Controversial opinion alert, but in my recent listening sessions, I am increasingly gravitating towards the Focal Clear OG instead of the Focal Utopia.
Let me explain why I think this is the case. I am not a "graphs guy" and those of you who have seen question the Harman methodology in my YouTube videos will know this, but Focal headphones do graph well, so let me try to explain using graphs.
Tonality: First and foremost, the Focal Clear has almost 2 decibals more subbass than the Utopia and on listening, this somehow comes off as much more! The Clear sounds quite flat to me in the bass to be honest, or in other words, very well extended, which makes for an exciting rendition of kick drums, bass guitars, and so forth. Both headphones are known to punch hard, however, and that is said to be an outcome of the Focal driver excursion abilities, although the punch doesn't necessarily "appear" in graphs.
I find myself enjoying the less-filled out upper mids of the Clear OG (note the relative lack of meat in the 4-6 Khz range) because I can be sensitive to this region, especially when I have not slept well the night before. Meanwhile, the Utopia is more evenly filled out in the 2.5-5 Khz range. That being said, the Utopia upper mids, especially vocals are ever-so-slightly pushed back in the mix, relative to midbass, and relative to the Clear OG, and it still doesn't lack clarity, which is testimony to the resolving capabilities of the Utopia driver. I personally prefer the more intimate presentation of the Clear more.
When it comes to treble, while the Utopia eschews mid-treble presence, basically being quite dark in the region, it still has a 6 Khz peak. The Clear however has a more balance series of peaks at 6 Khz, 8 Khz and 10 Khz, which to me, provide more attack to guitars, more shimmer to instruments, and air in vocals and in the ambience. Overall, these peaks are nothing dastardly and on an absolute level, the 6 Khz peak of the Utopia has far more energy relative to the rest of the presentation which can be irksome. The Clear, on the other hand, more energy around 10 Khz, bu again, nothing dastardly, and I appreciate the treble performance of the Clear.
Technicalities: Technicalities-wise, honestly, either headphone works fine for me. Yes, the Utopia resolves finer details more evidently; on certain tracks with the right equipment can convey a better sense of stage, both in terms of depth and even width, to a degree. But in terms of macrodynamic contrast, especially in regard to "bass slam", owing to the stronger subbass presence of the Clear, I actually find the Clear more complete in its presentation. With most source chains, I find the Utopia to be "wanting" in this area. I just miss the subbass presence here and it begins to become a deal breaker for me. The Utopia's 6 Khz peak certainly aids to a sense of sharpness of snare drum hits, but it can be a bit zingy sometimes, and makes the Utopia incessantly source-picky.
Looks-wise, I find the latest iteration of the Utopia to be a bit overdone. I preferred the OG Utopia aesthetics because I found to be more congrunet in the minutae of its design language with the rest of the Focal family. It actually looked like what a Focal flagship should look like. Whereas the 2022 version looks like a "forced" upgrade, and perhaps not just aesthetically. Although, there isn't a chasm of tonal difference between the Utopia OG and the Utopia 2022, I much preferred the presentation of the OG, which sounded more alive in the treble for me.
So that's it from me for now, comparing two well-worn headphones, but I still enjoy revisting the golden oldies, and getting re-acquainted with them.