Focal Elear and Utopia

Thank you!
That was exactly what I mean...
IM a little slow with quoting and all those computers links...
Maybe that's why there is a RANDO sign near my name?!
Oh god, I need to get some evolution...

 

"Good" and "best" are very objective. I never in a million would have thought I would pay more than $100 for headphones, and now I own many that cost much much more, including the Utopia. There is no doubt that the Utopia and the HD800-SDR sound different. I prefer the utopia , but I also like my other headphones. I also don't agree that one need a super tube amp for the utopias and that SS and the utopias don't mix. It's all objective. I also have a ton of respect for Tyll, but I prefer a bright sound than he does, so I have to take everything he writes with a grain of salt.

People here have very strong opinion, but a song opinion isn't any more valid than a quietly held one.

Bottomline is the only way you can determine if any headphone is worth the money is for you to try it yourself.

 

It looks like brencho didn't like others reality..

 

However, there's also alot of people who preferred the Elear over the SD HD800. I think you are going to have people who prefer a punchy, high xmax driver with tight imaging (Elear or Utopia) versus the diffuse, brighter sound, and lower dynamism of the HD800, even of the tradeoff is more detail. It's kind of similar in the speaker world of people who might prefer RAAL ribbons vs beryllium or diamond domes, or vice versa. There is no objectively better, only different.

 

nono my friend, you misunderstand me. everyone has their preference, the sound they hope to approximate, and that's great. no problems there. what i dislike are oversimplifications like "X is bad" or worse yet "some people think X is bad". are the utopia perfect? no. but they are a very well made and nice sounding headphone, with no glaring flaws. as marv has said before, smart people never pay retail for that thing (or most things). closer to 50-60% and we're in business.

 

Tell me where to get an Utopia for 2 k€ (50%) in europe and I will buy it instantly, but this will never happen the next few years. (Slightly) used ones are 3.3-3.5 k€ at the moment.

 

RAAL vs Beryllium tweeter is my current dilemma before purchasing the Salk Song 3 towers.

My Andromedas are similar to RAAL with their most exquisite ethereal and sparkling treble. Ribbon tweeters on my now sold Monitor Audio GX100s were wonderful to listen to.
My Utopias' beryllium drivers produce impactful, astonishingly fast and properly timbred realistic treble (when run by Yggdrasil-Rag of course).

In which direction should I go? Utopia wins in this regard, but would a Be driver mounted on a speaker replicate it?

Decisions!

 

You really need to audition the Utopia yourself with your own music and ideally your own setup. I jumped at the chance of listening to the Elears at Canjam in summer, only to be completely disappointed when directly compared to my reference at the time - the Andromeda.

The Utopia on the other hand after a few listens was the best in show, with the SR009 driven by BHSE in second place and the HD650 third. The Utopia sound was strangely engaging but very focused on the music. I enjoyed listening to Stravinsky and not thinking about the headphones. The equipment kept vanishing and my attention was the music itself. A good sign at the time as it recreated live orchestral music realistically. At another show in London I got glued to it for almost an hour!

The Stax on the other hand was such a good listen with impressive tuning. However it was too otherworldy sounding as if I am listening to angels playing their violins and flutes. Bach St Matthews passion by Herreweghe was gorgeous but lacked impact.

HD650 stock driven by Phonitor X had excellent tuning, with smooth mids and treble, but lacked the crystal clarity of the former two.

I lived with HD800 and then HD800S for 2 years so I shuttered at the thought of listening to them again. These lack detail even compared to HD650 in the upper mids unless equalised. You literally lose the upper violins in complex orchestral works. I would consider the HD800 SR modded and properly equalised in order to enjoy their strength visavi Utopia, soundstage.

So my advice is to audition repeatedly before commiting crazy money to uber expensive headphones. I needed a total of 3 hours probably before getting the Utopia. I also had to trust my gut instinct that the harsh troubling sibilance with several classical pieces I heard driven by the Naim Streamer would go with Yggdrasil Rag and so it did!

 

Oh of course you're right, how did I not see it before... you offered a perfect beautiful synthesis of an otherwise complicated thread offering lots of nuance and lots of pros and cons. My advice is for you to read the thread, think for yourself, and hopefully audition them. Ok carry on, I'm done here. This thread went from diverse and useful impressions to random bs.

 

Off topic but people should really take the chance to listen to this if they never have.

(Sorry to contribute to the random bs.)

 

Head-fi deleted a useful post from a user quoting Focal's service stating that Elear's headband can't be replace.

I fortunately still have the links to the photo that user posted detailing what the headband look like and how he managed to impovised a fix.

http://s202.photobucket.com/user/adrianclee/media/Elear Rubber Inserts_zpsv7d3jyxa.jpg.html
http://s202.photobucket.com/user/adrianclee/media/Elear No Tension_zpsx1mjaufz.jpg.html
http://s202.photobucket.com/user/adrianclee/media/Elear SteelPlastic Headband_zpsmp5kiute.jpg.html
http://s202.photobucket.com/user/adrianclee/media/Elear Re-Assembled_zpsj7wvjrcl.jpg.html

Not sure why the post was deleted, I don't find it to be offensive or Focal bashing, just stating facts, with quotes from Focal.

Hopefully the info will be preserve here.

 

What a shock

I've tried to back you up by politely reiterating the same questions.

I wonder if I'll get a reply or get deleted!

I think if enough people ask they have to answer.

I'm sure an out of warranty driver failure means a $1000 + repair but they will not want to share this now as it will scare a lot of people away especially with how delicate and complex the driver assembly seems to be.

 

Hey, I found it useful! Guess what I just purchased and am listening to right now? =) It really is amazing!

On topic - That's completely ridiculous and there's no good reason for such a post to be deleted as long as the user in question was telling the truth over at Head-fi.

 

Yeah, let see. I think Focal should be straight coming with their customers. I do enjoy their Utopia, but it would be reassuring that I can continue to enjoy them and not have to worry, knowing that the consumables are available, and reasonably priced. I hope they don't expect me to replace headphones every time a TOTL comes out lol. I definitely don't plan to stay in this hobby forever, there are other things in life. I'm pretty happy with Utopia as an open can, and I am hoping Sony MDR-Z1R (got one ordered from Amazon UK) will fulfill the closed needs. And then I am thinking of moving on to planted fish tank... big one

 

Well they set the bar pretty high when they called it Utopia, i mean where do you go from there? "Angel eardrum aural massage"? "I am god speaking to you"? Doesn't sound right now does it... Unless they plan to come with some lame shit like Mk2.

Small rant over, time to go sleep.

 

^

Focal can introduce new headphones under the Sopra or Diablo lines if they so wish.

 

They could call it Upper Eden!

Anyway, thought I'd share my very short impressions of the Elear real quick. The sound signature is just correct to my ears, yet there is a nasty scratchiness and incoherence to it that I cannot tolerate. Compared with the Utopia, the Elear clearly feels like the inferior product. I think there is definitely room in between the two for something more refined than Elear, but not as costly to produce as Utopia.

 

Did you tried the elear with the earpad change ?

 

No, I was not allowed to in the audition I got.