Focal Utopia

[Pe8er]

they seem to be super bright.

Utopia is not bright at all, this narrative is blown out of proportion. It does have a delicate ”metallic sheen” in lower treble but it’s barely perceptible. It sounds fantastic without any EQ.

@jaraheel if you have experience with HD800S, Utopia will give you a more focused sound: smaller soundstage, much more slam and (in my humble opinion) fuller and more natural midrange.

Also, I would recommend RME ADI-2 instead of Topping products because it’s incredibly robust and built-in EQ is just too convenient.

 

[dasherzx]

i consider it one of the best. have long sold my hd800 and many others.
now i keep the sony z1r for closed back and the utopia.

 

[jaraheel]

i consider it one of the best. have long sold my hd800 and many others.
now i keep the sony z1r for closed back and the utopia.

Nice! I feel I would get the utopia anyway if I get the clear, so why not just go for them.

 

[Helicopter]

Never heard Clear MG, but I have original Clear, HD800s, and Utopia. Utopia is my favorite. It is similar to Clear, but better, especially in terms of spatiality. My Clear never clattered, but Amir didn't report that issue in his Utopia test. HD800s requires EQ and headphone amp, and even with those, I still prefer Utopia for the spatial effects. HD800s spatial effects seem more pronounced, but less realistic and balanced compared to Utopia.

If I had none, I would probably check out Clear MG, simply because Utopia is so expensive... I might hold out for the next version of Utopia, especially now that they raised the price to $4400.

 

[Helicopter]

Nice! I feel I would get the utopia anyway if I get the clear, so why not just go for them.

I will tell you, since I got Utopia, I have pretty much lost interest in shopping for headphones except for special applications like workout headphones, and airplane headphones. They have already paid for themselves by stopping other purchases. When Focal refreshes them, which I expect in the next couple years, I might be back in the market.

 

[jaraheel]

I will tell you, since I got Utopia, I have pretty much lost interest in shopping for headphones except for special applications like workout headphones, and airplane headphones. They have already paid for themselves by stopping other purchases. When Focal refreshes them, which I expect in the next couple years, I might be back in the market.

Just bought one. Should be here on Friday!

 

[Helicopter]

Just bought one. Should be here on Friday!

Awesome. Congrats. You won't be disapointed. They are wonderfully finished, and sound incredible.

 

[dasherzx]

Just bought one. Should be here on Friday!

grats, your headphone journey is pretty much complete (for now)
onwards to speakers! your journey is already halfway complete there with the d90 and a90 though.

 

[Luke Lemke]

Well, now you guys have convinced me to try the Utopia. Is there a good deal on them anywhere? I saw some used ones on Ebay for 3k...

Is there anyone that compared the Focal Clear MG vs. The Utopia? Most of the comparisons I found are the Utopia vs. the regular clears.

 

[jaraheel]

grats, your headphone journey is pretty much complete (for now)
onwards to speakers! your journey is already halfway complete there with the d90 and a90 though.

The journey is a little longer since both the dac and the headphones are “pre-ordered” at Apos and headphones.com. But hopefully they would get to me soon enough

 

[jaraheel]

Well, now you guys have convinced me to try the Utopia. Is there a good deal on them anywhere? I saw some used ones on Ebay for 3k...

Is there anyone that compared the Focal Clear MG vs. The Utopia? Most of the comparisons I found are the Utopia vs. the regular clears.

While waiting for them to arrive (they haven’t) I too started looking over at eBay, head-fi. It seems people recommend getting these used only if there’s some warranty left (makes perfect sense to me!).

 

[trl]

Would the utopia be a good headphone for music and movies, paired with Topping's D90se and A90, especially better than Sennheiser's HD800S (with EQ)?

Are we speaking about these: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/focal-utopia-review-headphone.22103/ ? If so, then the sound seems very good when applying EQ and is also low in distortions too.

 

[jaraheel]

Are we speaking about these: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/focal-utopia-review-headphone.22103/? If so, then the sound seems very good when applying EQ and is also low in distortions too.

Yes these are the ones (you have one extra “?” at the end of the link). They seem to have updated the packing and thrown in one extra cable and a carry case, but the headphones are still the same. If one is shelling out $4.4k on these, then better get some warranty coverage (manufacturer gives 5 years warranty)..