Focal Elear and Utopia Review / Preview With Measurements - Head-Fi TV

[XERO1]

 
 
Not to feed the hype but its a new day... for real. 

 

 
 
I'm a Sennheiser lover but Tyll has convinced me.  I'll have a listen and buy accordingly.   Tyll's comments seem far too positive but I'm taking the bait! 
 

 
I just want to clarify something to anybody who hasn't actually heard the Elear or Utopia yet, but may be starting to sip the Kool-Aid (new Berry Hype-a-licious flavor!) a little.
 
Though wonderful sounding, both the Elear and Utopia are still very much relatively conventional headphones, and still sound like relatively conventional headphones.
 
They do not radically redefine what a headphone can be, but ​instead they push the limits of how good a relatively conventional headphone (dynamic, planar magnetic, electrostatic, etc.) can sound.
 
I just want to try and make sure everyone has realistic expectations.  And whenever possible, always try before you buy!  

 

[grizzlybeast]

 

 
 
Not to feed the hype but its a new day... for real. 

 

 
 
I'm a Sennheiser lover but Tyll has convinced me.  I'll have a listen and buy accordingly.   Tyll's comments seem far too positive but I'm taking the bait! 
 

 
I just want to clarify something to anybody who hasn't actually heard the Elear or Utopia yet, but may be starting to sip the Kool-Aid (new Berry Hype-a-licious flavor!) a little.
 
Though wonderful sounding, both the Elear and Utopia are still very much relatively conventional headphones, and still sound like relatively conventional headphones.
 
They do not radically redefine what a headphone can be, but ​instead they push the limits of how good a relatively conventional headphone (dynamic, planar magnetic, electrostatic, etc.) can sound.
 
I just want to try and make sure everyone has realistic expectations.  And whenever possible, always try before you buy!  

I agree. 
 
However, if someone is going to wait for more impressions on these I really don't think it is necessary. If you can't try before you buy and depend on impressions, I believe there is a wealth of solid ones already. Some have no way of trying them. 
 
 
You can count on the hp market to shift. It already has begun to shift with the 800S being smoothed out but these releases solidify the shift and folks like me can happily await future releases of natural yet clear sounding headphones. 
 
I really believe that, because mfg's will see the success of these headphones, start tuning with measurements to a more natural response, and release headphones that are less polarizing. They will realize detail doesn't have to mean lean and cold. 
 
Beyer is trying but have had some shortcomings along the way. So though the dawn was long ago and people like @zach915m of ZMF have been trying this for a while, the bigger companies will do it as well. Maybe they did use measurements but graphs don't look like they have and hardly any of them over 750USD measure with as generally agreeable of a tuning as the Elear and Utopia does. 
 
I mean how long have people been wanting a super HD650? meaning better treble and bass extension with a bigger soundstage and less grain? Forever... yet no one answered the call. 
 
I am not surprised it is Focal though. Their lower tiered headphones had good balance and their speakers do to. 

 

[TSAVJason]

why wait. There has been enough reporting already. burn in shmurn-in. Impressions will still be so close. burnin can only do a little bit. 

I brought them to the meet and everyone loved the Elears... EVERYONE. 

Not to feed the hype but its a new day... for real. 

And those headphones we sent were not near break in. So you can understand that break in only improves them yet they are great right out of the box! I think those had one day (7 hours) on them from the SF meet. Steve McCoin's group has them this weekend. I'm pretty sure we'll more great impressions out of the Chicago meet.

 

[grizzlybeast]

 

why wait. There has been enough reporting already. burn in shmurn-in. Impressions will still be so close. burnin can only do a little bit. 

I brought them to the meet and everyone loved the Elears... EVERYONE. 

Not to feed the hype but its a new day... for real. 

And those headphones we sent were not near break in. So you can understand that break in only improves them yet they are great right out of the box! I think those had one day (7 hours) on them from the SF meet. Steve McCoin's group has them this weekend. I'm pretty sure we'll more great impressions out of the Chicago meet.

yeah because unfortunately no one is really sharing from the Seattle meet. But I am sure some impressions will pop up here or there. Chicago is a big city though. I have always wanted to visit one of the UniFi's. I will someday for sure. 

 

[meomap]

Hi,
 
From Tyll's video of Utopia's review today, he mentioned the twerking/tweaking sound when you rotate the CUPS. It's a minor flaw design or something?
At SF hp meeting, I heard the same thing when I hold the Utopia and rotated around. Did not hear that sound from the Elear.
 
Did anyone pay attention to that sound?
 
I think I wore and rotated my neck and heard that faint sound too. Now, that Tyll mentioned that again in the video.
 
Just a thought.

 

[1c3d0g]

No, it's not a flaw. If you look closely at this video, they talk about why it was done that way (to make it rotate properly so it can fit on anyone's head):
 
https://youtu.be/jVUG6ewo_J4?t=1528

 

[Tyll Hertsens]

  From Tyll's video of Utopia's review today, he mentioned the twerking/tweaking sound when you rotate the CUPS. It's a minor flaw design or something?
 

No, i was talking about the sound changing as you slide the headphones forward and back on the head. Not rotation.

 

[phase0]

I know it's not mentioned in the review, wondering any thoughts Utopia vs Abyss? If I'm saving my pennies I can maybe convince myself to get one flagship. It sounds like Focal is the way to go. What audio software are you using for playback to integrate Equilibrium EQ? I don't consider myself a bass head but I definitely like a bit more in the region than some (I "hated" the HD800... maybe hate is too strong but no way I would ever buy them.) That review almost convinces me that I should blind buy but that's a lot of money without hearing a demo.

 

[deafdoorknob]

does anyone know if jacks on the cup-end of the Elear recessed? (ie for aftermarket cables, would I need those extended 3.5mm plugs or would the regular 3.5 mm plugs suffice?)

thanks

 

[potkettleblack]

Removed

 

[deafdoorknob]

Tyll should talk more about genre restrictions in his reviews. Going by impressions (including his) it would seem hip hop, EDM etc will not be suited for the Utopia, where as everything else would - which is great for many. I would imagine classical/vocals/acoustic sounds great. If they don't have enough bass for Tyll, I'm struggling to see how they would for me. That kind of information is crucial in this hobby but is rarely brought up until owners themselves provide feedback.

they were playing some James Blake and downtempo cuts at the show, I would say utopia's quantity was around the same as Ether Open Flow, and that the impact of the Elear on the same tracks were more satisfying to me, if perhaps a little less precise.

I would say that for open cans, any audeze LCD models are still unsurpassed when it comes to the quantity vs quality vs scale delta imho.

 

[ubs28]

So the Utopia is even better than the Orpheus 2 according to Tyll since it is the best headphone in the world? $4k is a bargin then.

 

[mdoxey73]

  But I listened to them at a very high level with James Blake - Limit To Your Love (a real bass torture test) and I didn't notice any significant distortion, so the Utopia looks like it should have some extra headroom for EQing the low bass, if you should desire to.  Also, both the Utopia and Elear are very comfortable and their weight is very well distributed and was never an issue for me.
 
 

 
Thanks for mentioning that James Blake track. I had never heard it before, but it will now be my go to for bass testing.

 

[potkettleblack]

Removed

 

[Zojokkeli]

TH900's are great for bass-heavy music.