Focal Utopia Review (collective stream of consciousness)

Thanks for that - I'll check it out. To your point re: complementary cans - that might become an issue for me between these two. They present soooo differently; at the very least - switching off might be a weekly cycle, allow the brain to adjust.

Marv - that's a key reason I hang / contribute here; I'm too old / tired for bullshit / posing. That's part of what I love about our CO crew (@jexby, @Hands, @bixby, @Effusion - Kevin); Solid dudes.

 

That'll do it I'm sure for me it was the combination of Pink Floyd concerts and 7 years in the Coast Guard working in engine rooms (IceBreakers, etc.). By the time my kids came around, I could tune them out just fine (much to my wife's annoyance).

 

Good first thoughts @MisterRogers. My favorite headphone is the HEK and I'll be getting the Utopia sometime soon. I have done some comparisons at a meet and agree with you on the very different presentations. I'm not sure I want to keep two very expensive headphones so it'll be interesting to see what I prefer in the end. I listen to a lot of electronic where the soundstage and bass extension of the HEK might still have me in that camp.

Until I get my own Utopia, I look forward to hearing more of your impressions compared to the HEK.

 

had my wife listen to the Utopia tonight. she made a nice observation which i'll try to paraphrase. she knows that Joni Mitchell's -a case of you- is one of her favorite songs, and every time she listens to it it's with the knowledge that it's her favorite song, but not necessarily having that experience as when you first hear a song you love. but she said that tonight she had the experience of it being her favorite song all over again. or re-experience it as her favorite song. it's like being in the same room, present with the music.

 

oh yeah, i think of it regularly...! in fact today my wife also said that this rig sounds way better than our speakers. glad that's all getting totally revamped when we move

 

Couldn't agree more. Seriously, it'll blow you away on vinyl.

 

Wow, that is a very honest and very telling comment and I think it's precisely what most of us are searching for. Damn, I wish Focal could find a way to distil most of the Utopia's greatness in a $2000 to $2500 offering. Really enjoying these comments, and I'm interested to see if the overwhelmingly positive impressions hold up over time.

Has anyone listened to the Utopia with balanced cables out of a SS amp? I have an oppo ha-1 (I know, I know) with a regen amber and wonder if the Utopia's "goodness" would be held back too much in my set up.

P.S. Maybe somebody should start a thread on our spouse's/partner's or kid's subjective impressions of the gear we buy? Could make for some interesting reading.

 

My first and really modest impressions about the new Focals which I had the pleasure of listening today. Environment was totally suboptimal as the listening took place in hifiexpo in my home town. Lots of annoying outside hassle and noises. God damn neck bearded fatsos! I thing I got the basic idea about these cans anyhoo.


Elear: Pink Floyd - Learning to fly
Well shit, it was indeed music to my ears. Dave Gilmours's guitar was ever so lively and the bass was surprisingly coherent for an open headphone. One could say even Impactful. At least to my untrained ears. Dynamics were in place and felt like an substantial upgrade from my last open cans Fidelio X2 (yeah yeah I know) muddy sound. Comfort was really nice and clamp force pleasant. Sturdy allrounder for easy listening. Any good for gaming ..? I sure hope so. I can’t say anything for longer listening periods. Might be interested of buying these. Gonna need audit round 2.

Utopia: Muse - Knights of Cydonia
Cliche after cliche.. It was really nice to listen music for a while. Not the gear. I looked like a moron standing there with my eyes closed with a raised fist. I suppose that's how it's supposed to be. In a blurt: natural effortless musical accuracy. No bullshit. You could really crank up the volume and still the music was really accurate and enjoyable.
I will not however have them as 4k€ for headphones is not going to happen. Anyways it would be nice to have longer listening session in some nice silent place. Just for fun.
One small gripe: headband was sort of slippery. When I gently shook my head the cans were disoriented quite easily. Maybe some oily nerds were trying them before me, who knows.

Both cans were fed through NAD gear (dunno models) SE. Sales dude wasn’t really helpful while playing some leather fetish mobile app and talking to his midget lover.

I come from Mac (Roon for Tidal) -> Audiolab mdac (sold) -> Ether C and pile of gaming oriented sort-of-crappy dac/amps. In the future I shall obtain HD650 (again) or the Elears. We’ll see.

Even if you’re not about to buy those Utopias you should definitely try them. For shits and giggles. Pure fun!

 

I had my Utopias paired with a Gungnir Multibit and Rag at the last SoCal mini meet. You can sift through the impressions there.
I use the Utopias with my Rag, Lyr 2 with LISST, and Vali 2.
I think they are pretty amazing with all these amps. I actually think the Rag is the best of the amps I have with the Utopias. But I have to say, I liked the EC ZDS pairing the best at the last mini-meet. That probably had a lot to do with the sources and the amps and not just the amps.

So, yes, the Utopia is amazing with the Rag, but maybe they are so revealing and accurate that tubes done right and non-USB sources can really push them to higher levels of performance.

 

I truly wish someone would make a world-class closed headphone again.

 

I started out in closed and still love em. Shame they don't get the love they deserve. Bring it back, Sony! How hard would it be to recreate the R10? Surely our processes are more advanced now?

 

I know at least one person who sold his R10's once he got the TH900. Personal preference sure, and I haven't heard the R10's, but I think sometimes the mythos around a certain headphone gets bigger than how good it actually is. For instance there is one guy over at HF now that's selling his pair of HE90's (headphone only) for $15450. Yupp. Seriously.

As for the Utopia I get the feeling I might be a lot more interested around 2000. And I don't need the fancy leather. And I don't need that carbon. Perhaps I don't even need beryllium as long as I get the good neodymium magnets? The Utopia might be worth 4000, it's a statement product with the best materials. But I think there should be plenty of opportunity for Focal to create something between the Elear and Utopia which sounds awfully close to the Utopia. If they want to that is.