[james6333]

Thanks I appreciate your willingness to help.

At the end of the day, I decided to return the Utopias to the retailer I purchased them from. I spent hours comparing the Utopia's to my SR-009's on my own equipment on music that I was familiar with. Yes, the treble detail was amazing, and when I initially listened to them, I thought they really were the headphones "to rule them all." However, when I then did back-to-back comparisons with my SR-009's driven by a Woo WES, I realized that I far preferred the tonal balance of the SR-009's. Comparatively, the Utopias were bright and sometimes fatiguing. And for some types of music (i.e. EDM and pop), the Utopia's were so bright that I would even call them harsh and unpleasant. Based on all the online reviews, and the Utopia "name," I was expecting a lot more. Now, could this have been from the Benchmark DAC2? Well maybe, but it was also the source DAC for my SR-009's and HE1000's, neither of which I thought was particularly bright (especially not the HE1000's). 

Don't let people tell you the Benchmark is bad. I let people talk me out of mine and it was a mistake. It was the best DAC I have owned.

I have the Elears (now given to the wife) and I think they suck. The Mids are colored (upper hole) and when combined with the ripe bass with soft rough treble they end up being super dull and unnatural sounding.

Last week I compared the Elear to the LCD-X, LCD-3, HD800S, GS1000e, PS500e (Also mine), GH-1, and a few others all on the same sources. The Elear was my LEAST favorite. The Elears have no stand out good point and is all around average.. The other headphones also had issues but they also had a stong point of some kind.

I dislike the Elear enough that I have lost interest in the Utopia.

 

[TimeLord]

Don't let people tell you the Benchmark is bad. I let people talk me out of mine and it was a mistake. It was the best DAC I have owned.

I have the Elears (now given to the wife) and I think they suck. The Mids are colored (upper hole) and when combined with the ripe bass with soft rough treble they end up being super dull and unnatural sounding.

Last week I compared the Elear to the LCD-X, LCD-3, HD800S, GS1000e, PS500e (Also mine), GH-1, and a few others all on the same sources. The Elear was my LEAST favorite. The Elears have no stand out good point and is all around average.. The other headphones also had issues but they also had a stong point of some kind.

I dislike the Elear enough that I have lost interest in the Utopia.

That's disappointing. I still haven't heard the Elear and I'm looking forward to hearing it one of these days.

On the other hand, I am loving the Utopia. You should at least give it a shot and see what you think.

 

[james6333]

^

I will still give it a try but I am no longer in a hurry to travel (two hours) to my "local" deal.

 

[JohnnyCakes]

Don't let people tell you the Benchmark is bad. I let people talk me out of mine and it was a mistake. It was the best DAC I have owned.

I have the Elears (now given to the wife) and I think they suck. The Mids are colored (upper hole) and when combined with the ripe bass with soft rough treble they end up being super dull and unnatural sounding.

Last week I compared the Elear to the LCD-X, LCD-3, HD800S, GS1000e, PS500e (Also mine), GH-1, and a few others all on the same sources. The Elear was my LEAST favorite. The Elears have no stand out good point and is all around average.. The other headphones also had issues but they also had a stong point of some kind.

I dislike the Elear enough that I have lost interest in the Utopia.

 
clear bias and agenda showing through.  take a time-out and collect yourself. 

 

[james6333]

 
clear bias and agenda showing through.  take a time-out and collect yourself. 

There is a bias but it is not with me as I OWN them and they get zero head time.

They sound just like the tonal balance measures


Here is a good song to try out on your Elears...

https://youtu.be/N1cbsLKXasQ

 

[TSAVJason]

There is a bias but it is not with me as I OWN them and they get zero head time.

They sound just like the tonal balance measures


Here is a good song to try out on your Elears...

https://youtu.be/N1cbsLKXasQ

I've said and likely hundreds before me, there is no one headphone that pleases everyone. So I respect your opinion. From what you've said I agree, it absolutely seems like the Elear is not your kind of headphone.

Maybe your dealer will let you trade them for something else? Just a thought.

Oh on the Peppers cover of Roller Coaster? Well, I do like the groove, the tune and their rendition but that recording is not something I'd use to discern linear or balanced tonality on any headphone .......in my opinion. :thumbsup_tone1:

 

[james6333]

^

Posted in irony of the tonal balance "love rollercoaster"

My wife likes them so they are hers now. I am not hard up for cash and don't really care. The local deal did offer a trade but they will just live in the wife's home office.

She only listens to country (I hate it) and they seem ok with her music that is recorded with weak bass and twangy Mids

 

[nvfan]

Don't let people tell you the Benchmark is bad. I let people talk me out of mine and it was a mistake. It was the best DAC I have owned.

I have the Elears (now given to the wife) and I think they suck. The Mids are colored (upper hole) and when combined with the ripe bass with soft rough treble they end up being super dull and unnatural sounding.

Last week I compared the Elear to the LCD-X, LCD-3, HD800S, GS1000e, PS500e (Also mine), GH-1, and a few others all on the same sources. The Elear was my LEAST favorite. The Elears have no stand out good point and is all around average.. The other headphones also had issues but they also had a stong point of some kind.

I dislike the Elear enough that I have lost interest in the Utopia.

 
Amusingly I have the opposite opinion. I feel like the Elear punches above it's weight class or at the very least is unique that it's a HD650-type balanced sound at it's price point, and has better (acoustically) ear pads than the Utopias. It was the Utopia's that I felt lacking. It had cleaner treble than the HD800S but the near complete tradeoff of soundstage compared to other large flagship cans just made it sound claustrophobic and not worth the price of admission.

 

[mvride]

Liquid carbon works very well for me

 

[pervysage]

   
Amusingly I have the opposite opinion. I feel like the Elear punches above it's weight class or at the very least is unique that it's a HD650-type balanced sound at it's price point, and has better (acoustically) ear pads than the Utopias. It was the Utopia's that I felt lacking. It had cleaner treble than the HD800S but the near complete tradeoff of soundstage compared to other large flagship cans just made it sound claustrophobic and not worth the price of admission.

 
The "claustrophobic" feel one gets when first trying the Utopia is something people hear after getting used to the HD800's really wide soundstage (IMO). After you adjust to it (and after a fresh Utopia breaks in properly), the Utopia soundstage sounds a lot more natural than the HD800 (IMO). 

 

[Mortalcoil]

  I received my replacement Utopia form The SourceAV yesterday. I reported the issue on Wednesday night, go the UPS call tag that evening, ship them back on Thursday morning and Monday i got my new ones. Now, that's what I call service!! Thank you Jason! 

 
I could not resist to wait for the whole burn-in process and did a quick listening last night out of my WA5-LE and using the Dana Reference cable. Wow! They sound amazing! The source was a Mac Mini dedicated server with LPS running JRiver connected to a Bricasti M1 using WireWorld Platinum Starlight USB and Wyred4sound Recovery in the chain.
 
Next will be listening to the Utopia/Dana Reference out of the Well's Audio Enigma (upgraded) with a Aurender N10 as source connceted via digital XLR (WireWorld Gold Eclipse) to a Bricasti M1.
 
Can't wait for the Utopia and Dana reference get fully burned in!

 Good to hear ! Hope you enjoy them as much as I am 

  
 

 

  waiting list for a 4,000 dollar HD....go figure

My dealer said Focal only has one line producing the Utopia headphones by hand and although they trickle in on a regular basis, it would likely be end of October before they made it through the waiting list and got to me.  I like my dealer and want to support him so haven't checked if other folks have a waiting list as well but suspect they do.
 
On a related note, anyone know where I can buy Elear replacement pads so I can use them on the Utopia?  I've checked online and don't see them for sale anywhere.  Still working my way through this thread so apologies if already listed somewhere.

  
 
My understanding (according to my dealer) and the Canadian distributor out of Edmonton here in Canada the Utopia is being produced at a rate of 10 per day.  Sorry can't help you on the pads.

 

[FocalOfficial]

Dear all,
 
Once again, let me thank you all for your interest in our new headphones, Utopia and Elear which meet a great success worldwide.
We carefully read all your messages on Head-Fi and we appreciate your comments and suggestions about potential improvements on our products. Indeed, we noticed that you are numerous to ask other types of accessories (cables, connectors, pads) supplied with the headphones. For this reason, all the Focal Team decided to open a new thread and give you the opportunity to help us develop the best possible products: http://www.head-fi.org/t/822133/your-suggestions-about-utopia-elear
 
So please, feel free to make your suggestions about what you would like us to add or change on Elear and Utopia (connectors, cables, pads, etc.). The Headphones Team will carefully study each and every suggestion, select the most relevant and do their best to satisfy you.
 
Finally, I will keep you informed of which decisions we made
 
Don't forget to be reasonable … or not
 
Best regards,
Marine, Community Manager Focal

 

[james6333]

Amusingly I have the opposite opinion. I feel like the Elear punches above it's weight class or at the very least is unique that it's a HD650-type balanced sound at it's price point, and has better (acoustically) ear pads than the Utopias. It was the Utopia's that I felt lacking. It had cleaner treble than the HD800S but the near complete tradeoff of soundstage compared to other large flagship cans just made it sound claustrophobic and not worth the price of admission.

I can see this happening if you put a priority on soundstage. It is low on my list as speakers are so much better I don't even try to get soundstage with headphones.

I did think the imaging was pretty good with the Elear when watching blu Ray concerts.

 

[Soundizer]

Does anyone know how the sound stage compares to HD600/650's? It think the Senn HD600/650's have good sound stage but obviously not in the same league as HD800/800S.

However in the UK THE HD650 is £233 vs £800 for Elear. If the Elear has a smaller sound stage than the Senn 600/650 then i might reconsider purchasing the Elear because for £800 we should be given better quality soundstage to £233 headphones.

 

[BrutalLegend]

If I remember correctly, the elear has a wider soundstage than the HD600/HD650 but not as wide as the HD800/HD800S.