• WANTED: Happy members who like to discuss audio and other topics related to our interest. Desire to learn and share knowledge of science required. There are many reviews of audio hardware and expert members to help answer your questions. Click here to have your audio equipment measured for free!

Focal Utopia Review (Headphone)

Jimbob54

Grand Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Oct 25, 2019
Messages
11,066
Likes
14,697
Huh... so I'm not the only one that has that problem with the Focal cans.
As much a I love my Clear, I can't wear it for more than the length of a movie.
Certainly could never use it as my "any day-all day" can.
Agree totally. They are like a plush but ultimately uncomfy sofa. Also, they do something weird to my left ear, a kind of pressure chamber effect I don't get with anything else.
 

DEF

Member
Joined
Oct 27, 2021
Messages
56
Likes
18
Can we all share our head shape and make a comprehensive list as to what headphone is compatible?
How to find out how it sits before we try it out?
Which headphones are suitable for 24/7?
 

solderdude

Grand Contributor
Joined
Jul 21, 2018
Messages
15,891
Likes
35,912
Location
The Neitherlands
Which headphones are suitable for 24/7?

Comfortable non sweaty pad type ones with more than enough room for the ears and clamping forces below 2.5N.
There aren't many of those so the next best thing is to look at specs regarding pad sizes and types as well as clamping force.
 

Aerith Gainsborough

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Joined
May 4, 2020
Messages
853
Likes
1,280
Which headphones are suitable for 24/7?
Depends on the person. I'm sure there are recording engineers out there that wear Clears 24/7 w/o issue.
For me: DT-880 like headphones. Lightweight, low clamping force, open back and no leather pads.
 

DEF

Member
Joined
Oct 27, 2021
Messages
56
Likes
18
Depends on the person. I'm sure there are recording engineers out there that wear Clears 24/7 w/o issue.
For me: DT-880 like headphones. Lightweight, low clamping force, open back and no leather pads.
I have the DT-770 Pro with custom one pro headband, it's a bit comfier as it has special cushioning for my egg head :)
 

srkbear

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Nov 16, 2021
Messages
1,029
Likes
1,445
Location
Dallas, TX
Has anyone had any experience A/Bing Moon Audio’s exorbitantly priced Dragon series with GUCraftsman’s more reasonable offerings? I bought a GUCraftsman mixed single crystal copper/silver (NOT plated) cable for $298 that appears extremely well-made and sounds terrific, but I haven’t compared it with the Black or Silver Dragon in terms of musicality, detail retrieval or bass response and I’m experiencing a bit of FOMO…
 

srkbear

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Nov 16, 2021
Messages
1,029
Likes
1,445
Location
Dallas, TX
Finally just read Amir’s review of these Focals. I must agree about the deficits in bass response, which I’m sure are starkly evident by these measurement methods.

However, in my case I purchased both the Utopias and Stellias at the same time to A-B before deciding on which to keep. And I noticed that one of the most salient factors influencing the bass response was pad placement over my ears.

The Utopias come with very porous, fenestrated and delicate lamb skin pads (although quite elegant), while the Stellias have a solid, thick, unforgiving set of leather pads that form a far tighter seal. I recognize that pad rolling has its share of controversies and some published measurements show no difference, but when I rolled the Stellia pads to the Utopias the amount of bass enhancement was anything but subtle—and they afforded some improvement in noise isolation.

So I purchased a set of Stellia pads for my Utopias and I couldn’t be happier. I put this to extensive challenges before I came to this conclusion—I went back and forth myself hundreds of times and confirmed the difference with blind tests with some friends, who also corroborated my conclusions.

Of note I tried something similar rolling Elear pads (which were much easier to get my hands on), and the results were nowhere near as impressive. I welcome anyone else’s thoughts who may have tried similar mods to their own Utopias. I auditioned a Sony Z1R, an Audeze LCD-X, Sennheiser 800s, a Focal Clear MG, the Stellias, a HifiMan Arya and a Meze Empyrian (not the Elite) before I landed on the Utopias without a moment’s hesitation (I recognize I left out the Susvaras and Stax options but honestly I hate the HifiMan builds and have no interest in fussing with electrostatic cans). I have never regretted my choice…
 

MalinYamato

Senior Member
Joined
May 3, 2020
Messages
420
Likes
218
Location
東京都世田谷区
This is a review and technical measurements of the Focal Utopia open-back headphone. It is on kind loan from a member and costs US $4,000 (not a typo).

The Utopia appropriately gives off a luxury feel:

View attachment 121876

The comfort was excellent despite the 500 gram weight without the heavy cord. The latter is super thick and weighs 185 grams by itself. The inside cup dimensions are 51 by 59 mm. And it is 23 mm deep.

Note: The measurements you are about to see are preformed using standardized GRAS 45CA headphone measurement fixture. Headphone measurements require more interpretation than speaker tests and have more of a requirement for subjective testing as a result. In addition, comparison of measurements between different people performing it using different configurations requires fair bit of skill. So don't look for matching results. Focus on high level picture. Listening tests are performed using RME ADI-2 DAC and its headphone output.

Mounting the headphone on the text fixture was easy requiring almost no manipulation to get proper meausrements.

Focal Utopia Measurements
As usual, we start with our stereo frequency response measurements:

View attachment 121878

As noted, we have our bass droop which is substantial as it is not even flat. Between 100 Hz and 1.7 kHz response fairly closely resembles our target. We then have some deficiencies but the highs seem to then hug the curve. There is some noise around 1.5 to 2.5 kHz which we also see in the Group Delay graph:

View attachment 121879

I don't know if it is diffraction, reflections or what. I prefer to not see this in high-end headphone.

Back to our frequency response, here is the deviation from target:

View attachment 121880

Distortion is exceptionally low at higher frequencies and only gets bad at 114 dBSPL:

View attachment 121881

View attachment 121882

Impedance is quite uneven so best to use a solid state amp with low impedance to drive the Utopia:

View attachment 121883

Fortunately efficiency is good:

View attachment 121884

Focal Utopia Listening Tests
As is, the Utopia sounded just fine. Not a whole lot to rave about but no glaring, annoying response errors. As expected, deep bass was absent so out came the EQ:

View attachment 121885

I dialed in my quick shelving filter to bring out subbass. I increased its bandwidth to 70 Hz but was not sure that was a good trade off so went back to 50 Hz. A more precisely filter may work better. Tune this to your taste.

Above that, I dialed in two filters to fill in the dips in the response. As I have noted before, any increase in this region also has a nice bonus of increasing spatial effects. On this note, the Focal Utopia with this EQ is a delight to listen to. You get a halo of sound about 25 to 30% outside of your head with very nice instrument separation and excellent clarity. I wish I had the Sennheiser HD-800S to compare but what is there, reminds me of that headphone. Whatever magic Sennheiser has found there, Focal seems to have discovered as well.

Conclusions
Objectively we have the "old school" frequency response tuning with deficient sub-bass response and some in the upper mid-range, lower treble. What is missing is not significant enough to leave you disappointed if you paid $400. But at $4,000, you better find a way to add EQ and get the sound to the next higher level.

I struggled with what grade to give the Utopia. It straddles the fence between recommended and "happily recommended" with the latter being with EQ. At the end, I went with the latter.

EDIT: my son helped me with this review. Hoping over time he can do more of these since he likes headphones. And it frees me up to test other products.

------------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.

Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/
Is it called utopia because those who think that they can afford utopia live in utopia?
 

MalinYamato

Senior Member
Joined
May 3, 2020
Messages
420
Likes
218
Location
東京都世田谷区
I’d have to say that I definitely don’t think I can afford utopia, but when I listen to these I get to visit.
if you reach the age of mid 40 you may earn enough to get utopia but at that time you won't hear the diff between utopia and much cheaper phones, so it's kinda utopic.
 

Bow_Wazoo

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Joined
Jan 3, 2021
Messages
758
Likes
661
After many hours, I have finally found my ideal settings
Screenshot_20220118-205856_Neutron Player.jpg
 

milosz

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Forum Donor
Joined
Mar 27, 2019
Messages
583
Likes
1,643
Location
Chicago
Hmmm. A $4k headphone that needs EQ? Why not just buy the DC Stealth? No EQ needed for the Stealth- and lower bass THD (especially after the Focal gets a bass boost from EQ) - group delay through the important midrange is also much cleaner with the Stealth.

Fpr $4000 the Focal product does not impress me.
 

Bow_Wazoo

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Joined
Jan 3, 2021
Messages
758
Likes
661
If you don't use EQ, as an effective means of personalization, you're giving away a lot of potential.
And that is independent of the price range.

As a user of the Neutron player, the use of the DSP is absolutely natural for me.

In my opinion, the Utopia plays in a different league.
The Stealth has the typical, soft, and boring DCA sound. Especially in the bass.
Despite the Harman target.

As an electronics engineer, i love measurements, readings, graphs, and so on.

But the comparison of Utopia and Stealth, especially in the bass, is a wonderful example of the fact, that you should not stiffen on the world of measurements, and ultimately decide your own hearing.

It may be, that the THD of the Steaht is significantly lower. But that, plays no role at all for my brain.
Because I feel the bass of the Utopia, as much cleaner, more energetic, and more powerful.
 
Last edited:

milosz

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Forum Donor
Joined
Mar 27, 2019
Messages
583
Likes
1,643
Location
Chicago
I see. A matter of taste, No accounting for that.
 

spede

Member
Joined
Jun 27, 2019
Messages
40
Likes
25
Hmmm. A $4k headphone that needs EQ? Why not just buy the DC Stealth? No EQ needed for the Stealth- and lower bass THD (especially after the Focal gets a bass boost from EQ) - group delay through the important midrange is also much cleaner with the Stealth.

Fpr $4000 the Focal product does not impress me.
Utopia does not need EQ, its optional. Actually i am not big fan of Harman EQ Utopia, recessed vocals, muffled treble sparkle, raised sub bass was fine but i think mid bass was tuned down. You can blast hier volume but thats not = better.

Used models priced around ~+2300€/$ can have up to 3-4 years warranty left which is more than many new products.
 

Bow_Wazoo

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Joined
Jan 3, 2021
Messages
758
Likes
661
It should be remembered,
that the Harman Curve should be the starting point, not the final result.

Screenshot_20220117-150307_Gallery.jpg
Screenshot_20220111-215917_Samsung Internet.jpg


These peaks & dips, which are very likely due to the design,
can only distort the sound...
Screenshot_20220117-152923_Gallery.jpg
 

Aerith Gainsborough

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Joined
May 4, 2020
Messages
853
Likes
1,280
These peaks & dips, which are very likely due to the design,
can only distort the sound...

That's just the character of the transducer, not an applied EQ, so I doubt anything would distort.
Character of a given transducer is pretty much up to the taste and the specific Frequency response of the listeners ears.
 

Aerith Gainsborough

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Joined
May 4, 2020
Messages
853
Likes
1,280
Thats the compensated frequency response
Looks like the delta between measured and target response to me. Which is probably what he means by "compensated".
 
Top Bottom