Focal Elear and Utopia

When you say Woo Guy, do you mean Hifiguy528/HifiInsider aka Mike?

I find him really entertaining. I once enjoyed his YouTube channel when he would do unboxings of actual high end headphones... before he sold out and began to obsess over Beats and whatever else got him more views and $$$. Actually, I found it hilarious when he did a "review" of the Auralic Taurus MKII and explained that the base was in a (three stand) triangular orientation rather than the normal (four stand) rectangular orientation because it improved sound quality... ...instead of, you know, using his brain or doing research to discover that a triangular orientation is more stable.

I also adore his obsession with Nordost cables. If you attach your $700 Nordost Heimdall 2 cable that was painstakingly made from interwoven pure silver hair stands harvested from Thor's muscular back and beard to your $150 Boops by Droops (in every color from the visible spectrum), you now have your very own end-game system and will be able to hear UV and infrared radiation whisper sweet nothings endlessly.

He actually uploaded two silent one-two minute videos of him cradling the Focal Elear and Utopia, presumably to obtain views and passive aggressively handle dislikers in the comments.

Good stuff.

 

Don't I remember that you lean very much towards cat dominant YouTube videos?

I may be wrong but I thought I overheard a discussion that indicated your cat video preferences. I'm not challenging you, I'm asking your viewing preference. Everyone YouTubes differently and I'm just looking for your preference to understand better your opinion.

 

I don't think we can extrapolate the Utopia from the Listen. For example:

I rode in a Honda Civic the other day. Nice car, but boring. I doubt the Acura NSX will be interesting.

We will need to listen to the Utopia itself.

 

My Elear will be here July 9th or 8th. It arrived with a dead left driver. Me and another had the same issue. So Focal did a recall. My initial enthusiasm was due to it being mentioned as a possible super hd650. That right of the bat gets me giddy, false or not.

If any member who posts graphs etc here would like to measure my set with impressions I am willing to share.

I have a loaner HD650 on the way as well as a Kennerton Vali and will do a three way. As it is the hd650 seems to be more resolving and open (not soundstage size) than the Vali but most other factors go to the Kennerton.

 

Jelt, I'll be the first to admit that this comment whooshed over my head.

I'm going to make an educated guess and say... Is this a Music Alchemist reference?

I mean, there are many types of cats out there. I actually have a rare collection of cat vomit videos that are paired to intense EDM. They sound really good with the Meow-d-eze F-EL-8C. Though when I'm feeling naughty and looking up Sphynx videos, I want all the detail possible, so I'll whip out my Sennheipurrs.

Do you need more information? I mean, I have a budding collection of real life cats. Four of them! One is really obese though, so you can say her bass is a bit bloated and bleeds into every single other aspect of her being.

 

Oh, shillhart, calling the he400i muddy. What a laff that was, i called him out on that hardcore too. Just remember no negative opinions on head-fi you might disrupt the hugbox.

 

i gonna find out who is this often-mentioned muSicalcheMist

 

Ali

 

Actually when i first came across Stillhart this name i misread it as...

 

I actually think those that are giving Jason a hard time on head-fi are just being ass holes and cry babies. Sure, he's a dealer, but he also a headphone enthusiast, and he's entitled to his opinions. He one of the fe that has actually heard the utopia and compared it to other summit-fi gear. His account is clearly marked MOT, so if people at headfi want to ignore him, they certainly can. That said, his direct experience with high end gear certainly gives him the experience to comment on said gear.

I actually sent him a few PMs about toning down his comments, and I think he has. I think he was new to Internet forums, and felt he needed to respond to everything. Also, new $4000 headphones from a really well respected speaker company don't come often, so he was understandably excited.

A lot of folks are asking him logistical questions like when their local dealer will get the headphones, and he actually has some general timing info to offer, so some find it helpful. Many people also just want some information on these cans, even from a biased source. Some people think salesmen are lying when their lips are moving; some people think salesmen add value. While I'm the former camp myself, I'm not going dis those others.

To those that say you can say anything bad about headphones on head-fi, just look at Jason's posts! He is saying some negative things relative to the Holy Stax and HD800, and who is vilifying him? People here! Since he sells those others brands too, his opinion may have some validity. He also might be suffering for new sound syndrome. He also might be simply generating buzz. I think he's genuine and entitled to his opinion, but that is just it; it's one person's opinion.

 

I just think it comes across as amateur and asinine that he is both promoting the headphones and making comments about other peoples impressions, that's all. I agree with a lot of your thoughts, but I also personally found him to be offensive. I mean he thinks the stock HD-650's are bright sounding. Give me a f'ing break.

 

Nobody is disputing the fact that the man has a right to an opinion. The reason people turned against him was that every time a negative or even lukewarm feedback was given on the cans he would always jump in with a little objection like

‘oh but I heard that you’re not used to heavy headphones’

‘the soundstage wasn’t super wide because you heard units that weren’t fully burned in’

Most of his arguments against the very mild negative impressions were total BS.

Headfi and their self appointed experts! Just because you’re rich and own or have driven the Laferrari, P1 and 918 does not make you an expert driver or qualified to judge their performance.

If somebody was/is a musician, studied music or audio reproduction, electronics/electrical engineering then I would give some extra weight to their views on head gear, amps etc which is why I like a guy like Bob Katz. He trashes what he doesn’t like (which was nearly everything at Big Sound 2015) because he has no reason to suck up to anybody.

More of him and less of the sycophants at Headfi who upload 1 minute ‘review’ videos with headphone reviews and impressions of the Focals by the Focal rep and the Cavalli Amp rep.

What are they going to give? Honest criticisms of their own products?

 

I gotta admit that was a bit weird. Just as weird as reading some other impressions of headphones. All in all though he is just new to it all and should have been forewarned by his seasoned colleagues on how to respond and gain respect as an industry presence. He will learn I am sure and is learning.

I so want to post impressions of what I thought from my one functioning driver. I sat there and listened reaallllly hard and even listened to other headphones with one ear to try to get some impressions but know it's downright unfair to readers to share such things. I can't wait to get it back. Next Friday seems so far yet so close.

In a PM someone told me:
Utopia: not much bass slam,kind of like a really clear UERR with a better and intimate sound stage
Elear: Sound stage not really big, not a really engaging headphone

 

used car sales tactics just doesn't come across well

 

Wanted to comment on this since I have heard both the UERR and the Utopia.

Now that I think about it, this comparison does make sense. However, I would say that the Utopia still has more bass slam, but I wouldn't call it significantly different fro the UERR.

Soundstage on the Utopia is intimate compared to stuff like the HD800 (and S variant), HE1000, Stax SR-009, etc.

As for the Elear comment, I very much agree with the soundstage being not that big. I don't even think you could call it bigger than the 400i soundstage, which wasn't that big either.

As for not a really engaging headphone, well all I to contribute here is that the Elear's sound signature to my ears has a very slight passing resemblance to the Fostex TH-X00, which I also heard at the same event.

 

That was literally the first thought I had from my measly one functional driver

 

Any idea if the demo unit(s) at Source A/V have been recalled? I heard something about that through the grapevine with Focal recalling units on a mass scale.

 

Dude, the source AV guys colleague shipped me the demo unit. I was pissed because not only was it DOA but scratched.
The demo Elears have been recalled. Not sure about Utopias