What an excellent way to layout your writeup. It’s very impressive.
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Hello Everyone,
Did Resolve ever make an EQ profile for the Utopia? If yes, can someone link it for me please?
Also looking for the EQ profile for the Susvara, if one exists…
Just having some fun with EQ hence curious
this is my friend Bernardo experiencing hifi for the first time!
his regular setup for recording/mixing (he’s an incredibly talented musician and songwriter) is a Focusrite and a pair of AKG k240
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It’d been, oh, at least a year now since I last listened with my Utopia (an original set, from the first month or so after launch, which I wound up buying from France) …
I had forgotten just how good they sound.
An unexpected contrast to the more recent trend towards studio-neutral tunings.
Not even listening on my main rig; just my CONDUIT feeding an RME ADI-2 Pro FS R BE in my lab.
And to think these things came out nearly 6 years ago now. The only other headphone that I owned for longer was the HD650.
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Definitely have to agree with you. I’ve had the Sennheiser HD 580 on my desk for a while as I wanted to try out the headphones that everyone was raving about in some communities. I’ve been listening to them for the last 3 months and they are good.
Last week though, I swapped to the Utopia again as it’s been a couple months and while the 580s are nice, they certainly are not the Utopia. I forgot just how detailed these headphones are and couple with something that gives it a little more warmth makes it an engrossing experience.
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I’ve had mine for nearly a year now, and while I had not expected or intended Utopia to be my endgame it may well be that very thing. I feel like it strikes a very specific balance between FR, dynamics, resolution, & stage that is very nearly perfect. “yeah, but the soundstage isn’t very wide” (yes, I hear you saying it right now!). That’s because soundstage is inversely proportional to dynamic slam - if you want one, you have to give up the other. And Utopia is famed for its dynamic slam. You want more soundstage? Ok. Willing to give up Utopia’s slam for it? No? I didn’t think so. 
I can see myself venturing deeper into the planar magnetic world in the future (Susvara?), or adding a e-stat for variety (CRBN? Stax?), but a year in I think I can say with near certainty that Utopia is with me for the long haul.
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I picked mine up a few weeks ago, and I’d forgotten how much I liked how focals stage, and the dynamics.
I tried it on my secondary system at a friends behest, and on the DNA Stratus which I honestly wasn’t expecting much from (I really haven’t liked Focals on tubes for the most part), and the synergy there is really quite magical, hasn’t been unplugged from the DNA since.
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I’ve read many MANY reports that DNA is the ultimate amp for Utopia.
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It’s interesting it does change the character of the headphone, relaxes it a smidge, takes the edge of the treble, and opens up the Stage. But it does it without losing a lot of what’s special about it.
I enjoyed it a lot on my primary rig, but I could easily see going Utopia/DNA as an end game option.
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That is my plan. I’m on the [eternal] list.
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Yes back when I bought mine it was only a 5 month wait, which is probably as short as it ever got.
Still it’s a nice surprise when he contacts you to tell you he’s testing it.
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Have been listening to my Raal Requisite SR1a for the last few months. Just moved for the summer and, due to limited space, have set up the following chain: Roon Nucleus > dCS Bartok + HP amp > Transparent Ultra cable > Focal Utopia.
I had forgotten what a joy these headphones are.
When the gear gets out of the way, when you forget about all of the specs, and it’s just you and the performers in this intimate musical headphone experience, that’s what this avocation is all about.
dCS’s tagline is “Just the Music”. I couldn’t agree more.
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I’m pretty sure that’s the most humble location a dCS Bartok has ever been placed 
Gotta make sure it doesn’t get full of itself
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Today we compare the Audeze LCD-5 and the legendary Focal Utopia Flagship Headphones! Which headphone will be King!?
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Do we think this is real, or do we think someone has pulled a fast one on our whole community? 
Even if it is real, I’m not sure I NEED anything more than the OG Utopia. I want for nothing.
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Pretty sure it’s real. It’s okay, considering there are many people that frequently neglect synergy for the utopia, it’ll end up a nice treasure for others. Lol
On the bright side, a used og utopia around $1500 on the used market is even more of a fantastic deal (assuming you have a chain for it already). That’s a LOT of resolution for the money.
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Wow, are Utopias going for $1500 now? That’s a no brainer. Literally everyone should grab that.
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I had been calling for the new Utopia since the HPS team visited the factory last year. I assume they gave them an early taste of a prototype.
Interested to hear how they can improve upon the bery drivers perhaps get the resolution dialed up make the timbre more natural while keeping the dynamics up. Should be a fun one and the used market for Utopias is about to go sub $2k.
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I can think of a few, myself included, that will snag one for that price to try and see what’s the Utopia story about.
the lowest I’ve seen LCD4/Utopia is right around the 1850 price point… 1500 is coming just not sure if it’s '22 or '23.
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