[gtbrown50]

I feel Utopia calling. Either that, or I feel the need for unjustified impulse spending calling.

How well does the Utopia respond to EQ? If you EQ the highs to be linear, which I am certainly going to do, are they still going to have the detail? Will the detail, in this case, be better than the Clear? I like the Clear a lot, especially how fluid it is, but after a decade and a half of listening to electrostatics, I'm spoiled and want more better resolution.

I think my favorite headphone sound-wise is the L700, but it's not comfortable enough to wear for more than 20 minutes. So the dilemma is, then, go for the Utopia, or save up some more and try to build a rig around the SR-009. SR-007 is probably not ideal either, since the self-adjusting headband on the 007 keeps adjusting the bloody headphones right off my head.

Spoiler

My new year's resolution wasn't to get more resolution, but here we are...

I give my Utopias a touch of high EQ with a Loki. Makes 'em a little better, no loss of detail whatsoever.

 

[emrelights1973]

İ am currently using utopia with 1z and sp1000...

İ have a good CD player and will a streamer as well soon

What would be the top amps or even amp/dacs to use it with Utopia that will give me something more than DAPs

A violectric v200 / 281? Woo Audio wa33? Chord TT?

Tube or solid.... vs top DAPs

Will it be waste of money?

 

[LCMusicLover]

İ am currently using utopia with 1z and sp1000...

İ have a good CD player and will a streamer as well soon

What would be the top amps or even amp/dacs to use it with Utopia that will give me something more than DAPs

A violectric v200 / 281? Woo Audio wa33? Chord TT?

Tube or solid.... vs top DAPs

Will it be waste of money?

Tough call. Utopia is very resolving, and can scale with your chain.

On the other hand, it's also very sensitive/efficient, so a powerful amp isn't needed. In fact, you can run into situations where the amp has so much gain that you struggle to find usable space on volume adjustment. I had a v280, and stepped the pre-gain way down for Utopia. I do hear more differences between my DACs (Sabre-based Sonica & R2R Pontus) with Utopia than any of my other cans. Right now, I'm very happy with my Utopia paired with Liquid Platinum.

On the gripping hand, those are very good DAPs -- improvement should be relatively small if you move to a TOTL desktop system. Honestly, the LP and my Lazuli Ref cable are the only significant upgrades vs Utopia & Plenue 2 with a good balanced copper cable -- I suspect your DAPs are at least as competent as mine, maybe better -- although I don't want to confirm that ... $$$$

 

[tmarshl]

I am using a PS Audio Directstream DAC with Bridge II and Snowmass firmware feeding a Pass Labs HPA-1 headphone amplifier into my Focal Utopia headphones. I am pleased with this combination, except for the firmware on the Bridge II being unable to operate under DHCP in my network (Apple Airport Extreme), and requiring a static IP address to function properly.

However, like most audiophiles, I am always looking for the "next best thing", and will be evaluating the dCS Bartok DAC + headphone amplifier in the near future. This is a very expensive solution. As expected, the last few percentage improvements in the quest for the "best" sound incurs an order of magnitude in cost. When we get into this heady realm, the definition of what is the "best' sound becomes highly personalized from listener to listener - so the only answer is to listen for yourself and make your own judgement as to what is best for you.

 

[emrelights1973]

Bartok is on my watchlist as well but i might go for a Naim streamer, i wish Naim makes a new headphone amp tuned for Focals...dac v1 is good but not the best..

now listening Tidal MQA john Mellencamp, it sound very good....

İ think i like more sp1000 than 1z

 

[baiyy1986]

I tried both Tube(OTL and SET) and Solid state and I prefer solid state.
I recommend those amps that can work well with low-impedance can or IEM.
Just received an almost 10-yeas old Luxman p1u since I have TH-900 and HD800. It also works great with Utopia and clear.

 

[David Kleinfeld]

Happy New Year everyone

 

[LCMusicLover]

I was listening last night with my LP w/ just received Amperex 6922 PQ. Really good headstage, but intimate, not open and spacious (I was comparing to Ether 2).

Anyway, I wondered if these are a nightmare for gaming? Everything right on top of you? Like you’re always wearing binoculars?

Just curious.

 

[cskippy]

If you're referring to Utopia, I use them daily for gaming. I've never had an issue with directional audio. I'll admit the rest of my system helps buff up Utopia's intimate sound stage to where i have zero issues with it listening to music or gaming. On some systems I've heard Utopia with a very small sound stage but it's always precise with excellent imaging which I argue is more important than head stage for gaming.

Also, many games have audio mixed for headphones and apply their own simulated or generalized HRTF to the game audio.

 

[LCMusicLover]

If you're referring to Utopia, I use them daily for gaming. I've never had an issue with directional audio. I'll admit the rest of my system helps buff up Utopia's intimate sound stage to where i have zero issues with it listening to music or gaming. On some systems I've heard Utopia with a very small sound stage but it's always precise with excellent imaging which I argue is more important than head stage for gaming.

Also, many games have audio mixed for headphones and apply their own simulated or generalized HRTF to the game audio.

Yes, I meant Utopia. I don’t game, so it was just idle curiosity. I could imagine a combat game where it seemed like all the bad guys were always right on top of you. Does the HRFT do a good job of creating a deeper perceived sound field w/ Utopia?

I absolutely agree about the precision and imaging. Headstage just seems shallow, especially compared to Ether 2 w/ my LP.

 

[jmk720]

I was listening last night with my LP w/ just received Amperex 6922 PQ. Really good headstage, but intimate, not open and spacious (I was comparing to Ether 2).

Anyway, I wondered if these are a nightmare for gaming? Everything right on top of you? Like you’re always wearing binoculars?

Just curious.

Actually is the best HP for gaming that i allready have, the precision on the image and the mids sound natural, and a lot of detail, plus you can hear precisaly where everything came from...

Its better on my opinion than beyer t1, hd800, he1000, lcd x, ether c, auteur...

 

[elton7033]

I tried both Tube(OTL and SET) and Solid state and I prefer solid state.
I recommend those amps that can work well with low-impedance can or IEM.
Just received an almost 10-yeas old Luxman p1u since I have TH-900 and HD800. It also works great with Utopia and clear.

I found the Luxman p1u matching the Utopia very nice as well, much better than my Luxman P700u.

 

[JMAX2016]

Hey guys. Been reading for a while now on the Utopia Discussion board. This is my first post; so thanks for having me.
I have a a question that I couldn't find.
I run a MacBook pro, Flac files through VLC player, Hugo 2 to (via RCA wires) meridian prime amp to Utopia.
Under the Audio MIDI setup, I can choose from 44,100hz up to 768,000hz,
I understand that the higher supposedly the better. However I'm finding that the higher the bitrate output, the brighter and piercing the music becomes. Does this make sense to anyone?
Thanks

 

[JLoud]

There is a program called BitPerfect available on the App Store. It automatically sets your midi settings to whatever the file format is. It also buffers the audio to improve output. I ran this on my Mac mini. I have since switched to Audirvana +. This is a complete audio player. You can use it with iTunes or as a stand alone player. Both programs work really well. Bitperfect is pretty cheap. Like $10.

 

[montanari]

I think vlc is the worst player you could use