[MacedonianHero]

That is an understandable perspective.

Here is what I think is possibly being overlooked.

1) R&D isn’t free
2) industrial design isn’t free
3) materials & manufacturing are not free
4) all industries push the boundaries to explore new possibilities in performance
5) life isn’t all about a Buy Now button there is much more it has to offer
6) innovation is what makes mankind who we are.
7) do you really want the world to stand still?
8) Marketing isn’t free
9) Sales isn’t free
10) warranty’s aren’t free.

These are 10 good reasons we see things increase in price. What is eventually free is these technologies trickle down to lower priced products.

Unless you've run a P&L, most folks aren't really aware of running a business and prefer to just complain of prices. Even if that wasn't the point, while I am disheartened by the trend in personal audio over the past 4-5 years, no one is holding a gun to my head to buy gear.

 

[336881]

That is an understandable perspective.

Here is what I think is possibly being overlooked.

1) R&D isn’t free
2) industrial design isn’t free
3) materials & manufacturing are not free
4) all industries push the boundaries to explore new possibilities in performance
5) life isn’t all about a Buy Now button there is much more it has to offer
6) innovation is what makes mankind who we are.
7) do you really want the world to stand still?
8) Marketing isn’t free
9) Sales isn’t free
10) warranty’s aren’t free.

These are 10 good reasons we see things increase in price. What is eventually free is these technologies trickle down to lower priced products.

I think cooler heads will prevail once the trickle down. I have not followed the Clear but I would guesstimate there is less "insane pricing" posts going on. The big one will be the baby Orpheus 2. No promise it will sound great or it will have disappear on your head comfort but I bet you will see allot more acceptance of the new summit-fi $5k price tag.

I do not care for jealousy. I think it is generally a waste of time. At the same time some push back does not seem the worst thing in the world to me considering 3 out 5 $3-5k headphones I demoed extensively or owned kind of stunk to my ears on several levels.

There is also tons of great used vintage gear and I would argue that the music and the gear was actually better back in the day. I'm 35 and I have to say that there has for sure been a shift in what is the main form of entertainment from music to TV to video games to internet. I consider myself to be a massive music fan in comparison to my family and peers. Even I can't say that I don't spend as much time watching TV or the net as I do listening to music. I have "outgrown" video games though but I was lucky enough to play EA sports games in the early 90's and for sure got my fill of them back then. I think the peak of music and gear was kind of when they were the main form of entertainment which I can still remember barely when I was a child. Even TV was pretty crappy till I was about 10 years old. Even then cable, for probably a good 5 years, was mostly crappy religious programming. The only real bright spot was MTV (music).

 

[Thenewguy007]

Unless you've run a P&L, most folks aren't really aware of running a business and prefer to just complain of prices. Even if that wasn't the point, while I am disheartened by the trend in personal audio over the past 4-5 years, no one is holding a gun to my head to buy gear.

All said is true, but when the competition has all the same costs & is selling for a fraction of the cost, you got to wonder what is driving up the cost.
It's definitely not materials. Probably not the R&D, as no new tech was invented, outside of tuning. Definitely not advertising as the ads were on industry specific sites & not TV, newspaper ads & the likes.
Of course there are legitimate products were if you look at the parts, the building process, the complexity & you can see it is definitely worth the higher price tag.

 

[McMadface]

The reason why prices are going up is because consumers are paying it. Simple. When you go to sell your used gear, how much do you want for it? The answer is always as much as you think you can get. Why should a manufacturer think any differently? How can you blame them for it when you do the same thing when you go to sell your gear? Anyone who goes to sell something sets the price at the highest that they think the market can bear. If that's not what you're doing then you're doing it wrong.

 

[mahesvara]

Uh, can we stop talking about non-Utopia things? Everyone's beating on the very ded horse of pricing for a while now. Give it a rest?

 

[Slim1970]

At the same time some push back does not seem the worst thing in the world to me considering 3 out 5 $3-5k headphones I demoed extensively or owned kind of stunk to my ears on several levels.

Curious, what are the two headphones you liked?

 

[tekkster]

I'm wondering if anyone uses the Focal Utopia on the iFi Micro iDSD BL.

I haven't been too happy with the Utopia on the Mojo, and I'm loving my H2 so much that I'm worrying about damaging it when out and about, so really want to leave it at home to mitigate the chance of breaking it (Of course, I'm an uber-clutz, so I could easily break it even if left at home, but, you know, I'm all about mitigating percentages, with no illusions about reducing percentages to zero).

I've heard that the iFi Micro iDSD BL is a good match for the HD800, but haven't read much about that DAC's match to the Utopias. Someone may have written things in this thread already, but...it's a lot of pages, and I got tired of searching after a while.

 

[SCBob]

I'm wondering if anyone uses the Focal Utopia on the iFi Micro iDSD BL.

I haven't been too happy with the Utopia on the Mojo, and I'm loving my H2 so much that I'm worrying about damaging it when out and about, so really want to leave it at home to mitigate the chance of breaking it (Of course, I'm an uber-clutz, so I could easily break it even if left at home, but, you know, I'm all about mitigating percentages, with no illusions about reducing percentages to zero).

I've heard that the iFi Micro iDSD BL is a good match for the HD800, but haven't read much about that DAC's match to the Utopias. Someone may have written things in this thread already, but...it's a lot of pages, and I got tired of searching after a while.

Just curious, do you take your Utopia out and about with you? If so, get the Hugo 2 case and go for it. Breaking the Hugo 2 is the lesser of your two potential problems. Enjoy!

 

[DMck2000]

I'm wondering if anyone uses the Focal Utopia on the iFi Micro iDSD BL.

I haven't been too happy with the Utopia on the Mojo, and I'm loving my H2 so much that I'm worrying about damaging it when out and about, so really want to leave it at home to mitigate the chance of breaking it (Of course, I'm an uber-clutz, so I could easily break it even if left at home, but, you know, I'm all about mitigating percentages, with no illusions about reducing percentages to zero).

I've heard that the iFi Micro iDSD BL is a good match for the HD800, but haven't read much about that DAC's match to the Utopias. Someone may have written things in this thread already, but...it's a lot of pages, and I got tired of searching after a while.

What @SCBob said. I would get a nice case for the Hugo 2 instead of a new portable DAC. Some of the cases I've seen for Hugo 2 are really phenomenal and would definitely help protect the Hugo 2 while on the go. Plus isn't there warranty for the Hugo 2?

 

[sonics]

Does anyone know if the Leben CS300XS headphones output is sufficient to drive the Utopias?

Yes, easily. Super soundstage, super dynamics, thunderous bass. Unfortunately lots of hum.

 

[JLoud]

I used the ifs micro with my Utopia's a few times and thought they sounded pretty good together. Haven't heard the Chord products with it though. If you would like a little extra bass with the Utopia on occasion the iFi has a bass boost function that doesn't effect the rest of the sound.

 

[jlbrach]

You definitely do not want a Chord DAC for a LCD 4. It tends to make it too warm and reduces its soundstage by quite a lot. Even the Chord Dave + Headamp GSX Mk2 combo was not upto my tastes.

quite wrong regarding the LCD-4 and Dave..which sound wonderful together

 

[tekkster]

Just curious, do you take your Utopia out and about with you? If so, get the Hugo 2 case and go for it. Breaking the Hugo 2 is the lesser of your two potential problems. Enjoy!

I'm debating.

On paper, I totally agree. The Utopias are significantly more expensive than the H2 by a wide margin. I guess it's just because I see Utopias on the used market a fair bit, but haven't seen many H2's on the used market, I was thinking maybe....just maybe...I might risk bringing the Utopias with me occasionally on longer business trips where I know I'll spend some weeknights in the hotel room rather than go to conference evening events.

I was really thinking of different possible options and ideas, without any real plan.

Thanks for the idea though.

 

[336881]

Curious, what are the two headphones you liked?

I liked the Utopia and sr-009. Not enough to call them a great deal like my 2 headphones in my sig. but a solid deal. The Lcd-4, Abyss, and He1k did not appeal to me. I would take the 2 headphones in my sig. over those 3 headphones.

 

[MacedonianHero]

quite wrong regarding the LCD-4 and Dave..which sound wonderful together

Agreed...this is the best I've heard the LCD-4s and Utopias sound by a good margin.