[jlbrach]

What swayed you away from the Abyss? Just not getting much headtime in comparison to the Utopia?

and I have gone the other direction,I find myself enjoying the Abyss more and more

 

[daltonlanny]

There is a new article on www.innerfidelity.com
where Tyll measures 7 different pairs of Utopias including his original review pair.
Seems his review pair was the least bright pair by a good margin.
On the positive side, all the others measured fairly close to one another, but were all considerably brighter than his original review pair.
He has pretty much concluded that his review pair was probably defective.

 

[jscmd2000]

Maybe Focal did that on purpose knowing what Tyll likes and dislikes, lol.

Mine are probably brighter sounding than his test pair. I don't like bright headphones either, but the highs on Utopia are so darn resolving and transparent that a lot of times, it makes me literally stop what I am doing and pay attention. Everyone talks about how dynamic and punchy, layered and textured Utopias are, but rarely how awesome the highs are. The highs are bright and, at times, a bit loud but not painful or bothersome, because it is clean and resolving. Hard to explain, but kind of like something that passes through your brain with such ease that you don't mind at all, but in fact, kind of fascinating and makes you want more of it.

 

[jscmd2000]

Haha, I should be on their payroll.

 

[Whitigir]

Are you sure ? Perhap your pair us darker sounding too ? Go get it measured lol...

 

[MacedonianHero]

Maybe Focal did that on purpose knowing what Tyll likes and dislikes, lol.

Mine are probably brighter sounding than his test pair. I don't like bright headphones either, but the highs on Utopia are so darn resolving and transparent that a lot of times, it makes me literally stop what I am doing and pay attention. Everyone talks about how dynamic and punchy, layered and textured Utopias are, but rarely how awesome the highs are. The highs are bright and, at times, a bit loud but not painful or bothersome, because it is clean and resolving. Hard to explain, but kind of like something that passes through your brain with such ease that you don't mind at all, but in fact, kind of fascinating and makes you want more of it.

Often times when we get review samples, they are rushed off the line to get out. Often times the manufacturing processes that are normally "tooled" up are done by hand instead to get them out as time is of the essence for the marketing folks. I've got gear like this for review in the past, so I'm not surprised. Conversely, I've also gotten review gear that's been around the block a few times and I'm not sure what the previous reviewers did with it, but it certainly wasn't "as new".

 

[LaCuffia]

So, wait, these are not the "world's best headphone" anymore? Mind you, I haven't tried the Utopia and am not trying to mock but it's interesting that a "defective" pair led to that proclamation. Greatness by accident, mediocrity by design?

 

[Whitigir]

Not sure what Tyll concluded, but to me and my ears, experiences, the Utopia remains the best dynamic headphones as ATM.

 

[JimL11]

I listened briefly to a pair of Focal Utopias at the Albuquerque meet driven by my HeadAmp Gilmore Lite, and its tonal balance sounded closer to my Stax SR-009s than my 007 Mk Its, which broadly fits Tyll's measured frequency response for most samples.

 

[MacedonianHero]

Not sure what Tyll concluded, but to me and my ears, experiences, the Utopia remains the best dynamic headphones as ATM.

They are spectacular headphones and I agree with you, the best dynamic headphones out there!

 

[jscmd2000]

Are you sure ? Perhap your pair us darker sounding too ? Go get it measured lol...

No, not sure. I don't have golden ears, so that is definitely a possibility. I probably cannot tell the difference between the different measurements and variations by listening to them. I think the sound signature and the principle/theory in technology behind how sound is generated and delivered are what matters. The variations are probably less than, for example, variations you hear with different cables or different pads, etc. Less than whether a headphone is half way or all the way burned in, whether your amp is warmed up or not, etc The impression a pair of headphone gives you and how it makes you feel is not whether you have a few dB bump at this or that frequency.

I would send mine in for a measurement, but I need to get my fix everyday so... not possible.

 

[Svatopluk]

Looks like Bob's pair was significantly more treble forward than the others. It's funny how the two review samples just so happened to be so far out of the norm for whatever reason.

If Tyll gets to test that many LCD-4's, I would not be surprised if Audeze winds up on the short end of the consistency stick.

 

[jlbrach]

funny thing is this whole episode has reaffirmed my initial preference for the LCD-4 over the Utopia...do not get me wrong i think the Utopia is a marvelous product,I simply always found the Utopia a bit bright and the LCD-4 more to my liking....

 

[Svatopluk]

Good point, we all have different tastes. I find the treble of the HD800S to be rolled of to much with any source and the treble of the HD800 to bright when paired with the wrong source.

The treble of the Utopia is just right for my ears but I'm old so that may be the reason it sounds so good.

 

[FLTWS]

Good point, we all have different tastes. I find the treble of the HD800S to be rolled of to much with any source and the treble of the HD800 to bright when paired with the wrong source.

The treble of the Utopia is just right for my ears but I'm old so that may be the reason it sounds so good.

My take as well on HD800 and Utopia. When I auditioned the "S" I didn't care for the bass compared to HD800 with my chain and felt the highs were not improved or better, just different. Old ears here as well.

It seems the real issue hear is doing a review and drawing conclusions or making recommendations based on a sample of 1. I suspect that transducers because of the mechanical component could vary significantly by comparison with the other links in the reproduction chain after the source.