[joseph69]

Guys: Does Utopia still sound good to you? If yes, does it matter what Innerfidelity says?

+1
Just amazing how ones mind can be so easily persuaded by another.

 

[Alu]

Guys: Does Utopia still sound good to you? If yes, does it matter what Innerfidelity says?

I don't see how your enjoyment could change if you genuinely liked them in the first place.
I realise that we're looking for reaffirmation with a lot of things, especially if we spent this much money on a product, but you have to know yourself what you like.

 

[paul2qute]

Guys: Does Utopia still sound good to you? If yes, does it matter what Innerfidelity says?

At the price the focal utopia should be consistently the same so I might be happy but the next person might not be, can't believe focal have this problem, they truly high end what's going on?????

 

[joseph69]

Could happen with ANYTHING.

 

[paul2qute]

I'm gonna ask for my money back and ask for a pair of Grande utopia S for the inconvenience

 

[Whitigir]

So, every headphones now need to be measured to make sure it is within the specs and perform as good as it was designed....By the User/buyer/purchaser themselves now ? Interesting

 

[bfreedma]

It probably makes sense to wait for a larger sample size before panicking.

That said, if you want a high level of consistency in a manufactured product, don't be an early adopter.

 

[lovethatsound]

At the price the focal utopia should be consistently the same so I might be happy but the next person might not be, can't believe focal have this problem, they truly high end what's going on?????

Well look,ive had my utopia for just over a week now,running them from my chord Dave,and they sound absolutely fantastic.I love my hd800,but the utopia is on a different level,if ever their was a headphone that sounds realistic,the utopia is it.look at most of the utopia reviews on head-fi and u-tube,magazines,they all say how great this headphone is;maybe their is a few bad pairs out their,but that happens with most things.Of course Focal should say something about this situation,maybe they will in time.☺

 

[paul2qute]

It probably makes sense to wait for a larger sample size before panicking.

That said, if you want a high level of consistency in a manufactured product, don't be an early adopter.

Early adopter are the ones that are benefiting,they had the best production run

 

[Whitigir]

It doesn't matter if you are an early adopter or later, this hobby is not car or personal planes where many mechanical failures can happen by the most minor mistakes. This is headphones with little mechanical to fail which leaves the only thing left for sound performances. So, if it was designed to be measured on the system "focal tester" with a tolerance of 10%. Then every and each one of them would go down the same Quality control for inspection check.

If this was the case from one product which differ greatly to another same product, then Focal has a big issue to fire those inspection guys...(those)....unless, it was smokes being thrown around to cover some people tails, or Focal is really not as good as it once was.

Either ways, there are a lot of smokes in this situations. I can tell you one thing for certain is that my Utopia is no where bright or sibilant, neither does it lack bass or anything of short....it would be one of the best dynamic headphones made to date in my experiences....but hey, what do I know.

 

[FLTWS]

My Utopia sounds fine (purchased 3/1/17, so does my HD800 (purchased 7/16), but they are two different animals to my ears. If I ever figure out how to post a comparative review and can stop making passes over and over again on my write up...

 

[JohnnyCakes]

mine's a Sept 2016 build so i'm guessing i got a "good one".

and by "good one" i mean - BLOWS ME AWAY NEARLY EVERY FRIGGIN DAY.

 

[bfreedma]

Early adopter are the ones that are benefiting,they had the best production run

You/we/I don't have enough data points to make that determination. The sample size is far too small and at this point, I haven't seen anything identifying the manufacturing dates of the units that have been measured.

 

[michkhol]

I bought my Utopias on Jan 31. With a Chord Dave at a dealer the highs were intolerable, with my ULN8 they sound fantastic. Even more lively running through Audio-GD NFB-1AMP.

 

[thyname]

Guys: Does Utopia still sound good to you? If yes, does it matter what Innerfidelity says?

I don't see how your enjoyment could change if you genuinely liked them in the first place.
I realise that we're looking for reaffirmation with a lot of things, especially if we spent this much money on a product, but you have to know yourself what you like.

Perhaps you misunderstood my "question".

What I meant to say that I would NOT be impacted by what somebody at a website says for whatever reason.

I got my Utopia yesterday. Brand new. I don't know whether mine is from the "bad batch", as I never owned an Utopia before. What I can tell you is that it sounds noticeably better than my SDR modded HD800. And it has yet to "burn in".

Much better, tighter, fuller bass, better dynamics and "fuller" sound in general. Has a certain punch not present in HD800. Even the soundstage that the HD800 is lauded for, Utopia is not that "large" but to my ears more realistic.