[astropalace]

Somebody else asked that same question not long ago - I've got both of them, along with about 4 other headphones; I'll be keeping the Utopia, which goes with my Quicksilver tube headphone amp like they were designed for each other. DEEP sound staging to get yerself lost in, and detail galore. Empyreans are beautiful and probably the most comfortable to wear of all of them. They sound excellent, but overall, they are too 'dark' for my tastes. Lots of other people will love that, though. The other pair that I'm keeping are ZMF Verite Open....

Interesting.. I'd love to give the utopias a try one day. Thanks!

 

[LarsMan]

Hey all,

Wondering how the utopia sounds compared to the empyreans, has anyone had experience with both?

I'd also like to add that it depends so, so much on amplification - when I was using a Lyr 3 tube amp, the Empyreans sounded better to me than Utopia, and I was getting ready to sell the the Utopias; I couldn't understand what all the fuss was about with them. When I replaced the Lyr 3 with the far superior Quicksilver tube headphone amp, the story changed and the Utopias sounded PERFECT and better to me than any other headphones I had, including Abyss Diana V2 and HifiMan HE-1000 V2. And I don't know what they sound like in various SS systems. Don't know if it has anything to do with anything, but the 2 headphones I'm keeping are dynamics, and the others are planars. Could be that, or could be just these particular models.

 

[astropalace]

@LarsMan Don't have any experience with tubes.. but maybe it's time

 

[jlbrach]

imho the utopia is a far superior HP....I owned both and have had the utopia twice...the empy left me cold but that is me

 

[dontfeedphils]

Utopia vs Empyrean has been asked and answered multiple times in this thread.

The search function is your friend in this case.

 

[dontfeedphils]

Only been able to get time with Utopia about once a week lately, but it's always time well spent.

Been stuck on this album lately.

https://tidal.com/album/150502613

 

[JDFlood]

I have used my Utopias with a bunch of different amplifiers. While because of their efficiency they sound good with my high-end A&K SP1000 (with the add-on amp), they sound a bit sterile. Put a tube amp behind them and they sound a lot more natural, put a massive solid state amp and slam increases, put a massive current tube amp and they sound incredible, real, moving, fully fleshed out. But do the same thing with a set of Beyerdynamic T1 or Sennheiser 800’s and the former sounds very warm and emotional and the with solid state and their character comes across the same with improved bass on higher powered equipment solid state or tube. Sennheiser 800’s sound a bit trebly on low powered equipment and on solid state... but the character remains until massive current tube amp, where they sound surprisingly similar to the Focal. I could go on. The point to me is that the Focal convey whatever your source is... the Beyerdynamic have a strong overriding warmth ‘ natural tone, in themselves.. regardless of input.. (but too little power is a problem). The Sennheiser have a character. That only goes away with massive natural power. The Focal simply reflect your system. So after a lot of experimentation over the years, the answer to me is that if you have Focal Utopias and they are not perfect, then modify your electronics to get the sound you want. Otherwise you are choosing a colored sounding headphone with other colored sounding equipment... and hence adding one more variable and making achieving your goal more difficult.

 

[joseph69]

The longer I listen to the Utopias, the more I like them. On the warmer setup, the capping performs well in metal music. The only question is whether this kind of sound can withstand drivers because Utopias are not very durable headphones.

I've mentioned before that I've pushed the envelope of my Utopia to incredible limits using my WA33 for a few songs in a row on many occasions and they never showed any signs of distortion or weakness in any way, shape or form and they sounded incredible!
I wish I could listen to them on more occasions at that level but I don't want to damage my hearing.

Unfortunately, there seems to be contradictory responses from different folks within the company.

That's not good, at all.

 

[meomap]

Hi fellow Utopia members,

Bad news for me again.
My Utopia, Right side has no sound. Left side ok.
I just used it couple days ago with WA6SE and put it back in the box. Thought it's the cable.
Swapped to stock, same no sound for the Right.
Swapped to DHC Comp 4, same no sound for the Right side.
Tested with the Ibasso DX220 MAX Transport DAP, same no sound for the Right side..
This sucks, man.

Well, it's time to contact my dealer again.......

 

[tradyblix]

Focal's easily winning in the looks department

That's about the only place it's winning in that comparison tho. Right ? Right ? Wrong thread ?

 

[tradyblix]

Hi fellow Utopia members,

Bad news for me again.
My Utopia, Right side has no sound. Left side ok.
I just used it couple days ago with WA6SE and put it back in the box. Thought it's the cable.
Swapped to stock, same no sound for the Right.
Swapped to DHC Comp 4, same no sound for the Right side.
Tested with the Ibasso DX220 MAX Transport DAP, same no sound for the Right side..
This sucks, man.

Well, it's time to contact my dealer again.......

Sucks but it happens. Repairs on a 4,000 MSRP headphone... a must.

 

[kahkityoong]

I’m looking to get a desktop amp for my Utopia. Due to covid, I’m not able to get a demo with the amps I’m interested in around Melbourne. Curious if anyone has compared the Niimbus to the WA33. Since I travel around a lot, the form factor of the Niimbus is more enticing but I’m willing to haul the WA33 around if it’s significantly better.

 

[Roasty]

Wow.. I've not heard of anyone using the WA33 as a travel amp.. yet!

 

[thecrow]

I’m looking to get a desktop amp for my Utopia. Due to covid, I’m not able to get a demo with the amps I’m interested in around Melbourne. Curious if anyone has compared the Niimbus to the WA33. Since I travel around a lot, the form factor of the Niimbus is more enticing but I’m willing to haul the WA33 around if it’s significantly better.

i have not heard the wa33. The utopia does like tubes and i have heard great reports of the wa5 and utopia.

i own the niimbus us4 and it is a beast. And detailed and “illuminating“ with headphones. Great texture. Feeding it balanced in from my hex dac i set the pregain at -12db for utopia.

imho if you buy a niimbus you will have no need for another ss amp again

and if you might be thinking of picking up a susvara in the future, just set gain to +12 and you are right to go.

 

[kahkityoong]

Wow.. I've not heard of anyone using the WA33 as a travel amp.. yet!

I was about to buy one last month and my partner suddenly got very concerned that we were going to be carting it around on our long road trip when she saw it at the store.