Sorry to stick my neck out here as well as on the Susvara thread recently, where I got properly spanked for trying to set some SQ facts straight once again. But you seem to be on the right track. My take on what you say without ever having heard the D8000 is that is it is probably NOT as good a headphone as the Utopia, which I have auditioned and would not mind owning if it was not so outrageously priced.
I do NOT listen to "simpler music" of the type you mention, but in any real serious HIFI context and actual Sound Quality context ,the better each link in a reproduction chain is at reproducing unamplifed complex music with a large dynamic range the better it is! I know this is a hard pill to swallow for some posters here but it is still a fact.
And Utopia ranks as one of the most accurate dynamic driver headphone on the market and the best one I have heard.
PS I think you got a letter wrong in your moniker?
The term I think you are quoting ? is actually the African Kishwahili term "Hakuna Matata" not makaka and roughly means : It does not mattter.
Cing dobre Christer . Sorry my Polish is very limited sorry about the spelling.And I am actually typing this in the evening.
If you don't mind more intimate approach compared to other openbacks flagships Utopia is hard to beat. I haven't heard Susvara, but wento through lesser models of Hifiman H1000v, Arya, Ananda....As a whole package none of them could match Utopia in technical realms. Soundstage in headphones to me is overrated...way larger in practice ends up few cm's wider.
Price to performance ratio is not looking good for any flagship no matter how user loves it, but that improvement in SQ makes a different being drowned into music or not. If you really love music and had owned a very good headphone for extended period of time it's very hard to go back to lesser models. I know my ears would adjust back to something like HD650, but my brain would constantly trigger "I wonder how it would sound on this or that HP that I really enjoyed"
I mainly fish in "used market" and my curiosity on how this/that model sounds probably cost me at least half of new utopias price...and in the end I just got back to it
Hello everyone, I'm new to this thread and am receiving my Utopia's tomorrow. I was wondering if anyone could recommend some sub $1k tube amps that are warm and pair well with the Utopia's. They can be used, as it saves money. I've just never looked into tube amps and want to find something that pairs well until I can afford something more pricey.
Hello everyone, I'm new to this thread and am receiving my Utopia's tomorrow. I was wondering if anyone could recommend some sub $1k tube amps that are warm and pair well with the Utopia's. They can be used, as it saves money. I've just never looked into tube amps and want to find something that pairs well until I can afford something more pricey.
Hello everyone, I'm new to this thread and am receiving my Utopia's tomorrow. I was wondering if anyone could recommend some sub $1k tube amps that are warm and pair well with the Utopia's. They can be used, as it saves money. I've just never looked into tube amps and want to find something that pairs well until I can afford something more pricey.
Sorry to stick my neck out here as well as on the Susvara thread recently, where I got properly spanked for trying to set some SQ facts straight once again. But you seem to be on the right track. My take on what you say without ever having heard the D8000 is that is it is probably NOT as good a headphone as the Utopia, which I have auditioned and would not mind owning if it was not so outrageously priced...
posting that a high-end headphone you haven't heard is "probably NOT as good" as one that you have actually heard - yep, i'd say that you're 'sticking your neck out'
If you don't mind more intimate approach compared to other openbacks flagships Utopia is hard to beat. I haven't heard Susvara, but wento through lesser models of Hifiman H1000v, Arya, Ananda....As a whole package none of them could match Utopia in technical realms. Soundstage in headphones to me is overrated...way larger in practice ends up few cm's wider...
If you don't mind more intimate approach compared to other openbacks flagships Utopia is hard to beat. I haven't heard Susvara, but wento through lesser models of Hifiman H1000v, Arya, Ananda....As a whole package none of them could match Utopia in technical realms. Soundstage in headphones to me is overrated...way larger in practice ends up few cm's wider.
Price to performance ratio is not looking good for any flagship no matter how user loves it, but that improvement in SQ makes a different being drowned into music or not. If you really love music and had owned a very good headphone for extended period of time it's very hard to go back to lesser models. I know my ears would adjust back to something like HD650, but my brain would constantly trigger "I wonder how it would sound on this or that HP that I really enjoyed"
I mainly fish in "used market" and my curiosity on how this/that model sounds probably cost me at least half of new utopias price...and in the end I just got back to it
Thanks for your response. I also tend to fish in "the used market" especially when products become so insanely expensive as the Utopa and most other recent Highend headphones like Susvara or the latest Staxes or Dan Clark's planars.
And much as I liked the realistic timbre and tonality with unamplified acoustic instrumental music and the Utopia, the "intimate approach" as you call its smallish soundstage, was a limiting factor for me with some of my large scale symphonic reference files where I have direct experience of how it sounded live in the hall and with more expansive soundstage headphones like my old HD800 actually used as monitoring headphones on some of my masterfiles or RAALs.
I still sometimes but more and more seldom use my HD800 with not so demanding,not densely scored music. I prefer my Hifiman HEKV2 with an OFC upgrade cable Although its soundstage is not quite as big as the HD800, but resolution of low level detail and timbre are clearly better and closer to live instruments sound to my ears.
Good as it was the HD 800 can sound a bit coloured and opaque compared to more recent planars and electrostatic headphones and Utopia.
I have not used my HD650 for the past 10 years and would find it VERY hard to adjust to them knowing how much better well recorded unamplified acoustic music can sound.
I will listen to Utopias again in Asia this coming winter, but until then I am quite happy with my HEKV2 and OFC cable.
Cheers Christer
posting that a high-end headphone you haven't heard is "probably NOT as good" as one that you have actually heard - yep, i'd say that you're 'sticking your neck out'
i listened to the susvara recently and was very impressed. preferred it to the 'nutopia' and d8000 pro, which i was also auditioning at the time.
My guess was made having read what "hakunamakaka" said and clearly quoted as such. Oh I forgot to mention that I have auditioned both the Utopia and the Susvara against other HIGHEND headphones. And although it is almost 3 years since I last heard Susvara I still remember Susvara as THE most resolving most REAL sounding non electrostatic headphone with my reference material Unamplified Large Scale Symphonic Music I have ever heard. There is simply NO more difficult or demanding material to use when judging SQ of High End HIFI than that genre.
Anybody who thinks they can judge SQ with electric guitar Pop an Rock are deluded and do not realize that they have to take into account distortion levels of 8-10 percent included in the recording itself. Electric guitar amps distort big time.
And with all Electronica you do not have any proper reference point to judge SQ by.
But I balked at Susvara's price and as someone else put it: Susvara actually needing something of "a Nuclear Reactor" amp to reveal its full potential.
Utopia was very good but not that good imho. IMO Utopias like Susvara are insanely overpriced.
And having upgraded my HEKV2 with an OFC cable which made quite a difference and clear improvement over the stock cable I even suspect they now rival the Utopia timbrally and tonally and possibly beat it soundstage-wise? But that is just an educated guess until I get a chance to actually compare them again.
I have seen the new Stealth version of HEKV2 currently priced in the region of 1600 USD in KL Malaysia where I bought mine.
PS I have not yet auditioned Nutopia all of the above refers to the original Utopia.
What's your take on their differences?
Any real SQ improvements and refinements, or just a different flavour and tuning?
Cheers Christer
My guess was made having read what "hakunamakaka" said and clearly quoted as such. Oh I forgot to mention that I have auditioned both the Utopia and the Susvara against other HIGHEND headphones. And although it is almost 3 years since I last heard Susvara I still remember Susvara as THE most resolving most REAL sounding non electrostatic headphone with my reference material Unamplified Large Scale Symphonic Music I have ever heard. There is simply NO more difficult or demanding material to use when judging SQ of High End HIFI than that genre.
Anybody who thinks they can judge SQ with electric guitar Pop an Rock are deluded and do not realize that they have to take into account distortion levels of 8-10 percent included in the recording itself. Electric guitar amps distort big time.
And with all Electronica you do not have any proper reference point to judge SQ by.
But I balked at Susvara's price and as someone else put it: Susvara actually needing something of "a Nuclear Reactor" amp to reveal its full potential.
Utopia was very good but not that good imho. IMO Utopias like Susvara are insanely overpriced.
And having upgraded my HEKV2 with an OFC cable which made quite a difference and clear improvement over the stock cable I even suspect they now rival the Utopia timbrally and tonally and possibly beat it soundstage-wise? But that is just an educated guess until I get a chance to actually compare them again.
I have seen the new Stealth version of HEKV2 currently priced in the region of 1600 USD in KL Malaysia where I bought mine.
PS I have not yet auditioned Nutopia all of the above refers to the original Utopia.
What's your take on their differences?
Any real SQ improvements and refinements, or just a different flavour and tuning?
Cheers Christer
i understood what your 'guess' was based on - someone else's subjective impression of the d8000. you acknowledged that you were 'sticking your neck out' by doing so and i agreed.
Are folks who put Stellia pads on their Utopias to increase bass and slam happy that they did? Are there any drawbacks (other than the ridiculous price of the pads)?
In exchange, I offer you the best solution ever to make the Utopia headband supremely comfortable -- I use the bottom half of a ZMF co-pilot pad and attach it on the top with velco strips See photo.
PS.Sorry but that does not fit at all,try the Clear ear pads if you want a change......and also hands off the Dikoni pads
(But that's just my humble opinion)
If you want to increase slam on the OG Utopia get a DAC that can render maximum bits. These R2R and ladder DACs roll off and don't allow all available information to be realized. No ear pad changing will make up for loss of information.
PS.Sorry but that does not fit at all,try the Clear ear pads if you want a change......and also hands off the Dikoni pads
(But that's just my humble opinion)
There are plenty of people on this forum who have tried the Stellia pads on the Utopia and loved them. I wouldn't want to dismiss something I hadn't tried.
If you want to increase slam on the OG Utopia get a DAC that can render maximum bits. These R2R and ladder DACs roll off and don't allow all available information to be realized. No ear pad changing will make up for loss of information.
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