Who shot J.R.? The K812? Or was it all a dream?

I wanted to warn potential buyers that the Utopia is not very neutral and that instruments don't sound true to life. I have the Akg k812 and saw one reviewer say that the Utopia is their new reference after the k812. I would say, play a classical piece with a violin in it. With the k812 it sounds exactly as a violin, with the Utopia you miss something in the highs. The mids are also a lot thicker than neutral. Very fun sounding headphone thought, so if you're after that...

Because of this I've sold the Utopia's.

I'm not bashing the headphones, I just want to protect people that are saving like crazy to buy the Utopia and expect reference sound quality.

 

Sorry, but pretty useless "warning" without knowing more. What amp. What DAC. Did you burn int he Utopia? I'm not a utopia fanboy, but to me it sound more lifelike and balanced than anything I've heard to date.

 

I want to warn potential buyers that the K812 is not very neutral and that pad/cup resonances along with unusual rising distortion characteristics in the treble render instruments in an unnatural and grating way. As someone who works with musicians regularly in live sound setups, the K812 renders like I'm trying to arrange a brass band in a stone room. If you want the AKG sound but with actual non-emphasized harmonics and cleaner decays, get the K612pro. You will get cleaner sound, less ringing, more neutral response (with the exception of a little bit less bass), for roughly 1/8th the price.

 

@AllanMarcus

I use the Denon pma 50 with all headphones, sending a digital signal from a dap to the coaxial input of the Denon. I chose the Denon because the signal is cleaner than all analog amplifiers. It's purely digital, so no degradation in the signal that some audiophiles love so much, just like the smooth thick mids many headphones have, that are unnatural but for some reason people think are natural. I've burned the Utopia in for 100 hours, but the highs never got more natural.

@Marvey

Do you often use high end speakers? When you do, you'll notice the Akg k812's sound more like them than the Utopia. What I do miss is the ease of sound from the Utopia, so I think in potential, the Utopia could sound much better than the k812, but then it would need to have a better tuning. Brighter highs and thinner mids.

I find your comment about the hd600 strange, because you're the only one that has ever mentioned this. To test if you're believable, do you also think the hd600 let you hear more than the hd800?

@Armaegis

This makes no sense, why would Akg even bother making a reference sounding headphone when their cheap one is better?

I don't think that some people commenting on here listen to music at 24 bits 96khz (or 192). There is very little sharpness in the highs of the Akg k812 when listening to good mastered albums on a clean dac/amp. You hear bad sharpness because it is there with lower quality music, and if you don't, your headphone is not neutral. But I do agree that the highs of the Akg are more strident than that of good speakers. Maybe a good cable fixes this, trying it next week.

Higher prices don't necessarily make gear sound better, look at the top model Revel speakers. Many professionals find them the best in the world, but they are barely 20000 euros.

I will listen to another Utopia in store this week to test if mine was faulty.

 

The Denon is a fine mid-fi all in one, but it isn't special. It a DAC integrated with a class D amp and low end headphone amp. Great if your mom wants an "all in one", but nothing special. And yes, I've heard it. Relatively speaking, the PM50 has a slight elevation in midrange anyways. On my Sony UDA-1, sony competition to the PM50, the midrange is really boosted on the Utopia, but not on other headphones. It's odd. I would suggest you try the Utopia on some better gear. The PM50 just isn't that great.

 

Sick trolling, goddamn @JS1

 

@AllanMarcus

Your way of communicating is disrespectful, with your "great amp for your mom". I never understand why some people are so angry when someone disagrees with them. Everybody's different and has a different opinion. You don't see me targeting someone in particular.


If the pma 50 is mid-fi, all other headphone dac/amps are low-end. You don't need much power with the Utopia or k812, just clean power. That is what the pma 50 does best. I've tried all the popular hp amps under 1000 euros, and none came close. It's the same as with the Nad c390dd2 that I use for my speakers. People who don't like a neutral, clean sound, don't like the amp. No problem, preferences.

I will quit this forum for now, because I understand this is the Utopia forum, and owners can't take it when someone talks negatively about some traits of their headphone. I have no problem if someone says something negative about the k812, because I know some of it is true and other things are just preferences. Just like to tell the truth.

 

What an artist.

 

To test if you're believable, do you also think the HD700 let you hear more than the HD600?

You literally answered yourself in the next line of your response...

 

@JS1

I don't know if you are trolling or really are just new here, but I want to point you to the first poster of this thread: http://www.superbestaudiofriends.or...thread-was-about-and-thats-a-good-thing.5092/

Don't be that guy. Many members here, especially the ones you have specifically called out, have all owned and heard numerous amps/DAC's/preamps/speakers/headphones/anything-audio-related that is thousands of Euros (sometimes even more) and are speaking from that perspective and experience. They have also heard many, MANY recordings/live performances of music of all different genres and have a good sense of what live music is supposed to sound like.

You are allowed to have your opinion. No one is denying you that right here. But don't be surprised if people disagree with you. And DEFINITELY don't be surprised if people don't take kindly to your thinly veiled jabs at them (using "clean" the way you did implies that people who don't agree with your point of view don't know what the music is supposed to sound like), suggesting that you are the only one who knows the truth while they are either lying or not smart or experienced enough to know the difference.

 

I'm not angry at all. I'm not a big utopia fanboy; it has it's issues.

As for being disrespectful...yep, that's what I was going for
Seriously, the PM50 is mediocre at best relative to HiFi. It's not a bad all in one desktop amp; although I prefer the NAD 3020D (which I also have). As for a headphone amp, a low end Schiit Stack easily beats the PM50.

 

@JS1

here in Europe, we often say "Try to be objective, we are reading JS1 here". So I was sure that it was a trap, and the Focal would be trashed regardless of their actual performance.

Second reason was that, I bet, none of you, or very few, has ever listened to the real sound of a violin or piano, not to say a serious orchestra, while here in Europe, and in Italy in particular, real instruments are present in every home, and we know very well their sound, more, many of us also play one of them. You simply are not able to judge the quality of a source in reproducing faithful and correct timbre and decay of real instruments

 

I owned the K812 for ages. I now own the Utopia. I enjoyed the K812 for what it was, but the Utopia is definitely the more capable headphone. The Utopia sounds wayyyyyyyyy...yyyyyy more like high end speakers (that I have heard) than the K812 ever did. The Utopia isn't perfect but its better than the K812.

 

@JS1 I have the perfect headphone for you. It's called the Edition 10. It is slightly more expensive than your AKG, but that just means it must be a little better. If you can still hear frequencies over 6k after using those AKGs for so long, I guarantee the Edition 10 will fix that problem for you in no time!

 

I also heard these K812, in fact I think it was the first "high end" headphone I heard, I almost fell off my chair laughing when they told me the price tag!

V shaped and totally artificial sounding, and don't get me started on the stupidly light clamp forces so you cannot even turn your head, plus the pads are weird and seem to force air into your ears when you put them on which really freaked me out. Great headphones for your dog.

 

Reported for animal cruelty. Never expose a dog to treble fuckery of the highest order.