[mulder01]

Thanks @dillan! Nice to read a balanced review. And it was most useful because I already have theHD800, 009 and HE1000. And I had been pondering the LCD 4 for tonality. Thank you for your impressions.

 
Looking at your signature though, would it be fair to say that the purchase of both the Utopia and LCD-4 is inevitable?

 

[Kiats]

Looking at your signature though, would it be fair to say that the purchase of both the Utopia and LCD-4 is inevitable?

Haha! Actually no. The LCD 4 intrigues me particularly because, to my ears, the organic lushness of the LCD 2 has returned in a package which extends to areas in which the LCD 2 was not as strong in.

 

[Dillan]

Cheers everyone and happy Monday. Doing a little night listening before bed.

 

[Smazz]

My Utopia right side driver just failed on me. I think I was forcing a love affair that wasn't there. Put my LCD-4s back on and everything is right in the world. Grass always looks greener on the other side, it's amazing how we can be so spoiled and fortunate to have these and still look for better things elsewhere. My ears are more comfortable with the LCD-4s

 

[theorist]

Ouch!
 
Sorry to hear this. Shades of the 100 ohm LCD-4!
 
Please let us know how prompt and easy was the Focal warranty repair.

 

[Smazz]

  Ouch!
 
Sorry to hear this. Shades of the 100 ohm LCD-4!
 
Please let us know how prompt and easy was the Focal warranty repair.

I will be returning the Focal Utopia to the dealer. To my ears, the Focal Utopia was on the bright side, with harsh peaks. I suspect my Burson CV2+ was the main culprit for that. While i feel the Burson has wonderful synergy with the LCD-4, I don't think it's a great pairing with the Utopia. I unfortunately didn't have another DAC to test it against. The Utopia is a wonderful headphone, but I prefer the Audeze house sound and couldn't justify going through the hassle of finding another DAC/AMP combo to better compliment the Utopia and then having to sell my old set up and possibly my LCD-4s. I was on the fence on whether or not to keep it, but after the driver failed, I decided against it. 

 

[zolkis]

I will be returning the Focal Utopia to the dealer. To my ears, the Focal Utopia was on the bright side, with harsh peaks. 

 
I had the same impression of the Focal Utopia. In some respects I liked the Elear more than the Utopia. However, IMHO both fall against the best planars and e-stats, and even more, I'd any day choose a HD800 over both.

 

[rgs9200m]

So Zolkis, are you saying the Utopia is actually more fatiguing in the upper frequencies than even the HD800? Thank you.

 

[zolkis]

  So Zolkis, are you saying the Utopia is actually more fatiguing in the upper frequencies than even the HD800? Thank you.

 
That depends on the person - I hear some hardness in the Utopia sound, but it's different than the HD800 issue with 6kHz peak. Overall the HD800 feels more balanced and more enjoyable overall. The Utopia is still a very good headphone, let's say it doesn't feel perfect, or I expected more for that price - I expected it to be on 009 level at least with some musical genres, but I doubt it can get close in any (unlike the HD800 which is quite special with classical music).
It's a bit interesting how different the Elear is from Utopia, somehow they highlight each other's weaknesses.
Beware that all this is based only on a short listening. I will do some more listening, but my interest has dropped in them.

 

[rgs9200m]

Thanks Zolkis. I like how you mentioned texture.
Sometimes people just mention frequency response, but texture (such as hardness, silkyness, organic-feeling, liquidity, bass-softness) is just as important and often overlooked.
That I find really determines whether I like a headphone or not, so again, thanks for that insight.
 
Not to go too off-track here, but my favorite texture is in the Stax SR007 mk2, the LCD4, the Senn HD650/600 and the Grado PS1000e.
These headphones also have the best frequency balance to my ears, a Goldilocks balance, nothing overly peaky from highs to bass or in between.

 

[Fearless1]

Not to go too off-track here, but my favorite texture is in the Stax SR007 mk2, the LCD4, the Senn HD650/600 and the Grado PS1000e.

Subtract the Grado from your list and add the HE-6 or 500 and we have the same ears! I actually enjoy the LCD-4 much more then the SR007, it doesn't have the same sense of air between the notes, but it is just more fun.

 

[514077]

  I feel a little self conscious about my quick writeup. After only having a week to listen and a few hours to write I don't think I explained my thought clearly or in detail enough. Maybe this can serve as a decent impression for you guys going forward though. Here is my comparison of the Utopia to some headphones including the LCD-4.
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/817662/focal-utopia-loaner-program/15#post_12854436
 
One thing I didn't mention is the best thing the Utopia does is reproduce Piano extremely well. I might make an edit to that original post or make another post entirely regarding that.

Just wanted to say I enjoyed your honesty.  The way Tyll was going on, one would think the universe changed or something.  Hope one day to have a crack at LCD-4, and was reassured by your thoughts.
Thanks for taking the time.

 

[Hifi59]

Subtract the Grado from your list and add the HE-6 or 500 and we have the same ears! I actually enjoy the LCD-4 much more then the SR007, it doesn't have the same sense of air between the notes, but it is just more fun.

Fearless1....we have the same ears!

 

[Dillan]

Just wanted to say I enjoyed your honesty.  The way Tyll was going on, one would think the universe changed or something.  Hope one day to have a crack at LCD-4, and was reassured by your thoughts.
Thanks for taking the time.

Thanks I really appreciate that. I actually met tyll in person. Super cool guy. His preferences and opinions differ greatly from mine. He uses frequency charts as a foundation to shape his opinion of what he hears which is a backwards way of doing things. He also neglects to mention the exact equipment he uses in his full reviews.

I'd rather watch and read his reviews than almost anyone else's but to me he could improve his way of doing some things.. Not to say his opinion and tastes would ever match mine anyway.. Which is just fine!

 

[mulder01]

He uses frequency charts as a foundation to shape his opinion of what he hears which is a backwards way of doing things. 

 
Nothin' like a bit of expectation bias to help shape your opinion