[llcook51]

Glad to hear you like the Utopia with the MJ3. After an intense listening session on a very nice setup, I ordered a 2022 version to pair with my MJ3 and Folkvangr. Based on its sound signature I’m pretty sure it will sound fantastic on both, but I won’t know for sure until it arrives tomorrow (UPS willing).

I admit to a little trepidation since a couple users on the MJ3 thread weren’t fans of the combo.

Hope all goes well. Sounds like a "cannot loose" combination.

 

[Barnstormer13]

Hope all goes well. Sounds like a "cannot loose" combination.

Pretty well. I wrote up my impressions on the Mjolnir 3 thread.

https://www.head-fi.org/threads/schiit-mjolnir-3-impressions-thread.969416/post-18222277

 

[Dodgerowl]

How much better than the Stellia is the Focal Utopia 22 in the opinion of people who have listened to both?

 

[Daniel Johnston]

How much better than the Stellia is the Focal Utopia 22 in the opinion of people who have listened to both?

That's a tough one to answer since you are comparing open to closed backs.

The Stellia is pretty much the same to me as the OG Clear in closed back form. The OG Clear compared to the Utopia has less detail, less soundstage, and a more "colored" tuning. The Utopia is much more effortless and I think the bass is more articulate and accurate. I'd say the Utopia is at least 20% better overall than Stellia. If you have both, you have a near end game open and closed back combo.

 

[Barnstormer13]

That's a tough one to answer since you are comparing open to closed backs.

The Stellia is pretty much the same to me as the OG Clear in closed back form. The OG Clear compared to the Utopia has less detail, less soundstage, and a more "colored" tuning. The Utopia is much more effortless and I think the bass is more articulate and accurate. I'd say the Utopia is at least 20% better overall than Stellia. If you have both, you have a near end game open and closed back combo.

That was my experience as well. I had a loaner Stellia years ago that sounded really good, but thought the ZMF Verite Closed outperformed it. That said, closed headphones can sound VERY different on different heads, so you really have to try it yourself to be confident.

The Utopia 22 for me is in its own league. It’s a substantial improvement over the Stella and VC and IMHO completely deserves its reputation. However, it has zero isolation so if you’re looking for isolation, the Stellia is worth considering, but so is the DCA E3, ZMFs high end closed models, and probably a few others.

 

[sparkofinsanity]

How much better than the Stellia is the Focal Utopia 22 in the opinion of people who have listened to both?

I have the OG Utopia and the Stellia.
The Utopia has a bigger soundstage which leads to better instrument separation (a result of open vs closed), punches harder in the bass and is better tuned (just about perfect). Detail retrieval is nuts on both but better on the Utopia. Utopia is very amp picky but Stellia is also so revealing that crappy amps will be exposed as such.
That said, if you have both and don't need the isolation of the Stellia, you will pick the Utopia every time.

 

[bcaulf17]

How much better than the Stellia is the Focal Utopia 22 in the opinion of people who have listened to both?

If it comes down to choice I'd go with either of the Utopias. Both are near-perfect headphones. I've had my Utopia for 9 months now (hard to believe) and I'm still wowed by them whenever I put them on.

 

[Spawn300Z]

U22 is my favorite dynamic headphone. The U22 and Stellia are the only ones I have left.

 

[Lx3A]

How much better than the Stellia is the Focal Utopia 22 in the opinion of people who have listened to both?

I’ve owned the Stellia and own the og utopia. I agree with most of the comments on where utopia beats stellia. Stellia still has the beryllium drivers and can resolve fine detail and is a closed back. One of the best in that regard but I did not like the tuning at all.

 

[Dodgerowl]

Thanks to all for your replies on the Stellia vs Utopia comparison. I currently have the Stellia but it now looks like when I have the pennies available I will have to give the Utopia a listen. Cheers.

 

[Drrizzt]

I wasn't much happy with my Utopia, associated with a Hab-6120, a very good Chinese amp, it was razor sharp, almost sterile sounding, on the contrary of the association with the He1000, who was very good.

I decided to buy a class A amplifier to smooth out the sound and my choice landed on an Aune s17 pro and...what can i say? I'm absolutely mind blown. This is a match made in heaven, the sound feels effortlessly flowing in a very natural way, what a radical change. The amp match perfectly well the highly revealing nature of the Utopia.

Very very happy.

 

[Infoseeker]

OG Utopia owners.

I got a gooey problem:

Instead of putting forth crazy money for new Utopia earpads.....and all the damn 3rd party earpads are crazy more deep than the original earpads.

I decided to be the crazy one instead:
Be silly like me and just stick on some of this:



Futuwi Air Conditioner Foam-2 Rolls, 1 Inch Wide (~25.4mm) X 3/4 Inch (~19mm) Thick, Open Cell Sponge-version AC Foam Weather Seal for Gap Blocker, Anti-Vibration, Anti-Collision (6.5ft x 2 Rolls) https://a.co/d/03jN5xei

&

DIY Plastic Mounting Ring Base Compatible with Focal utopia clear elegia clear mg elex stellia celestee radiance https://a.co/d/03wwi3MZ

Can even use different depths to get closer to your ear. Then play around.

I used a 3/4 Inch deep roll. Less deep than the original pads, but mimics the depth after compression of wearing the original pads.

Cherry-picked FR:

Frequency Response at several positions of shifting the headphone around the coupler. Like moving it forward so the earpads touch the back of the ears. Etc.

Using an ICP-version IEC711 coupler to make the graph. With an official B&K 5128 to power it. Only downside, is I am using an Aliexpress copycat GRAS pinnae.

 

[up late]

think i'll 'stick' with the stock pads

 

[Infoseeker]

All good. You do you.

But the final result sounds quite blessed to my ears.

My original pads now have the dreaded glue-spreading-problem found at the seams. Which can spread into the baffle if unlucky. I already had to clean alot off that was stuck upon the hard earcup plastic. Luckily none had gotten to the baffle mesh materials.

So I had no choice for the ongoing moment.

 

[John Buchanan]

All good. You do you.

But the final result sounds quite blessed to my ears.

My original pads now have the dreaded glue-spreading-problem found at the seams. Which can spread into the baffle if unlucky. I already had to clean alot off that was stuck upon the hard earcup plastic. Luckily none had gotten to the baffle mesh materials.

So I had no choice for the ongoing moment.

How long have you had the Utopia?