[blackwolf1006]

I like my Norne Silvergarde S3 with the Utopia. I use my Luxman P700u and Auris Nirvana headphone amps. I prefer my Nirvana with the Utopia.

Awesome. I'll check them out

 

[astrostar59]

tube coloration (or "goodness" as some folks call it) can be nice, but i prefer the utopia without it

I think a lot of that comes down to a decent DAC. Many DS DACs can sound cold and rough in the treble regions. So a coloration can be a way to negate that. IMO a 4K headphone needs a 4K DAC at least (as a general guide, prices don't always follow sound quality). Effectively a 4K headphone like the Utopia can perform at a 20K speaker level, possibly higher than that I find. So the source is very important, best to fix that first, then have no EQ or coloration added after.

I used to own a mid level Stax rig with the Lambda Nova Signatures and a Stax energiser. It had very peaky treble performance, and sounded better with a coloured amp. Once I got beyond that level, I found I needed to get a better front end instead.

 

[blackwolf1006]

Regards from Austria

NOMAX

PS.about the perfect sounding cable?...that gives the Utopia much more body in the sound?
There is only one cable on this planet in my opinion.....the Double Duet from Crystal Cable

Do you happen to know if the case in the picture have enough room to fit the SP1000+SP1000AMP?

 

[up late]

I think a lot of that comes down to a decent DAC. Many DS DACs can sound cold and rough in the treble regions. So a coloration can be a way to negate that. IMO a 4K headphone needs a 4K DAC at least (as a general guide, prices don't always follow sound quality). Effectively a 4K headphone like the Utopia can perform at a 20K speaker level, possibly higher than that I find. So the source is very important, best to fix that first, then have no EQ or coloration added after.

I used to own a mid level Stax rig with the Lambda Nova Signatures and a Stax energiser. It had very peaky treble performance, and sounded better with a coloured amp. Once I got beyond that level, I found I needed to get a better front end instead.

i don't want to revisit the same old audiophile arguments over the sound of delta sigma dacs and price equating with performance. suffice to say, i don't share your view.

 

[Failed Engineer]

If anyone is reading this thread and thinking about buying a Utopia, rest assured you don’t need a $4k DAC to optimize performance. Rather far from it.

 

[dontfeedphils]

i don't want to revisit the same old audiophile arguments over the sound of delta sigma dacs and price equating with performance. suffice to say, i don't share your view.

If anyone is reading this thread and thinking about buying a Utopia, rest assured you don’t need a $4k DAC to optimize performance. Rather far from it.

+1

 

[Slim1970]

If anyone is reading this thread and thinking about buying a Utopia, rest assured you don’t need a $4k DAC to optimize performance. Rather far from it.

Agreed, they are some of the easiest to drive headphones out there. Since they are so revealing, you will hear flaws in your setup and how bad some tracks are recorded.

 

[muski]

If anyone is reading this thread and thinking about buying a Utopia, rest assured you don’t need a $4k DAC to optimize performance. Rather far from it.

Grea point. I mostly drive my Utopias with a Chord DAVE, but was also shocked by how great they sound driven by a Chord Mojo.

 

[DaYooper]

Grea point. I mostly drive my Utopias with a Chord DAVE, but was also shocked by how great they sound driven by a Chord Mojo.

I haven't plugged them into the Mojo yet. I'm waiting for a single ended cable that doesn't outweigh the mojo by a factor of 3.

 

[TheMiddleSky]

If anyone is reading this thread and thinking about buying a Utopia, rest assured you don’t need a $4k DAC to optimize performance. Rather far from it.

While I agree that for most of us, 4K DAC could be too much for Utopia, I would like to add a little story.

Once (around 2 yrs ago), local community in my place tried to built a set-up by combine all what we have into one ultimate system. They consist of:
DCS Vivaldi DAC with stacks: Vivaldi Master Clock and Vivaldi Upsampler
Bakoon Pre 5420 MK3 (as pre amp)
Woo Audio WA5 Max
Focal Utopia

We also tried to swap the dac with Dave, which is already produce excellent sound. However, in this case Vivaldi able to bring us "magic" that make all of our jaws drop. Tested with Katie Melua - Dreams On Fire, we able to listened the song in microscopic detail, that we guess even their sound engineer never expect people to hear it: one person cough a little in the background, there was one door being closed, and some paper noise as they flip the music book (we guess?).

Then we try back listened with Dave, and that song become "normal" again, we hear micro detail very well, but all of that "noise" are very hard to pick (we didn't realize them if we haven't heard at DCS at the first place), and some are totally missing.

Note that this Katie Melua song is kind of our reference song because we like the song itself so much (like we listened to it almost everyday). All of us never heard this "noise detail" before, that's why the wow effect for us was so big.

While we all agree these set-up simply way way way too overkill, it is just fun to know the capabilities of these 40mm beryllium drivers in term of revealing detail.

 

[dontfeedphils]

While I agree that for most of us, 4K DAC could be too much for Utopia, I would like to add a little story.

Once (around 2 yrs ago), local community in my place tried to built a set-up by combine all what we have into one ultimate system. They consist of:
DCS Vivaldi DAC with stacks: Vivaldi Master Clock and Vivaldi Upsampler
Bakoon Pre 5420 MK3 (as pre amp)
Woo Audio WA5 Max
Focal Utopia

We also tried to swap the dac with Dave, which is already produce excellent sound. However, in this case Vivaldi able to bring us "magic" that make all of our jaws drop. Tested with Katie Melua - Dreams On Fire, we able to listened the song in microscopic detail, that we guess even their sound engineer never expect people to hear it: one person cough a little in the background, there was one door being closed, and some paper noise as they flip the music book (we guess?).

Then we try back listened with Dave, and that song become "normal" again, we hear micro detail very well, but all of that "noise" are very hard to pick (we didn't realize them if we haven't heard at DCS at the first place), and some are totally missing.

Note that this Katie Melua song is kind of our reference song because we like the song itself so much (like we listened to it almost everyday). All of us never heard this "noise detail" before, that's why the wow effect for us was so big.

While we all agree these set-up simply way way way too overkill, it is just fun to know the capabilities of these 40mm beryllium drivers in term of revealing detail.

I don't think anyone is doubting how well they scale, and IME, they scale better than any other set (on top of being absolute source microscopes). They just don't require that sort of setup to sound good (IMO, they sound pretty damn good out of my old Lenovo Yoga laptop).

 

[Gadget67]

While I agree that for most of us, 4K DAC could be too much for Utopia, I would like to add a little story.

Once (around 2 yrs ago), local community in my place tried to built a set-up by combine all what we have into one ultimate system. They consist of:
DCS Vivaldi DAC with stacks: Vivaldi Master Clock and Vivaldi Upsampler
Bakoon Pre 5420 MK3 (as pre amp)
Woo Audio WA5 Max
Focal Utopia

We also tried to swap the dac with Dave, which is already produce excellent sound. However, in this case Vivaldi able to bring us "magic" that make all of our jaws drop. Tested with Katie Melua - Dreams On Fire, we able to listened the song in microscopic detail, that we guess even their sound engineer never expect people to hear it: one person cough a little in the background, there was one door being closed, and some paper noise as they flip the music book (we guess?).

Then we try back listened with Dave, and that song become "normal" again, we hear micro detail very well, but all of that "noise" are very hard to pick (we didn't realize them if we haven't heard at DCS at the first place), and some are totally missing.

Note that this Katie Melua song is kind of our reference song because we like the song itself so much (like we listened to it almost everyday). All of us never heard this "noise detail" before, that's why the wow effect for us was so big.

While we all agree these set-up simply way way way too overkill, it is just fun to know the capabilities of these 40mm beryllium drivers in term of revealing detail.

I’d hope a (roughly) $35,000 USD DAC would produce mind blowing detail. My (relatively speaking) cheesy Sony TA-ZH1ES produces significant detail with both my Utopia and Stellia headphones and I hear subtle details that I never realized were there. Obviously the Utopia is a detail monster and readily exposes poorly recorded music as well as enhancing subtle details in my favorite pieces.

 

[TheMiddleSky]

I don't think anyone is doubting how well they scale, and IME, they scale better than any other set (on top of being absolute source microscopes). They just don't require that sort of setup to sound good (IMO, they sound pretty damn good out of my old Lenovo Yoga laptop).

True, back when I still had utopia, i really enjoy listened on the bed, with my phone + chord mojo. Already a bliss for my lullaby songs.

 

[paradoxper]

I think a lot of that comes down to a decent DAC. Many DS DACs can sound cold and rough in the treble regions. So a coloration can be a way to negate that. IMO a 4K headphone needs a 4K DAC at least (as a general guide, prices don't always follow sound quality). Effectively a 4K headphone like the Utopia can perform at a 20K speaker level, possibly higher than that I find. So the source is very important, best to fix that first, then have no EQ or coloration added after.

I used to own a mid level Stax rig with the Lambda Nova Signatures and a Stax energiser. It had very peaky treble performance, and sounded better with a coloured amp. Once I got beyond that level, I found I needed to get a better front end instead.

Julian, why participate in such drivel. Coloration, in one way or another, exists in everything.
Yea, a stretch, arguably, unless you solely listen to your own recordings. What fun!

 

[giuseppe75]

Confermo anche l'eccellente utopia accoppiata - mojo