Focal Utopia Review (collective stream of consciousness)

@sorrodje

"lightweight word champion". So this is the headphone to wear in order to boost my scrabble score then?

On a more serious note - would you say the Utopia is a genre master or an all-rounder? I haven't heard it but from what you're telling me it sounds suitable for classical music but perhaps not bass heavy genres? But I could be mistaken. Do you think there are any genres that suit it especially well?

 

The impedance measurements actually show that the Utopia driver is tuned for a lot more extension compared to the HD800, which also means more distortion. I actually get lower distortion measurements at 90db on my rig for my HD800, but it's always difficult to compare results from different rigs.
What I'd be interested in is to see how the efficiency of the drivers between HD800 and Utopia compare. I'm fairly certain the HD800 housing wastes more energy and the Utopia also has the sensitivity advantage because of its lower impedance. I'd also like to take measurements to look at the break-up modes of the Be diaphragm. Should be way higher than the Elear.
From what I've read the HD800 driver isn't made of Mylar either. The driver itself is basically perfectly flat from 3kHz to 38kHz from my measurements.

Another thing to keep in mind for the distortion measurements is that the HD800 driver voice coil diameter is about the same size as the diameter of the whole Utopia driver. Even with the hole the HD800 driver has almost twice the surface area of that of the Utopia driver. Still, size isn't everything. Sony can have headphones with huge 70mm drivers with crappy bass quality.

 

I haven't listened to enough genres yet to comment on it's suitability as an all-rounder, but for me the clarity, speed, and microdynamic abilities of the Utopia make it a great choice for modern, well-produced, studio recordings. No tape hiss or older recording grit for the Utopia to accentuate. Been spending time with the recently released Hamilton Mix Tape and the Utopia handles the stripped-down simple stuff as well as the layered, complex stuff well.

I'm also enjoying clean remasters of older pop/rock, like Ziggy Stardust for example. Instruments sound very realistic and present. Again, the combo of speed, clarity, and micro- shines here.

I even broke out some Helloween that I haven't listened to in ages. This kind of theatrical, bombastic metal with aggressive guitars and over-the-top drum and bass work all come together in a way that sounds tonally right and detailed without being overly crisp.

@sorrodje's point about percussion being particularly great is right on. This is something I noticed on the Elear as well, and it's taken to a higher level on the Utopia.

 

After 16 days, the Utopia's right driver just died on me. Pretty shocked to find out, since I was just using it 13 hours prior... I've been listening to it around an hour a day since I got it. Could the driver be that fragile? If so, why only the right side?

 

Wow! No transferable warranty on these. I'm sure that's a $1000 fix if it's out of warranty....

 

Yep, I believe Ultrasone one of first to start that trend,
But they only tac on an extra thousand or so for overseas to US...
Then the Abyss outdid them, and now Focal

Although it's great to me it cannot beat the 800 at concerts or classical.

Sony is like an anomaly lol.
I always find larger surface area an advantage to the low end impact,
And a kind of advantage in planars.

That should not be a problem or alarm as I doubt Focal would let an incident like this go unresolved.
IMO, from dealing with broken drivers, Worst case they would charge a few hundred for driver...
That's what Ultrasone charged me.
HiFiman didn't charge me anything for broken HEK driver that broke in transportation.
Yet I am curious to know the outcome.

 

Has anyone taken apart the headband on the utopias? Mine seems to have a part of screw loose in the headband. Looks like just a few tiny screws to take off at the base of the hand and, but I would love to know more before I explore.

 

In case it wasn't stupid enough, I saw this at an audio show last Saturday. Not sure if it's real or a replica. There wasn't one available to listen to, diamond encrusted or not.

 

Update on my broken driver:

I contacted Focal NA, specifically Trina Jensen who's in charge if warranty claims, and they asked me to send the broken unit in. A day after they received it, they confirmed the broken driver, and despite being the second owner, I've been informed that they're sending me a new pair. I'm pretty ecstatic about it, and couldn't be any happier.

 

That is great to know! Way to go Focal NA. If you could please let Trina know, we all appreciate the support, for all customers, not just direct ones.

 

Sharing this post from the other side. Makes complete sense of what happened in my case.

Originally Posted by TSAVJason

If a product fails within 90 days of its original sale they will replace it even if you are not the original owner.

 

nice opinion !

 

Hello friends long time lurker,

I've read this whole thread and I do have to agree with a lot that's been said here. These just do everything pretty well, and personally I'm impressed with his dynamism and bass response. Perhaps inspired by @Marvey's comment about the first few Taylor Swift albums I put them on for the first time ever (decent but if I'm being honest I'm not that big of a country guy, I particularly picked up her accent wtf ). Here's the thing, I found myself finding them slightly bright during this session. I don't lnow if it was because I've been reading this thread but it's like a "can't unhear" thing now haha.

I'm running a Yggdrasil -> Rag > balanced FAW cable. My question is to those who have heard these with the ZDS, do you think it's worth it to replace my Rag with a ZDS / similar or would the cost outweigh the benefit?