The 3kUSD sonic difference boiling down to a difference in pad is hard to swallow it seems
If you think that, you might want to re-read Jude's posts. And mine. The tonality difference is down to the pads. But the Utopia still sounds better than the Elear, even with the Elear pads. I just think the Utopia with stock pads sounds better than with Elear pads and that's what he's disagreeing with me about. This is not a surprise to me as we talk about it all the time. He's a bass player and loves bass in his headphones. I like bass, but prefer a more balanced signature.