Daniel, you’ve put the new Utopia to an extensive listening session. What is your first impression? What are the differences from the predecessor model from 2016?
In terms of appearance, the new Utopia differs significantly from the previous model. With the driver forks being forged recycled carbon and the black finish, the Utopia is a sleek but very classy. You can tell that one of the world’s greatest speaker manufacturers was at work. Especially since the French not only developed all the components but also manufactured them themselves. With a lot of attention to detail. The ear pads and headband are covered in soft leather, which contributes a lot to the wearing comfort. They sit nicely on the ears.
What About The Sound?
What struck me right away was that hese Focal headphones have such a lightness in the bass. The predecessor was much more treble-driven —now there are six years between the models —and what I noticed is that the bass range on the new Utopia has such incredible structure. I was listening to Leonard Cohen yesterday, and on the song “You want it darker,” I’ve never been so aware of how mature his voice sounds, but also how fragile, which didn’t hurt the recording, though. Rather, it is like a magnifying glass.
You can say that the darkness, things that you did not perceive before, are illuminated. The Utopia intones voices and instruments even more delicately and gives them that certain melting that is hard to put into words.
Any idea what that might be related to? After all, the open over-ear headphones come up with a lot of innovative solutions, especially with regard to the material used for the slightly angled dynamic drivers.
Yes, I also asked the product manager at Focal right away what that was related to. He told me that they have significantly improved the voice coil. This has been redesigned and is made of 30% copper and 70% aluminum. This makes it stable over the long term and particularly light. The 40 mm diameter diaphragms, made of deformation-resistant beryllium, are driven by particularly powerful neodymium magnets. To further improve high-frequency response, a new driver cover was developed in an “M-shape” design that follows the geometry of the driver. So everything is more fitted, from the materials to the covers and shapes, so that nothing but the sound comes to the ear.
For whom is it worth buying at a price point of almost €5,000?
For all those who need the highest precision. Who appreciates linear, natural sounds; with no sound distortions in any form. And who is looking for absolute clarity. The idea, in my perception, is to create a very exact and precise sound. Leonard Cohen’s clarity was palpable, but the background choir and instruments sounded natural and authentic. The plasticity of the studio was created in front of me and filled out. It was a beautiful experience. Of course, choosing the right headphones is first a question of individual listening habits. Where one person enjoys deep humming basses, another prefers crystal-clear highs and fine-beaded acoustic progressions, and the third seeks absolute linearity. Before buying a pair of headphones, you should definitely try out different models.
With which amplifiers does the Utopia play optimally?
We will have to find out. It has just arrived. I heard the Utopia with the Niimbus US 5, which is in a similar league to the headphones in terms of price. However, I’m sure it already works very well with amplifiers in the 800 to 1000 euro range. We’re still going to try that out – preferably together with our clientele. I am curious.
Thank you for your initial thoughts! All that is left for us to say is that the Utopia is now available to be tested by customers in our Headphone Studio in Berlin-Kreuzberg.
The FOCAL UTOPIA is delivered in a black cardboard box with a silk gloss finish. In it a noble transport case. The headphones come with a 3 m connection cable with an XLR 4-point connector and a 1.2 m mini-jack cable with a 6.35 mm jack socket.
