New LCD-4 vs Utopia shootout from Innerfidelity.

What is Focal's policy on repairing used headphones? I know they want you to buy through an authorized dealer to confirm authenticity but what if there is a driver failure? Will they repair for a small fee?

 

Focal's policy in the past has not to transfer warranties to used headphones, nor to service them. There was an issue with the Spirit One headbands and those who bought them used were left out of any servicing by Focal directly, even if they offered to pay for it.

 

Ugh, that's unfortunate. Looks like I'll be waiting for new prices to drop or just try modding an Elear. I'll see about hopefully getting a Utopia for in home listening.

 

I received my Utopias in October, serial #00006X which is even lower than Tyll's (#000125). Not sure how that ordering happened given Tyll got his months before. In any case I always thought the Utopias are a bit bright. I'd definitely be curious to see if mine measured the same as Tyll's or the two newer sets measured. Given the two newer sets measured the same it seems there definitely was a production tuning change.

 

What amp are you using with the Utopia?

 

It's nice to see that rather than trying to sweep all of this under the carpet, @Tyll Hertsens is making a full production number out of it, to get to the bottom of what's going on (and generate some interesting content for IF, naturally). Most recent update:

http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/focal-utopia-and-audeze-lcd-4-current-measurements-and-plans

(Incidentally, I don't think I've ever appreciated my relatively cheap Sennheisers quite so much..)

 

I just wanted to thank you guys for this thread... I was real close to pulling the trigger on the Utopia, but will wait to see what's going on here and how it will be handled by Focal.

Again, for the 4K still in my pocket, I thank you. That's not to say this won't be resolved quickly and professionally, but I will hold off until that time. Beers for everyone!

Trin

 

And everyone is saying "do not jump into conclusion". Why not? They found serious quality issues with LCD 4 and Utopia, probably two the most over hyped headphones, each costing 4k. We already got to the bottom of it.

 

The bottom of it...? Did I miss something? I know I am the FNG, but I hardly think anything has been, "got to the bottom of."

Trin

 

I don't think we are even close to "the bottom of it" yet. Clearly there are production issues, but there are so many things that could be the cause of the variation. I think we will all need to stay tuned to see what the culprit really was.

My guess is that this will all come down to human error. I bet the people who were responsible for tuning the headphones either changed for the second run of headphones or were overwhelmed with the demand and did not keep up with the quality control as they were supposed to do. We will will see though...

 

It's very important that we give 4k headphones the benefit of the doubt. QA? Everyone makes mistakes.

 

Did I go to sleep and wake up in head-fi?

 

No, this is nu-SBAF where we start threads on unreleased products that may not even exist, spend pages debating pointless conjecture and never actually discuss any gear anyone is likely to own. Oh, and don't forget to all jump on the new guy and redirect his innocent inquiry to 30 different threads without addressing his question so we can get back to shitposting as soon as possible.

Enjoy your stay.

 

Another update from Tyll:
http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/seven-focal-utopias-measured#Rhf0RmUwImvPbcRR.97

Looks as though his were the odd ones out the whole time, and every other model seems quite consistent.

 

The net result of the whole affair may be actually positive. I give credit to Tyll for handling it remarkably well and with honesty. The next time some folks may pause for a bit before they get overly enthusiastic about another world's best headphones, instant wall of fame and inevitable 10 grand price tag.
And about Focal: 4k headphones, not transferable warranty, and they will not even repair it if you are the second owner. What is the next step: send us 4k and maybe we will ship Utopia to you if we feel like it, or maybe not.. I am sure there would be some buyers anyway.
Thinking about the people who started hyping up Utopia and discovering how bad HD800 really is, the very next day after Tyll's initial report..

 

What I find problematic about this logic is that it assumes that folks here that liked the damn thing, like Marv and many others (myself included), were somehow dishonest or deluded when infact differences in preference may parsimoniously explain this difference. It's not obvious to me that his review unit would sound better -- though it totally might!! But he also raved about the elear which felt hopelessly dark to me (and remained wonky sounding post-mods, vs the good ole hd6x0) So again it's not immediately obvious how that would shake out for those who enjoyed the regular utopia (and even for those that didn't).

I also feel that even though the FR and tonality might differ between his unit vs the rest of them doesn't take away the fact that other aspects of the headphone might be similar between the two. For example, folks that dislike the soundstage would probably continue to dislike it on his review unit, which also suggests that he decided to place the utopes on his wof despite these other potential issues for some users. And let's not even discuss the fact that being or not being on that damned wall means very little in terms of who will like what headphone. That shouldn't be news worthy and as such we shouldn't get all butt-hurt when a headphone is or isn't on it. In other words, some like them and some don't and it boils down to preference and choice of components more so than questions about delusion, confirmation bias, and/or dishonesty.

All of that said i do agree that folks that call these bright aren't wrong! I felt this way too, which is why component matching is critical, as is also the case with the hd800. What I preferred about the utopes over the Hd 800 (when I had them side by side) was the fuller tonality of the utopes which helped to compensate for its brightness. But yeah it's not perfect (no shit, show me something that is)

 

I've always liked Tyll and IF. IF and HF were my first exposure to the hobby.

My respect for him has increased even more after this incident. He has also given a big platform to a straight shooter like Bob Katz whose irreverent style I enjoy and none of the HF idiots can claim that he doesn't know what he's talking about.

Can you even imagine another major 'review' site or Headfi even attempting to get to the bottom of something like this?

They would bury it deep and never mention it again and block anyone who did.

Congrats to IF for being the most trusted review site in the hobby. The only people I trust more are the gang of pirates on here and the great Golden Schlong!