jelloshots
New Head-Fier
Hi everyone,
I started my headphones journey just 5 months ago, but it feels so long ago now. Before my journey began, I was very happy with Bose QC35IIs and XM4s, with Bose QuietComfort 20s as my wired earphones. I thought that ANC was just amazing and was amazing for the immersion. For gaming, I used HyperX Cloud Alpha wireless, which was comfortable enough, and paid for by my work for "meetings"
I started getting back into music towards the end of the pandemic, and had an itch to upgrade, but never got around to it until I actually did some research in March. I had my eyes set on the always-recommended HD6XX, so bought them on Drop, not realizing that they could take a long time to come, but in the meantime, I bought a Schiit Modi/Vali. Of course, the Schiit stack came within a week, but I had no headphones to plug into them, so I jumped on the used market and picked up some Arya V3s for a reasonable price that same day. As soon as I plugged them in and picked my first song: Dream Theater - The Count of Tuscany, I immediately noticed the huge soundstage and precise imaging that everyone talked about. I heard the song in a way I never have before and I thought: "Wow. So this is what real headphones are like". I'm sure you've all had similar experiences to mine.
Over the next few days, I was obsessed with music. I listened to jazz, which I had never purposefully done before, and revisited all my playlists, again, hearing them in ways I never had before. But as Easter approached... I was thinking... "what else is there?" The HD6XX finally came in, but after falling in love with my Aryas, I didn't really give them a chance and shelved them after 3 songs. When Easter hit, I bought some Hart Audio cables for XLR input, and a Schiit Bifrost/Jotunheim. I was very happy with the cables, but sorely disappointed by the DAC/Amp upgrade - not noticing a difference in my existing stack.
Then I thought: "maybe Aryas are just too easy? What if I got hungrier headphones". I had the Aryas for 2 months at this point, and that weekend, someone posted some Focal Utopia 2020s. Now that was a big jump in price range that I wasn't prepared for. However, my mindset was: "if the difference between the HD6XX and the Aryas is this big, what if I made the jump to the next tier?" I also wasn't sure if the stack would be enough to drive the Utopia either. I saved the post for a few days, but just like when you want something, you just keep thinking about it. I succumbed.
Again, the first song that I played was The Count of Tuscany, but this time, instead of being amazed by the headphones, I was amazed by the music. When people said that the Utopias are revealing, they were so so right. The Utopias were not a medium to the music at that point. It was like it was just me and the music, and nothing else. I heard how the music was meant to sound. Still, it was a lot of money, and I was already very happy with my Aryas - but then the seller offered to sell me the Focal Arche if I paid the price he advertised, immediately took all doubts away.
Since then, I've rotated between the two headphones depending on the music. I grew to love some of the oldies, like Michael Jackson and Fleetwood Mac, and I discovered how bad Imagine Dragons are. If you also had a relatable experience and want to share, or if you want to know anything more about my experiences, throw in a comment!
Jelloshots
Sent from my Focal Utopias.
I started my headphones journey just 5 months ago, but it feels so long ago now. Before my journey began, I was very happy with Bose QC35IIs and XM4s, with Bose QuietComfort 20s as my wired earphones. I thought that ANC was just amazing and was amazing for the immersion. For gaming, I used HyperX Cloud Alpha wireless, which was comfortable enough, and paid for by my work for "meetings"
I started getting back into music towards the end of the pandemic, and had an itch to upgrade, but never got around to it until I actually did some research in March. I had my eyes set on the always-recommended HD6XX, so bought them on Drop, not realizing that they could take a long time to come, but in the meantime, I bought a Schiit Modi/Vali. Of course, the Schiit stack came within a week, but I had no headphones to plug into them, so I jumped on the used market and picked up some Arya V3s for a reasonable price that same day. As soon as I plugged them in and picked my first song: Dream Theater - The Count of Tuscany, I immediately noticed the huge soundstage and precise imaging that everyone talked about. I heard the song in a way I never have before and I thought: "Wow. So this is what real headphones are like". I'm sure you've all had similar experiences to mine.
Over the next few days, I was obsessed with music. I listened to jazz, which I had never purposefully done before, and revisited all my playlists, again, hearing them in ways I never had before. But as Easter approached... I was thinking... "what else is there?" The HD6XX finally came in, but after falling in love with my Aryas, I didn't really give them a chance and shelved them after 3 songs. When Easter hit, I bought some Hart Audio cables for XLR input, and a Schiit Bifrost/Jotunheim. I was very happy with the cables, but sorely disappointed by the DAC/Amp upgrade - not noticing a difference in my existing stack.
Then I thought: "maybe Aryas are just too easy? What if I got hungrier headphones". I had the Aryas for 2 months at this point, and that weekend, someone posted some Focal Utopia 2020s. Now that was a big jump in price range that I wasn't prepared for. However, my mindset was: "if the difference between the HD6XX and the Aryas is this big, what if I made the jump to the next tier?" I also wasn't sure if the stack would be enough to drive the Utopia either. I saved the post for a few days, but just like when you want something, you just keep thinking about it. I succumbed.
Again, the first song that I played was The Count of Tuscany, but this time, instead of being amazed by the headphones, I was amazed by the music. When people said that the Utopias are revealing, they were so so right. The Utopias were not a medium to the music at that point. It was like it was just me and the music, and nothing else. I heard how the music was meant to sound. Still, it was a lot of money, and I was already very happy with my Aryas - but then the seller offered to sell me the Focal Arche if I paid the price he advertised, immediately took all doubts away.
Since then, I've rotated between the two headphones depending on the music. I grew to love some of the oldies, like Michael Jackson and Fleetwood Mac, and I discovered how bad Imagine Dragons are. If you also had a relatable experience and want to share, or if you want to know anything more about my experiences, throw in a comment!
Jelloshots
Sent from my Focal Utopias.
