[Liu Junyuan]

Utopia's landed on Wednesday. They are thus far the best headphones I have ever heard or owned; period. I have much more to say, but let this suffice for now.
 
They seem to be more impervious to amplification pairing than other headphones, most notably the Sennheiser dynamics, but they scale very well with source. This is a good thing, since they cost so much already. Although I would never recommend anyone paying full retail for the Utopia, these are at least one of the few headphones that is finally worthy, in terms of comfort, build quality, and sonics, of flagship status.

 

[jamato8]

Listening to the Dire Straights, Love Over Gold. Huge soundstage but great imaging. Unlike some large sound fields that also spread the preciseness of the sound, the sound filed is large but with precision and beautiful harmonics and tonality. 

 

[pervysage]

Should stop reading all these positive comments.
 
Making the wait that much harder 

 

[phonomat]

   
Here's another data point, the Hugo is a bit on the thin side of things for me and to be honest with overly accentuated the treble with my HD800S and former TH-900s; while I appreciate what it did and how it revolutionized portable audio, I wasn't too big a fan. The TT and Utopia (listening to them right now) is brilliant and is a considerable upgrade to my Mojo  (which I prefer to the Hugo actually) and the TT is a lot bigger sounding, balanced and can really data mine the last details from the recordings that the Mojo really seems to gloss over at best. Actually the TT --> Utopia is truly endgame territory to my ears. Simply magical...gonna be a long night! Apologies to your wallet. 

 

 
 

  I bought a Hugo a few months ago while demoing Mr Speaker Ether C.  I took it home to use with my HD800, and found it was bright.  After I while I sold the Hugo because it felt unpleasant with the Sennheisers.

 
So this is where you people are hiding! I share these sentiments completely, especially the lack of synergy with the TH-900, yet felt so alone trying to share them in the Hugo thread. Well, I guess that's just the nature of things, isn't it. 

 

[BrutalLegend]

Is the headband on the Elear and Utopia replaceable?

 

[nickif]

Today I walked into my favorite headphone dealer, had a listen to the Utopia for 15 mins, then I picked up the Elear for a comparison. 5 mins later I found myself walking to the cashier with the Utopia in my hand...

 

[TSAVJason]

Today I walked into my favorite headphone dealer, had a listen to the Utopia for 15 mins, then I picked up the Elear for a comparison. 5 mins later I found myself walking to the cashier with the Utopia in my hand...

Very cool!

 

[jamato8]

Today I walked into my favorite headphone dealer, had a listen to the Utopia for 15 mins, then I picked up the Elear for a comparison. 5 mins later I found myself walking to the cashier with the Utopia in my hand...

 
Wait until they get some real time on them. I went to bed last night and thought, well as they burn in, they may not sound as good this morning, as I have experienced the up and down of burn-in effects on the sound. . . . This morning, they sound even better.  I have never heard headphones like this before. 

 

[snk8699]

Today I walked into my favorite headphone dealer, had a listen to the Utopia for 15 mins, then I picked up the Elear for a comparison. 5 mins later I found myself walking to the cashier with the Utopia in my hand...

I am seriously jealous. You and many others are lucky enough to have a dealer or local shop to audition all the latest addictions in this hobby and make the most informed decisions.

I agree with others that 5 minutes is not long enough to intimately know a headphone, especially when it's not on your own system; however, your ears will never lie to you. You know your own personal preferences and if something isn't right it will stand out immediately. I hope the Utopia sounds just as amazing on your own system as it did in the shop.

 

[nickif]

I am seriously jealous. You and many others are lucky enough to have a dealer or local shop to audition all the latest addictions in this hobby and make the most informed decisions.

I agree with others that 5 minutes is not long enough to intimately know a headphone, especially when it's not on your own system; however, your ears will never lie to you. You know your own personal preferences and if something isn't right it will stand out immediately. I hope the Utopia sounds just as amazing on your own system as it did in the shop.

Thanks! This is the one of the amazing things living in Hong Kong, you can get anything be it newly announced or 50-year vintage stuff from anywhere almost instantly for 10mins walk.

I was a little hesitant in the store as the Utopia sounds a bit harsh in the high through Hugo, when Inplugged into my own system the worry instantly went away as it simply is not. The scalability of the Utopia is amazing.

Now it's burning in in my own system...

 

[nickif]

I've tried to pair the Utopia with different desktop/portable sources, although all of them can drive them to a listenable SPL the fact is it immediately tells you whether it is a good one or bad one without any hesitance. Like a punch in the face "stop feeding me with the crap"

 

[Toolman]

Today I walked into my favorite headphone dealer, had a listen to the Utopia for 15 mins, then I picked up the Elear for a comparison. 5 mins later I found myself walking to the cashier with the Utopia in my hand...

Looks like a normal practice for most who audition Utopia...so that's perfectly cool and normal behaviour 

  If you were to audition the Elear in isolation, you would say it is an excellent headphone...but when you put on Utopia, there's just no going back

 

[TSAVJason]

I've tried to pair the Utopia with different desktop/portable sources, although all of them can drive them to a listenable SPL the fact is it immediately tells you whether it is a good one or bad one without any hesitance. Like a punch in the face "stop feeding me with the crap"

Did you buy your Utopia from a Richcom store?

 

[snk8699]

There seems to be a consensus that the Utopia stock cable ergonomics are less than desirable. I personally don't have a problem with the length, but is everyone replacing it with an aftermarket? For those that are replacing them, are you choosing silver or copper? I don't want to spark a cable debate, but ergonomic comfort is important for enjoying any headphone. I apologize if this has been addressed earlier in the thread.

 

[ubs28]

 
  If you were to audition the Elear in isolation, you would say it is an excellent headphone...but when you put on Utopia, there's just no going back

What's the difference between the Elear and Utopia if both have the same pads (so the frequency response is the same)?