[Nomax]

@Trinkle

Just be surprised in the second half of the year....a K812 or HD800S look old against it in their performance
If then the C....... must strike like a thunderbolt on the market,and for that you must make much more effort and give more effort than the others.
And I am not so easy to convince....i am very strict
Construct...material impression... ear pads...wearing comfort...and also in the end the tonal/sonic performance must be right,which also amazed and convinced me
(Don't worry,there will be no more excess energy in the Trebble as was in fashion many years ago as with K812 or HD800 and also not darkened like an LCD5 )

NOMAX

PS.as did the French with the Utopia/Nutopia

 

[Trinkle]

Austrian Audio take my moneeeeeey !!!! Release the damn thing already lol.

Thanks Nomax !

 

[ThatAppleGuy]

I used to use a Sennheiser HD650, but just purchased a 2020 Utopia.
Looking to purchase my first desktop DAC/amp and would love some advice!
Looking through previous recommendation I've come away with the following contenders:

• iFi AUDIO Pro iDSD: $2.6k
• Chord Hugu (open box): $2.2k
• SPL Phonitor xe w/ DAC: $2.4k
• Feliks Audio: Euforia or Elise MK 2: $2.2k / $2k
• Sony TA-ZH1ES: $2.2k
• Auris Audio HA-2SF: $2k
• Sennheiser HDV 820: $1.9k
• Woo Audio WA8: $1.9k
• RME ADI-2 Pro FS R: $1.6k
• Auris Audio Euterpe: $1.4k
• Shiit Lyr + Bifrost: $1.4k
• Shiit Jotunheim + Bifrost: $1.1k
• FiiO K9 Pro ESS: $850

 

[Daniel Johnston]

I used to use a Sennheiser HD650, but just purchased a 2020 Utopia.
Looking to purchase my first desktop DAC/amp and would love some advice!
Looking through previous recommendation I've come away with the following contenders:

• iFi AUDIO Pro iDSD: $2.6k
• Chord Hugu (open box): $2.2k
• SPL Phonitor xe w/ DAC: $2.4k
• Feliks Audio: Euforia or Elise MK 2: $2.2k / $2k
• Sony TA-ZH1ES: $2.2k
• Auris Audio HA-2SF: $2k
• Sennheiser HDV 820: $1.9k
• Woo Audio WA8: $1.9k
• RME ADI-2 Pro FS R: $1.6k
• Auris Audio Euterpe: $1.4k
• Shiit Lyr + Bifrost: $1.4k
• Shiit Jotunheim + Bifrost: $1.1k
• FiiO K9 Pro ESS: $850

My vote is:
- Hugo 2 if you want detail, good tonality, soundstage, and power. I’d consider Mojo 2 as alternate to Hugo 2.
- Woo WA8 is just a great match to the Utopia 2020. Holographic, musical, deep bass, but still plenty detail. Soundstage pretty good. Battery life good only for 3ish hours. It’s my portable setup.
- Schiit Lyr and BF good combo. Lyr is the least tube-y of your, picks. Plenty of power (not needed for Utopia).
- Jot/BF combo is my current SS setup. It’s very good. Detailed but not harsh.

The Schiit gear great bang for buck performance. I’m assuming you mean BF 2/64. The OG BF a different beast.

 

[Musicophilesblog]

I used to use a Sennheiser HD650, but just purchased a 2020 Utopia.
Looking to purchase my first desktop DAC/amp and would love some advice!
Looking through previous recommendation I've come away with the following contenders:

• iFi AUDIO Pro iDSD: $2.6k
• Chord Hugu (open box): $2.2k
• SPL Phonitor xe w/ DAC: $2.4k
• Feliks Audio: Euforia or Elise MK 2: $2.2k / $2k
• Sony TA-ZH1ES: $2.2k
• Auris Audio HA-2SF: $2k
• Sennheiser HDV 820: $1.9k
• Woo Audio WA8: $1.9k
• RME ADI-2 Pro FS R: $1.6k
• Auris Audio Euterpe: $1.4k
• Shiit Lyr + Bifrost: $1.4k
• Shiit Jotunheim + Bifrost: $1.1k
• FiiO K9 Pro ESS: $850

My favorite combination of my 2020 Utopia is with the Naim Uniti Atom Headphone Edition. Great all in one box, very good looking, and fantastic synergy with the Utopias (coming from the same mother company).

 

[seadog123]

Add the GSX-Mini to your demo. list.

I also have a 2020 Utopia and I’m just burning in a brand new one now.

It’s a lovely amp. and a great match to the 2020 Utopia at this early stage of comparison to my existing ifi PRO iCAN Sig.

The ifi may well be for sale in a weeks time. And I rate the ifi very highly indeed, but the GSX-Mini is a very special amp.

 

[JackarlTwo]

I used to use a Sennheiser HD650, but just purchased a 2020 Utopia.
Looking to purchase my first desktop DAC/amp and would love some advice!
Looking through previous recommendation I've come away with the following contenders:

• iFi AUDIO Pro iDSD: $2.6k
• Chord Hugu (open box): $2.2k
• SPL Phonitor xe w/ DAC: $2.4k
• Feliks Audio: Euforia or Elise MK 2: $2.2k / $2k
• Sony TA-ZH1ES: $2.2k
• Auris Audio HA-2SF: $2k
• Sennheiser HDV 820: $1.9k
• Woo Audio WA8: $1.9k
• RME ADI-2 Pro FS R: $1.6k
• Auris Audio Euterpe: $1.4k
• Shiit Lyr + Bifrost: $1.4k
• Shiit Jotunheim + Bifrost: $1.1k
• FiiO K9 Pro ESS: $850

Unless you really need the extra features of the RME ADI-2 Pro I'd just get the RME ADI-2 DAC and save a bunch of money. I'd 100% pick Euforia over Elise if the difference is only $200.

 

[jgladden36]

I used to use a Sennheiser HD650, but just purchased a 2020 Utopia.
Looking to purchase my first desktop DAC/amp and would love some advice!
Looking through previous recommendation I've come away with the following contenders:

• iFi AUDIO Pro iDSD: $2.6k
• Chord Hugu (open box): $2.2k
• SPL Phonitor xe w/ DAC: $2.4k
• Feliks Audio: Euforia or Elise MK 2: $2.2k / $2k
• Sony TA-ZH1ES: $2.2k
• Auris Audio HA-2SF: $2k
• Sennheiser HDV 820: $1.9k
• Woo Audio WA8: $1.9k
• RME ADI-2 Pro FS R: $1.6k
• Auris Audio Euterpe: $1.4k
• Shiit Lyr + Bifrost: $1.4k
• Shiit Jotunheim + Bifrost: $1.1k
• FiiO K9 Pro ESS: $850

I would recommend you at least demo a holo audio spring or splurge on the may. easily top value for your dollar.

a more sane budget is the naim uniti atom which provides a unified and rarified sound, not quite holo audio calibar but an amazing value as a streamer, dac and headphone amp and easily bests the rme in terms of sq.

but with the may you can grow your chain and start w a truly top of the line dac and later add the holo red (or save going node 2i) and maybe the serene (it is a preamp that does some magical stuff).

the rme is rock solid and being able to dial in eq is an amazing feature but if sq is the criteria i would sort these as: holo may > holo spring > uniti > rme.

not a lot of experience with chord dacs beyond the mojo. to my ears it honestly was not much better than listening straight out of my macbook pro headphone jack w a pair of hd650. it faintly improved seperation but not enough to justify keeping it. it predated my utopia so maybe better synergy there. guess the chord sound is not a fit for my listening preferences.

if you go separates and buy holo audio, for a headphone amp the ha2sf w the utopia would be really, really hard to beat, w a telefunken v1 you are getting the absolute best out of your utopia.

still recommend the og utopia over the 2022 but both are a stellar headphone experience.

you got great ears, i adore the hd650, easily as good as it gets in its price range, meh on the much lauded hd800. with the utopia you will not get that golden, musical warmth but the level of detail, accuracy and tonal balance the utopia has on tap is a game changer.

if you want one buy and you are done, uniti headphone edition is an easy win, if you plan to grow in to a pristine experience, choose the best, holo may is as good as it gets until you sell the house and go dcs (and even that offers debatable improvement).

also highly recommend hqplayer in your may or spring chain. it is a pia to dial in to to your sound preference but the struggle pays some great dividends. happy to share settings if you end up there.

as always, these are just my subjective opinions, we all have unique ears and chains so reject or use them as you see fit.

 

[hk29]

I did some quick searches, but couldn't find a quick answer. How easily can you hear environment with the utopia OG? Is it completely open (10) or close back (1). For reference I would put ZMF Attrium at 6. Abyss 1266 at 9. HD6xx at 6. I know this is a weird requirement, but I like to hear the environment around me.

 

[BrainSalat]

I did some quick searches, but couldn't find a quick answer. How easily can you hear environment with the utopia OG? Is it completely open (10) or close back (1). For reference I would put ZMF Attrium at 6. Abyss 1266 at 9. HD6xx at 6. I know this is a weird requirement, but I like to hear the environment around me.

I would say the Utopias are as open or more than the HD6XX. I can hear everything around me (even subtle sounds) when listening to the Utopias. As reference you could check the following table. The Utopias are not listed but the Clear MG, which is at most as open as the Utopias.

https://www.rtings.com/headphones/tests/isolation/noise-isolation-cancellation-passive-active

 

[ShortBtwnHdset]

Just got my Utopia 2022 from Audio 46, i’ve been burning it in since 4 PM yesterday. I’m doing so on the stock cable, but I’ve already ordered a replacement silver cable from Audio Sensibility. I’ve got one of their cables on my Meze Empy and it sounds fantastic versus a stock cable. I know the utopia requires substantial burn in, so I’m not doing any critical listening yet, but boy does it sound pretty great so far. Obviously very different than the Empy.

Hey Trickness!

It's been close to a month, care to give a mini-review of your Audio Sensibilty HP cable? I'm close to ordering, have used Moon Audio Silver/Black Dragons previously for ZMF's and Grado's, but don't love their pricing or build quality. What specific model did you get, and what are you comparing to? Thanks in advance!!!

 

[supermj]

Finally got my Utopias back from repair after 2 months with some hassle. Let's hope there's not a third time (unlucky ! ).

 

[Arniesb]

Finally got my Utopias back from repair after 2 months with some hassle. Let's hope there's not a third time (unlucky ! ).

Old Or new one?

 

[supermj]

...Old ( August 2020).

 

[Gavin C4]

The Utopia 2022 dont really nees a tone of power to shine, a decent portable amp can already extract all of the bass and dynamic.