Forgive me for going off tact, but when people do reviews of headphones I think they let the price cloud their judgment. The Focal Utopia is a prime example. I've heard statements like "best dynamic driver headphone in the world" being used. Frankly I think they're massively overpriced and overrated. I think the Clear is better even disregarding price.
While all you guys are talking about overrated headphones within the known audiophile community, I think we all know that the most obvious overrated cans are none other than the..... *gag* Beats by Dr Dre *HURL**RETCH* *THROWS UP ON THE FLOOR*
Forgive me for going off tact, but when people do reviews of headphones I think they let the price cloud their judgment. The Focal Utopia is a prime example. I've heard statements like "best dynamic driver headphone in the world" being used. Frankly I think they're massively overpriced and overrated. I think the Clear is better even disregarding price.
Also the frequency curve of an headphone is carefully crafted to give it a unique taste. Engineers take a long time tuning it, not faithfull to what the artist intended, but to what the money customers will be willing to pay. It is flavored to trick people into believing that it is special. An Utopia sounds nothing like an HD800 or a K812. There are no expensive headphones that sound alike. And they use girls and boys models like I never saw before. It is fashion, it is trend. They literally want us to believe that an headphone purpose is not to reproduce music but to fit into a one unique lifestyle or whatever. That industry is getting very heavy.
Also the frequency curve of an headphone is carefully crafted to give it a unique taste. Engineers take a long time tuning it, not faithfull to what the artist intended, but to what the money customers will be willing to pay. It is flavored to trick people into believing that it is special. An Utopia sounds nothing like an HD800 or a K812. There are no expensive headphones that sound alike. And they use girls and boys models like I never saw before. It is fashion, it is trend. They literally want us to believe that an headphone purpose is not to reproduce music but to fit into a one unique lifestyle or whatever. That industry is getting very heavy.
I agree with both of you. The ZMF Blackwood (and thus Ori I guess, will find out soon enough) sounds far better than most $1000+ headphones despite its much lower price. It just has a perfect frequency response to my ears even though its performance obviously isn't top tier in every regard (bass is elite, but bested by the best planars, treble is clean but bested by electrostats).
Also a $4,000 dynamic driver headphone like the Utopia is an instant fail to me. I've heard it in person too, was not impressed although the listening conditions were far from ideal.
Another good example is the Sennheiser Orpheus HE-1. Yeah, it's the world's most expensive headphone, but I was able to book an audition with it and it was worse than the Stax SR-009. Less bass extension and impact, treble not as impressive nor was the mid to treble transition (didn't A/B them though). I'm not surprised by the result either, Stax focuses exclusively on electrostatic tech and has been improving it for DECADES while Sennheiser has released three electrostatic headphones.
I’m completely in the realm of loving off colored headphones. Anything even close to flat just sounds boring to me. I realize the emotional tune they put in some headphones. It’s that dark or lush texture that gets folks going.......going for their wallet at times.
Later one of two things happen........the listener finds out the color is clouding over part of the detail, or too many frequencies are boosted arriving at an unnatural (but at times, exciting) response. Still even with this knowledge of the industry, I would rather fend-off the risk...to not encounter a simple boring response.
AKG K1000.......not enough bass.....Stax......not enough bass.....k701.....not enough bass......Sony R10 too flat and clinically boring...also not enough bass. HD800 sterilized as a medical office, just as boring too.
Go to any live reproduction of music...........that includes a hobo on the street playing a single acoustic guitar.......and there is more bass response than the above headphones. How or why “audiophile flat” was arrived at I don’t know? The only thing I can guess is the lack of bass and lower midrange added a level of detail in the mids and highs?
I’m guessing in the future headphones will be made with manufactured room response. I feel it’s the room color that’s both an add and a drawback. They still need to learn to add it in correctly. It’s like most of the great headphones have always been simply sounding like speakers without a box (because that’s what they are). And.....maybe there will be a day when you could wear headphones and take them off to find no difference between your speaker rig and headphone rig.
The SUSVARA seems based on the HE-6, the sound signature is probably somewhat close to that I'm guessing? Which would mean much more energy and impact than the more laid back HE1000/HE1000v2. But $6,000 = lol.
I have never tried HE-6. Tried Susvara for quite a while in a meet a while ago, with monoblock CMA800R out of Hugo 2. I dont remember hearing the energy and impact. Maybe a mix of HEKv1 and HE-6? Nothing really stood out. But overall good sound. Of course the seller was trying to hype it to the moon. I told him its sound signature is too similar to HD800 to me, and it cost only a fraction of Susvara's price. And knowing Senn's durability, I probably can gift to my grandchildren one day. My HEK headband fell apart within months of purchase.
I’m completely in the realm of loving off colored headphones. Anything even close to flat just sounds boring to me. I realize the emotional tune they put in some headphones. It’s that dark or lush texture that gets folks going.......going for their wallet at times.
Later one of two things happen........the listener finds out the color is clouding over part of the detail, or too many frequencies are boosted arriving at an unnatural (but at times, exciting) response. Still even with this knowledge of the industry, I would rather fend-off the risk...to not encounter a simple boring response.
AKG K1000.......not enough bass.....Stax......not enough bass.....k701.....not enough bass......Sony R10 too flat and clinically boring...also not enough bass. HD800 sterilized as a medical office, just as boring too.
Go to any live reproduction of music...........that includes a hobo on the street playing a single acoustic guitar.......and there is more bass response than the above headphones. How or why “audiophile flat” was arrived at I don’t know? The only thing I can guess is the lack of bass and lower midrange added a level of detail in the mids and highs?
I’m guessing in the future headphones will be made with manufactured room response. I feel it’s the room color that’s both an add and a drawback. They still need to learn to add it in correctly. It’s like most of the great headphones have always been simply sounding like speakers without a box (because that’s what they are). And.....maybe there will be a day when you could wear headphones and take them off to find no difference between your speaker rig and headphone rig.
To me headphones can be likened to beer. There are some that just plain taste bad. Then there are others that taste really good, but these good ones all taste a bit different. If all beers tasted the same it would just all be frigging boring. Sometimes you're in the mood for smooth and mellow. Other times crisp and clean. But the point is they taste good...to the individual.
To me headphones can be likened to beer. There are some that just plain taste bad. Then there are others that taste really good, but these good ones all taste a bit different. If all beers tasted the same it would just all be frigging boring. Sometimes you're in the mood for smooth and mellow. Other times crisp and clean. But the point is they taste good...to the individual.
Agreed. To me, there are objective (technicalities) and subjective (tonality) sides of headphones. While we can compare technicalities, it is harder to compare tonality since everyone has their own preference. I also love quite a few headphones.
Comparing headphones to anything live is not a fair fight. lol Headphones will never allow the whole physical body to receive the feedback from the instruments, spatial area, or performers.
There are headphones/ iems from $5 up that "sound good".
Anything in the high price market, I feel one should pay for the company's R&D contribution to the project (the headphone/iem) at hand). This is why companies like Stax/Focal can warrant such prices.
It's easy to fall for new players in the game with their mumbo jumbo marketing. But how long have they been in the game? What is their credibility (in terms of the intellectual property they possess)? Sure, metal, leather, and all these fancy woods are nice.
But here are some things I focus on.
1) Are the products engineered and produced all in house? Or is it some speaker unit outsourced and "tuned" BS.
2) Have they been in the game long enough to have a boatload of papers with quality R&D research?
3) Are the products manufactured in properly equipped facilities?
Quality of materials in terms of headband, pads, frame with an ok driver unit can cloud the mind as to how much of a quality headphone they really are. Especially metal + leather type headphones, and woodies.
I would rather shell out big $$$ to a company like Stax/Focal/Beyerdynamic/Sennheiser than companies which lack the resources to have the intellectual property and facilities to produce a TOTL headphone. A "good sounding" headphone isn't necessarily good.
The Utopia has a driver which you can tell easily is well engineered. Cheap poorly engineered units can easily be cloaked in some metal or wood frame, and some leather added, but its still a crappy hp/
Look at some of the magnet designs on TOTL headphones from Beyer and Focal and some other high priced dynamics, and its comical. These cheap plastic drivers coated with magical dusts of rare metals. At least Focal went to the next level with their drivers.
To me headphones can be likened to beer. There are some that just plain taste bad. Then there are others that taste really good, but these good ones all taste a bit different. If all beers tasted the same it would just all be frigging boring. Sometimes you're in the mood for smooth and mellow. Other times crisp and clean. But the point is they taste good...to the individual.
I'm a bit disappointed people in this thread dislike the Utopia so much. I haven't tried it yet, but I'm pretty much sold on Focal's higher ends because of the Elear. It didn't wow me at first either but after trying with all my preferred music and an amp, it's not going anywhere. Plus Utopias can be found around $3K from authorized dealers if you're willing to accept open box or wait for sales authorized by Focal. One even sold for less than that, so you actually don't have to pay $4K if you're patient.
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