[diver110]

I recently had the chance to compare these two sets of headphones. It was fairly brief, but FWIW: The both have the same sonic signature. At four times the price, one would hope that the Utopia would be better and it was, but no where near four times better. If I push it, maybe I can say 20% better. More detail, more musical, singers sounded more life-like. I think in a short listening session, it would not make that much difference to have the Utopia instead of the Elears. But for a longer session, I think the Utopia would make for a more enjoyable session with less listener fatigue. One would have to have a pretty good budget to justify the expense, with one proviso: I did not know (and now cannot recall the name of) the DAC the store was using, price-wise it was middle of the pack (around $1000, as I recall). So perhaps with, say, a Hugo 2 the Utopia would have a bigger lead.

 

[nordkapp]

At four times the price, one would hope that the Utopia would be better and it was, but no where near four times better.

That's why I went with the Elear too.

 

[up late]

I recently had the chance to compare these two sets of headphones. It was fairly brief, but FWIW: The both have the same sonic signature. At four times the price, one would hope that the Utopia would be better and it was, but no where near four times better. If I push it, maybe I can say 20% better. More detail, more musical, singers sounded more life-like. I think in a short listening session, it would not make that much difference to have the Utopia instead of the Elears. But for a longer session, I think the Utopia would make for a more enjoyable session with less listener fatigue. One would have to have a pretty good budget to justify the expense, with one proviso: I did not know (and now cannot recall the name of) the DAC the store was using, price-wise it was middle of the pack (around $1000, as I recall). So perhaps with, say, a Hugo 2 the Utopia would have a bigger lead.

i don't know how you go about quantifying performance but if you think the utopia is up to 20% better than the elear, then paying the higher price will be worth it for some folks