The Mighty Utopia: Focal Utopia Revisited

Discussion in 'Headphones' started by purr1n, Aug 13, 2020.

  1. Koth Ganesh

    Koth Ganesh Friend

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    @LuckyX2, remarkable coincidence here... I have the Verite Open and the Utopia. I received the Echo two days ago as a loaner. The Echo favors HPs (as you know) in the 100-600 ohn impedance range. The Verite is better suited to the Echo than the Utopia. As an aside, the Focal Clear sounded more bassy (which I did not like). Utopia plays very well with the Echo but I get much better out of the Utopia with either my Auris HA2SE (which has 4 impedance selectors) or the Mogwai SE. The Sennheisers HD 600 and 650 should also do very well with the Echo. That's a fine amp and very good value for the money.
     
  2. ChaChaRealSmooth

    ChaChaRealSmooth SBAF's Mr. Bean

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    HD800 might be more resolving in the treble, but cheats with bright FR. Utopia more resolving in mids and bass.

    I'd disagree respectfully. I keep saying this; every transducer has a timbre. It just depends on whether or not you find it agreeable. The Utopia's Be driver is actually quite good here for a metal driver.
     
    Last edited: Nov 16, 2020
  3. murphythecat

    murphythecat GRU-powered uniformed trumpkin

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    not sure if timbre is the right word. the BE coloration is there in the mid vs the hd800 or even hd650. is it FR related, no idea, but there's something about the timbre that i find ever so slightly more real thrue the senns. if the senns are 9, id give 8 for utopia in the timbre department
     
  4. crenca

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    My theory/opinion on this is that it is the attack/decay slowness of the senns (and just about every other transducer) that lends to an overall impression of timbre having a "warmth" (not quite the right word probably) that the Utopia seemingly lacks.
     
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  5. saint.panda

    saint.panda Friend

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    The Utopia grows on you. Still crazy bright (EQ-ing only helps a bit) and tiny soundstage, but it reflects the nature of the upstream gear very well. I optimized my system for tone and liquidity and the Utopia delivers it in spades.

    Not a great work headphone. Grabs your attention more often than not. HD650 better for that.
     
    Last edited: Nov 17, 2020
  6. murphythecat

    murphythecat GRU-powered uniformed trumpkin

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    crazy bright? interesting. I dont find them crazy bright, but that BE coloration timbre is indeed brighter then neutral.
     
  7. dubharmonic

    dubharmonic Friend

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    The differing perspectives on the characteristics of the Utopia (and the HD800) might have something to do with the differences in our chains. They’re both very malleable headphones in my experience.
     
  8. iDesign

    iDesign Almost "Made"

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    For what its worth, I revisited the Utopia in 2020 and now consider it to be the very best headphone available today. In my opinion it provides an experience on par with the Sennheiser Orpheus HE-1 which I have a great deal of experience. The Utopia is in a league well above the HE1000, Abyss AB-1266, HD 800, and HD 800 S which I have all owned and sold. The Utopia scales very well and I believe the comments about small soundstage are largely a reflection of the listener's source than the Utopia itself. With an excellent DAC+amplifier, the Utopia can deliver sufficient soundstage and wonderfully precise imaging. In comparison to the HD 800 S, the Utopia's tonal balance is far more correct and musical. And although I have observed the Utopia's treble sheen/harshness, it is highly dependent on the music genre. Aside from build quality and reliability, there isnt a single quality of the of the HD 800 S that I miss after selling mine earlier this month-- I never want them back. I cannot endorse a higher recommendation for the Utopia. C'est étonnant!

    I spent some time tonight rereading other Utopia impressions and @purr1n is spot on. Listen to him:
     
    Last edited: Nov 21, 2020
  9. Darkstar1

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    I don't have any harshness with my source and amp. I am assuming you are using your Utopia with the Chord Dave? There seems to be more than a few threads indicating this is an amazing pairing. Would love to hear it with the Utopia at some point.

    Its sounds like you have some pretty top notch gear and gone through some impressive headphones. In what ways would you say the Sennheiser Orpheus HE-1 is on par with the Utopia. How is there sound different? Just curious
     
  10. iDesign

    iDesign Almost "Made"

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    The Utopia is often described as having a “metallic sheen” or as Tyll Hertsens wrote, “a razor sharp bite at 6kHz.” I have observed that subtle characteristic and it seems to present itself in certain recordings and genres. And yes, I am using my Utopia with my Chord DAVE and Chord Blu Mk II M Scaler.

    The Focal Utopia has spectacular tuning and technical abilities and it is perhaps the only headphone that approaches or equals the listening experience of the Sennheiser Orpheus HE-1. Both headphones connect you to the music for hours.

    Lastly, for 2020 Focal increased the MSRP and changed the accessories supplied with the Utopia. I contacted Focal directly to clarify if they are offering the Utopia with two different accessories options and the answer is “no.” Dealers are simply listing new and old versions still in their inventory. I feel the current 3.5mm cable is too short at 1.2m and Focal should have included an 6m, 6.35mm cable for 2020 (they also include an 3m, 4-pin XLR cable).
     
    Last edited: Nov 21, 2020
  11. Ntbm3

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    It’s funny... I had the opposite result. I finally picked the 800s over the Utopia.

    Soundstage, tonal balance, sheen of Utopia was just enough for me to prefer the HD800s. Also comfort hands down HD800.

    ‘In a league well above’ is a stretch IMO and it leans more toward preference/synergies in the end.

    I did have some success using higher impedance output on my Starlett to add some warmth to the Utopia.
     
  12. iDesign

    iDesign Almost "Made"

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    I enjoyed the HD 800 series since 1999 and I received one of the first production HD 800 S units in 2015. Since then I have come back to the HD 800 and HD 800 S and bought and sold them three times. I completely agree with you that the HD 800 S can be very rewarding with a tube amplifier like the DNA Starlett. I very much liked the HD 800 S with my old Eddie Current Balancing Act and Black Widow II. In my experience the Utopia moves to a class just above the HD 800 S and I could only keep one. Both are great headphones.
     
    Last edited: Nov 21, 2020
  13. perogie

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    This is very true. A good tube amp makes the soundstage quite decent for a headphone. Combine that with its precision imaging and soundstage is a non issue for me. However, precise imaging may not save a source that provides more narrow staging.

    I would not give up this headphone with my current setup. Tonality issues are minor for me and far surpassed by its beastly grip on the music.
     
  14. jexby

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    This is very false. A great tube amp can make the soundstage decent for most headphones, yet it can not overcome what Utopia limits in this regard.
    It's all well and good to have a second generation of Utopia love fest, but the Utopia soundstage is like listening to music in a narrow closet or hallway. Not like a room, much less a small intimate club setting.

    I owned Utopia, with Yggdrasil A2 Unison and EC Af, and also listed via EC BW2.
    if THOSE components aren't enough to expand a soundstage to average levels in Utopia, nothing might.
    Utopia "narrow ness" sounds like a closed headphone, even with the gear above.

    Some people don't care as much about the headstage, and that's certainly cool.
    but i won't let this topic of "an amp can make it quite decent" slide, when the very small Utopia stage is a primary reason others sold off Utopia after the honeymoon was over.

    All the being said, would like to hear Utopia with a Bifrost2 + EC Af and see if my opinion changes.
    highly suspect it would not since Focal has done nothing to adjust the drivers of this model to date.
     
  15. crenca

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    I agree, the Utopia headstage is close and intimate. That said the separation and precision positioning make the most of what it is - if you have the source/amp to make it all happen.

    I would say it is analogous to a small and intimate club setting and not a closet/hallway. It has none of the diffuseness of ZMF's and Senn 800's that by design (i.e. cup, driver, and pads) are trying to create a HS that is always in the end IMO artificial and comes with its own problems.

    Particularly with well recorded classical, I find the Utopia's headstage to be goldilocks - present, precise, and non-diffuse or "boosted". For me some (but not all) modern pop and electronica benefit from the boosted stage of ZMFs...
     
  16. jexby

    jexby Posole Prince

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    ^ Liked the post above, despite not being in agreement about Utopia soundstage being an intimate club setting. yet the music genre references lay a good foundation for reference and explains some of the spatial perception.
    it should be noted- i never listen to classical (unless it's indian sitar, or modified cello) and the psych rock, or noise or improv in my collection does benefit from the "boosted stage" of ZMF, Blackwood Auteur in my case.
    cheers!
     
  17. OJneg

    OJneg The Most Insufferable

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    Hello all, I wanted to chime in on this thread since I have recently been able to revisit the Utopia myself.

    It has been over 4 years since I first heard the new Focal headphones (Utopia and Elear) at Source A/V with @purr1n. It was only a few months after that I moved to a different state and began a new chapter of my life. Headphone audio, and audio in general, fell out as a priority for me. But I knew from that initial demo with the Utopia that it was something I would have to come back around and evaluate. At that demo I had the chance to AB the Focals against my personal set of HD800 which have been with me in the interim. The HD800's sound is something I am very much accustomed to, using what is essentially the full mod suite (Absorber + Resonator + Cork). It does feel like a well-worn glove for me at this point. Every component in my modest rig was built around the HD800 knowing its strengths and faults. And while I had always kept this headphone rig with me for the past few years, it has been mostly neglected. You could say it doesn't draw me into the music and compel me to listen. I suspect part of the reason for that was both the components themselves and where I was in life.

    When I got the Utopia in, I had to go back and revisit what I had written in those initial threads [1] [2] [3] [4] to really remind myself what I had been saying back then. Just about everything that I posted in that initial demo and then at the Sherman Oaks mini-meet I find to be just as true today. The Utopia is a superb headphone, there can be no doubt. And I think it may be the best headphone around. [*] As @purr1n said in the beginning of this thread, the Utopia just draws me into the music so effectively. The dynamism and vividness with which sonic images are created continue to astound me the more I listen. The Utopia paints with a vivid and rich brush, in a way that I have never heard from any other headphone. Like the HD800 was for me originally, the Utopia is a headphone that forces you to go back and listen to your whole library to understand your music in a new light. The biggest difference is that you'll actually enjoy the process because the Utopia is a far-stretch from the overly-analytical toiletbowl sound of the HD800. The Utopia represents both an upgrade in tonal balance and technical abilities compared to what I had previously deemed the King of Dynamics, and for that, I am incredibly pleased with how it is performing for me.

    I suspect most of the people have already either had their "OMG" experience with the Utopia or otherwise come their own conclusion regarding it, so I will simply set forth a set of questions that I had coming into this evaluation and then answer them in turn.

    Is the Utopia too bright? Too warm?

    I really do think the Utopia strikes it right down the middle in terms of overall tonal balance. Anyone who was able to tolerate the leaner tonal balance of the HD800 for extended periods of time will not have a problem with the Utopia being too bright. Those who want a warmer presentation for their collection of subpar recordings may want something more forgiving. Even so, I would advise those people to try EQing the Utopia toward their preferred tonal balance because it offers so much good stuff with regard to technicalities. Part of me wants to call the Utopia the closest thing to a full-bodied HD800 but there are too many other disparities to say that. Namely it doesn't do justice to the Utopia because it offers much more than that.

    Does the treble have an etched, metallic Beryllium sound?

    If this is the "sound of Be" then sign me up. I find the treble to be incredibly articulate and coherent. Does it sound like a quality tweeter mounted on a aluminum face-plate sitting on a slim baffle 3 meters away from you? No, it's a headphone dummy. If anything, I think the Utopia trades the HD800's mid-treble hardness (6k or so) for hardness in the low-treble. Possibly an enclosure/pad related effect. But everything above that slight hardness should sound super clean. And I say clean, not smooth (which has different connotations), because it is a clean and clear window into the treble quality it is fed. People are going to have to pay close attention to their source components, just like the HD800. Solid-state headamps and certain DACs are going to have the "sound of sand" or digititus that the Utopia will pick up. When in doubt, move it over to a vinyl rig with tube electronics and you'll hear the same supreme articulation and realism in the treble without the crapola that makes you want to claw your face off.

    Does the Utopia surpass the HD800 in terms of microdetail/microdynamics/plankton?

    I didn't want to believe it back then either, but I think it does. I still go back and forth a bit on this question because I think the Utopia might have a certain "loudening" of the low-level information which can almost give the facsimile of enhanced microdetail and plankton. But I am starting to come back around because the Utopia's vividness and ability to produce dynamic contrast shouldn't be held against it. The fact is, I started the evaluation by asking how much plankton does the Utopia leave on the table. Now I have had to come around to asking if the HD800 is picking up everything that the Utopia does. I still want to do a more structured analysis of this question [**].

    Does the staging/imaging on the Utopia suck?

    Probably the most common criticism of the Utopia that I have seen is with regard to this. And without getting too bogged down in definitions, I want to make sure people know that I see soundstage and imaging as very much separate aspects of audio reproduction. The two can be correlated or uncorrelated just as much as any other aspect of reproduction (tone/timbre/dynamics/plankton) are connected. And the Utopia is a great demonstration of EXCELLENT imaging. As I said before, the Utopia paints incredibly vivid and rich images for the listener to hear. I find each image to be complete and fully articulated in all of its particularities. What I think people are getting at with their criticisms are the Utopia's lack of ability to project a distant image, or sometimes its relative blending of separate images in the spatial domain. This quality is what I associate with soundstage. Precise and delineated separation of spatial images is very much a unique strength of the HD800 and in this aspect it remains King. When I put the HD800 on, its delineation of each panned image with respect to every other image is absolutely locked in and apparent. There's also a sense in which the HD800 can project forward or sideways images with greater apparent depth. Given that the HD800 is above and beyond the best in soundstage size [***], those who absolutely need it in their daily listening will have to make their decisions accordingly.

    Ok, the Utopia is good. Should I sell the HD800?

    The short answer is no, but I am going to put it in storage after this eval is over. The limited advantages that the HD800 does offer to me are eclipsed by the Utopia's greatness. Besides, the HD800 is a cool piece to own and may become a collectors item in a few decades.

    Summing up, when I put the Utopia on my head I get dynamics big and small. I get bass impact and fullness. I get treble extension and articulation. I get a shit ton of plankton underneath it all. Most of all I get the music on the recording presented in a way that is both high-fidelity and high-fun. The Utopia is the headphone experience that I have been itching for since I got into this hobby 10 years ago, and at least for the moment, that makes me very happy.

    (*) Nectar Hive, Raal SR1a, Verum, and Zach's dynamic (!) headphones are all things I have missed in the last few years. Based on what I have heard from ears I trust, they do not seem to be as competitive but I will keep an open mind.

    (**) I had originally planned to use PEQ on each headphone to evaluate certain technical abilities. I had expected the HD800's leaner signature to give it a better sense of detail so I would need to EQ each 'phone to the same curve to get an unobstructed view of what was going on. But even without any EQ in place, and on my modest system, I find the Utopia to be superior in plankton retreival despite it having a more full-bodied sound. I still may do this, because I know more narrow tonal deviations in the mids/treble can give a better sense of detail sometimes, but I am fairly satisfied with the conclusions above until then.

    (***) Actually, the Koss ESP950 was a headphone that I found to project an even wider soundstage than the HD800, although it had forward projection ability that was maybe a few hairs behind. Nonetheless, it did not have the treble separation and delineation of the HD800, so you were left with a more blended sound. Some, namely playnar fans, seem to prefer this.
     
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  18. Koth Ganesh

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    Nice write up OJ. I believe you were using a McIntosh amp when you demoed it with Marv. What are you using now? Thanks
     
  19. Stereo Skunk

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    Do I need an amp capable of 600ohm? Is that why we see reports of OTL amps pairing well with the Utopia, because they have more voltage ability?
     
  20. Stereo Skunk

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    Sorry guys. Got tired of reading every page of this thread.

    Why the EC Studio Jr/B, and not the Studio T?

    Edit: thanks for the dislikes guys!
     
    Last edited: Jan 23, 2021

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