Headphone Heights

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RE: Anyone tried Focal Elear or Utopia headphones?

Posted by rrsands on December 1, 2016 at 08:07:22:
Heard the Utopia's about a month ago at a local headphone meet. Was extremely interested in comparing them to my HiFiMan 560's, and very skeptical given the 560's are very, very good. Heard both with my HP laptop as a source into an (then) unfamiliar Chord Mojo dac/amp. I listened to my own recorded files at 24/192 from my TASCAM 3000 recorder off my LPs.

As I told another guy there, they made my 560's sound 'ragged'. The Focal's were clean, clear, dynamic and precise up and down the band. Were they worth over 4 times as much as the HiFiMan? Don't know, but I'm intrigued enough to go back soon for a listen to the Elears.

Without a direct comparison back at home, I went right back to enjoying the 560s as much as ever. The planar sound is, I think, a bit more thick, more visceral, but at the expense of clarity vs the Utopias.

Also heard the Audeze LCD-X's, but they seemed a poor match for the Mojo, being a bit bright. Or at least that was my impression in limited auditioning. And it was so evident I didn't keep listening long. A shame as I was very much looking forward to a session with them.