[jcdreamer]

  I think I unfairly slighted the Utopia's sound-stage in my initial impressions. I don't know if burn in had anything to do with it but I did notice the sound stage opening up a little bit through my HA-1. Yeah I know it's not the best dac in the world but it does give me a way to compare the utopias to my old cans without changing too many variables. I agree with the general assessment that the HA-1 is bright, and the Utopia does not hide it. I think it is to the Utopia's credit that it can handle a brighter than neutral dac/amp and still sound incredible.
 
Now about the soundstage. I realize this is apples to oranges, but I decided to listen to some of my favorite albums on my turntable instead of my hi quality digital files. I really don't want this to turn into an analog vs. digital post, but the soundstage I had been missing through my DAC was quite present with my analog rig. It isn't as wide as the HD800, but I found it to be an amply wide sound stage with incredible detail. I wanted to make sure this wasn't just the result of a great pressing, so I tried quite a few works on both systems. First off was a wonderful Telarc Cleveland Symphonic Winds record. Then I followed it up with the incredible Dorati 1812 overture. Then I switched gears and put on Led Zeppelin IV. The common theme was that the sound stage was considerably wider in my analog playback system compared to my digital rig. In both analog and digital tests I used the built in headphone amp on the Oppo on low gain single ended. I'm sure part of the disparity is the difference between the different formats. That being said the cans are clearly capable of a better soundstage than my dac is creating. So I'm left with the realization that the Oppo DAC, while still sounding great with the Utopia, is definitely hampering the Utopia's potential. For full disclosure I have a Project 2Xperience classic turntable and I installed a Sumiko blue point Evo III cartridge three months ago.
 
I wish I hadn't done this comparison. I was overall quite happy with my system. Now I'm contemplating a DAC and or headphone amp upgrade. My poor wallet..It's probably a good thing I don't have a spouse. I can only imagine how far in the dog house I'd be right now.  

If you had a spouse, you wouldn't have enough left in your wallet to go down this road to begin with.

 

 

[Svatopluk]

Get the Chord DAVE. Sounds incredible with the Utopia and no issues with soundstage as the DAVE can resolve extremely subtle cues of the venue very well, and the Utopia keeps up. I used to own the HA-1 and while it's ok for the price there is absolutely no comparison (lol, price included). Sorry about your wallet.

Will the Chord Dave reveal if the auditorium had naked statues along the walls at the time of the time of the recording?

 

[x RELIC x]

Will the Chord Dave reveal if the auditorium had naked statues along the walls at the time of the time of the recording?

Lol

 

[ubs28]

  Will the Chord Dave reveal if the auditorium had naked statues along the walls at the time of the time of the recording?

If you get eargasms, then they were naked.

 

[phaeton70]

  Will the Chord Dave reveal if the auditorium had naked statues along the walls at the time of the time of the recording?

yes because naked body reflects audio waves differently than clothes, and Dave is so transparent that you can hear this difference.
 
umh...wait...no, that's not correct. Dave is sooooo transparent that clothes themselves will become transparent and Dave will expose the naked body. ouch, sorry, Dave will not let you hear naked body.
 

 

[Imusicman]

Will the Chord Dave reveal if the auditorium had naked statues along the walls at the time of the time of the recording?

I haven't had the opportunity yet to hear the Dave but I would hope it' is in a different league to the HA-1 considering the price difference of the two units. I've got to say I'm very happy with my Utopia/HA-1 SE pairing

 

[Svatopluk]

Thanks everyone for for all your input on pairing the Utopia and HA-1. Seeing I don't really care how tall the second female statue on the right was, I was wounding if anyone may have experience pairing the Utopia with Mjolnir 2?

 

[crrrddddeeeee]

Thanks everyone for for all your input on pairing the Utopia and HA-1. Seeing I don't really care how tall the second female statue on the right was, I was wounding if anyone may have experience pairing the Utopia with Mjolnir 2?

All I could say is that that their height won't be to the height of DAVE (but it might be the same height as the second female statue on the right is )

 

[Svatopluk]

All I could say is that that their height won't be to the height of DAVE (but it might be the same height as the second female statue on the right is )

Good, she's the cute one!

 

[Muvieguy]

Lol

sent you a PM

 

[jibzilla]

  I think I unfairly slighted the Utopia's sound-stage in my initial impressions. I don't know if burn in had anything to do with it but I did notice the sound stage opening up a little bit through my HA-1. Yeah I know it's not the best dac in the world but it does give me a way to compare the utopias to my old cans without changing too many variables. I agree with the general assessment that the HA-1 is bright, and the Utopia does not hide it. I think it is to the Utopia's credit that it can handle a brighter than neutral dac/amp and still sound incredible.
 
Now about the soundstage. I realize this is apples to oranges, but I decided to listen to some of my favorite albums on my turntable instead of my hi quality digital files. I really don't want this to turn into an analog vs. digital post, but the soundstage I had been missing through my DAC was quite present with my analog rig. It isn't as wide as the HD800, but I found it to be an amply wide sound stage with incredible detail. I wanted to make sure this wasn't just the result of a great pressing, so I tried quite a few works on both systems. First off was a wonderful Telarc Cleveland Symphonic Winds record. Then I followed it up with the incredible Dorati 1812 overture. Then I switched gears and put on Led Zeppelin IV. The common theme was that the sound stage was considerably wider in my analog playback system compared to my digital rig. In both analog and digital tests I used the built in headphone amp on the Oppo on low gain single ended. I'm sure part of the disparity is the difference between the different formats. That being said the cans are clearly capable of a better soundstage than my dac is creating. So I'm left with the realization that the Oppo DAC, while still sounding great with the Utopia, is definitely hampering the Utopia's potential. For full disclosure I have a Project 2Xperience classic turntable and I installed a Sumiko blue point Evo III cartridge three months ago.
 
I wish I hadn't done this comparison. I was overall quite happy with my system. Now I'm contemplating a DAC and or headphone amp upgrade. My poor wallet..It's probably a good thing I don't have a spouse. I can only imagine how far in the dog house I'd be right now.  

 
I too hear what you hear. If you think the difference is big on headphones it to me is much larger on speakers and why I said a while back that dac synergizes best with headphones. I'm not knocking anyone who buys an uber dac for their speakers or an uber TT for their headphones but it is not the route I would take.

 

[buzzlulu]

I am sure this has been asked a million times and the answer appears everywhere in the past 134 pages - which I do not want to review again.
 
I currently have a pair of Elears for review which arrived two days ago.  They sounded unimpressive immediately out of the cold box however after 30 hours of burn in - WOW.  What a change.
 
Some comparisons with the Utopia's please.  So far what I have seen is all over the board from a completely different animal to the Elears are 80% of the Utopia's

 

[TimeLord]

  I am sure this has been asked a million times and the answer appears everywhere in the past 134 pages - which I do not want to review again.
 
I currently have a pair of Elears for review which arrived two days ago.  They sounded unimpressive immediately out of the cold box however after 30 hours of burn in - WOW.  What a change.
 
Some comparisons with the Utopia's please.  So far what I have seen is all over the board from a completely different animal to the Elears are 80% of the Utopia's

From my perspective "a completely different animal" and "80% of the Utopia" are describing the same thing. After all, the Elear is a very competent headphone and I could easily describe it as 80% (or more) of the Utopia. But to me the gains you obtain for that last 20 or so percent is what makes the Utopia a completely different animal because that 20% is so difficult to achieve.
 
Most headphones over $1000 mark are within 20% of each other; it's a matter of how important that last bit of improvement is to you.
 
What you're not going to get from the Elear is that exquisite detail, overall composure, definition, and balance across the spectrum.

 

[Exidrion]

I reccomened trying both if possibe, but this is how I think the Utopia differs:

The Elear has a boomier, less defined bass. It doesn't pull out as much detail as the Utopia does. The Elear also has slight issues in it's midrange. The Utopia is just really well balanced and accurate.

 

[buzzlulu]

Thanks