[bpcans]

And started a small riot over there. Just kidding, nice review/comparison.

JLoud, those Abyss 1266 Phi TC owners are a feisty bunch aren’t they? It’s like they are all enamored and captivated by the uniqueness of their very less then comfortable $5K headphones. “Oh my god! There’s so much bass with these Phi TC’s that nothing else can ever come close to all of this fantastic bass slam.” And then they invariably add some sort of childish personal insult. You just gotta love it don’t cha?

 

[LCMusicLover]

FYI, I just posted a comparison of Utopia vs Abyss TC playing classical piano music on the TC thread:

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/the-jps-labs-abyss-ab-1266-impressions-thread.666765/post-16376619

And started a small riot over there. Just kidding, nice review/comparison.

JLoud, those Abyss 1266 Phi TC owners are a feisty bunch aren’t they? It’s like they are all enamored and captivated by the uniqueness of their very less then comfortable $5K headphones. “Oh my god! There’s so much bass with these Phi TC’s that nothing else can ever come close to all of this fantastic bass slam.” And then they invariably add some sort of childish personal insult. You just gotta love it don’t cha?

And yet ... while not calling Utopia 'bass-lite' and certainly not criticizing the quality of its bass ... I will say that there are TOTL cans with more bass than Utopia. It may be that those cans are tuned to emphasize bass, while Utopia is tuned to emphasize the whole frequency spectrum (with perhaps some extra emphasis on treble/upper mids).

It's interesting how, if you pay attention, the bass notes are there, and very well-presented. But at the same time, they don't 'stick out'.

 

[iDesign]

As it relates to the review, the Utopia is outstanding in terms of its technical prowess, speed, and tuning which allow it to perfectly reproduce the piano. I hope Focal does not change the near perfect tuning of the Utopia in the future because it becomes a question of trade offs and some things are best left alone. Can they improve it? Perhaps, but they should attempt it under a different model and nameplate because the Utopia as it stands is damn fine— some artists just can’t top their debut release in this business.

 

[Slim1970]

And yet ... while not calling Utopia 'bass-lite' and certainly not criticizing the quality of its bass ... I will say that there are TOTL cans with more bass than Utopia. It may be that those cans are tuned to emphasize bass, while Utopia is tuned to emphasize the whole frequency spectrum (with perhaps some extra emphasis on treble/upper mids).

It's interesting how, if you pay attention, the bass notes are there, and very well-presented. But at the same time, they don't 'stick out'.

I have both the TC and Utopia and I agree with you. The Utopia's are very well balanced across the entire frequency spectrum. The TC's as good as they are lacks the midrange prowess of the Utopia's and Susvara's in my opinion. Compared to the Utopia's, the midrange on the TC's lacks some body and forwardness. The midrange sits ever so slightly behind the bass and treble response on the TC's. This is not the case with the Utopia's.

 

[up late]

And started a small riot over there. Just kidding, nice review/comparison.

you gotta luv @ken6217

 

[llamaluv]

Having owned the Utopia not just once but twice, I think my opinion on its merits should be twice as valid as that of others. Or should that be half as valid?

 

[koven]

Having owned the Utopia not just once but twice, I think my opinion on its merits should be twice as valid as that of others. Or should that be half as valid?

I'm on my 3rd Utopia..

♫ you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave ♫

 

[Roasty]

I'm on my 3rd Utopia..

♫ you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave ♫

Lol! U win!!

I'm thinking of giving the empy a 2nd chance..

 

[koven]

I'm thinking of giving the empy a 2nd chance..

Don't do it!

My Empy experience summarized...

 

[LarsMan]

Lol! U win!!

I'm thinking of giving the empy a 2nd chance..

You'll sure get a lot more bass out of it! A bit too dark sounding for me, but a fine headphone, I thought...

 

[Ciggavelli]

Lol! U win!!

I'm thinking of giving the empy a 2nd chance..

That red one looks so nice. I dunno about $1K more nice, but nice nonetheless

https://www.moon-audio.com/meze-audio-empyrean-phoenix.html

 

[llamaluv]

I'm on my 3rd Utopia..

♫ you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave ♫

Oh nice! I'm about to be a 3rd-time owner of the Auteur, but I guess that's grist for another thread...

 

[jlbrach]

That red one looks so nice. I dunno about $1K more nice, but nice nonetheless

https://www.moon-audio.com/meze-audio-empyrean-phoenix.html

the empyrean was the most disappointing HP I ever bought...I read early reviews and bought one right away and sold it shortly thereafter....beautiful HP and incredibly comfortable but simply not in the league of the TOTL IMHO

 

[paradoxper]

Lol! U win!!

I'm thinking of giving the empy a 2nd chance..

Twice the pain, twice the tears, twice the regret. Do it!

 

[TDinCali]

the empyrean was the most disappointing HP I ever bought...I read early reviews and bought one right away and sold it shortly thereafter....beautiful HP and incredibly comfortable but simply not in the league of the TOTL IMHO

Wow, interesting. I almost pulled the trigger a couple of nights ago. I have a Susvara on order but it's taking forever, so I started to get bored, luckily I couldn't find an online retailer who had it in stock and would ship overnight. So I pulled the trigger on a pair of Focal Stellia's since I needed a closed back.