Do agree with what you're saying. Though, I have seen a lot of people pass on the Utopia and other highly priced headphones from manufacturers like Focal and Hifiman that have a questionable or dodgy track record of their products breaking down in favor of a cheaper HD600 solely based on the...

I think the problem people have is that a headphone of this price should be built, and expected to last forever. At least a lot longer than 7 years. People still have their Sennheiser and Beyerdynamic headphones from 20 years ago still working just fine.

As much as I love Focal's headphones and the Utopia, they're not exactly known for taking care of their customers. Doubt they'll do this, which sucks. Worth a shot I suppose but I wouldn't be hopeful. Too bad. So many great things going for their products but questionable longevity and...

I like this way of putting it. Bad recordings still sound noticeably bad on the Utopia, but the Utopia itself doesn't sound bad while they're played; they have a nice way of curbing the harshness of said recordings, but won't mask some of the nastier details like compression, distortion, etc.

Feel like Focal doesn't get much recognition for how lifelike they manage to make drums sound on their headphones. At least with the Clear and Utopia. Cymbals could sound a tad bit dry at times on the Clear, but drums sounded perfect. Well, close to perfect I guess, because the Utopia is even a...

Yeah, it doesn't seem like it's very common at all (others I've asked state they don't have the issue). But I've had other plastic products behave like this so it could just be plastic being plastic. I assumed that since I got the headphone second hand and it's out of warranty they wouldn't be...

Yeah probably a good call. Doesn't seem to be anything problematic like I said. Sometimes I do have to put my hand there when taking the headphone off of my head and I can hear the creaking but other than that it should be fine.

Agreed. It's just very natural. It doesn't go any further or sound any closer than I want it to. It's the imaging that really sells it for me. Everything is placed perfectly along the soundscape and sounds like things go around your head rather than a flat left-right plane. I always felt that...

I'm not pressing down on the driver or anywhere near it. I'm pressing on the black ear cup along the side, which I'm pretty sure is plastic not metal (maybe the 2022 version uses metal instead, and I know that the grille is a metal frame, but on the 2020 it's black glossy plastic). If you take a...

Hey everyone. I got a Utopia from the Classifieds on here at the end of last year and I absolutely adore them but ever since I got them I noticed something a little odd happening. I know it’s common for the headband to make creaking noises, but what’s really strange is that the plastic of the...

Huh that’s interesting. I haven’t heard either but I assumed the Susvara would be faster than the Utopia.

Thanks. I’ve figured it out, they are Torx

Dumb question; does anyone know what kind of screwdriver I would need to get for the screws that are in the Utopia, near where the ear pad teeth are? They look like small hexagon screws but I can’t really tell. I want to try to tighten the screws to see if that fixes my ear cup creaking issue.

Consider the U12t? That’s what I have and, while I’ve never heard the M9, I’ve read they’re both similar in tuning, with the U12t maybe not being as thick in the midbass, and more resolving. I use the U12t on the go and the Utopia at home, it’s a great duo. I wouldn’t say the U12t sounds much...

Yeah, it’s coming from that spot, and all around the earcup (so I could be pressing from the opposite side and getting that same sound there). Kind of feels like if you press on the back of a tv remote where the batteries are. Didn’t think to just remove the pad and take a look, maybe I’ll give...

Here's a brief clip of the cup creaking noise I was referring to earlier. Notice how little I'm actually pressing down on the ear cup... https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/916305320

That’s okay. Strange. Probably isn’t any sort of issue worth worrying about so I’ll try to stop worrying about it.

It seems like it’s the cup itself. I think. If I place my hand around the bottom of the ear cup and press, it sounds like it’s creaking from that point, as if it’s hollow. I’ll have to try again and see if it is actually just coming from the headband swivel point, even though I’m not putting any...

Damn, hope I’m not the only one…

I know it’s common for Utopia headbands to creak a little bit, but has anyone experienced creaking from the earcups themselves? The left earcup of my 2020 Utopia is like this. A little bit of pressure when grabbing the left earcup and it creaks quite a bit. Doubt it’s a huge deal but I’m...

I have the 2020 version but yeah…two months in and I still have that same thought every time I put them on

1a. Focal Utopia (2020 rev.) 1b. U12t 2. Focal Clear (planning to sell since acquiring the Utopia a little nearly two months ago now) 3. AirPods Pro That's it. That's all I own and all I need.

I don’t think it’s that fragile, per se, but with any nice product that costs this much I want to be sure I’m as careful as possible, y’know? It is a very well built headphone.

There's only one thing that sucks about owning the Utopia... ...the onset of anxiety when it comes to owning something so fragile and expensive, lol! Seriously, I keep worrying I'm going to break something every time I touch them. I do sort of wish they didn't use this glossy black...