[Vartan]

40mm 

 

[JayLam]

   
I believe (and I'm sure Jason will correct me if I'm wrong) they're selling Blue Heaven in SE and Heimdall II in balanced.

Hype for the review on Utopia with Nordost cable! Exciting!
I hope any rich rich will update the cable to Nordost Valhalla or Odin, i think such flagship headphones deserve them. Exciting!

 

[cladane]

   
Both are available now (with limited quantities) exclusively at The Source AV.  http://thesourceav.com/

Waiting for the availability in France. Been informed that C&H has asked Focal for unit tests.

 

[Luric]

I'm listening both headphones now but I can't upload any photos at head-fi.org yet. Plus, I had a chance to compare Utopia headphone with Grande Utopia EM speakers. That was truly pleasing and a kind of seamless experience between headphones and loud speakers.

 

[AxelCloris]

 
40mm 

 
What's saddening about 40mm?

 

[mtoc]

Lord! isn't Be poison?

 

[james6333]

I'm listening both headphones now but I can't upload any photos at head-fi.org yet. Plus, I had a chance to compare Utopia headphone with Grande Utopia EM speakers. That was truly pleasing and a kind of seamless experience between headphones and loud speakers.

I would like to hear more about this experience.

 

[Stillhart]

   
40mm 

 
If you watch Jude's video, they address the driver size.  It was picked for a very specific reason.  I am pretty sure it wasn't "well 50mm would sound better but we're only charging $4k so we should go with the 40mm".  

 

Lord! isn't Be poison?

 
I chatted with Jason about this last week.  Apparently it is indeed toxic during the curing part of the process.  By the time it's in sheets ready for drivers to be stamped out, it's no longer toxic.

 

[grizzlybeast]

@Stillhart how does the elear compare to the He560 in technicalities. Specifically transparency, sound stage, imaging etc.  I already know I will prefer it tonally. 

 

[echineko]

 
I chatted with Jason about this last week.  Apparently it is indeed toxic during the curing part of the process.  By the time it's in sheets ready for drivers to be stamped out, it's no longer toxic.

I didn't even realize the toxic properties of Be until the earlier comment, I'd be interested to know more about the treatment as well, even if just high-level. But it's something that does seem to be more commonly used in speakers recently, so I'd imagine there's been time and effort spent in learning how to make it safe.

 

[Stillhart]

@Stillhart
 how does the elear compare to the He560 in technicalities. Specifically transparency, sound stage, imaging etc.  I already know I will prefer it tonally. 

I haven't had a chance to compare them directly yet as I loaned my 560's to a friend. From memory, I'd say they're pretty close in all those categories... Close enough that I don't feel comfortable making a comparison from memory.

 

[phase0]

  so I'd imagine there's been time and effort spent in learning how to make it safe.

 
I'm fairly cynical so I'd say a large corporation would use a material to intentionally poison humans (Monsanto). Audio is much more niche so I wouldn't automatically accuse Focal of something like that but since these elements are entering our lives I think we should absolutely ask the question. It should potentially even be a FAQ that they address.
 
Setting aside our lust for the latest and greatest new shiny for a moment. Companies should be responsible about sourcing materials as ethically as possible (avoid slave labor and lasting ecological destruction), ensure their workers don't face hazardous exposure, and especially that their end users aren't at any risk from long term exposure. These will also be right up next to your face where you breath etc. Like you, I tend to assume once cured there won't be micro particles flaking off that I'm inhaling resulting eventually in cancer but it doesn't hurt to ask. Are these materials safe and what kinds of measures have been taken to ensure this has been addressed? What kinds of research and studies have been done? Etc.

 

[Khragon]

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40mm 

They are probaly saving 50mm for v2 upgrade next year.

 

[bmichels]

I am really interested to hear from the first testers if Focal has succeded, with his "super open" design, to make those headphone sound more like a real 2 ways speaker system than any other headphones.

This was Focal main goal as they mention in the interview posted in Jude's video.

 

[Khragon]

Look like HD800 driver ia using this headless coil too right?

http://cdn.innerfidelity.com/images/sennheiser_HD800_Photo_wavefront.jpg