Focal Elear and Utopia

mfw I need to check the URL to make sure I didn't stumble into a HF thread

 

I don't read it as being flip-floppy; the impression I get is that while the Utopia has the qualities that technically make it sound better, it's quite possible to simply enjoy the Elear more for most genres due to its engagement factor. Yet at the same time you still want the Utopia. I can dig it. Certain things cannot be rationally explained.

But I'm not a gbeast master interpreter.

I do appreciate the Elear comparison to the HEK.

 

I'm no Marv, I'm no Tyll, I'm no OJneg, I'm no Hans, Ultrabike..

I cant be as accurate without measurements.

But I can offer my perspective from where I am. If someone relates to my tastes then it maybe helpful. Comb through the BS yourself. Ask questions where you are confused. And when you have actually heard the gear post your impressions.

 

Can you smell it in the air gents?

 

Reading back on the last few pages (hard to read this stuff when it morphs into HF-esque noise) I can see that we're having a disagreement about gbeast's impressions. It looks like gang has gone full retard trying to micro-analyze people's words and find bits of contradictory information. I can tell you now, since everyone is operating with different metrics when it comes to headphone performance there will not always be flawless "logical" continuity with these reviews/impressions. We've all experienced this when reading reviews I think. This all gets multiplied big time when you consider the language descriptor differences that we use to describe sound.

I honestly couldn't tell you how good the Elear/Utopia's <50Hz extension/articulation was from my listening session, because (1) I wasn't using recordings with a lot of subbass energy and (2) it's not a huge performance priority for me. I also couldn't tell you if the Elear is worth $1000 or $600 in any strict sense. Any sort of these value propositions are silly to me anyway as the value/utility you might get out of the Elear will vary person to person. Can you get better sound than the Elear for <$1000? Hell yeah, build some loudspeakers, or stick with a lower cost headphone and scale the electronics. But for someone who's a total headphone nerd and wants another option in their headphone stable the Elear might represent a great value. But for a similar person (say myself or @n3rdling) adding the Elear to our stables might not make any sense as it doesn't excel in our requisite performance categories, so the value of an otherwise "good" $1000 headphone might hold no interest for us. Similarly for the basshead guy who's looking for an end-game option and might be in a place where spending $1000 on a headphone would only be on the limits of his/her imagination, the Elear might be a great value in the scheme of the alternate options on the market.

So anyway, for all you nitpickers I'm not saying you shouldn't ask questions. We need people to comb through our words so they can be more fleshed for a wider group of readers. Kind of like how academic papers need to be peer-reviewed and criticized so the information inside can be clear and purposeful. But in the scheme of this audio world, keep in mind that your specific performance quirk might not even be on the writer's radar and the only way to satisfy that tidbit of knowledge would be to experience it yourself. And don't go full-retard trying to pull a "gotcha" on the writer; it's just not constructive. Ask questions, work together, and try to reach at least some point of common understanding. That's what this forum is supposed to be about.

 

Inconsistency is and was my issue. I didn't start reading it and think 'right I'm gonna try and tear this apart just to be a twat' - but there were so many things that I thought completely undermined previous statements.

....

 

The interpretation of what I said was inconsistent. And instead of asking what I meant you jumped to conclusions. That is what impatience and immaturity does. It could have been more clear indeed however I know what I meant. So then what did the writer really mean when he contradicted himself?

PARADOX: a seemingly absurd or self-contradictory statement or proposition that when investigated or explained may prove to be well founded or true.

What I will do from now on when sharing impressions is simply take the time to edit it and comb through parts that may be confusing.

It is obvious that a preface written in bold red letters doesn't help.

Review sites have editors. I take the ability to post your thoughts on the fly for granted.

One thing I learned though is that it is better to listen together with people than alone sometimes. Because then you can point out what you hear that the other person doesn't.

I noticed this at the meet yesterday.

I was accused of being a "biased circle jerk" but I really do not have a circle. I have only been to a few meets. Hopefully the next city I move to has a headphone community.

Or I can just get serious about a measuring rig as well.

 

It was unfair me to say that if that is the case. At the minute the Headfi thread looks like a human centipede of posters and sellers that are in cahoots behind the scene playing into each others financial gain.

 

Ok, let's work this out then. I haven't read any HF stuff, but from what I see of gbeat's writeup in this thread, it seems to not only be consistent within itself but also congruent with what Marv and I heard.

What are your specific questions that gbeast hasn't already addressed?

 

Ugh. Guys, @potkettleblack is pretty easy to ignore. There's no reason to derail an otherwise worthwhile thread to entertain pointlessly disrespectful invective. Should go without saying, really.

 

The price I paid for calling the stock HD800 sibilant, lifeless and shitty with EDM.

If only somebody made a mod for it...

 

Man, this thread has everything:

- Tyll
- Hype train
- New awesome headphones
- Dank memes

 

We only deliver the dankest

 

The Utopia review is up on inner fidelity.

I think he explained why I felt the bass of the Utopia was enjoyable on some hip hop tracks. While not as consistly present as I like it is very punchy and tight. Very responsive.

I will be saving for one. Id love to hear it how he eqd it.

 

Glad to hear my ears aren't broke. The headphone sounded damn good at the SF Meet.

Will I buy one? Not for 4k. That is a crap-ton o' cash for a headphone.

 

Well, the SR-009 cost more than 4k when it first came out... and I bet the Utopia sounds excellent with a fairly inexpensive amp. Which kinda makes it a bargain?

I'm startled by Tyll's statement in the review that electrostatics sound "fuzzy up top" — there might be a bit of treble roll-off with the SR-007 (all versions), but definitely not on any other Stax I ever heard. If the Utopia makes something like the SR-Omega or 009 sound fuzzy without introducing treble harshness, it's something I really need to hear.

 

Fuzzy up top???

''Treble - Damn! I'm running out of superlatives. I'm super sensitive to trouble in the treble, and I'm floored by being able to hear a strong sense of speed and treble energy without it sounding strident in the least. The sense of coherent high frequency sound is extraordinary; everything is more than natural and organic, it's simply sounds like you're there. Wow again!''

 

Maybe you picked a better time to try it out than I did, but I couldn't hear any bass from it in that crowded room; it's definitely the most open sounding headphone I've tried to date aside from the K1000. Hopefully we'll have one at the November meet so I can give it another shot, perhaps in a side room where we can get a better feel for how it really performs.