FocalUtopia High-Fidelity Over-Ear Open-Back Headphones (2022)

You will not be sorry.

Pros: Definitely premium, eye-catching, maybe with the right amplifiers they would sound great.. The emphasis here is clarity: you'll hear things you never heard before in your music. They're powerful, capable, top-of-the-line headphones. This is the pinnacle of what headphones can do right now.Cons: They're heavy, I often can't seem to get an adjustment that where they feel level and stable, they're extremely expensive, they're open-back, the there's something so harsh and piercing about the mid highs and treble that I suspected that they were damaged. If you're looking for "musical" headphones with thumping bass, good noise isolation, headphones that will greatly increase your enjoyment of music, these aren't it. These are more about absolute clarity. I made the mistake of equating audiophile with musical enjoyment and now I'm out $5k. I kind of knew it had a focus on clarity to the exclusion of other factors but I didn't truly appreciate what that meant. I don't like the look of these either. It's sort of an industrial, futuristic, alienware type vibe.I'll keep trying them from time to time and tweaking settings on my equipment. Possibly with the right amplifier they're as amazing as people say. Everyone says they're very source-revealing. I wish I had gone with Meze, Diana, or Focal's own Stellia, Azurys, or Bathys.