[dontfeedphils]

The price might get less attention if the Clear was $2k or the Utopia was $3k. The price gap relative to the Elear and Clear is what jumps even more than the $4k price.

Hey everyone, did you know that these things cost $4k? Crazy!

/s

 

[emrelights1973]

I finally bought it

Now listening sp1000+Utopia GnR lies “one in million”! Great song.... and let the sunshine in from Hair

Feels like I need a cable with 2.5mm jack... then a maybe a headphone amp worthy of Utopia, i have Gustard h10 / Creek 21 / mojo

 

[Phronesis]

Hey everyone, did you know that these things cost $4k? Crazy!

/s

Sorry if you don't like being reminded of price. The thread is for everyone interested in the Utopia, including those of us who are newer to the thread, and price is inevitably one of the topics which will be discussed, especially when comparing the Utopia with its Elear and Clear siblings.

 

[up late]

The price might get less attention if the Clear was $2k or the Utopia was $3k. The price gap relative to the Elear and Clear is what jumps even more than the $4k price.

for you, yes

 

[up late]

Sorry if you don't like being reminded of price. The thread is for everyone interested in the Utopia, including those of us who are newer to the thread, and price is inevitably one of the topics which will be discussed, especially when comparing the Utopia with its Elear and Clear siblings.

the price is what it is and this is the high-end forum after all - high prices come with the territory. this is not budget-fi or mid-fi. you're not the first to come to this thread and bemoan the price of the utopia and nor are you the first to do it repeatedly, but it really has gotten old for the rest of us who are more interested in discussing the headphone itself.

 

[Senza]

Has anyone tested Utopia with HDV820 amp/dac?

 

[Phronesis]

the price is what it is and this is the high-end forum after all - high prices come with the territory. this is not budget-fi or mid-fi. you're not the first to come to this thread and bemoan the price of the utopia and nor are you the first to do it repeatedly, but it really has gotten old for the rest of us who are more interested in discussing the headphone itself.

Well, that's what happens when the thread mixes old timers with newcomers. As I said before, Focal can price the Utopia however they want, and we consumers can buy it or not. But that doesn't mean that the evaluation of the Utopia in this thread won't include discussion of the price, relative to rivals from other manufacturers and Focal themselves. This is a general discussion thread, not a listening impressions thread. In the high-end car forums, there's plenty of discussion about price relative to competitors, and people don't get bent out of shape about it.

 

[ubs28]

The Clear should not be $2k.$1500 is already a bit too much for the Focal clear because it doesn’t perform like a $1500 headphone. The only way to justify the Clear are the extra cables and the traveling bag. Because even my cheaper IEM’s outperform the Clear.

 

[RobinTim]

the price is what it is and this is the high-end forum after all - high prices come with the territory. this is not budget-fi or mid-fi. you're not the first to come to this thread and bemoan the price of the utopia and nor are you the first to do it repeatedly, but it really has gotten old for the rest of us who are more interested in discussing the headphone itself.

I think the price debate is a legitimate one and I also think this forum is a legitimate place to have it. What better place is there? In his last video Tyll Hertsens adressed the manufacturers of headphones and asked them to keep the prices reasonable. If critical debates arise around the topic the worst that will come from this is that everything stays as expensive as it is

And surely there will be repetitions of topics but not everybody can be asked to read through all 528 pages before posting anything here. Moreover, nobody is prohibited from sharing their new and interesting insights into the Utopia universe if they so please. I fail to see how one topic would negate the other. This is a thread with unlimited space for everybody after all.

 

[up late]

Well, that's what happens when the thread mixes old timers with newcomers. As I said before, Focal can price the Utopia however they want, and we consumers can buy it or not. But that doesn't mean that the evaluation of the Utopia in this thread won't include discussion of the price, relative to rivals from other manufacturers and Focal themselves. This is a general discussion thread, not a listening impressions thread. In the high-end car forums, there's plenty of discussion about price relative to competitors, and people don't get bent out of shape about it.

well if certain newcomers to this thread made the effort to acquaint themselves with it before posting, then they might avoid repeating topics that have already been discussed here ad nauseum. while this is a general discussion thread, i think it should be apparent to you by now from the responses to your posts that the discussion of the utopia's price has been exhausted, and perhaps you could consider taking that on board. comparisons with other headphones are always welcome, except when they start from a position of price relative to performance, which again, is usually entirely subjective and often inflammatory. while i've observed that car analogies are popular here, it doesn't necessarily follow that the culture of high-end car fora is comparable to this one.

 

[up late]

I think the price debate is a legitimate one and I also think this forum is a legitimate place to have it. What better place is there? In his last video Tyll Hertsens adressed the manufacturers of headphones and asked them to keep the prices reasonable. If critical debates arise around the topic the worst that will come from this is that everything stays as expensive as it is

And surely there will be repetitions of topics but not everybody can be asked to read through all 528 pages before posting anything here. Moreover, nobody is prohibited from sharing their new and interesting insights into the Utopia universe if they so please. I fail to see how one topic would negate the other. This is a thread with unlimited space for everybody after all.

i find hand-wringing over prices in a forum titled summit-fi (high-end audio) to be a futile activity. i'm also sceptical of the notion that debates over the price of the utopia or any other piece of high-end audio gear will affect its pricing, let alone reduce it. i can think of a better place to have a price debate over the utopia actually, which is here: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/foc...-preview-with-measurements-head-fi-tv.811270/

speaking for myself, i feel obliged to acquaint myself with a forum thread before posting in it. and i don't think that rehashing the discussion of the utopia's price or its price/performance ratio in this one is new, insightful or interesting.

 

[rgs9200m]

So a few days ago I mentioned how much I liked my EMM xds1 cdp/dac and found it better than my DAVE. Somehow I received some PMs about this. (I gave some impressions about the Utopia a few days ago, basically a mini-rave review).

I just wanted to clarify that I am extremely pleased with my DAVE in my desktop system having moved up from the original Hugo and Hugo TT.
It's just that I still find I enjoy the EMM sonics better in terms of resolution, non-fatigue, and speed. And the EMM does a particularly magnificent job with SACDs (off the charts performance IMHO).

I did some direct A/B comparisons to verify this.

That's all. The DAVE is fantastic, but I have been an EMM fan for over a decade and still still feel it has not been dethroned. And the EMM has some extremely good synergy with the Utopia and the Sony Z1R, my 2 favorite headphones. (And, for the record, I think the DAVE is better with the LCD4 for some reason.)

I am not knocking the DAVE, I just like the EMM better.
(And note I have never heard the Blu-Dave combo which many on the Chord threads feel brings the DAVE to another level in the areas I mentioned, so perhaps that is the key.)

 

[Svatopluk]

Has anyone tested Utopia with HDV820 amp/dac?

If the HDV820 is like it's predecessors, the HDVA800 and 600, the balanced output gain will not be adjustable marking it a less than ideal choice for the Utopia. The bass may become exaggerated and on the edge of distortion, that was my experience when I tried pairing the Utopia with the HDVA600.

Afterwards, I sold the HDVA600 and replaced it with the Violectric V280, it has five gain settings, works great with the Utopia and less efficient 300 Ohm headphones like the HD800.

 

[Senza]

Ok, i will consider other options. Thanks for the answer!

 

[Phronesis]

I think the price debate is a legitimate one and I also think this forum is a legitimate place to have it. What better place is there? In his last video Tyll Hertsens adressed the manufacturers of headphones and asked them to keep the prices reasonable. If critical debates arise around the topic the worst that will come from this is that everything stays as expensive as it is

And surely there will be repetitions of topics but not everybody can be asked to read through all 528 pages before posting anything here. Moreover, nobody is prohibited from sharing their new and interesting insights into the Utopia universe if they so please. I fail to see how one topic would negate the other. This is a thread with unlimited space for everybody after all.

Agreed, not realistic to expect newcomers to wade through hundreds of pages of haphazard conversation (as conversations naturally are) before posting and starting a new conversation with those who may be interested in discussing. There can be multiple conversations going at once, and people (old timers or otherwise) can choose to ignore and not participate in conversations that don't interest them.

All of these products exist in a competitive marketplace, and price is obviously a key attribute on which they compete. If the Utopia was $3K, $5K, or $6K, it would be positioned differently in the marketplace, and that would affect the performance and quality expectations people have for it. Totally legit to discuss whether the $4K price makes sense, even if the discussion doesn't influence the pricing (though it may influence some people's decisions whether to buy it or not, and nothing wrong with that).