[jamato8]

I am looking forward to more impressions of the Utopia. :^)

 

[x RELIC x]

Great news for those up North. HeadphoneBar has the Elear in!! I almost grabbed a pair myself, but my interest lies in the Utopia. Go get 'em Canucks!

http://www.headphonebar.com/focal-elear/

 

[pervysage]

Great news for those up North. HeadphoneBar has the Elear in!! I almost grabbed a pair myself, but my interest lies in the Utopia. Go get 'em Canucks!

http://www.headphonebar.com/focal-elear/

Utopia page says they are in stock as well?

http://www.headphonebar.com/focal-utopia/

 

[x RELIC x]

Utopia page says they are in stock as well?

http://www.headphonebar.com/focal-utopia/

Awesome, must have just gone up as I posted. Utopia ordered! :eek:

 

[RedJohn456]

Great news for those up North. HeadphoneBar has the Elear in!! I almost grabbed a pair myself, but my interest lies in the Utopia. Go get 'em Canucks!

http://www.headphonebar.com/focal-elear/

The only time I wished that I lived on the west coast I hope Angies near Toronto gets it in. They are big Focal dealers too iirc. 

 

[x RELIC x]

The only time I wished that I lived on the west coast I hope Angies near Toronto gets it in. They are big Focal dealers too iirc. 

Tamal, Headphonebar is the launch point for Canada. Might be a while for other dealers. They'll ship for free to Toronto you know. :wink_face:

 

[pervysage]

Curious as to what genres of music people have been listening to when writing all these rave reviews and at the various shows?

Would the Utopia do well with electronic, rock and some hip-hop? Female vocals?

So far I have read that they could use a bit more bass but aren't anemic like the HD800.

 

[RedJohn456]

Tamal, Headphonebar is the launch point for Canada. Might be a while for other dealers. They'll ship for free to Toronto you know.

Ah too bard Craig I was hoping to audiiotn them  I have been REALLY on the hunt for a good all rounder that will work with my Top 40 stuff and the Elear looks to fit the bill pretty well. I have been enjoying the HD600 to the point that nothing else in my collection sounds good anymore so I am hoping the Elear will be a natural stepping stone for me. My birthday is next month so I might just get one somehow. 
 
Are you thinking of getting the Elear or Utopia?

 

[x RELIC x]

Ah too bard Craig I was hoping to audiiotn them  I have been REALLY on the hunt for a good all rounder that will work with my Top 40 stuff and the Elear looks to fit the bill pretty well. I have been enjoying the HD600 to the point that nothing else in my collection sounds good anymore so I am hoping the Elear will be a natural stepping stone for me. My birthday is next month so I might just get one somehow. 

Are you thinking of getting the Elear or Utopia?

Reading around it seems the Elear would be right up your alley. I think you'd really like them, but it's always wise to audition them first to be sure. Now as for me, I just ordered the Utopia.... Without an audition, hahaha.

 

[AxelCloris]

Curious as to what genres of music people have been listening to when writing all these rave reviews and at the various shows?

Would the Utopia do well with electronic, rock and some hip-hop? Female vocals?

So far I have read that they could use a bit more bass but aren't anemic like the HD800.

 
I demoed the Utopia with a range of genres. I listened to a few tracks including some electronic, jazz, pop and orchestral. The Utopia was able to handle all of them with ease. I don't think they need any more low end than they already have. We did the esteemed pad swap at the Chicago meet and I found myself preferring the stock pads over the warmer Elear pads, but to each their own. Some listeners seemed to prefer the Elear pads so I can only chock that up to personal tastes. As a side note the HD 800 are far from bass anemic when properly amped.

 

[elmura]

 

 NOTE: The measurements reflect diffuse field correction applied via the APx555's input EQ.

(Above) Frequency response: Focal Utopia with Elear pads (dotted blue line) and Sennheiser HD 800 (black dotted line). (Click on image to see full size.)​

 

 

I believe the diffuse field correction EQ applied to the measurements do not reflect what we hear with headphones at typical listening levels. I think it would be more informative to post the Raw frequency response.
 
Case in point, the Sennheiser HD 800 FR comparison shows a sharp drop at 3kHz & 10kHz. Not only do my own Sine Wave SPL audible tests highly disagree, but RAW measurements taken by InnerFidelity, Headroom, Goldenears etc show 3kHz to be close in SPL to the 6.3kHz peak. The main reason the Senn HD800 is bright sounding is the elevated FR between 3kHz & 7kHz, and a milder peak at 10kHz
 
The above graph alludes that the Utopia with Elear pads has a significant audible dip at 3.5 - 5.5kHz. I think you'll find, with SPL listening tests, that won't be the case.

 

[pervysage]

   
I demoed the Utopia with a range of genres. I listened to a few tracks including some electronic, jazz, pop and orchestral. The Utopia was able to handle all of them with ease. I don't think they need any more low end than they already have. We did the esteemed pad swap at the Chicago meet and I found myself preferring the stock pads over the warmer Elear pads, but to each their own. Some listeners seemed to prefer the Elear pads so I can only chock that up to personal tastes. As a side note the HD 800 are far from bass anemic when properly amped.

 
Yeah, I guess anemic was the wrong word to use there... but Utopia would be a lot less amp picky?

 

[james6333]

I believe the diffuse field correction EQ applied to the measurements do not reflect what we hear with headphones at typical listening levels. I think it would be more informative to post the Raw frequency response.

Case in point, the Sennheiser HD 800 FR comparison shows a sharp drop at 3kHz & 10kHz. Not only do my own Sine Wave SPL audible tests highly disagree, but RAW measurements taken by InnerFidelity, Headroom, Goldenears etc show 3kHz to be close in SPL to the 6.3kHz peak. The main reason the Senn HD800 is bright sounding is the elevated FR between 3kHz & 7kHz, and a milder peak at 10kHz

The above graph alludes that the Utopia with Elear pads has a significant audible dip at 3.5 - 5.5kHz. I think you'll find, with SPL listening tests, that won't be the case.

Good observation.

 

[grizzlybeast]

 

   
I demoed the Utopia with a range of genres. I listened to a few tracks including some electronic, jazz, pop and orchestral. The Utopia was able to handle all of them with ease. I don't think they need any more low end than they already have. We did the esteemed pad swap at the Chicago meet and I found myself preferring the stock pads over the warmer Elear pads, but to each their own. Some listeners seemed to prefer the Elear pads so I can only chock that up to personal tastes. As a side note the HD 800 are far from bass anemic when properly amped.

 
Yeah, I guess anemic was the wrong word to use there... but Utopia would be a lot less amp picky?

anemic was the right word used. As a headphone all by itself, it is inherently bass light. The same amp it shines on will most likely make any other bass light high impedance headphone warm. You'd be hard pressed to find a non-grado over 1k with less bass. But what is there is great and worth trying to bring out. 
 
The Utopia will be less picky, is easier to drive, and is naturally responsive to what the recording has. But its resolution and details really shine on a good amp with lots of detail. 

 

[pervysage]

I'm curious how the Utopia would do with gaming. Obviously they are meant for music and that will be the main use but I do game quite a bit so the more head time the Utopia would get every day, the more I could justify the huge price tag. I am not spending a ton of money on something to have it simply sit on the sidelines all the time.
 
From what I understand, the soundstage is more closed in than most high-end cans on the market right now which I suppose would be a negative from a gaming perspective. However, from impressions it seems the Utopia brings forth a super level of detail and nuances in everything it plays, which would be a positive thing. Anyone who has heard the Utopia and has experience with gaming on high-end cans want to give their thoughts on how the Utopia would perform?