[up late]

I have the purple hearts. They are bass monsters. Apples and oranges, but I listen to the Utopias 90% of the time.

likewise in that i have the th900 which has prodigious bass and recessed mids compared to the utopia. quite different presentations and i enjoy them both.

 

[pfurey89]

Has anyone tried this with a DX200? Would it drive them to decent levels? I am not interested in a desktop amp at this time. Thank you!

 

[495045]

Has anyone tried this with a DX200? Would it drive them to decent levels? I am not interested in a desktop amp at this time. Thank you!

Hi, which AMP do you have on you DX200 ?

 

[pfurey89]

1, 4, and 5.

 

[495045]

1, 4, and 5.

IBasso is not very well distributed in France. I only have AMP 1. I'll test it tomorrow

 

[LCMusicLover]

Has anyone tried this with a DX200? Would it drive them to decent levels? I am not interested in a desktop amp at this time. Thank you!

Not with DX-200, but I listen with my Cowon Plenue 2, and also Opus#2 ( prefer the P2). Plenty enough power to play loud on both. I believer the DX-200 is at least as powerful as those two DAPs and should be fine. Utopia are not hard to drive.

I’m not sure which amp modules will pair best with Utopia. You might get some advice from folks over on the DX-200 thread.

As a side note, I should mention that I always listen balanced.

 

[495045]

1, 4, and 5.

Hi, did my test (and lost twice my MicroSD due to the DX200 spring ).

I only have the AMP1 and the result leaves no doubt : you can hear sound, but all you get is a fraction of what the Utopia can give. It lacks clarity, one would wonder "where are the bass" ? and so on. Obviously, with the AMP 1, the DX200 lacks power.

I also have a FIIO X7 Mk 1 with amp 5 and the result is much much better. Quite impressive for this old mid-end DAP. I wonder if I am not going to sale my DX200 as the FIIO X7 brought me to another world.

I wouldn't recomment investing on the Utopia to listen to the DX-200. BUT the result might change quite a lot with AMP 4 on the Ibasso.

If you pay for postage (I'm in France), I can let you my Utopia and my FIIO.

I listened unbalanced (as the AMP 5 of the FIIO has no balanced output) and with the Utopia stock cable.

 

[LCMusicLover]

Has anyone tried this with a DX200? Would it drive them to decent levels? I am not interested in a desktop amp at this time. Thank you!

Replies in this thread suggest that Amp3 or (especially) Amp4 are best with Utopia, while replies here seem split between Amp3, Amp4 and Amp5 being the best with the Utopia.

There are at least 5 pages of results if you search for 'Utopia' in the second thread I linked.

GLTY

 

[Justin_Time]

I just spent a few hours this evening listening to two tube amps with the Utopia: the Eddie Current Aficionado and the Apex Pinnacle.

WOW!!! What an ear opening experience.

My GS-X Mk2 now has some serious competitions.

 

[495045]

Thos are great cans. I'm just wondering if they are not quite overpriced and I'd rather not have this big magnetic box which is useless and usefullaccesories instead.

I no longer use tube amps as me pre is a nightmare for me. I've changed the tubes for NOS ones and if it improves the sound by a hudge margin, they all have a very distintive sound. So Mullard ? Philips ? Telefunken ? RTF ? All have there pros and cons and I kept trying to find the best "compromise" and had no time to listen to music.

 

[Lappy27]

Has anyone tried this with a DX200? Would it drive them to decent levels? I am not interested in a desktop amp at this time. Thank you!

I have DX200 with AMP 4 and I listened really loud. It's definitely powerful enough for 95% of the tracks. But I have to crank it up to 130-135 of 150. And the pairing is really, really good.

 

[cooldude211986]

And: the Clear pads increase the soundstage too.

What I heard is Clear pads on Utopia tends to roll off the highs a little. Is that your experience with Clear pads too?

 

[doraymon]

Imho, Utopia's soundstage does vary quite significantly with the gear used. Chord Dave offers a larger soundstage than most other gear. Add a tx-USBultra and a Lazuli Reference headphone cable, and Utopia's soundstage becomes even larger. Of course, Utopia's soundstage never becomes as wide as that of the HD800(S), but who cares? This is a brilliant headphone, especially with Dave. Moreover, Utopia sounds also very well with portable gear, at least in case that a one can live with a more "in your face" presentation. And: the Clear pads increase the soundstage too.

I just sold the tX-USBUltra because I found the optical connection to be better in my setup, however I didn't have the Utopia at the time, the test was done with the Clear.
I will soon have a Norne Draug Silver headphone cable on the way to see if that improves soundstage a bit and definitely yes, I will try to use the Clear pads on the Utopia!
Edit: the more I listen the more I have the impression that hat the Utopia imorove on the "air" feeling (that is upper mids sound more crispy and are not covered by an overflowing bass) however what doesn't seem to change is the soundstage depth which is very limited.
Soundstage width I can live with but again I'd love to have a tad of depth more.

 

[cooldude211986]

I just sold the tX-USBUltra because I found the optical connection to be better in my setup, however I didn't have the Utopia at the time, the test was done with the Clear.
I will soon have a Norne Draug Silver headphone cable on the way to see if that improves soundstage a bit and definitely yes, I will try to use the Clear pads on the Utopia!
Edit: the more I listen the more I have the impression that hat the Utopia imorove on the "air" feeling however what doesn't seem to change is the soundstage depth which is very limited.
Soundstage width I can live with but again I'd love to have a tad of depth more.

Looking forward to hear your impressions with Norne Draug Silver cable. I've Forza Noir Hybrid's on order. Waiting for them to arrive and see if that have any effect on soundstage.
With Chord dac/amp, I've similar experience where S/PDIF input sounds a little better than the USB input.

 

[495045]

I just sold the tX-USBUltra because I found the optical connection to be better in my setup, however I didn't have the Utopia at the time, the test was done with the Clear.
I will soon have a Norne Draug Silver headphone cable on the way to see if that improves soundstage a bit and definitely yes, I will try to use the Clear pads on the Utopia!
Edit: the more I listen the more I have the impression that hat the Utopia imorove on the "air" feeling (that is upper mids sound more crispy and are not covered by an overflowing bass) however what doesn't seem to change is the soundstage depth which is very limited.
Soundstage width I can live with but again I'd love to have a tad of depth more.

Looking forward to hear your impressions with Norne Draug Silver cable. I've Forza Noir Hybrid's on order. Waiting for them to arrive and see if that have any effect on soundstage.
With Chord dac/amp, I've similar experience where S/PDIF input sounds a little better than the USB input.

Looking forward to hear your impressions before I order a cable. I went to Norne's site and couldn't find the Focal in the Headphone Type. If @doraymon can help me, it'll be great..

But on a $4000 headphone, one shouldn't have to change earpads (for those of a lower headphone) + change stock cable. CABLE COST THEM PEANUTS (less than 10% of the retail price).