figure here) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wink Posted December 30, 2016 Report Share Posted December 30, 2016 (edited) 1 hour ago, tin ear said: audiophile myth #() FTFY Edited December 30, 2016 by wink upgrade Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tin ear Posted December 30, 2016 Report Share Posted December 30, 2016 i like mine better. go fix your own lame-assed shtick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lostinaudio Posted December 31, 2016 Report Share Posted December 31, 2016 On 30 Dec 2016 at 6:36 AM, tin ear said: audiophile myth #(insert figure here) Ehh? You serious? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dreadhead Posted December 31, 2016 Report Share Posted December 31, 2016 I REALLY want to hear these phones. I may have to look up a DC are head fi meet.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EdipisReks1 Posted January 2, 2017 Report Share Posted January 2, 2017 I'd really like to hear the Elear (well, sure, I'd love to hear the Utopia, but I'm unlikely to spend that kinda money anytime soon on something that isn't a watch). I have a pair of HD-800, again, this time with the Shure foamy mod, and I'm very happen with them. On 12/30/2016 at 0:36 AM, tin ear said: audiophile myth #(insert figure here) Well of course, because things like "damping factor" don't exist. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jp11801 Posted January 3, 2017 Report Share Posted January 3, 2017 On 12/30/2016 at 0:36 AM, tin ear said: audiophile myth #(insert figure here) On 12/30/2016 at 2:19 AM, wink said: FTFY On 12/30/2016 at 3:20 AM, tin ear said: i like mine better. go fix your own lame-assed shtick. On 12/31/2016 at 5:28 PM, lostinaudio said: Ehh? You serious? OMG please go find another forum to troll 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tin ear Posted January 3, 2017 Report Share Posted January 3, 2017 someone's got a bug up his ass. happy new year everyone! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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