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  #31  
Old 11-16-2017, 04:13 PM
PHC1 PHC1 is offline
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I also heard Focal's beryllium speakers and they were amazing. I haven't listened to them for long periods of time, but they were speakers that made me second guess my choice of Sonus Faber O3s.
Comparing their speakers and headphones would be futile. The speakers may have a Beryllium tweeter but the Focal Utopia headphones have a Beryllium diaphragm that covers 5Hz-50Khz spectrum and is the most accurate but organic sound I have heard. I have owned some rather serious speakers in the past so my expectations are kind of high. The Focal Utopia impresses me to no end. I doubt any speaker can really compete unless they could make Beryllium drivers top to bottom which would be a tremendous expense.

Last edited by PHC1; 11-16-2017 at 04:16 PM.
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  #32  
Old 11-18-2017, 11:48 PM
Mouse Mouse is offline
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Originally Posted by PHC1 View Post
Comparing their speakers and headphones would be futile. The speakers may have a Beryllium tweeter but the Focal Utopia headphones have a Beryllium diaphragm that covers 5Hz-50Khz spectrum and is the most accurate but organic sound I have heard. I have owned some rather serious speakers in the past so my expectations are kind of high. The Focal Utopia impresses me to no end. I doubt any speaker can really compete unless they could make Beryllium drivers top to bottom which would be a tremendous expense.
How long can you listen without hearing fatigue?
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  #33  
Old 11-19-2017, 12:00 AM
PHC1 PHC1 is offline
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How long can you listen without hearing fatigue?
Hours on end. They are not fatiguing but true to the source, if the music is dynamic range compressed or hot in the treble you will hear it. With decent recordings they are very engaging and natural sounding. No shortcomings in these headphones, only shortcomings in the music itself.
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  #34  
Old 11-19-2017, 12:37 AM
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Hours on end. They are not fatiguing but true to the source, if the music is dynamic range compressed or hot in the treble you will hear it. With decent recordings they are very engaging and natural sounding. No shortcomings in these headphones, only shortcomings in the music itself.
I now know with my better speakers the recording quality has become too noticeable.
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  #35  
Old 11-19-2017, 01:26 AM
PHC1 PHC1 is offline
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I now know with my better speakers the recording quality has become too noticeable.
Yes, much of the music is unfortunately a victim of loudness wars which continues to this day. Certain genres of music like rock and pop are very often mastered with a heavy hand, dynamic range compressed and are an assault on the ears with revealing high end gear and speakers. It's one thing listening to computer speakers or earbud headphones through iTunes or similar and something entirely different listening on a high resolution high end system capable of reproducing all the detail.

Some purists will seek out the better recordings, some will gravitate to more forgiving, less revealing speakers, others don't mind deploying a bit of EQ to tame the hot treble. Some will seek out the lusher sounding tube gear, some will listen to other genres where they can find a happy balance.

I find Roon very useful with their powerful and rather transparent digital signal processing. I created a few parametric EQ settings when the mood strikes to listen to some classic rock and I don't like the dynamic range compression and guitar distortion. One flip of the DSP switch and the recording is tamed.
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  #36  
Old 11-19-2017, 08:45 PM
Slimbo Slimbo is offline
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I have a Sim HAP - 430 inbound. Although I’ve really enjoyed my Focal Utopia’s through my Aurilac Taurus the upgradeitis has struck again. I demoed this combo in Vancouver and went with the Headphone amp and a Nordost balanced cable. The Focal cable is very high quality but it is very heavy and prone to twisting. It is the only thing that I don’t like about these superb headphones. I will report on both soon.
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  #37  
Old 12-11-2017, 01:20 AM
Slimbo Slimbo is offline
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My new headphone amp and Nordost balanced cable have finally arrived.
Right away the combo is stunning.
The detail is amazing! Playing DSD files from my Melco is beyond anything I’ve ever heard before.
Hard to believe that this will improve as the amp and cable break in.
I will review them again after break in.Image1512969645.811357.jpg
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  #38  
Old 12-11-2017, 01:22 PM
PHC1 PHC1 is offline
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Originally Posted by Slimbo View Post
My new headphone amp and Nordost balanced cable have finally arrived.
Right away the combo is stunning.
The detail is amazing! Playing DSD files from my Melco is beyond anything I’ve ever heard before.
Hard to believe that this will improve as the amp and cable break in.
I will review them again after break in.Attachment 52995
Congrats on your new Moon 430! Really nice amp!
Enjoy and looking forward to your impressions.
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