"Absolutely...Not!" I like that one.
Enjoy the 4z!
Focal Utopia General Discussion
- Thread starter Allanmarcus
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Enjoy the 4z!
Lol, now the waiting to be in stock is happening. God, I hate waiting on anything. I want it now! Lol
kvn864
100+ Head-Fier
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I was lucky enough to a/b LCD4 and Utopias, and the winner emerged clear .. still my favorite can, period. Not to say that LCD4 is bad, it is a great headphone, I just prefer Utopia.
You have to try the 4z next time, the new one, supposedly it has characteristics that the Utopia has, from what I heard.
doraymon
1000+ Head-Fier
Shush... after several hours of continuous play the sound of my congested Utopias is blossoming... Or maybe my brain is? But shush! Don't break the magic, I like it and it's getting addictive...
Unbelievable, never experienced such a change in a headphone!
"All negative emotions are our enemy. The supreme leader of those is ignorance….In order to see reality, to see it fully, we must look at things objectively…All negative emotions strongly influence our minds — we can’t see things objectively. To see objectively we must have a calm mind. Our calm mind is much more realistic."
With that said tomorrow I will go to the dealer to compare them with their demo unit as a final check.
Unbelievable, never experienced such a change in a headphone!
"All negative emotions are our enemy. The supreme leader of those is ignorance….In order to see reality, to see it fully, we must look at things objectively…All negative emotions strongly influence our minds — we can’t see things objectively. To see objectively we must have a calm mind. Our calm mind is much more realistic."
With that said tomorrow I will go to the dealer to compare them with their demo unit as a final check.
dontfeedphils
1000+ Head-Fier
Good to hear! (no pun intended) They probably heard you talking about taking them back to the store and decided to start acting right.
Sometimes you have to threaten your headphones to get them to sound good. /s
Yes. I tell them that I'm going to play nothing but Miley Cyrus all day if they don't behave. It works wonders. They sound great and I never have to listen to Miley.
up late
Headphoneus Supremus
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that's incredible!
glad you're warming to them anyway.
doraymon
1000+ Head-Fier
I’m not yet out of the tunnel but in my brain at least the bass has tightened and the clarity of the Utopia is fantastic.that's incredible!
I still have a kind of MEH in regards to the presentation which is very “in your face” as opposed to the airy, fresh and spacious presentation of the Clear.
I am starting to believe that after a long time with relatively bright and bass light headphones I had a shock with the powerful and full bass of the Utopia.
This, together with maybe the need of at least a few hours of burn in to settle and tighten the bass, created that sensation of congestion.
One thing that still puzzles me is the distortion I was hearing in the highs and mids of tracks with high dynamic range, which seems to have disappeared now.
I never had a similar experience in any of the maybe 20 pairs of cans I owned in the last ten years.
Today I’m bringing the Utopias to the shop to test them against their demo unit and make sure there is no technical issue.
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up late
Headphoneus Supremus
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i suspect that we are the biggest variables when it comes to perceived changes in a headphone's sound 
doraymon
1000+ Head-Fier
I suspect so as well.i suspect that we are the biggest variables when it comes to perceived changes in a headphone's sound
But I don't feel silly for what I wrote, it reflects exactly what I heard and how I perceived it.
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Headphoneus Supremus
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nor should you as we're all sharing our subjective impressions here
SilverEars
Headphoneus Supremus
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I've stated earlier that Utopia is very good instrumentation accuracy, and it seems it's very good for rock. It's the dynamics and way the bass hits for the drums(in which it does particularly well for drum hits, probably the most accurate sounding drums I've heard), and the treble peak seems to work very well for distortion rock or metal. Very clear, articulate, and controlled distortion guitar.
I've been listening to a bit of Bush.
These youtube tracks don't do justice, Tidal sounds better.
I've been listening to a bit of Bush.
These youtube tracks don't do justice, Tidal sounds better.
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SilverEars
Headphoneus Supremus
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Anybody have the Fostex TH-X00? I have the Ebony, and if I listen to the TH-X00 before the Utopia, it really effects how I perceive the Utopia(If I listen to the Utopia afterwards). The Ebony sounds to have more mid presence, and of course the bass is significant in comparison, and sub-bass is greatly present, providing that woofer like response from the cups. It maybe due to going from cupped headphone to open, but man does that headphone change my perception of the Utopia. I did listen to Cascades for a bit, and that headphone effects how you perceive bass. Everything sounded bass light, even the Ebony(and I know this one isn't bass light).
up late
Headphoneus Supremus
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as you are probably aware, tyll hertsen announced his retirement this week. although he controversially changed his opinion of the utopia and removed it from his wall of fame, i still think he nailed it in this review like no one else has:
https://www.innerfidelity.com/content/worlds-best-headphone-focal-utopia
https://www.innerfidelity.com/content/worlds-best-headphone-focal-utopia
