To me, the LCD-X is a little bit dryer, but more detailed and with harder hitting bass.
Clear is maybe slightly brighter but still on the warm side of neutral. More of an emphasis on the midrange but sometimes I feel the tonality is not quite right, or microdetails are slightly smoothed over. Still a good well-rounded headphone overall with fantastic dynamics and bass punch from their dynamic drivers.
For a bright headphone I can’t go past HD800S (or my guilty pleasure, Grado GS1000i that have been with me since 2010!)
Melco N100 - X26 pro - Ferrum stack dressed up with fairly clean power…
And if I’m lucky and schiit Europe receives stock I will get a Lokius or Loki max - should be a reasonable chain for Utopias??
There is a shop which last black Friday offered a trade in - 1k off Utopias for a Clear, if they do that this year again we’ll see! Clear AND Utopias probably not.
I still have and use my OG Clear. It’s a very good product and a solid choice in its price class. However, if you hear the Utopia its limitations become obvious. On a relative basis, the Clear is akin to listening with radio static in the background or in a noisy car. But, hearing habituates and over time I don’t notice it unless comparing back-to-back.
I can’t comment on those specifically, I haven’t heard them my guess is probably not.
I’m all tube all the time at this point, and neither of my headphone chains is in the “reasonably priced” category.
Others with more experience with the more reasonably priced options for the Utopia will have to comment. The Utopia has tremendous synergy with the DNA Stratus, but even if you can stomach the price, for most people it may as well not exist unless you have year+ to wait for him to build you one.
Although very briefly and in un-ideal conditions, I did get a chance to try the utopia on a ferrum stack. My main takeaway was it was nice with the utopia but if the utopia were my main headphones, I’d rather go for something else. But again, sprinkle lots of salt on my comment. Not sure about your DAC though so no comment there.
If you’re looking for a planar alternative the final d8000pro are great headphones. I think they compliment the utopia pretty nicely and they’re not as picky. If you can demo one on your setup it would be worth a shot imo.
Your use is “light” relative to many headphone owners. In my experience they’d likely last for several to many years with only a few hours of use per week. With heavy use (several hours per DAY), the pads may last 6 to 12 months. However, wear literally depends on how tightly they fit your particular head.
Driver durability: In my experience most dynamic drivers last a long time. Tweeters/high range are prone to blowing out from too much current but even they can last for decades. The Clear has a pretty good reputation for reliability.
I have no experience with the LCD-X, but I hated the weight and pressure of the LCD-2 Classic. I sold it because it was uncomfortable. It also required an EQ boost in the mids and a cut in the high frequencies. I’m happier with the Clear.
Just purchased a set of OG Clear’s on open box from Headphones.com so am going to be new to the party, even if it’s an old party. Heard a friend’s pair, and loved them more than other $1000-ish cans I’ve heard enough to bring them into my home. Up till now I’ve been a HD6xx/HE5xx guy so this’ll be new. Will probably always wonder if I shoulda oughta got the Mg’s or Mg Pro’s, but I’ve seen so many opinions one way or the other, and I didn’t have the energy to seek out the newer models so I decided to go with what I liked a lot. Addition of the balanced cable in the bag helps a lot, though I love me my Hart cables (run my office rig with Gungnir Multibit and Mjolnir 2, and must admit I’m sorely tempted by Folkvangr).
Ah gosh it sure is good… Listening to Heartbreaker by Ryan Adams, Zepp 2, Abbado’s Mahler 7th, it’s all so good. I’m sure I’ll get more critical over time and hear some of the things that others don’t adore - but for now it’s just so durn immediate.
Going to give the suede a go… and then maybe the lambskin.
The thing is none of these aftermarket pads add the Focal diffusion fabric… one exception being the Dekoni Stellia earpad… which helps keep up with the speed of the Focal drivers - but the thick lambskin of the Dekoni Stellia earpad offsets that speed with a big bass bump.
Unless the ZMF suede material acts as a breathable macro-level diffusion fabric, I am hesitant to think it will keep up with and fully express the driver’s technicalities the way that the stock pads do.
