[Smazz]

Got my Utopia's today, I'm not disciplined enough to let them burn in for days before listening. Opened them up, plugged them in, and away I went. Build is nice, I don't know how Tyll claims they are a heavy headphone. I guess coming from an LCD-4, these are feather light to me. Cable as people said is annoying, I can see myself replacing if I decide to keep. Right off the bat, they feel brighter than my LCD-4 with more clarity and resolution. I'm not calling them bright headphones, but there are a few songs that during certain parts I had to turn down the volume because the highs were painful, where as on my
LCD-4, it was a non issue. I was running them from Macbook Pro (TIDAL) to Burson CV+2. After a couple of hours, I used the DAC out from my Burson CV2+ and plugged them into a friends M9, they sounded less bright, more rich. It was an improvement in synergy. Anyways, these are very initial impressions, they will be running all day tomorrow and throughout the weekend to continue the burn in, but thought I'd share a few comparisons with my LCD-4. They both have excellent build, the LCD-4 just looks and feels like a 4k headphone, where as the Utopia, although very nice, doesn't scream super expensive flagship. LCD-4 is much heavier, the Utopia feels very light in comparison. My one small gripe with the build on the Utopia is I like to lean back and put my hands behind my head when I get into a song. The cable connections to the headphones aren't very angled, and they poke into my shoulders when I do so, a bit annoying. I'll have more impressions after a couple of weeks of listening.

 

[money4me247]

I've seen the HD800 go down to $800 a few years ago on Amazon (before the HD800S was released too). That price point is rare, but it definitely happens for brand new HD800s every so often. I doubt there is really any issue if you consider the insane profit margins on high-end headphones, though Sennheiser does like to control their price points quite tightly.

 

[lukeap69]

I've seen the HD800 go down to $800 a few years ago on Amazon (before the HD800S was released too). That price point is rare, but it definitely happens for brand new HD800s every so often. I doubt there is really any issue if you consider the insane profit margins on high-end headphones, though Sennheiser does like to control their price points quite tightly.

I have purchased mine from Sennheiser online store almost 2 years ago just a little under a grand, so a 900 price at this time is not far fetched.

 

[x RELIC x]

Lol! For the last page I thought I was in the HD800 thread.... :wink_face:

 

[lukeap69]

Lol! For the last page I thought I was in the HD800 thread.... :wink_face:

Oh, is it not?

 

[phonomat]

Price is very relevant. It's the baseline of any product and their value. I think you might be talking about giant killers the come along once in awhile.

Price has nothing to do with sound. Literally nothing. The only value it specifies is the value attached by the manufacturer to the product. Taste differs. The VE Monk might give me more pleasure than any super-expensive JH Audio offering; it will therefore be of more subjective worth to me. No reason to call it a "giant killer" for that if the so-called giants are merely self-proclaimed ones by virtue of price tag.

 

[oneguy]

Oh, is it not?

True, we have strayed off topic

 

[up late]

x2

 

[james6333]

I hope the Utopia pads help. Keep us posted.
I checked the FR comparison graph on innerfidelity. If that measurement is correct, there is over 10 dB response difference between the two at that frequency. How can that be?
I have to read about headphones and their FR...
In any case, now I don't think Elear is "dark" sounding or that the tonality is different than Utopia, NO, it is defective...
You manufacture two top of the line headphones, with Utopia you get it right but with Elear for some reason there's this tonality problem and you can't solve it? Also as it happens, there's a 3000 dollars gap in their price tags!
'm sorry Focal, I enjoy Elear very much now that I have to EQ every time but can you give me a guarantee that after 4000 dollars more, there won't be any surprises like this with Utopia?

In post 1712 of this thread Jude Has detailed measurements of what switching the pads does. It is just a "room" effect, not any different than how changing rooms or moving speakers around within the room can change the tonal balance.


http://www.head-fi.org/t/811270/focal-elear-and-utopia-review-preview-with-measurements-head-fi-tv/1710

 

[SearchOfSub]

Price has nothing to do with sound. Literally nothing. The only value it specifies is the value attached by the manufacturer to the product. Taste differs. The VE Monk might give me more pleasure than any super-expensive JH Audio offering; it will therefore be of more subjective worth to me. No reason to call it a "giant killer" for that if the so-called giants are merely self-proclaimed ones by virtue of price tag.

I'd say the same thing if the headphones were free. - Not to mention, hours designing, parts supplied to make the headphones were also free.

I highly doubt anyone prefers a 100.00 headphone to a 3,000 headphone. If there is one, I'd call it a giant killer and they are very few in all price ranges. You can't just look at this subject from a consumer perspective and say "sound has nothing to do with price". I'm sure the ones selling you the headphones also put much though into research and devlopment.

What your saying is like how good a food taste like has nothing to do with price. But generally speaking, a 100.00 steak would taste better than one you pick up for 5 bucks.

Your livin' a dream my man if you think otherwise.

I doubt an HD650 would have gotten such praise if it were priced at 3,000.00 introductory price. Reason why it's so popular is because it's so cheap for somewhat of an audiophille sound. So it goes back to pricing, again.


.

 

[thatonenoob]

Today was a good day.

 

[nordkapp]

^^^^^^ I'll say.......

 

[TSAVJason]

I've seen the HD800 go down to $800 a few years ago on Amazon (before the HD800S was released too). That price point is rare, but it definitely happens for brand new HD800s every so often. I doubt there is really any issue if you consider the insane profit margins on high-end headphones, though Sennheiser does like to control their price points quite tightly.

There in lies another problem. When you see some of those numbers you might think we make those profits. It's misleading and untrue in most cases

 

[phonomat]

I'd say the same thing if the headphones were free. - Not to mention, hours designing, parts supplied to make the headphones were also free.

I highly doubt anyone prefers a 100.00 headphone to a 3,000 headphone. If there is one, I'd call it a giant killer and they are very few in all price ranges. You can't just look at this subject from a consumer perspective and say "sound has nothing to do with price". I'm sure the ones selling you the headphones also put much though into research and devlopment.

What your saying is like how good a food taste like has nothing to do with price. But generally speaking, a 100.00 steak would taste better than one you pick up for 5 bucks.

Your livin' a dream my man if you think otherwise.

I doubt an HD650 would have gotten such praise if it were priced at 3,000.00 introductory price. Reason why it's so popular is because it's so cheap for somewhat of an audiophille sound. So it goes back to pricing, again.


.

Nope. Wrong again. I'll reiterate: Sound has nothing to do with price. One is a physical phenomenon, the other is just part of a marketing decision. If there are correlations, they might as well be coincidental. I'm not saying they are all the time, but if you're not aware of the arbitrariness when it comes to pricing and/or of the fact that prices are expressly made with people like you in mind who are standing in line to drink the Kool-Aid, then you're the one living in a dream world. Wake up, man, of course manufacturers/marketing experts/dealers would have you believe that it's as simple as more expensive = always better. If you do, your loss. And ultimately, everybody else's, because this is exactly the sort of thinking that contributes to prices climbing higher and higher. Why not make a 4000, 5000, 10,000, 35,000, 50,0000 bucks headphone as long there are people who will gladly pay for them?

Okay, rant of the day over, I don't intend to derail this thread any further. But seriously, think it over, it's not that hard. Oh, and while you're at it, you might want to look up "cognitive dissonance".

(And by the way, I own a headphone with a 2500,- price tag, and yeah, it happens to sound just scrumptious. But by your logic, the Abyss, HE-1000, LCD-4 and Utopia, to name a few, would necessarily sound better to me. And that's where you're totally wrong. You know what, I even heard the new Orpheus, and I honestly prefer my Pioneer SE-Master1 over it. :eek: Yep, never underestimate subjectiveness. Might be cognitive dissonance on my part, but we're all individuals, and if you think there's one can to rule them all, you're completely off the mark. That's not even what this game is about. Would you just go ahead and buy the most expensive headphone you can afford without listening to it first?)

 

[up late]

a point well made