[llamaluv]

[M]y brand new Utopia 2022's left driver died ... after four just days. And apparently the RMA is very slow in materializing due to the holidays. So that's a big strike against Focal in my book, but oh well. I guess I got lucky the first two times I had the Utopia, problem-free, aside from the goop.

So... I would normally avoid boring the forum with play-by-play of this nature, but since I reported "dead driver!!", and given the history of the Utopia and how people are justifiably concerned about how the 2022 model will fare in this regard, I feel like I better promptly give an update.

Because... as strange as it is to say, the left driver on my Utopia 2022 has been working correctly for the last four hours now, and properly volume matched.

I previously described the driver as having "died", but to be more specific, it started playing like 10dB down, and the bass sounded like anemic farts. Then, after re-seating the lemo connector into the left driver, it sounded more normal, but always 2-3 dB down compared to the right driver, at which point, I threw up my hands (until today when my Lazuli Ref Plus cable came in and I needed to give it some kind of test).

Additionally, the left side had been cutting in and out starting from like day 2, kind of like when you have a damaged headphone cable, despite re-seating the cable connection into the drivers a few times and even swapping channels and swapping between two different cables altogether.

So I'm guessing that whatever the issue is, it may be unrelated to the voice coil issue. Still annoying though. I guess I'll just have to see if the driver continues to behave over the next hour/day/week/etc.

 

[Roasty]

I've not had any driver issues with the OG or 2022 Utopia, and even ran/run them out of a 200w/380w nad power amp.

I've had a 1266 TC sleepy driver issue (which others have also encountered the same) and 2x HiFiMan Susvara driver deaths.. I think I've seen and read about more Susvara driver failures than Utopia. have read thru pages and pages of farty CRBNs and seen posts on channel imbalances and variance in sound on the Stax X9000.

fwiw...

 

[ra990]

So... I would normally avoid boring the forum with play-by-play of this nature, but since I reported "dead driver!!", and given the history of the Utopia and how people are justifiably anxious about how the 2022 model fares in this regard, I feel like I better promptly give an update.

Because... as strange as it is to say, the left driver on my Utopia 2022 has been working correctly for the last three hours now, and properly volume matched.

I previously described the driver as having "died", but to be more specific, it started playing like 10dB down, and the bass sounded like anemic farts. Then, after re-seating the lemo connector into the left driver, it sounded more normal, but always 2-3 dB down compared to the right driver, at which point, I threw up my hands (until today when my Lazuli Ref Plus cable came in and I needed to give it some kind of test).

Additionally, the left side had been cutting in and out starting from like day 2, kind of like when you have a damaged headphone cable, despite re-seating the cable connection into the drivers a few times and even swapping channels and swapping between two different cables altogether.

So I'm speculating the issue is something related to the lemo port rather than the driver per-se, and so probably not related to the OG driver failures, where the driver would just become completely non-functional. I guess I'll just have to see if the driver continues to behave over the next hour/day/week/etc.

I'm assuming you've done experiments to rule out the cable and your source? Have you swapped L/R channels and seen if the issue remains on the left side?

 

[llamaluv]

I'm assuming you've done experiments to rule out the cable and your source? Have you swapped L/R channels and seen if the issue remains on the left side?

Yes, that's right:

Additionally, the left side had been cutting in and out starting from like day 2, kind of like when you have a damaged headphone cable, despite re-seating the cable connection into the drivers a few times and even swapping channels and swapping between two different cables altogether.

 

[Spawn300Z]

But why is it only the Utopia Drivers and not the Stellias. I thought the driver technology was the same between the two.

 

[up late]

So... I would normally avoid boring the forum with play-by-play of this nature, but since I reported "dead driver!!", and given the history of the Utopia and how people are justifiably concerned about how the 2022 model will fare in this regard, I feel like I better promptly give an update.

Because... as strange as it is to say, the left driver on my Utopia 2022 has been working correctly for the last four hours now, and properly volume matched.

I previously described the driver as having "died", but to be more specific, it started playing like 10dB down, and the bass sounded like anemic farts. Then, after re-seating the lemo connector into the left driver, it sounded more normal, but always 2-3 dB down compared to the right driver, at which point, I threw up my hands (until today when my Lazuli Ref Plus cable came in and I needed to give it some kind of test).

Additionally, the left side had been cutting in and out starting from like day 2, kind of like when you have a damaged headphone cable, despite re-seating the cable connection into the drivers a few times and even swapping channels and swapping between two different cables altogether.

So I'm guessing that whatever the issue is, it may be unrelated to the voice coil issue. Still annoying though. I guess I'll just have to see if the driver continues to behave over the next hour/day/week/etc.

a dead driver is just that. once it dies it doesn't usually revive itself. it sounds more like a faulty connection of some sort. you fired up the flawed driver design brigade tho, which never gets old.

 

[llamaluv]

a dead driver is just that. once it dies it doesn't usually revive itself. it sounds more like a faulty connection of some sort. you fired up the flawed driver design brigade tho, which never gets old.

Agreed.

Apologies all!

 

[mainguy]

But why is it only the Utopia Drivers and not the Stellias. I thought the driver technology was the same between the two.

Same dome but a different driver assembly, all the closed backs have a pretty different overall driver to their open counter. Just the Stellia & Utopia share the beryllium dome.

 

[Exekuhtor]

I'm gonna keep the Utopia, it has earned its placed between the other two TOTL's.
I will discipline myself and make sure to have 1-2 weeks in between where i won't touch it, otherwise i fear that the Sus and the 1266 won't get much use because i don't feel like it's worth swapping to them for that extra 15% enjoyment upgrade in certain genres.
And i will start with that today! I'm lending the Utopia to a local headfier for a week, he will be happy to try it, and my other two TOTL's will be happy because i almost haven't touched them in three weeks.
It's a fantastic headphone, everyone that is thinking about getting a worthy TOTL allrounder should look into getting a used Utopia for 2-2,5k. Lets just hope the drivers won't make any problems.

 

[Slim1970]

I'm gonna keep the Utopia, it has earned its placed between the other two TOTL's.
I will discipline myself and make sure to have 1-2 weeks in between where i won't touch it, otherwise i fear that the Sus and the 1266 won't get much use because i don't feel like it's worth swapping to them for that extra 15% enjoyment upgrade in certain genres.
And i will start with that today! I'm lending the Utopia to a local headfier for a week, he will be happy to try it, and my other two TOTL's will be happy because i almost haven't touched them in three weeks.
It's a fantastic headphone, everyone that is thinking about getting a worthy TOTL allrounder should look into getting a used Utopia for 2-2,5k. Lets just hope the drivers won't make any problems.

The Utopia absolutely deserves to be ranked up there with the other TOTL headphones. At today's used prices it's more affordable than ever. I've owned mine for 3 years and I have yet to experience any driver issues, knock on wood. Like with any headphone, watch your volume levels. Most headphones don't need as much power as you think. In my experience, only the Susvara and HE6 need current to get the best out of them.

 

[thecrow]

I'm gonna keep the Utopia, it has earned its placed between the other two TOTL's.
I will discipline myself and make sure to have 1-2 weeks in between where i won't touch it, otherwise i fear that the Sus and the 1266 won't get much use because i don't feel like it's worth swapping to them for that extra 15% enjoyment upgrade in certain genres.
And i will start with that today! I'm lending the Utopia to a local headfier for a week, he will be happy to try it, and my other two TOTL's will be happy because i almost haven't touched them in three weeks.
It's a fantastic headphone, everyone that is thinking about getting a worthy TOTL allrounder should look into getting a used Utopia for 2-2,5k. Lets just hope the drivers won't make any problems.

To paraphrase the great philosopher ”Kramer” in the story of “The Contest”, if I had made a bet that I would not touch the susvaras and stick to only my utopias for two weeks this would be the result after four days at best (as much as i do like my utopias):

 

[Exekuhtor]

Haha, it all depends on the genres, for vocals and certain soundtracks nothing beats the Sus.

 

[Slim1970]

Haha, it all depends on the genres, for vocals and certain soundtracks nothing beats the Sus.

True, a properly driven Susvara is hard to beat. The difference is you get great sound out of the Utopia driven by anything. The Susvara's NEED the best amps and sources you can feed it.

 

[drsarana]

Utopia and Susvara are complementary in my opinion and Utopia + mojo 2 are portable gold.

 

[wagninger]

Utopia and Susvara are complementary in my opinion and Utopia + mojo 2 are portable gold.

I was just thinking of buying my first DAP and honestly, at first I wanted the most portable setup possible - but bringing the Utopia on travels also crossed my mind