[emptymt]

 

 
 

Yeah I'll give it a listen. I don't listen to anything extremely metal so I need to know what to listen for ha. By today's standard I would suspect that Metallica's new album isn't metal enough? My friend once told me how versatile the genre is now

 

yeah, metal is very versatile, it is understandable to state that some headphone may perform well on some sub-genre while being decent for others.
   
  hmm, I don't know a track that might be good for you.
   
  I think this is good since it has both harsh and smooth vocals.
   
 

 


Hi ,

I listened to this nice track with both the Utopia, the LCD-X, (and also the HD 800 because of the issue of fatigue for is crucial for listening to metal during long sessions).
The difference is like day and night: compared to the Utopia, the LCD-X sounds to me slow, dull, veiled, muddy, I miss a lot, the LCD-X can't keep up with the music in comparison (although it is already a great headphone). It does not best the Utopia for the bass, on this track the Utopia completely crushes the LCD-X in all respects.
I find that the distorted and confused vocals at about 6:00 are interesting because they fall under what I find fatiguing on both hps, but I find that the Utopia is actually less fatiguing (maybe because better resolved and less confusing without being bright? the HD 800 could resolve them but it somewhat too bright here?).
I find that the electric guitar at 7:40 is fatiguing on the HD 800 (bright), also on the LCD-X (fails at resolving properly) and the least fatiguing on the Utopia (resolves well without brightness).

thx mate, I've since opt for MDR-Z1R since I need the isolation.
 
The Utopia seems to be an excellent headphone, I definitely agree with your opinion on the HD800, so I think your impression could mirror mind if I audition the Utopia(hopefully sometime soon), but Opeth is one of my favourite band, and so if it's fatigueing on the Utopia, it's no good for me and not worth spending the 4K USD on it, it also leaks like crazy and can't be used at work.
 
very nice post though...
 
btw I listen to all kinds of metal, but mainly the Extreme stuff

 

[theorist]

  no question,with the utopia you will hear the recording warts and all...the good ones will sound glorious and the bad ones will be exposed as being really bad

However, JLBRACH after two or three hundred hours of the Utopia's burn-in, the bad ones will not be as painful as they are in the first hours of initial use!

 

[jlbrach]

 
However, JLBRACH after two or three hundred hours of the Utopia's burn-in, the bad ones will not be as painful as they are in the first hours of initial use!

I have put more than 300 hours on my Utopia's and the good recordings still sound glorious and the poor recordings still sound lousy!

 

[MacedonianHero]

  no question,with the utopia you will hear the recording warts and all...the good ones will sound glorious and the bad ones will be exposed as being really bad

For me that's a great test of a headphone's level of transparency...and the Utopias are very hard to beat here.

 

[BunnyNamedCraig]

Dang I missed the boat on trying metal with said headphones! I apologize.... I am always up for expanding my headphone knowledge by new genres. I bet there is ton of songs that could help me test speed of different cans

 

[dreambass]

I been burning in my Elear and Utopia the last 2-3 week straight, not much time to listen.  today I had some time I feel the Elear is 60% the Utopia (if that!) it is for sure several notches better.

I got several hp's here like the LCD-x, HD800, and Elear.  I think Im going to start thinning the herd as Utopia can just do it all.

Im still not sure what electronics to run, I have a m51 and taurus mk2.  but these are so low maintenance I thinking I may try a DAP, or  a portable amp/dac 

That is comical, a whole part of the music spectrum, or to put it another way a few musical instruments would need to be missing lol. Nearly cracked a rib reading that!

 

[phase0]

I heard the Elear at a local shop last weekend and I didn't like it. I'd call it "garbage" but that's probably way too harsh. I already have the Utopia and I heard the Elear coming out of an iPad to some Rane amp embedded in the counter top. Trying to be fair if I was coming from the lower end it was decent. They offered to let me hear it through a Moon 430HA and I should have taken them up on it. I just wanted to hear it real quick, not really evaluate it. The impression I walked out of there with was that the Utopia was a no brainer (the high cost aside). Then again I wonder how it would sound on my setup. I think I prefer the way the Elear looks except for the dust/lint that the ear pads collected.
 
Another music suggest I picked up from Badas in another thread a while back: Melody Gardot - The Absence

 

[Sonic Defender]

That is comical, a whole part of the music spectrum, or to put it another way a few musical instruments would need to be missing lol. Nearly cracked a rib reading that!

He was saying the Utopia is several notches better.

 

[tradyblix]

  He was saying the Utopia is several notches better.

 
I mean one would truly hope it is since it's also 3,000 dollars more lol 

 

[meomap]

He was saying the Utopia is several notches better.

It is. Focal is not stupid.

 

[meomap]

Once, you get Utopia. You will know when comparing to Elear.
I got Elear first before Utopia. No looking back afterwards.
Now, looking for ultimate tube amp besides WA6SE.
Any recommendations?

 

[TSAVJason]

Once, you get Utopia. You will know when comparing to Elear.
I got Elear first before Utopia. No looking back afterwards.
Now, looking for ultimate tube amp besides WA6SE.
Any recommendations?

SE or Balanced or both?

 

[goldendarko]

http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/focal-utopia-headphones-1/

New Utopia review from Absolute Sound, looks like they are big fans

 

[meomap]

SE or Balanced or both?

Actually eyeing on ALO Studio Six and saving my dough for this winter.
Want to get a dedicate phono preamp first. Kind of Vinyl addiction right now. It's much more enjoyable right now than digital.

 

[goldendarko]

Actually eyeing on ALO Studio Six and saving my dough for this winter.
Want to get a dedicate phono preamp first. Kind of Vinyl addiction right now. It's much more enjoyable right now than digital.

I can testify my Studio Six is awesome with the Utopia, really good synergy.

I'm on a vinyl kick right now too myself, just got my first turntable for Christmas and I've been buying so many records my wife's starting to ask where I plan to store them all lol