[Daniel Johnston]

What about the WA22?

I’m sure the WA22 will be excellent as well.

 

[meomap]

Which tube amps are people using with the first gen Utopia? Bought my 2020 edition recently and keen to explore tubes. Currently using the Focal Arche.

ALO STUDIO-SIX tube amp.

 

[helljudgement]

Which tube amps are people using with the first gen Utopia? Bought my 2020 edition recently and keen to explore tubes. Currently using the Focal Arche.

Eddie Current Studio B + Utopia is one of the best sounding setup I've heard but the DNA Starlett + Utopia is pretty up there as well.

 

[BrainSalat]

Which tube amps are people using with the first gen Utopia? Bought my 2020 edition recently and keen to explore tubes. Currently using the Focal Arche.

Feliks Euforia AE (Euforia (OV) and Euforia Evo are also worth to consider).
Focal himself choose this amp for showcasing the Utopia.

 

[chesebert]

Loving my Utopia 2022 with a Lazuli Reference Plus straight out of my DAVE+Mscaler stack.
The new model does away with my only real complaint about the previous Utopia ie the soundstage.

Could you elaborate? I’m not sure they actually fixed the soundstage issue. Soundstage is still relatively narrow (but deep) and can sometime sound too forward. 2022 did fix the timbre issue from the previous Utopia, however.

 

[rfernand]

Could you elaborate? I’m not sure they actually fixed the soundstage issue. Soundstage is still relatively narrow (but deep) and can sometime sound too forward. 2022 did fix the timbre issue from the previous Utopia, however.

To my ears, the soundstage is more in front of me than in my head in the ‘22 (more depth) and a bit wider. Agreed on the treble screechy stuff being fixed.

 

[thecrow]

To my ears, the soundstage is more in front of me than in my head in the ‘22 (more depth) and a bit wider. Agreed on the treble screechy stuff being fixed.

I must have a faulty utopia (or amp or dac) as i have no treble screechy stuff in my setup.

Fwiw i did find the utopias too much of an “audio assault” on terms of too much energy, which made them very fatiguing, when i had my cayin iha6 which can be like that with the “wrong“ headphone. But no issues when moving to the v280, auralic taurus or niimbus us4

Ymmv

Nor any timbre issues that i have picked up on.

 

[rfernand]

I must have a faulty utopia (or amp or dac) as i have no treble screechy stuff in my setup.

We all hear different things - the OG hurt my ears (and I tried a few). Whatever Focal Drop sells sounds like I’m listening through an open gas valve. The ‘22 sounds great to me.

I’ve heard exactly the opposite from many folks - the ‘22 hurts their ears and the OG is fine.

Nor any timbre issues that i have picked up on.

Don’t touch anything!

 

[thecrow]

Don’t touch anything!

good advice

and it’s great how many options we have to choose from to best fit our personal preferences

 

[wagninger]

The 1266 is just for the Rock / Metal stuff and yes, it has very recessed mids.
The main comparison i go with is the Sus, which ALSO has a bit recessed vocals but they also come across richer, more natural, more lifelike, just the next step. And it gets never to the point that much forward. I probably should give the Utopia a bit more time and wait for the cable (currently i only use it unbalanced).


:edit:
It varies heavily on the song. Mostly it's perfectly fine, but every now and then i feel a "ehhh, i should turn the volume slightly because the female vocals are jumping at me".

It has some resonances at around 2, 4 and 6khz that I also found too aggressive, Stellia has similar issues. EQ those out and you won’t need any cable or source gear changes anymore

 

[ubs28]

Why people waste money on amplifiers for headphones?

The Focal Utopia easily runs straight out of my laptop no problem. Heck, even the Sennheiser HD 800S and HD 650 runs straight out of my 16" M1 Max MacBook Pro without problems.

 

[wagninger]

Why people waste money on amplifiers for headphones?

The Focal Utopia easily runs straight out of my laptop no problem. Heck, even the Sennheiser HD 800S and HD 650 runs straight out of my 16" M1 Max MacBook Pro without problems.

Not entirely… I have an RME Adi-2 Pro mainly for the features, but you won’t drive a low impedance, low efficiency planar well from the MacBook.

You got all that Chord gear yourself, just for the looks and the ports?

 

[ubs28]

Not entirely… I have an RME Adi-2 Pro mainly for the features, but you won’t drive a low impedance, low efficiency planar well from the MacBook.

You got all that Chord gear yourself, just for the looks and the ports?

My AFC 2 sounds fine too from the 16" M1 Max MacBook Pro. And that is quite funny since a few $3000 DAP's I tried couldn't handle the AFC 2.

 

[Frankie D]

Why people waste money on amplifiers for headphones?

The Focal Utopia easily runs straight out of my laptop no problem. Heck, even the Sennheiser HD 800S and HD 650 runs straight out of my 16" M1 Max MacBook Pro without problems.

Is that Apple’s latest? I ask as another headfier was raving about them with his headphones. He liked it as much as the Bartok and only moved to DCS for the Rossini.

 

[ubs28]

Is that Apple’s latest? I ask as another headfier was raving about them with his headphones. He liked it as much as the Bartok and only moved to DCS for the Rossini.

Yes, it is Apple's latest. It is an excellent portable music production workstation as you can take it anywhere and plugin your Sennheiser HD 600/HD 650 without needing an external DAC + amp, and start working on your music where ever you are.