[zachawry]

Just got delivery of my birthday gift, the hifiman 1000 V2.....man, absolutely breathtaking albeit power hungry phones.
I'm now probably retire my utopia's.
These are just ridiculously airy, perfect soundstage, upper frequencies just well articulated..
Love these no end!!!

Funny, I just got my HE-1000 v2s, as well.

I will love having both. Each shines with a different kind of music.

 

[Energy]

Congratulations on owning the HE-1000 V2.

I wish I had the funds to have both, but the Utopia cost me all my lunch money. That and my girlfriend doesn't let me own more than 1 pair of high end headphones.. She wants to save for marriage but I reckon that would tarnish the idea for me hehe.

 

[zachawry]

Congratulations on owning the HE-1000 V2.

I wish I had the funds to have both.

So do I!

 

[Dillan]

Congrats on the HE1k V2. People don't use the word "ethereal" for nothing when describing it. Totally amazing headphone.

 

[bosiemoncrieff]

  I think if you hear the Focal Utopia with MrSpeakers Ether electrostatic pads you might change your mind
 
Soundstage becomes huge.

Like, HD800 huge?
 

  That's why I have both HD800 and Utopia. No one phone to rule them all.

in the broadest strokes, what ensembles/composers/periods do you prefer on HD800 and which ones on Utopia? I sense that piano, for instance, is tonally better on Utopia. Also, can you talk about similarities and differences between HD600 and Utopia? 

 

[FLTWS]

  in the broadest strokes, what ensembles/composers/periods do you prefer on HD800 and which ones on Utopia? I sense that piano, for instance, is tonally better on Utopia. Also, can you talk about similarities and differences between HD600 and Utopia? 

 
You mean HD800 not HD600 right?

 

[paul2qute]

Thought I logged into the HE-1000 V2 thread for a minute by accident .I listened to my focal utopias last night and they sounded awful, checked the settings on my tidal making sure it was on hifi,checked all connections,amp been warmed up for days then it dawned on me,I had four bottles of red wine with her and a few pints at the pub earlier,alcohol definitely has a detrimental effect when listening to music..oh and I know it's well loud enough mid way on the amp but I wanted to turn it up louder but didn't,does alcohol make you partially deaf or the brain just doesn't register the same?

 

[bosiemoncrieff]

You mean HD800 not HD600 right?

It's a separate thought, not a typo.

 

[jlbrach]

Thought I logged into the HE-1000 V2 thread for a minute by accident .I listened to my focal utopias last night and they sounded awful, checked the settings on my tidal making sure it was on hifi,checked all connections,amp been warmed up for days then it dawned on me,I had four bottles of red wine with her and a few pints at the pub earlier,alcohol definitely has a detrimental effect when listening to music..oh and I know it's well loud enough mid way on the amp but I wanted to turn it up louder but didn't,does alcohol make you partially deaf or the brain just doesn't register the same?

I find having a couple of drinks enhances my enjoyment of music and makes whatever HP's i listen to more enjoyable

 

[FLTWS]

It's a separate thought, not a typo.

 
Wow, haven't listened to HD600 (or Oppo for that matter) in a while. I'll fire'em up this afternoon and try a comparison to Utopia for giggles and kicks and get back to you.
 

  in the broadest strokes, what ensembles/composers/periods do you prefer on HD800 and which ones on Utopia? I sense that piano, for instance, is tonally better on Utopia. ...

 
I don't think it's a matter of composers/periods/ or musical types (say concerto versus string orchestra versus wind quintet, etc.) but I find in general the Utopia gets better as the ensemble reduces in size from 100 piece+ orchestra down to music for a solo instrument simply because it doesn't give that illusion of depth the way HD800 does nor does it have the airiness.  This is not to say the 800 is better on full scale orchestral, it depends on the recording. I've been working on keeping notes on a comparison of the 800 to the Utopia, not sure if I'll post it or not but here's an excerpt that may be of interest. Don't take any of the differences I note as "huge" in any way, it's just that I notice them.
 

"The next two paragraphs are the heart of my comparison of these two headphones and what makes them very different in sound presentation to me.
 
The HD800 presents a sound field that is translucent and airy. It can convey a better sense of the recording venue than Utopia and fool my ears that a sound field with some real depth characteristics is being presented. It presents a sonic image front to back more like I remember experiencing in the concert hall, (sonic remembrance is not like photographic remembrance however). HD800 is fussier also about the quality of what I feed and drive it with.
 
The Utopia sound field is much flatter and more opaque. Closer and more intimate. Not a lot of distance between the the front row and back wall. However, the tonal and transient characteristics are slightly better than HD800 presenting instruments, a touch more realistic with more presence and dynamic capabilities up and down the frequency range. Perhaps the much abused term “palpable” applies here. The Utopia isn’t as fussy about what I feed and drive it with.
 
Don’t interpret either word, “translucent” or “opaque”, as a negative. It’s just the two best words I can think of to verbalize my sonic impressions in comparing the 800 and Utopia. Both can portrait instruments with nicely rounded bodies of sound to them. But the 800 gives me a better sense of distance between say horns coming from the back of the stage and first strings and first cellos at the front of the stage with orchestral works than Utopia. The Utopia's greater dynamics and clarity improve over the 800 as the ensemble reduces in size and as depth of the sound field no longer plays as important a part of the sonic fabric, as in a solo instrument in a smaller sized room or in a larger room but very closely miked."
 
This is not a situation of the 800 for this type of music and the Utopia for that type, I've had great listening sessions with both with all forms of classical. The tendency is to want to go "out with the old and in with the new", but not in this instance for me.
 

 

[paul2qute]

I find having a couple of drinks enhances my enjoyment of music and makes whatever HP's i listen to more enjoyable

hence a couple of drinks I think I was swaying

 

[chromazones]

I have been pondering this issue of soundstage size, given that it pops up frequently on this forum. The Focal Utopia, which I own and enjoy when paired with my MSB DAC IV Plus and Headamp GS-X mk2, is often said to have a small soundstage whereas the Sennheiser HD800 is said to have a large soundstage.
 
Any audio playback device, be it a source component, amplification, loudspeaker, or headphone which reduces the sonic differences between recordings is additive in colouration/distortion and/or subtractive in resolution.
 
If the HD800 has a larger soundstage than most headphones then perhaps it is adding something to every single recording. By extension, if the Utopia's soundstage scales with different recordings, which is my observation, then isn't it the more neutral reference?
 
One could argue that headphones, by their very nature, should not have any sense of soundstage, at least in the way that properly set up loudspeakers do. What they should certainly have is ultimate resolution, perfect image focus, and accurate tonality since they are not coloured by interaction with the room in the way that all loudspeakers are. The Utopias, to my ears, fulfil these criteria better than anything else that I auditioned.
 
To my ears the Utopia comes closest to the sound of reference quality loudspeakers, which in my case means truly full range, properly damped sealed boxes with active line level crossovers and high linear excursion bass drivers.

 

[Dillan]

Wow, haven't listened to HD600 (or Oppo for that matter) in a while. I'll fire'em up this afternoon and try a comparison to Utopia for giggles and kicks and get back to you.



I don't think it's a matter of composers/periods/ or musical types (say concerto versus string orchestra versus wind quintet, etc.) but I find in general the Utopia gets better as the ensemble reduces in size from 100 piece+ orchestra down to music for a solo instrument simply because it doesn't give that illusion of depth the way HD800 does nor does it have the airiness.  This is not to say the 800 is better on full scale orchestral, it depends on the recording. I've been working on keeping notes on a comparison of the 800 to the Utopia, not sure if I'll post it or not but here's an excerpt that may be of interest. Don't take any of the differences I note as "huge" in any way, it's just that I notice them.

"The next two paragraphs are the heart of my comparison of these two headphones and what makes them very different in sound presentation to me.

The HD800 presents a sound field that is translucent and airy. It can convey a better sense of the recording venue than Utopia and fool my ears that a sound field with some real depth characteristics is being presented. It presents a sonic image front to back more like I remember experiencing in the concert hall, (sonic remembrance is not like photographic remembrance however). HD800 is fussier also about the quality of what I feed and drive it with.

The Utopia sound field is much flatter and more opaque. Closer and more intimate. Not a lot of distance between the the front row and back wall. However, the tonal and transient characteristics are slightly better than HD800 presenting instruments, a touch more realistic with more presence and dynamic capabilities up and down the frequency range. Perhaps the much abused term “palpable” applies here. The Utopia isn’t as fussy about what I feed and drive it with.

Don’t interpret either word, “translucent” or “opaque”, as a negative. It’s just the two best words I can think of to verbalize my sonic impressions in comparing the 800 and Utopia. Both can portrait instruments with nicely rounded bodies of sound to them. But the 800 gives me a better sense of distance between say horns coming from the back of the stage and first strings and first cellos at the front of the stage with orchestral works than Utopia. The Utopia's greater dynamics and clarity improve over the 800 as the ensemble reduces in size and as depth of the sound field no longer plays as important a part of the sonic fabric, as in a solo instrument in a smaller sized room or in a larger room but very closely miked."

This is not a situation of the 800 for this type of music and the Utopia for that type, I've had great listening sessions with both with all forms of classical. The tendency is to want to go "out with the old and in with the new", but not in this instance for me.

Very interesting read. Thank you for posting your notes, I enjoyed reading your interpretation and somewhat feel like my experiences are in line with them in one way or another. I think the 800S and Utopia are great compliments to one another in regards to neutral reference headphones.

 

[nvfan]

  Like, HD800 huge?
 

in the broadest strokes, what ensembles/composers/periods do you prefer on HD800 and which ones on Utopia? I sense that piano, for instance, is tonally better on Utopia. Also, can you talk about similarities and differences between HD600 and Utopia? 

 
It sounds wider than the HD800. The HD800 has a greater sense of space in terms of how distant instruments sound, but it's not extremely wide, which I believe mostly is due to the frequency response (rolled off presence region). A modded, EQed HD800 sounds quiet a bit smaller in terms of spaciousness, but more tonally accurate. However it never hits as a hard as the Utopia, but a ring radiator is never going to beat a dome driver in a xmax competition.

 

[buffer]

i have a question.  Recently, with burn-in, I am preferring my Utopia less.  I know it isn't broken but the sound profile has changed subtly. The tonality has shifted.  The lower mid-range is accentuated and the mid-range seems to have receded a bit.  It is not recessed, but it lost a little bit of what I perceived to be a slightly mid-centric sound..  The result is a little less bite, a little less clarity/focus, and a bit more bloomy (which I don't care for).  On certain recordings you can also hear a little more of the space/reverb - sometimes seems like singer is singing in a bathroom - I am exaggerating a bit, but you get the point.  To put things in perspective, the headphone is still one of my favorites, but I am looking for an amp or DAC that folks would consider slightly mid-forward.  Let me be clear.  Not looking to increase lower mids or upper mids.  I am looking to increase the frequencies in the meat of the mid-range.  If you think of a vocal I don't want the voice to have lower frequencies or the upper frequencies accentuated.  I currently use a GS-X MK2 and a Woo WA5-LE (relatively new version).  I use varying sources, but primarily I use an Oppo 105D. Whatever you recommend, clarity and impact is very important to me as well. I prefer a rich, but analytical sound.
 
On a side note, I can sort of get the sound i am looking for simply by applying a slight bit of pressure around the perimeter of the enclosures, but I feel I used to get that sound previously without doing so.  My point is that the change I'm looking for is subtle, and I believe it is reasonable to expect that a change in component could get me where I want to be..
 
Thanks in advance,
Brian