Oh oooh oh oh, rant time!
Its a conspiracy… well, no, but personally, and again, personally, I think its overblown and driven by pre conceived ideas. You know, someone says it has a metallic timbre, perhaps incorrectly, so another person, perhaps inexperienced, hears the can and says “oh, so this is a metallic timbre” and that opinion just keeps on amplifying even though there is nothing metallic about it.
Not that I would have any idea what a metallic bass response would sound like but I would think that if there was something unnatural about the timbre of these “metallic sounding cans” you would hear complaints throughout the FR and not just the higher frequency regions. Just a thought not backed up by anything.
Also, in regards to the U, or any high end can, it is very reflective of its chain. So you combine maybe a glared up chain with a can that has a proper treble response (most cans seem treble recessed IMO based on FR and probably wouldnt detect crap treble response) and all that awful mess is magnified.
Ive said this before but Ive seen a lot of Utopia’s for sale online and when I look at the pics and am able to catch a glance at the chain being used Im not surprised they didnt like the can. I got my Utopia from a guy who was running it off an entry level Schiit stack - my gain.
Ive really tried listening for it as I was wondering if my hearing was off, as I just wasnt perceiving it. As I become more confident in my ears I started to think it was a misnomer or reflective of other factors. I often wonder how much it matters that we lose high frequency hearing as we age. If gear and recordings are made by older folks they may have no idea if there are treble issues simply because they cant hear it. It came up on the forum recently that hearing tests should accompany any of the more popular reviewers, if you can’t hear above 8K then I’m going to adjust my perceptions.
The so called natural sounding ZMF Verite has made me cringe with treble issues that the Utopia has never approached.
But to put things in perspective the first thing I look at in a FR graph is the treble region and I have little use for bass emphasis out of balance with everything. I’ve taken off cans in disgust due to being overly bassy, not for having too much treble.
Just my thoughts on the metallic madness.