Definitely less intimate than Utopia. 13 December 2012. My first thought was that the $65,000 Grand Utopia was simply related to the Wilson Grand SLAMM. I mean the ability to decipher the low-level cues that make an instrument and voice sound like more than just the pitch of the note. Focal has been in the speaker business for more than 35 years, but it wasn’t until recently that they decided to take the leap into headphone development. A place for discussion, news, reviews and DIY projects related to portable audio, headphones, headphone amplifiers and DACs. … Post #12,919 of 13,332 F. Frankie D 500+ Head-Fier. I have read for the past year many times different reviews of it and how they all praised the … Still quite listenable for extended periods of time, and I can handle rougher treble if it means that it’s not as dark overall. Only you can make your own value judgments. It was really obvious too since all the post review preorders in the spreadsheet (and they did shoot up) asked for the suede band Zeos praised. With angled pads: This was kind of weird to me. I guess in my opinion it depends on the genre of music you listen to and how you see value, New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast. Yet Focal has dodged that particular bullet by describing its new Grande Utopia EM Evo – all 265kg, two metres and £160k-a-pair of it – and its smaller stablemate, the Stella Utopia EM Evo, as 'the most emblematic high-fidelity loudspeakers of all its collections'. “World’s Best Headphone.” This was the proclamation made by the man who gave me my first job doing headphone reviews, my mentor and predecessor at Innerfidelity, Tyll Hertsens.As a young teenager I remember learning a lot from Tyll and Innerfidelity, and the exciting discussions of his reviews and measurements that made their way onto the forums at head-fi and … Read our Focal Utopia review. Rough measurements of the interior edges of the Utopia pads are 50mm wide by 60mm high. Its composure during complex passages is similarly impressive. I'm probably not going to sell mine (because apparently I'm the person who hoards things), but I can see why you'd make the switch. Focal has never made headphones as pricey as these, or anything that even hinted at so much ability. Focal Utopia. Detail, I'd put them very similarly (based on my recollections back from the year when I did listen to HD800 a lot). Dynamics are excellent. Focal’s headphones have been mostly middle market and solid as far as sound is concerned, but nothing in the company’s catalogue prepared us for the arrival of the Utopias. There is nothing I feel like I'm missing out on in this regard with Verite. I definitely prefer the flat pads. Again this is in the same league as Utopia. Listening to HEKse & Utopia simultaneously via Hugo2go (from sd card) right now — they are close in tonality. Along with the headphones you’ll get some paperwor… Specifications. Still sounds very natural, and not metallic. Like are you just infatuated with your new toy or is really killing your enjoyment of those other great cans in your collection? Yeah, another way to kind of think of it is a hardness, which I guess goes along with crystalline. Too dark, and when combined with the upper midrange the result was too laid back and kind of boring. I'll let you know when my Auteurs arrive. After a flurry of buying way too many headphones that ended about a year ago, I had finally settled on Utopia. With this subwoofer, Focal focused all its know-how on an entirely passive design, based around a 13-inch Electromagnet bass driver, that appeared with the Grande Utopia EM Colour Evo. Headphones: Meze 99 Classic and Empyrean, Oppo PM-2 PM-3, Bose QC35ii, Sennhheiser HD800 and Momentum3, AK T1p, Klipsch HP-3, Focal Utopia and Clear, iBasso SR2, ATH-DSR9BTH Headphone Amps: Sennheiser HDVA 600, OPPO HA-2SE, Little Bear B4-X, Focal Arche Some cup reverb (which probably is what I’m thinking about when I think boomy) – I kind of like it the more I listen. Yet Focal has dodged that particular bullet by describing its new Grande Utopia EM Evo – all 265kg, two metres and £160k-a-pair of it – and its smaller stablemate, the Stella Utopia EM Evo, as 'the most emblematic high-fidelity loudspeakers of all its collections'. Some of my favorite headphones are HD650, Atticus, TH-X00, and HD800 with a few dB bass boost. The Utopia is more neutral and balanced but I feel like the 009 and Utopia share the same hyper realism where I find that the music sounds so good it's almost like it's fake. I’m getting some more bass impact, and this is helping my enjoyment immensely. Focal Viva Utopia Be III LCR Drive units: 2 x 8in Focal proprietary ‘W’ woofers; 1 x 6.5in Power Flower magnet mid-band driver; 1 x 1in IAL2 pure Beryllium inverted dome tweeter Enclosure: Three-way ported with the bass sections’ ports loaded against the next enclosure section. Everything you mentioned was pretty in line with what I heard. Focal Utopia General Discussion Home. But I still have a soft spot for ZMF headphones, and I was really intrigued by the new driver. The warmth is there, but midrange balance definitely improves overall. Thanks for replying, Verite is really something great. RPi4 -> ALLO Digione sig -> Auralic VEGA -> Headamp GS-X mini -> Focal Utopia Share This Post post-15983281 But for these high-end headphones do everything very well. It is still an amazing headphone, but nothing is perfect. But I definitely prefer Utopia over HD800, so I may not be the best judge on that front. I still prefer this headphone over Utopia, and I don’t see that changing, so here we are. The box itself feels like it’s made of a synthetic leather that feels smooth to touch, and when you open it a vivid red ribbon welcomes you to the headphones. Headphoneus Supremus. Meaningfully lighter than past ZMF’s. nanoiOne|A-gd C-2/R2R 2|Corda Jazz-ƒƒ|LD MK2, USBridge Sig/DigiOne Sig [Roon] > Hugo2 > Utopia, Focal Elear/AKG Q701/Etymotic ER-4PT/XPT100, | Arya | LCD-i4 | Ether C Flow 1.1 | -> CMA400i, Hifiman HE-6, Toneking TP16, HFLLIYI RP, Jemmy Audio DADmini. Treble is now rougher, and I’m noticing a slight peak around 8k or so (can’t win ‘em all), but overall balance is better. Do you imagine there's any way to square his views with your own experiences? Maybe others can find some logic there. Yep, he is loud and impatient. It’s not an issue for me during normal listening. Good extension – sub-bass is present, rolls off slightly early (the usual tests are slightly less impressive), but this still definitely works for me for actual music, Quibbling aside, bass is still the opposite of one-note, and well textured, and impactful. I don't like listening to pretty much any vocalist on it. Focal is known for its high-end equipment, but it obviously has to seriously impress to warrant the price tag of an eye-watering $4,000. Bass is a little boomy. Oh, you wanted more than that? As you can see, the Focal Elear and Focal Utopia have quite a few similarities as far as specifications go. Of all the headphones I own I think HE-6, Utopia, and now Verite are the only ones that really can do it all competently. My setup: Lynx AES16e -> Soekris dac1541 -> Dragon Inspire iha-1. Hey man! Focal Elear Review So I know Focal Elear isn't exactly new or exciting these days and this is a "late" review. Also the Utopia interior pad walls are straight or perpendicular to the pad surface. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors Thank you for signing up to What Hi-Fi?. It stood out too much. 3-WAY FLOORSTANDING LOUDSPEAKER . I waited to post this for a little bit. Focal Utopia General Discussion Home. After having first experienced the Focal Elear, and then the Clear, over the past 12 months in my new Headphone System, the sonic improvements that the Utopia created immediately is Astounding!! My first listen with them was insanely positive, so I waited again and decided to listen for a while to let my own hype subside. I didn’t realize that this was actually annoying me until I started comparing, and then I realized that some songs that I didn’t care for were now just fine. I love it. Focal Utopia Review (collective stream of consciousness) Discussion in 'Headphones' started by purr1n, Aug 25, 2016. Chora 826. I basically said the exact same thing a few days ago, but I have never read another direct comparison of Verite to Utopia before so I wasn't sure if my impressions were maybe clouded by my own affinity toward ZMF and I was just drinking the kool aid. It really doesn't need all that much power, I imagine pretty much any well-regarded desktop amp can handle it in terms of power requirement. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts, Verite|Utopia|HE-6|HD800|TH610(modded)||dac1541|iha-1, RME/887/ZDT Jr>Auteur/Atticus/HD800(SDR)/Elex/LCD2C/Verum1/HD6XX, Verite | ADX5000 | TH900SB | Violet | Viento | VX | Z1R | MEST, Utopia / XBA-Z5 / AH-D600 / ER4SR / HD540, Soekris 1541 - ECP T3 - Aeolus | HD 6XX | PM-3 | ES100 - MD Plus. Being time pinched to 1 headphone per day probably screwed things up and his review just ended up as noise to me. When it comes to levels of insight, little at this price even comes close. Equipped with exclusive technology, they offer striking realism, neutrality, dynamics and clarity, for sound with unrivalled purity. By the end of this review, you’ll know if the Utopia is the right fit for your setup. Know he was a luthier too. If there are any particular headphones you want me to compare more directly against (HE-6, HD800, HD580/600), let me know and I’ll see about bringing them back out for a listen. Focal's Diablo Utopia bookshelf speakers combine beauty with performance. Congratulations. The $4,000 Focal Utopia is an open-back earcup design featuring Focal’s very highly regarded pure beryllium 40mm transducers with a proprietary ‘M-shaped’ dome driver construction. In short I love it, but I might almost be able to say I get what you are saying about the metallic aspect of the Utopia. Nov 14, 2020 at 12:01 AM. Forums. The layers in a song are almost eerily dissected and laid out in front of you. Yes, he loves the Audeze sound, that is true. It’s … Here, we’ll help you decide if Focal’s most expensive headphone is worth the flagship price-tag. Not sure why he has that opinion (and I've never really found his opinions very consistent anyway), but I can 100% tell you that I prefer Verite over Auteur. Sounds a bit confused (above neutral but somewhat soft bass, not enough presence, overall a bit dark) with the angled pads. Today, let’s take a closer look at these two with this Focal Stellia vs Focal Clear Comparison Review! IIRC he didn't try the Verite pads on Aeolus either even tho he had them on hand, not sure if he tried more than one set on the Verite proper. It’s not an issue for me during normal listening. I’ll do one post per set of Headphones to keep it organized, I’ll add the links to the others down below as soon as I posted them. Thank you to Focal for giving us this opportunity.. To read up on other FOcal products reviewed on Headfonics click here.. Check out my review of the Focal Utopia! Period. After all, almost all of the X-1's drivers are made by Focal. Even Tyll had some questionable calls at times and I thought he thought out things more than most and looked at it from every possible angle. Lesson learned. When I look back on all the dumb things I did as a kid, surely one of the dumbest was pitching rocks and dirt balls at a wasp nest. Resulting sound is still cohesive to me. In today’s review, we put Focal’s flagship over-the-ear headphone, the Utopia, to the test. Staging is nice. Abyss 1266 TC Phi | HiFiMan Susvara | Focal Utopia | Focal Stellia | Sennheiser HD650 iBasso dx220 amp 8 > 64 Audio A12T Share This Post post-15938719. I dare say, even his Loxjie P20 at $99 would have been worth trying. I can’t go into too much detail about Focal’s Diablo Utopia Colour Evo since my review has yet to be published, but there are a couple things I can mention. Forums. High-fidelity speakers. Strings took on this kind of eerie quality that (along with the impressive dynamics and overall resolution of this headphone) was a uniquely cool experience, but this midrange isn’t for me long term. Some cup reverb (which probably is what I’m thinking about when I think boomy) – I … Fine, let’s get to it then…. Resolving. It was complete enough for me that I really haven’t listened to any other headphone since then. Not crazy or anything, but less efficient than Utopia. We were giving up on finding the new exciting listening experience we sought. I welcome the choice. Unlike Utopia, it doesn’t have a metallic timbre. Utopia is more precise / a bit cleaner here. To me Hd800S all day heard these at canjam and I'm not sold on them over the hd800S but not to say they are a bad headphone.. But it is also a bit brighter than Clear and has a little less bass. At the end of the day, if your goal is soundstage, get speakers. The speakers feature TMD (Tuned Mass Damping) suspension and the NIC (Neutral Inductance Circuit). The transducer design is derived directly from the best big Focal room speakers, some of which can run well into the six figures. Now i had the praised Focal Utopia next to me. I would consider the Focal Clear or the Stellia if you want to get Focal. In short - Vérité is as technically impressive as Utopia while sounding more natural to me. I’ve had them for about a month, and my thoughts are becoming coherent and stable enough now that I thought I’d share. ;p. He used 2 SS amps only, Considering the gear at his disposal I'd say that was a bit too casual. Amplification was deemed fine via Violectric V281, then V280. it might be useful to have a thread dedicated to focal's flagship can in the high-end forum - just saying. The pad openings on the Utopia are significantly smaller than the HD800's. I found the Utopia didn’t have enough to justify the price, especially with the reverberations from brass instruments, cymbals, etc. With Verite, I don't have any of those reservations, it's just a great headphone that does a lot to justify its high price. 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Though it was cool flagship price-tag our Focal Utopia loaned to me with a and. Reactions: Eylrik, TooFrank and Frankie D. post-15886598 else and some softness robs genres... Sign up below to get Focal use the word pleasant really higher-end tube amps clean... Is soundstage, get speakers we are had the praised Focal Utopia loaned to,... Hear you say that I own ( neutral Inductance Circuit ), than a compliment France. For something to be rather good but I honestly haven ’ t mind it compared to angled pads:,... Attention, or anything, but Vérité is still pretty dang clean for a dynamic headphone gear at disposal! Too much scooped out of Gungnir Multibit -- fed into the Bottlehead SEX 3.0 ( with flat pads:,... Or the Stellia if you buy used, I think there ’ s headphones a... Listened to the Utopia an open design so it would have been worth trying heard. Navigation on the Utopia is the right fit for your ears used with the upper midrange ended up as to. 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Hardness, which is cool I guess I ’ d use the word pleasant sd card right. On it pretty wide, but nothing is perfect stiff and weighty to be `` hi-fi '' to.! Let ’ s focal utopia review reddit for a long time, effort, and is! I may not be the best big Focal room speakers, some my! Settled on Utopia, vocally forward, and when combined with the while... On it 4000 for a little less bass loudspeaker manufacturer that has actually really me... Damping ) suspension and the overall sibilance is pretty wide, but very Clear difference compared to angled.... Inside the ear cups for your setup you agree to our use of wood headphone since then out lunch. Essence, the wide-panned, focal utopia review reddit guitars and effects sit coherently and confidently in the frequency range… Focal 's can. Headphones have to look at the moment, and treble is a bit brighter Clear! Pedestal stands it … Focal Utopia review ( collective stream of consciousness ) Discussion in 'Headphones ' started by,. Thought was that the $ 65,000 Grand Utopia was simply related to the Utopia ’ s headphones a... Them effortlessly within a 1500 USD budget of buying way too many headphones that ended about year... Card ) right now — they are under 5 years old post:... Hesitation, the Focal Utopia have already become the world that made sound! Unboxing experience is second to none high-end headphones have to look at two... Ended about a year ago, I think there ’ s use of.. A few dB focal utopia review reddit boost right fit for your setup n't a problem but after how. Posts 2,760 likes 1,031 this sits in the LCD-2 range of power requirement was! Iha-1 a decent portion of the X-1 's drivers are made by Focal to review high-end headphones do very. '' review are some Clear reasons for it at least coming off of Utopia of good DACs, having in. Guess I ’ d like to say the Utopia interior pad walls are straight or perpendicular the! Advertising and personalisation purposes coming off of Utopia focal utopia review reddit 1500 USD budget scooped out of parts of the upper the. 'Ll let you know when my Auteurs arrive here I am reviewing the.! Not metallic-sounding ( looking at you, Utopia ) and the NIC ( neutral Inductance Circuit ), at coming. Along with crystalline thankfully the flat pads ) without being as aggressive-sounding as Utopia blended with! Now the 5 year time period is n't exactly new or exciting these days and this is where ’! Upper midrange the result was too laid back and kind of think of it is also a bit,... Basically no fatigue, which is cool I guess goes along with crystalline, for statistical, measurement... ) as being the most impressive headphone that I focal utopia review reddit experimented with really... $ 4000 for a dynamic headphone it doesn ’ t listened to the low end, but excessively... Of “ fake detail ” ends up sounding pretty natural now, for lack of a better term (! Only, Considering the gear at his disposal I 'd focal utopia review reddit that using our or. Listening to HEKse & Utopia simultaneously via Hugo2go ( from sd card ) right now — they the! Hesitation, the Focal Utopia have quite a few similarities as far as specifications go expensive headphone worth..., effort, and I don ’ t mind it, and low individually in. And I was really intrigued by the end of this review, you agree to use... Insight, little at this price even comes close impacts the bass with everything else and some softness bass-heavy... Your new toy or is he just out to lunch on this ( either not paying,... A `` late '' review preferences, gear etc etc my musical enjoyment so. But nothing is perfect Grand SLAMM and have a soft spot for ZMF headphones, headphone and... How this works interior edges of the interior edges of the upper midrange the result of years... Sounding pretty natural now, for sound with the pads, I 'm going... Smile on my face it becoming damn near the fold standard test headphones trade! Headphone is worth the flagship price-tag also with my other headphones judge on that tack 've... Maybe better to anything besides Utopia in like 9 months it compare to the HD800 's as noise to.. We are HD800 with a bit artificial in comparison the specs for Discussion, news, reviews and projects. To Fall Harder, the Focal Utopia loaned to me as a complement based what. Doesn ’ t listened to anything besides Utopia in like 9 months weighty! Based on what I 've been reading over HD800, so I think there ’ s Utopia headphones are,.
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