[up late]

How is yam vs utopia ?

the 2023 utopia and original utopia sound slightly different, with the former having attenuated treble compared to the latter to my ears. i have the original model.

i auditioned the yh-5000se some time ago and haven't done a side by side comparison with a utopia. but from memory (which can be unreliable), the yh-5000se eclipsed the utopia for clarity and resolution. however, the yh-5000se's tuning was uneven and somewhat artificial sounding to my ears, while the utopia's tuning sounds more balanced and therefore less problematic for me - ymmv.

the yh-5000se's design, build quality and light weight is exceptional. that said, it didn't exactly disappear on my head and i was more conscious of the ear pads than i am of the utopia's - again, ymmv.

IMO...

Will most likely come down to synergy with your system, but overall I'd say the yammy are more capable and will scale higher with quality equipment than utopia. In general, if you want something with a wetter and romantic tone I think the utopia are a better pick. If you want something that has a slightly drier yet accurate tone, I'd pick the yammy. If you want more slam, holographicness, and macrodynamics the utopia is more capable. Anything that has to do with extension, timbre, and resolution the yammy will provide. There's not much the utopia does "better" technically than the yammy, but it does have its charm at times.

On lower-end chains that I've tried, I'd likely go for the utopia. Main reason is that the bass on the yammy is too muddy on lower-end amps (I hate muddiness). There's not enough control over it, but I guess if you prioritize quantity over quality you may like the yammy more.

On my best chain, yammy all the way! It just offers more of everything, especially in the lower frequencies. The utopia used to be my pick for treble king, but the yammy easily surpasses it (ie. incredibly life-like). This was all done on an even playing field, cables included.

To summarize...

What the Utopia does better:

holographic stage
macrodynamics
smoothness
contrast
slam

What the YH5K does better:

imaging
comfort
overall timbre
microdynamics
traditional stage
energy and texture
extension both ways
overall resolution/technicalities
black background/low noise floor
stage depth, verticality, placement, boundary, openness, and airiness

'romantic' is not a word that i would use to describe the original utopia. it should come as no surprise based on my previous posts here that i can't relate to your assessment that the yh-5000se does 'overall timbre' better than the utopia. i think it's the other way around but disagreeing over how we hear these headphones is ultimately a pointless exercise. that said, i felt compelled to offer @smodtactical another perspective fwiw.

 

[HiFiDJ]

'romantic' is not a word that i would use to describe the original utopia

I use that descriptor lightly, so it's relative to the yh5k. It can always lean a certain way depending on the chain. But I say romantic because of the Utopia's slightly extended decay and smoothness. I find it tends to smooth out texture on instruments like brass which affects the perception of timbre, sounding more pleasant when it's supposed to sound dirty. That and the utopia doesn't extend as far as, in both ways, the yh5k. As a result, they can't produce the low and high notes of certain instruments (organic and inorganic). For example, the lowest notes of a piano or the highest notes of a violin. That said, results will vary on different chains.

 

[HiFiDJ]

#update 2 - Noticing bass distortion/rattle at higher volumes. A track such as 21 Savage - Redrum, the rattle in the right driver is quite audible.

I tried this track, mostly out of curiosity for the music, but no problems with mine either. I pushed it to uncomfortable levels, but our volume limits may differ.

 

[jrkong]

the 2023 utopia and original utopia sound slightly different, with the former having attenuated treble compared to the latter to my ears. i have the original model.

i auditioned the yh-5000se some time ago and haven't done a side by side comparison with a utopia. but from memory (which can be unreliable), the yh-5000se eclipsed the utopia for clarity and resolution. however, the yh-5000se's tuning was uneven and somewhat artificial sounding to my ears, while the utopia's tuning sounds more balanced and therefore less problematic for me - ymmv.

the yh-5000se's design, build quality and light weight is exceptional. that said, it didn't exactly disappear on my head and i was more conscious of the ear pads than i am of the utopia's - again, ymmv.

This is from a few months back but for me, the winner between the YH-5000SE vs Utopia was entirely chain dependent.

A few months back I wanted to get the Utopia 2022 to round out my collection and I went to my local store to give them another audition and I found I preferred the YH-5000SE a LOT more then the Utopia because there was a level of clarity, resolution and crispness that the Utopias just didn't have when I was using a warmer tube amp chain plus the extra warmth brought out enough character in the mids that they felt just right for me. Though the warmer chain didn't do the Utopias any favours as they seemed to highlight how the Utopias felt less resolute to my ears.

Swapping to a cooler chain made it a more even fight where the Utopia reminded me of that comfortable souped up HD650-esque sound that I was comfortable with and it felt like there was a little something missing to get that "just right" feel out of the YH-5000SE.

On a somewhat unrelated note, I've got a few new additions to my chain that I'd love to test out with my YH-5000SE but I haven't been able to use them for about 4 weeks now as I'm still waiting for parts to arrive to fix the loose earcup. They've hit the point where I'm concerned that they can fall off if I kept using them so they're sitting in the box for now.

 

[HiFiDJ]

On a somewhat unrelated note, I've got a few new additions to my chain that I'd love to test out with my YH-5000SE but I haven't been able to use them for about 4 weeks now as I'm still waiting for parts to arrive to fix the loose earcup. They've hit the point where I'm concerned that they can fall off if I kept using them so they're sitting in the box for now.

Are you gonna keep us in suspense on what you got?

You didn't send it out to Yamaha to get it fixed? If I recall, they use a proprietary tool to tighten that specific area. Although, I was able to get parts to tighten my slider since I could do that myself.

 

[jamesjames]

the 2023 utopia and original utopia sound slightly different, with the former having attenuated treble compared to the latter to my ears. i have the original model.

i auditioned the yh-5000se some time ago and haven't done a side by side comparison with a utopia. but from memory (which can be unreliable), the yh-5000se eclipsed the utopia for clarity and resolution. however, the yh-5000se's tuning was uneven and somewhat artificial sounding to my ears, while the utopia's tuning sounds more balanced and therefore less problematic for me - ymmv.

the yh-5000se's design, build quality and light weight is exceptional. that said, it didn't exactly disappear on my head and i was more conscious of the ear pads than i am of the utopia's - again, ymmv.


'romantic' is not a word that i would use to describe the original utopia. it should come as no surprise based on my previous posts here that i can't relate to your assessment that the yh-5000se does 'overall timbre' better than the utopia. i think it's the other way around but disagreeing over how we hear these headphones is ultimately a pointless exercise. that said, i felt compelled to offer @smodtactical another perspective fwiw.

For what it's worth, my assessment of the Yamaha is quite similar - I owned it for about six months before selling it. I would differ, however, in finding the Utopia clearer, more resolving and with far better timbre - particularly the original Utopia (which I also owned - twice! - but didn't like well enough to keep). I remain impressed by Yamaha's efforts to try something different, but very disappointed by the result in this case.

 

[jrkong]

Are you gonna keep us in suspense on what you got?

You didn't send it out to Yamaha to get it fixed? If I recall, they use a proprietary tool to tighten that specific area. Although, I was able to get parts to tighten my slider since I could do that myself.

Cayin HA-3A and the ZMF Homage.

I was given a choice between new parts or tightening the old screws. I told them I'd wait for new screws because I'm hoping it increases the chances of this not happening again in the future but they told me it would be better to bring them in when those arrived so they've been sitting in the box for now.

 

[up late]

For what it's worth, my assessment of the Yamaha is quite similar - I owned it for about six months before selling it. I would differ, however, in finding the Utopia clearer, more resolving and with far better timbre - particularly the original Utopia (which I also owned - twice! - but didn't like well enough to keep). I remain impressed by Yamaha's efforts to try something different, but very disappointed by the result in this case.

to clarify, my use of the word 'tuning' encompasses the timbre of musical instruments and like you, i prefer how the utopia reproduces timbre over the yh-5000se

 

[up late]

I use that descriptor lightly, so it's relative to the yh5k. It can always lean a certain way depending on the chain. But I say romantic because of the Utopia's slightly extended decay and smoothness. I find it tends to smooth out texture on instruments like brass which affects the perception of timbre, sounding more pleasant when it's supposed to sound dirty. That and the utopia doesn't extend as far as, in both ways, the yh5k. As a result, they can't produce the low and high notes of certain instruments (organic and inorganic). For example, the lowest notes of a piano or the highest notes of a violin. That said, results will vary on different chains.

thanks for the clarification, although it's still not a descriptor that i associate with the utopia at all but again, these are our subjective impressions

 

[jamesjames]

I use that descriptor lightly, so it's relative to the yh5k. It can always lean a certain way depending on the chain. But I say romantic because of the Utopia's slightly extended decay and smoothness. I find it tends to smooth out texture on instruments like brass which affects the perception of timbre, sounding more pleasant when it's supposed to sound dirty. That and the utopia doesn't extend as far as, in both ways, the yh5k. As a result, they can't produce the low and high notes of certain instruments (organic and inorganic). For example, the lowest notes of a piano or the highest notes of a violin. That said, results will vary on different chains.

I think it's worth pointing out that both the Yamaha and the Focal (and most decent phones) can reproduce the lowest fundamental notes of pianos and the highest notes of violins - and most of the harmonic content too. It's the level that will very at different frequencies.

 

[HiFiDJ]

Cayin HA-3A and the ZMF Homage.

I was given a choice between new parts or tightening the old screws. I told them I'd wait for new screws because I'm hoping it increases the chances of this not happening again in the future but they told me it would be better to bring them in when those arrived so they've been sitting in the box for now.

Good choice, I got new parts and they've been really solid ever since. I thought they felt like a prop at first but not anymore.

 

[HiFiDJ]

I think it's worth pointing out that both the Yamaha and the Focal (and most decent phones) can produce the lowest fundamental notes of pianos and the highest notes of violins - and most of the harmonic content too. It's the level that will very at different frequencies.

Yeah most of it, but when you play tracks that can take full advantage of that range it's a different experience. There's simply information missing from the utopia that I can get with the yh5k. Regardless of whether the utopia "extends well for a dynamic," it either produces the sound or not. I can barely hear the difference between a kick drum and a bass guitar on the utopia, it all sounds one-note to me. It may not seem like a big deal for most music, but it can be very worthwhile imo.

 

[jamesjames]

Yeah most of it, but when you play tracks that can take full advantage of that range it's a different experience. There's simply information missing from the utopia that I can get with the yh5k. Regardless of whether the utopia "extends well for a dynamic," it either produces the sound or not. I can barely hear the difference between a kick drum and a bass guitar on the utopia, it all sounds one-note to me. It may not seem like a big deal for most music, but it can be very worthwhile imo.

I'm afraid I don't know what you mean when you say 'most of it'. It's simply wrong to suggest the phones don't reproduce all the fundamentals. There's nothing 'missing' in that sense. It may be you prefer the particular balance of lower or higher notes reproduced by particular phones - but that's a very personal thing I think.

 

[up late]

Yeah most of it, but when you play tracks that can take full advantage of that range it's a different experience. There's simply information missing from the utopia that I can get with the yh5k. Regardless of whether the utopia "extends well for a dynamic," it either produces the sound or not. I can barely hear the difference between a kick drum and a bass guitar on the utopia, it all sounds one-note to me. It may not seem like a big deal for most music, but it can be very worthwhile imo.

distinguishing between the sound of a kick drum and a bass guitar has never been a challenge for me when listening to the utopia or any other headphone for that matter

 

[Ishcabible]

I have to agree; even with old pack in earbuds I’ve been able to easily tell which instruments were which