My first questions are about the DAC and amp (plus equalizer, if any). Are you using the same setup as for the demo? What are you using? Many headphones are transformed in a good or bad way by changing the setup. The hyper sensitive Utopia will pick up on every small change.
Pad wear can be a major issue – beyond goop they flatten over time and bring the drivers closer to the ears. Alternative pad designs can be used to tune headphones too (see Dekoni’s products and @Resolve’s Focal Clear/Pad article on the main headphones dot com site). Switching from a smooth interior pad surface (e.g., leather) to a soft fuzzy one (e.g., microfiber) can have a big impact.
Finally, there is unit-to-unit variation and human time-point-to-time-point variation. Your set may be brighter than the average Utopia (but probably not; the OG Utopia is brightish). Regarding human differences, some headphones sound VERY different to me over time. This is most obvious with closed cups, as they lead to serious fatigue from air pressure. Many headphones sound great at first, but then harsh to me.
My setup has not changed compared to the previous Utopia OG.
I just plugged it into my Fiio K9 AKM as I did with the previous one, and they sound drastically different in the bass region.
This one is an almost 3-year-old unit. It may be because the pads are worn or the goops are seeping into the driver. I’m not sure, so I’m considering sending it to Focal and having it cleaned and inspected. The unit is still under warranty, do you think Focal will take care of it even if I’m not the original owner?
There was BIG gap between the Elex and Utopia for me, so it’s hard to comment.
About the only thing I remember thinking was the spatial presentation was similar, and while I thought the Elex was a terrible match with most tube amps, the Utopia’s best match was with some of those amps.
The Utopia certainly isn’t Bass light though.
It’s also VERY source chain picky, the top end can end up being overly aggressive, on the wrong chain.
The pads do make a big difference, and you should factor a new pair into the cost of a used unit, OEM pads aren’t cheap, I replaced mine this year, and they did make a significant difference.
That’s my takeaway from this years purchases generally, you really shouldn’t neglect the pads on your headphones, I replaced them on both the Utopia and Susvara, and there was a significant change form both.
Yes, I had a driver go out in my Utopia OG and Focal fixed it under warranty. Even better, they replaced BOTH left and right drivers, so they were matched. I love my OG, and it made it like new. Kudos to Focal!
I would also recommend looking into equalization to adjust the output to your preferences. Once I set up a Focal Utopia OG equalization profile in Roon, I am getting the most out of my Utopia OGs.
I had a goopy-pad issue with my Utopia OG, and Focal took care of the whole thing, all at no cost (under warranty). Replaced the pads, and made sure everything was neat and tidy. You should be good to go if it’s still under warranty.
I’ve been told that the goopy pad issue creates a lot of problems, get that cleaned up and sorted out and I think you’ll be set. If you don’t want to send them back to Focal, try [carefully] using alcohol swabs to clean up the goop and replace new pads.
But to answer your original question, I would say Elex has a similar amount of bass to Utopia, but Elex famously clips at higher volumes which really holds back the overall experience. Utopia does not clip. Elex’s bass is not, however, as tight & precise as Utopia’s.
Am i correct in saying the OG Utopia 2020 (not the Utopia 2016) came in different packaging than 2016?
Did all 2020 Utopia (I’m in USA) came with the headphone inside the carrying case? The 2016 Utopia did not come with a carrying case and the case with foam interior housed the Utopia.
Thanks. Any chance the 2020 was sold in two flavors, at $4,000 and $4,399 where latter is called the “premium” version of 2020 that had these packaging, travel case and cable upgrades/extras?
Looking to purchase (used/open) 2020 and just want to be sure. The seller is saying it’s 2020, and retail price was $4,399, and upon research that seem to indicate it’s a “premium” 2020 version which these upgrades.
Seems like there is/can be some confusion to new comers to Utopia used market.
AFAIK The 2020 version came with the travel case, headphones, a single ended 1/4 in cable, and a 4 pin XLR cable.
I bought my 2020 new, and it had all that and maybe a short “travel” cable with 3.5mm termination? I don’t recall that now, and it might have just been the Clear OG that came with the cable for portable use.
In any case, the 2020 Utopia cables sound fine and look good, but suffer from the dreaded Focal microphonics, and are like wrestling with an Anaconda to get them to drape in any meaningful way. So like many, I got an aftermarket cable…
For the folks here that use their Utopia regularly, I’m curious, how often do you replace the pads? I recently had to replace mine with another pair of the stock pads and the improvement is definitely there after 6 years on the old pads. The price is quite steep, though!
I got my Utopias a few weeks back and I’m really enjoying them. I like the stock tuning but I’ve stuck with a tweaked version of Oratory1990s profile. More specifically a bass boosted one as I’m a bit of a basshead hehe. Which brings me to my question - is a 11db bass shelf damaging to the driver in the long term? I have my Utopias at work (open landscape) and thus play them at fairly low volume as to not disturb my coworkers.
Normal I’d say no, it won’t damage the headphones. However, the driver wire on the original Focal Utopia (pre-2020) was especially thin and improperly designed, so that wire got burnt on many units, presumably because of over-current. It’s the same problem for the Elear and Elex. Newer Utopia should have already been fixed, but it depends on how risk-tolerant you are. After all, it’s a very expensive pair of headphones with a relatively short warranty.
I’m with @Auris, I personally wouldn’t be inclined to give them that much of a bump. It might be fine, but I wouldn’t do that with my pair, it would stress me out too much… Take with a grain of salt though.
While I envy all who have the means to buy the Utopia, I am genuinely happy that many of you have done so (especially if you have been pleased with your purchase). At the same time, I am consoled by the many comments (from those of you who were fortunate enough to have compared them to the Clear) that (typically) rate the latter as coming to within 10-15% of the capabilities of the former. Even on sale for $790 (a significantly reduced price, given their MSRP at launch), the Clear put a hole in my wallet. As their purchase is now a fait accompli, however, I can (and do) enjoy what will almost undoubtedly be my TOTL headphones for life.
TL;DR: for Clear and Elex it is not recommended to bass boost above +10dB as you may get the driver clipping even at listening levels. For Utopia this threshold is higher, so +11dB should be okay if you don’t listen very loud.
Thank you all very much for your input! Very much appreciated really! Hmm I might dail it back down a little bit then for good measure Again, very appreciated!
Again, very appreciated!