[JBOOGIE86]

Yeah, so I adore the Euforia.

But I wasn't such a huge fan of the Utopia and the Euforia synergy, personally.

While my ZMFs and the 6XX get a bigger sound off the Euforia AE, in that they become more dynamic, throw larger and more life-like images, and have a better low-end, I felt that the Euforia makes the Utopia "smoother".

I like the Utopia's visceral presentation and can handle its treble, so not sure I want to go that way with the Utopia.

I do see how the Euforia-Utopia can work others if someone is trying to make the Utopia sound more "polite".

Thank you for your thoughts. I actually have the standard Euforia and find it to be marvelous with my HD800s and also quite good with my Utopias but I haven't had a chance to hear the Utopias from other sources to compare so been curious about other amps.

I'm also looking to get a "portable" solution for travel. Anyone have recommendations? I heard the Utopias with the Ifi Micro iDSD Signature and was impressed but I'm curious if there's something out there that's more ideal for the Utopia.

 

[onecolorist]

The Euforia is lovely though...



Love listening to it in the dark. And the

The Euforia is lovely though...



Love listening to it in the dark. And the color scheme works well with my Holo May.

how would you compare the Orr/Hypsos to the AE Euphoria? I love my Utopia's withy Hugo2/2go as a portable but I'm trying to decide on a desktop system. I am also considering one of the Ampsandsound Amps'. I am attempting to find a consensus for a TOTL setup for the Utopia. I value the opinion of those who have the systems in their home as opposed to my impressions from a meet-up. Thanks so much

 

[Musicophilesblog]

Thank you for your thoughts. I actually have the standard Euforia and find it to be marvelous with my HD800s and also quite good with my Utopias but I haven't had a chance to hear the Utopias from other sources to compare so been curious about other amps.

I'm also looking to get a "portable" solution for travel. Anyone have recommendations? I heard the Utopias with the Ifi Micro iDSD Signature and was impressed but I'm curious if there's something out there that's more ideal for the Utopia.

I recently bought a Chord Mojo 2 for traveling with my Utopia. Before buying I did compare it to the Micro iDSD Signature and found the Chord to be more natural and engaging. Very happy with the combo.

 

[Sajid Amit]

I really liked the OG Mojo with the Utopia. Yet to try to the Mojo 2.

Also, for anyone trying to make the Utopia warmer, improve bass extension, and further refine the treble, the Dekoni Elite Sheepskin pads are rather useful

 

[Rayon]

I hope this quoting works right (at least clicked on the Quote, but not visible in the preview). Anyway, to @onecolorist :

I basically share my initial impressions with Sajid. I got my Euforia on friday and Utopia yesterday. They together sounded a huge letdown for me as I bought them to pair them together. Don't get me wrong, they sound good, but I feel like whenever I switch to Hugo 2 directly, I can hear so accurately that I get tied to the music emotionally. Together they become smooth and nice listen, but I stop tapping my toe (perfect pairing when trying to work while listening?). Some people might like this for active listening as well, but I think it's waste to spend so much money to accurate Utopias and then feed it with material in which those little details are smoothened out. I think with Euforia one is probably better off with other headphones unless one has a lot of extra cash laying around.

The funny thing is that they both are amazing on their own right. For example what completely surprised me was that while Sony MDR-Z1R sounded dry from Hugo 2, through Euforia they become amazing. I had TA-ZH1ES which should be the ultimate pairing with Z1R, but Euforia moves them to completely new, magical realm, that I have never experienced before. A bit too bassy to my taste, but it's not too bad. I think this (why Z1R works with Euforia and Utopia doesn't) is probably because Z1R can't somehow handle the accuracy of Hugo 2, but Euforia speaks it's language. Utopia however, is super accurate and suddenly Hugo 2 doesn't sound dry, but instead I can just hear everything in the music in a very refined way.

TL;DR; my gut feeling says that the TOTL for Utopia is to be found from the SS world as my experience has been that SS amps are often faster than tubes. I think I have to take my Utopias to a local shop in which I would be able to test my Utopia with Dave. I can hear my wallet screaming "Don't do it!" though...

P.S. I think I found a new way to look at things with Utopias: "if your system sounds dry, either buy a tube amp to smoothen that small noise out or buy Utopias to hear what those details are".

EDIT: I switched off Roon's upsampling which had an effect that to my ear made the soundstage smaller, but added clarity. Roon's upsampling combined with tube's smoothening together were too much for Utopia, but not MDR-Z1R. Giving music bit perfect from Qobuz to Hugo 2 changes the game a bit. Now it's not too smooth anymore. This is a good reminder that one should not comment on new equpiment before at least 1 month of usage

 

[iamoneagain]

I hope this quoting works right (at least clicked on the Quote, but not visible in the preview). Anyway, to @onecolorist :

I basically share my initial impressions with Sajid. I got my Euforia on friday and Utopia yesterday. They together sounded a huge letdown for me as I bought them to pair them together. Don't get me wrong, they sound good, but I feel like whenever I switch to Hugo 2 directly, I can hear so accurately that I get tied to the music emotionally. Together they become smooth and nice listen, but I stop tapping my toe (perfect pairing when trying to work while listening?). Some people might like this for active listening as well, but I think it's waste to spend so much money to accurate Utopias and then feed it with material in which those little details are smoothened out. I think with Euforia one is probably better off with other headphones unless one has a lot of extra cash laying around.

The funny thing is that they both are amazing on their own right. For example what completely surprised me was that while Sony MDR-Z1R sounded dry from Hugo 2, through Euforia they become amazing. I had TA-ZH1ES which should be the ultimate pairing with Z1R, but Euforia moves them to completely new, magical realm, that I have never experienced before. A bit too bassy to my taste, but it's not too bad. I think this (why Z1R works with Euforia and Utopia doesn't) is probably because Z1R can't somehow handle the accuracy of Hugo 2, but Euforia speaks it's language. Utopia however, is super accurate and suddenly Hugo 2 doesn't sound dry, but instead I can just hear everything in the music in a very refined way.

TL;DR; my gut feeling says that the TOTL for Utopia is to be found from the SS world as my experience has been that SS amps are often faster than tubes. I think I have to take my Utopias to a local shop in which I would be able to test my Utopia with Dave. I can hear my wallet screaming "Don't do it!" though...

P.S. I think I found a new way to look at things with Utopias: "if your system sounds dry, either buy a tube amp to smoothen that small noise out or buy Utopias to hear what those details are".

EDIT: I switched off Roon's upsampling which had an effect that to my ear made the soundstage smaller, but added clarity. Roon's upsampling combined with tube's smoothening together were too much for Utopia, but not MDR-Z1R. Giving music bit perfect from Qobuz to Hugo 2 changes the game a bit. Now it's not too smooth anymore. This is a good reminder that one should not comment on new equpiment before at least 1 month of usage

They don’t recommend any kind of upsampling with Chord dacs. Feed it the original source. Rob also says to avoid MQA if possible. If you did want to play with upsampling than HQPlayer would be best bet setting to the max upsampling rate to bypass internal upsampling. I never got to try the mscaler on the Hugo 2, but found it was a better match with the Dave than HQPlayer. However I don’t think mscaler is worth the cost to pair with the Hugo 2. Even with the Dave it can have subtle effects.

 

[Rayon]

They don’t recommend any kind of upsampling with Chord dacs. Feed it the original source. Rob also says to avoid MQA if possible. If you did want to play with upsampling than HQPlayer would be best bet setting to the max upsampling rate to bypass internal upsampling. I never got to try the mscaler on the Hugo 2, but found it was a better match with the Dave than HQPlayer. However I don’t think mscaler is worth the cost to pair with the Hugo 2. Even with the Dave it can have subtle effects.

Yeah, I read about this. However, when using Hugo 2 directly, I just like what I hear when I let Roon upsample it. The music just sounds bigger. As a side note, I also like to use bad quality linear phasing, because I leared that I actually like the digital pre-ringing. I didn't want that to be the case, because it feels wrong intuitively, but I grew up in the 90's when digital was new and cool. That digital sound makes me feel like I'm 13 again, listening to Darude's Sandstorm in a loop while playing Doom II.

 

[iamoneagain]

Yeah, I read about this. However, when using Hugo 2 directly, I just like what I hear when I let Roon upsample it. The music just sounds bigger. As a side note, I also like to use bad quality linear phasing, because I leared that I actually like the digital pre-ringing. I didn't want that to be the case, because it feels wrong intuitively, but I grew up in the 90's when digital was new and cool. That digital sound makes me feel like I'm 13 again, listening to Darude's Sandstorm in a loop while playing Doom II.

We’ll I’ve already stated my dislike for the Hugo 2 and Utopia paring compared to the other setups I’ve used. I only used it with original Qobuz source and mostly used with the 2nd filter HF on. High on details but at the cost of fuller sound. So seems roon upsampling might be countering some of this. But if paying for a Chord dac, you’re paying for Rob’s filtering, so seems weird to try and bypass it.

 

[Rayon]

We’ll I’ve already stated my dislike for the Hugo 2 and Utopia paring compared to the other setups I’ve used. I only used it with original Qobuz source and mostly used with the 2nd filter HF on. High on details but at the cost of fuller sound. So seems roon upsampling might be countering some of this. But if paying for a Chord dac, you’re paying for Rob’s filtering, so seems weird to try and bypass it.

This is so true. However, given this, I haven't yet found a better battery powered Roon endpoint. Also there is something in Hugo's sound that makes my toe tap. For example NW-WM1Z never did that.

 

[iamoneagain]

That toe is tapping sound is what Naim Atom HE has in spades. Can’t say I ever felt that way with the Hugo 2 or even the Dave. With the Utopia, the Dave had amazing precision while still being musical however, it didn’t capture the groove the way Naim does. Perhaps the roon upsampling and Hugo 2 just happens to be the right combo.

 

[chesebert]

That toe is tapping sound is what Naim Atom HE has in spades. Can’t say I ever felt that way with the Hugo 2 or even the Dave. With the Utopia, the Dave had amazing precision while still being musical however, it didn’t capture the groove the way Naim does. Perhaps the roon upsampling and Hugo 2 just happens to be the right combo.

I got no toe tapping from Naim Atom. As matter of fact, Naim simply sounded awful to me. I had a much better time pairing Utopia with OOR or LTA amps.

 

[up late]

some music gets the toes a-tappin' more than other music

 

[paradoxper]

I hope this quoting works right (at least clicked on the Quote, but not visible in the preview). Anyway, to @onecolorist :

I basically share my initial impressions with Sajid. I got my Euforia on friday and Utopia yesterday. They together sounded a huge letdown for me as I bought them to pair them together. Don't get me wrong, they sound good, but I feel like whenever I switch to Hugo 2 directly, I can hear so accurately that I get tied to the music emotionally. Together they become smooth and nice listen, but I stop tapping my toe (perfect pairing when trying to work while listening?). Some people might like this for active listening as well, but I think it's waste to spend so much money to accurate Utopias and then feed it with material in which those little details are smoothened out. I think with Euforia one is probably better off with other headphones unless one has a lot of extra cash laying around.

The funny thing is that they both are amazing on their own right. For example what completely surprised me was that while Sony MDR-Z1R sounded dry from Hugo 2, through Euforia they become amazing. I had TA-ZH1ES which should be the ultimate pairing with Z1R, but Euforia moves them to completely new, magical realm, that I have never experienced before. A bit too bassy to my taste, but it's not too bad. I think this (why Z1R works with Euforia and Utopia doesn't) is probably because Z1R can't somehow handle the accuracy of Hugo 2, but Euforia speaks it's language. Utopia however, is super accurate and suddenly Hugo 2 doesn't sound dry, but instead I can just hear everything in the music in a very refined way.

TL;DR; my gut feeling says that the TOTL for Utopia is to be found from the SS world as my experience has been that SS amps are often faster than tubes. I think I have to take my Utopias to a local shop in which I would be able to test my Utopia with Dave. I can hear my wallet screaming "Don't do it!" though...

P.S. I think I found a new way to look at things with Utopias: "if your system sounds dry, either buy a tube amp to smoothen that small noise out or buy Utopias to hear what those details are".

EDIT: I switched off Roon's upsampling which had an effect that to my ear made the soundstage smaller, but added clarity. Roon's upsampling combined with tube's smoothening together were too much for Utopia, but not MDR-Z1R. Giving music bit perfect from Qobuz to Hugo 2 changes the game a bit. Now it's not too smooth anymore. This is a good reminder that one should not comment on new equpiment before at least 1 month of usage

You should look into the ECP DSHA-3F.

 

[Sajid Amit]

Let me know if someone is looking for a Utopia with five year warranty, only a few months old, with upgrade cables. I have two. Have decided to sell off one.

 

[Rayon]

You should look into the ECP DSHA-3F.

Could you please elaborate?