[x RELIC x]

I think it has been mentioned before however possibly a few suggestions on iPhone iOS meter apps??

You can always search the App Store for 'SPL meter' or 'decibel meter' for free and paid apps, but this one seems rather decent.

SPL Meter by Andrew Smith

 

[hyde27]

My Utopia No.55X bought on 16 Nov 2016 in Hong Kong. Unlucky the right side of my Utopia did not have any sound on 24 May 2017 and I sent to the agent on the same day. However, up till now (over 2 months time), I still cannot receive my Utopia. Can anyone tell me how long you got back your Utopia as my same case, especially for those in Hong Kong?

 

[Allanmarcus]

I think it has been mentioned before however possibly a few suggestions on iPhone iOS meter apps??

Try CanOpener. Plug in your headphones, then choose anything from the list of headphones, you will add the Utopia later. After Canopener opens and you read the help, click the little gray headphone icon in the lower right. Select Add headphones, and enter Focal Utopia, 80 ohm, 104 dB/mW.

Now play some music in CanOpener (it can play what on your phone, or you can upload music (even FLAC) into CanOpener using iTunes. Click not he Dosemeter icon in CanOpener and you can see the effective SPL real time! This allows you to get a good feel for how loud you music is.

What I learned is the 85db is quite loud.

 

[x RELIC x]

Try CanOpener. Plug in your headphones, then choose anything from the list of headphones, you will add the Utopia later. After Canopener opens and you read the help, click the little gray headphone icon in the lower right. Select Add headphones, and enter Focal Utopia, 80 ohm, 104 dB/mW.

Now play some music in CanOpener (it can play what on your phone, or you can upload music (even FLAC) into CanOpener using iTunes. Click not he Dosemeter icon in CanOpener and you can see the effective SPL real time! This allows you to get a good feel for how loud you music is.

What I learned is the 85db is quite loud.

I'm going to have to get this. Thanks!

 

[FLTWS]

...
What I learned is the 85db is quite loud.

I agree, with HP's in particular 75db makes me wince a bit unless it is of very short duration. Different story with loud speakers and even more so in my concert hall listening experience as there is no speaker induced distortion at any level, (duh! thanks capt. obvious). Much higher short time levels are not a problem, but then with classical music the level of loudness varies over time dramatically, and the loudest sections are always of very short duration and generally infrequent compared to the moderate to low levels of loudness which generally dominate in classical (always exceptions but...). With most popular genres of music I listen to on occasion the dynamic level never really changes much from start to finish. What ever level of loudness is set it will continue to bombard the tympanic membrane at that level almost all of the time, continuously.

In trying to replicate a concert hall listening experience the recorded digital medium provides an extremely wide dynamic range possibility. The problem becomes that sometimes the lowest levels are so quiet that I may have to turn it up to get it to what I feel is appropriate and to hear the sound clearly, but then get blasted when the score calls for ffff. As I've thought about it over the years 'm convinced the biggest problem is that the weakest link in the chain is always the transducer. Some can play very loud indeed but that's not dynamic range, the difference between the softest and loudest recorded sounds is dynamic range. That's just one of the many reasons why canned never rivals live.

 

[BunnyNamedCraig]

+1. The things I have now sound really good LOUD, and I'm worried about harming my ears. (My husband has high freq hearing loss.). I keep levels lower when multitasking (e.g. Doing work while listening) and when falling asleep. but there are some times when I want to lose my self in music, and I turn up the volume more than I should. (The recent re-master of OK Computer inspires such a listening session). Not good, but I try to keep these sessions short. Will this help? What are you strategies to mitigating hearing loss?

Wow I didn't know that was a recent re-master of OK Computer... the original album I thought sounded awful (quality wise) do you think it sounds better now?

And when a Can is able to have really low distortion it's way easier to turn it up louder then usual without knowing that it's hurting your ears.... so eveyone should be careful with the Utopia!

 

[buzzlulu]

Try CanOpener. Plug in your headphones, then choose anything from the list of headphones, you will add the Utopia later. After Canopener opens and you read the help, click the little gray headphone icon in the lower right. Select Add headphones, and enter Focal Utopia, 80 ohm, 104 dB/mW.

Now play some music in CanOpener (it can play what on your phone, or you can upload music (even FLAC) into CanOpener using iTunes. Click not he Dosemeter icon in CanOpener and you can see the effective SPL real time! This allows you to get a good feel for how loud you music is.

What I learned is th

Thanks for this however it appears that the developer is no longer actively supporting it - as per what is written on the listing page of the App Store.

Aside from that I am a bit confused on how this operates. in order for this app to work and measure he listening level do the Utopias need to be plugged into the iPhone?

 

[doggiemom]

Wow I didn't know that was a recent re-master of OK Computer... the original album I thought sounded awful (quality wise) do you think it sounds better now?

It has been a long time since I have listened to the original on CD so I can't say, but their website says it is better:
http://www.oknotok.co.uk/
It was remastered from the original analog tapes. I bought the 96kHz/24bit album here:
http://www.hdtracks.com/ok-computer-oknotok-1997-2017
It includes 3 unreleased tracks and a bunch of b-sides, so is worth getting for that.

 

[Allanmarcus]

Thanks for this however it appears that the developer is no longer actively supporting it - as per what is written on the listing page of the App Store.

Aside from that I am a bit confused on how this operates. in order for this app to work and measure he listening level do the Utopias need to be plugged into the iPhone?

That is too bad. It's 32 bit, so it will stop working with iOS 11

To use it, you just plug in headphones and the program asks you to pick a headphone from the list. You pick the Unlisted item, then click not he headphone icon to add a new set of headphones. All it needs is the ohm and sensitivity, and it does the rest.

measuring SPL output from any set of headphone, event eh utopia, would require a decent measuring rig. I don't think you can just put an SPL meter up to the speaker part of the headphone. Too much of the sound is dependent on the seal.

 

[x RELIC x]

I don't think you can just put an SPL meter up to the speaker part of the headphone. Too much of the sound is dependent on the seal.

Good point...

Which is why I use a thick piece of foam with a slit cut out to slide the iPhone through and when placed on the earcup it creates a seal - see pics below. The difference is consistently about 3-4 dB louder.

Like I said, it ain't perfect but it's a ballpark. In the Hugo2 thread it was calculated that a user is likely listening at around 114-120dB (really loud) using the White volume colour with the HE-400 and HE-500. An app will show if you're out of your mind or within reason (no offence meant to really loud listeners). Once someone is aware of what ballpark they listen at then they can use that information or ignore it. That's an individual choice.

 

[Svatopluk]

My measuring rig consists of a worthless old junk mail software CD covering the cup with the SPL meter sticking through the hole. By not letting the peak level go above 80 db, even if I'm not getting a perfect seal it should be okay.

I hope!

 

[phase0]

Try CanOpener. Plug in your headphones, then choose anything from the list of headphones, you will add the Utopia later. After Canopener opens and you read the help, click the little gray headphone icon in the lower right. Select Add headphones, and enter Focal Utopia, 80 ohm, 104 dB/mW.

Now play some music in CanOpener (it can play what on your phone, or you can upload music (even FLAC) into CanOpener using iTunes. Click not he Dosemeter icon in CanOpener and you can see the effective SPL real time! This allows you to get a good feel for how loud you music is.

What I learned is the 85db is quite loud.

Thank you for this. If it's accurate then it tells me my comfortable level is right around 75 dB. It's really a cool app too. If they update it for IOS 11 I'd buy it.

 

[Dorisandjess]

First Watt J2 trying as a HP amp from my
Totaldac Twelve source

Can you please share your thoughts regarding the J2 Utopia pairing

 

[Energy]

@x RELIC x

Kudos to you for recommending me this headphone stand. Sure beats the Woo Audio HPS-H that I was using prior.
It's very affordable and doesn't feel one bit cheap. I highly vouch for the SilverStone Technology EBA01B if anyone is looking for a excellent headphone stand on a budget.

 

[buzzlulu]

That is too bad. It's 32 bit, so it will stop working with iOS 11

To use it, you just plug in headphones and the program asks you to pick a headphone from the list. You pick the Unlisted item, then click not he headphone icon to add a new set of headphones. All it needs is the ohm and sensitivity, and it does the rest.

measuring SPL output from any set of headphone, event eh utopia, would require a decent measuring rig. I don't think you can just put an SPL meter up to the speaker part of the headphone. Too much of the sound is dependent on the seal.

Thanks - now I got it.
I guess since the music is playing from your iPhone - and not from your headphone amp or DAP - you use it just to get an "idea" on what a certain db level sounds like.