Thank you @ValentineLuke !!! Appreciate you!!
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Try excellent review @MRHifiReviews. The production values a fantastic.
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I like detail retrieval in so much that it means a lot of good things have had to come together to enhance it.
Iām most taken by the speed and dynamics of it. My amp tube rolling ended up mostly doing things to improve that as well. My initial preferences were to specific tonality. Iām not so hung up on it now as long as itās within reason. I donāt EQ anymore.
I donāt hardly pick up the auteur anymore; however, it still has its charms.
I really do feel like the Utopia is not at itās ceiling, but testing that is expensive.
Stratus in November!! That should be about 6 months since order for you if I remember.
November would be slightly ahead of a full 6 months, so not holding my breath. But that would be really cool. Iām sure that will open up all kinds of new perceptions of the Utopias, as well as the music (Qobuz, but I also have a hefty CD transport back in the office now). I already have the upgrade 2A3s (from EML) ready to go.
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Thank you @prfallon69 appreciate you!!!
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I said I would watch this and I did!!
Nice review, Agree re the BF2 and BL, both good pairings for the Utopia as DACs, of course always dependent on amp. Outside of the narrow soundstage it throws I have been really impressed with the BL as a portable DAC/Amp for the Utopia. However, I listen to a fair bit of orchestral and classical music where staging can help so it can be a noticeable downside at times even with āsniperā like precision.
The Utopia scales really well and a good tube amp will expand the soundstage noticeably.
I have found that EQing the bass on the U is a bit of a less is more, anything more than a few dB and you start to push the transducer into distortion, however, you can correct for this to an extent by lowering the overall gain a few dB. I like it the way it is so I dont really EQ it much anymore unless I get bored and am using Roon.
Good job!
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Thank you @perogie I hope I did them justice! They are an amazing headphone with traits many listeners will love 
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Hi everyone, Iām going to be traveling to a place with very high humidity (Florida), and was wondering if it is safe to bring my Utopia/Stellia. I will keep the room on AC, but it will still have at least 90% humidity on some days. Does it damage and wear them down? I notice that 64audio specifically includes dry packsā¦ Thank you!
I imagine there are a number of people in Florida with Utopiaās. If you are really worried about it you can store it a sealed container with desiccant.
For a short time you would probably be OK as long as the humidity doesnāt condense. I havent not heard about places with high humidity experiencing higher levels of electronic failures but I have never looked in to it.
I was meant to go to Costa Rica this year (rescheduled for obvious reasons) and did a lot of research on protecting electronics. I was more concerned with my camera, laptop and phone than headphones, but I would imagine the advice would be the same for them.
- If your equipment doesnāt leave your air conditioned room, then youāre fine.
- Condensation builds up when you leave an air conditioned environment (room or car) to go outside. Give your equipment a few minutes to adjust to the new temperature and let condensation evaporate before you turn your equipment on.
- Throw a silica packet or two into your storage container.
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I recently got a Norne Silvergarde S4 from Norne Audio, and very much enjoy it. I havenāt heard others in my own system, so I apologize for not being able to give much of a comparison, but Iād say itās a mild improvement sound-wise (I think the stock cable sounds just fine), but ergonomically, where the stock cable is really bad, itās a big step up. The Silvergarde S4, at ~$700, a reasonable price for an all-silver, heavy-gauge cable, but I bet you could do 95% as well with any of his more moderately priced cables as well. Slight warning - the Norne Audio website is fairly out of date, and most communication with Trevor (the owner and craftsman) will be slightly chaotic, and by email, but he will answer your questions in detail, and is happy to make all sorts of customizations. Iāll probably go to him for any future cable needs. http://www.norneaudio.com/
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Curious as to what areas you found mild improvement? Unfortunately with headphone cables it seems you have to spend to get that 5%.
I find the sound to be just a bit more open, relaxed, and clear. But I really do mean a bit. Other components that I found to make a bigger difference (excluding amps and DACs, which I hope would be the obvious top contenders) include (1) a power regenerator (PS Audio Stellar Power Plant 3), (2) a dedicated, fanless streamer (Custom built NUC running Roon ROCK OS), (3) better USB cable (Curious) - about in that order (1 being the biggest improvement). I do think that my new headphone cable is ergonomically much, much better, but you donāt have to pay $700 if thatās the only improvement youāre going for. My point is mainly that I personally would put that last on my list of all the upgrades Iāve made. Iām sure other opinions will differ, of course.
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Iāve heard that Trevor does excellent work, but Iāve also heard that heās unorganized. This was proved out when I sent him 2 emails with no reply, so I looked elsewhere. Both Hart and Arctic were much better at communication and also did a fine job at execution.
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In your experience what percentage improvement does each Item deliver? All adding to 100% at the end? āMy favorite headphones, amp and DAC were XX% but are now 100%.ā
Thanks for the info. I think many of us put headphone cables near the bottom for actual sonic improvements but perhaps higher if we are buying for ergonomic or aesthetic reasons.
Lots of talk about Be drivers needing burn in related to ZMF cans, but not so much with the Utopia/Stellia.
Ive put about 50-100 hours on my U since I got it used, was told maybe about 50-100 hours was put on by previous owner. Ive noted an improved bass response over my last few listening sessions and I thought it may have just been the recording I was listening to; however, I was talking to a friend and we were discussing Be drivers and burn in and the light bulb turned on that maybe I was hearing burn in with the U, leading to improved bass response? This may also be why I am not picking up any treble issues - maybe its smoothed out or I could simply be treble happy.
Anyone else note this? If true makes me wonder what the recommended burn in time should be. If I am to quote the previous owner as accurate Im guessing over 100 hours???
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Thatās an interesting question. I enjoyed listening to my Stellia out of the box, as nothing stood out as annoying. If there was any burn in over time, it must have been too subtle for me to notice.
On the other hand, there has been a noticeable difference on my Verite, even between listening to them out of the box and 1 or 2 hours of pink noise later. And about 80 hours of use later, they sound really good, so Iām guessing any more improvements will be subtle.
So based on my sample size of 2, and non-scientific measurements, I donāt have any conclusive evidence that different headphones with Be drivers need similar burn in.
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Yes, itās not a tremendous difference. Just seems like the bass is a bit more prominent, more present, than what I think I was getting earlier. Difference between V and U, one being Be coated and the other straight Be, may make a marked difference in how burn in effects them. It simply could have been the tracks I have listened to recently too,
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So, excluding the headphones, amp, and DAC, Iād break things down about like so:
PS Audio Stellar Power Plant 3 - 40%
Custom NUC as server/streamer - 25%
Upgraded Power Cords (everywhere) - 20%
Curious USB cable (from NUC to Hugo2) - 10%
Norne Silvergarde S4 Headphone Cable - 5%
Again, thatās generally trying to distribute how much difference I felt each component made vs going to basically the minimum non-awful version (regular computer, straight into wall, half-decent USB cable, etc). The power plant is the one that surprised me the most. I thought it might be a tiny bit different, but I put on my headphones the first time and it wasnāt an āoh, thatās a bit betterā. It was an āohā¦ wowā¦ didnāt expect thatā. 
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