Focal Utopia Review (collective stream of consciousness)

Let the games begin.....

 

The winner is whoever can keep their finger on the T3 B+ the longest, right?

Can't wait to hear impressions!

 

Can anybody make a comparison between the Focal Utopia and the HD800 with the Sonarworks EQ? If everybody says that the Utopia wins over the HD800 in tonality, then it would be great to see how the HD800 compares with its FR fixed.

 

I shy away from this comparison because they're such fundamentally different presentations (tone aside) that they can only exist in parallel.

BTW, any EQ only does so much for the stock HD800. You need the hardware mods to really get the most out of it.

 

Not that you need my assertion, but having heard HD800 both modded and un-modded with, and without, Sonarworks, there's really no comparison. Sonarworks will take some of the edge off the HD800 - but it's by no means a complete solution. @johnjen has a modded pair of HD800 that, even without Sonarworks, leaves both the stock HD800 and HD800S well in their wake (though Sonarworks takes them up another notch).

Looking to set up some time to put them back to back with the Utopia in the very near future.

 

If I thought the Utopia was a complete and total eclipsing of the HD800 I would have sold my HD800 by now and used that to fund a Utopia purchase. The fact that I realize I would only be comfortable owning both headphones has prevented me from jumping aboard that train wholeheartedly.

I am open to eating my words after I get an even better opportunity to compare the duo more definitively (with upstream variables controlled) on Saturday.

 

So far, for me, Utopia is still lagging the HD800S in transient response and soundstage. It's early days, and most of my comparison time so far has been with my planar cans, so there may be other differential factors as I get deeper into listening. Tomorrow morning will be a rash of big orchestral stuff with the HD800S vs. the Utopia (since I already prefer the HD800S to the LCD-4 or Abyss for that sort of music), and that will, hopefully, be illuminating.

I don't want four flag-ship cans.

I need two sets ... since I hate moving stuff between houses. Three is "okay", since the HD800S are my go-to when I'm listening to classical/orchestral stuff. The Utopia might be able to take that spot (looks good so far, but very early days ... or hours ...). So two would be better. Abyss are too much fun, and too tunable to give up just yet, but I can see the possibility that the HD800S and LCD-4 go by the way-side.

 

In response to Marv's statement that the the 6K peak on the HD800 can't be entirely fixed with EQ due to the driver's natural tendency to produce a standing wave at that frequency, I say that it still can be EQ'd to neutral levels; here's my thought process as to why I believe this:

The superdupont resonator mod contains materials (felt, paper, etc) that are anti-resonant to the 6Khz peak, hindering large air pressure oscillations at 6KHz and letting all other frequencies pass through the material unhindered in amplitude, so the resonator mod fixes the 6KHz peak via acoustic means.

Now let's look at what EQ does(and not necesarrily the Sonarworks EQ, but rather a simple 6Khz reduction curve on a parametric EQ): In the music file played, there is digital information stored containing a large array of amplitude values(as, say 24-bit values) for every, say 96,000th of a second of the entire file. If EQ is applied to the music(with a single 6KHz reduction curve), the digital information of the music passes through the EQ, which detects the frequency (with mathematics/algorithms, I think) of the amplitude values associated with the 6KHz region and reduces them, and after the music becomes an analog signal, the HD800 will, of course, naturally create standing waves at 6KHz, but that digital EQ compensated (by reducing the digital amplitude of the music file) for that natural tendency of the HD800. This is why I believe that, if the HD800 is EQ'd right (not particularly by sonarworks), then its annoying 6KHz standing waves can be reduced and achieve results just as good as the Superdupont resonator mod, but through digital means instead. So, even if the HD800 naturally creates a 6KHz standing wave, with enough reduction in EQ, the peak can be eliminated. And with some extensive EQ in other frequency bands, the HD800 can even achieve a similar FR to the Focal Utopia, I think.

Anyways, that's just what I've "concluded" with my limited knowledge (and assumptions) on EQ and sound. Feel free to correct anything I said. I'll try not to go any further than this on the HD800 as this is a Focal Utopia discussion forum.

 

I realized I never posted the Utopia cable wiring diagram like I did on Head-Fi.

For those doing DIY cables, here's the info:

Code:

Signal  |  Stock Cable Wire Color  |   XLR Pin  | 1/4" TRS Plug  | Lemo Utopia Connectors
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Left +    Green                         1         Tip             Left Outer pin on side with dot
Left -    White                         2         Ground          Left Inner pin on side without dot
Right +   Red                           3         Ring            Right Outer pin on side with dot
Right -   White                         4         Ground          Right Inner pin on side without dot

 

I think most of the stock HD800 "sound" is independent of the added sibilance (6k) actually. Yes you can reduce perceived sibilance by EQ. But the actual Teutonic, German toilet boil, diffuse and metallic HD800 treble "sound" is coming from the ghey silver mesh which is just diffusing energy all over the enclosure. That's also why the SBAF absorber is the most audibly impactful mod, even next to the SuperDupont donuts and traditional metal ring damping which are both very effective and non-BS mods in their own right.

So no, the software EQ cannot achieve results as good as the hardware mods. And this is coming from someone who is not afraid to use PEQ.

 

@OJneg Alright, I surrender. You and Marv have proven me wrong. I guess the Superdupont resonator is the way to go. If only acoustics were a simpler thing...

 

Wouldn't argue against that at all!

I found the stock HD800S a bit more listenable over a broader spectrum than the stock HD800 - i.e. where no mods of any kind (software/EQ or physical) were in play, but that's not to say they're better per-se. I'm just lazy and hardware-mod-averse! If I did more headphone listening of the bigger orchestral pieces I'm sure I could persuade myself to apply your mod, or to follow in the footsteps of @johnjen ... but most of that serious listening for me is on speakers, or live.

 

By all means do what is most convenient, delivers you the maximum happiness, or fits into the world view you have constructed or otherwise arrived at.

At SBAF we can only supply the red pills. We can't make you swallow it

 

Well, facts are facts, and I don't want to fall into a make-believe world of wonderful EQ if it doesn't give the best performance. I'll broaden my views and ideals for the sake of better audio any day!