[FullRangeMan]

That helps some headphones, but it's extremely crude since it has an effect much wider than a parametric EQ.

Interesting detail.

[Armaegis]

Fiddling a bit with EQ is not guaranteed to fix soundstage. Phase discrepancies may also be present, but EQ will not fix that.

By that token, physical modding is no panacea either. Stuffing things into cups can often reduce reflections and resonances, which indirectly affects the perceived FR. If it's a very tight stuffing, then you might start affecting the acoustic impedance of the driver as well as effective cup volume, and then it's a different ballgame. Mass loading/dampening of the driver/baffle can potentially lower distortion.

[steve in jersey]

I was expecting you could change the cup stuffing or pads/cable.

I don't think changing a headphones "damping" is going to do much as far as "re-aligning" the imaging of SoundiStaging !

Dale is using the right approach by re-aligning the dynamic response in the headphones by adjusting the FR so that the more or less dominant frequencies in the music aren't "masking" the start or stop of played notes (which give you the directional cues of what part of the "stage" the music is coming from).

If possible adding a slight amount of Crossfeed (if available) helps things a bit with some recordings

[kingdeezie]

Well, this thread went off on a slight tangent.

I never said there was anything wrong with the "soundstage." I said that the soundstage was less wide than that of the HE1000. To clarify, that is to say that the HE1000 presentation is laid back, further removed from the head, and has an airy quality.

The Utopia is more upfront, in your face, and visceral.

There is no soundstage anomalies, everything is where it should in relationship to listening to headphones. These won't convince anyone of a speaker type presentation, but no headphone can.

The difference I feel is due to presentation intent by the different companies. Not every speaker images the same, and I wouldn't expect every headphone to either. Different ears making different headphones.

Their transparency and detail retrieval is unbelievable.

I also wouldn't dream of touching these with any kind of EQ, their balance sounds perfect to me. I can understand someone wanting to EQ to fit their own personal tastes, but I like to take things from a purist approach. If this is the sound Focal wanted me to hear, and what I paid for, its what I am going to listen to.

If I don't agree with a product's sound, I don't buy it, or keep it if I have purchased it.

The only issue I have at this point tonally, is a little roughness in the upper midrange and treble. With only about 3 hours on them (my power went out all day yesterday), I am confident that this will resolve itself with break in. I had the same issue on the HE1000, and it went away with time. 

[ddark65]

It's OK !...the working poor mostly get their gear off the used market these days anyway.. where we can get it for a lot less money! I'll just wait until I can get a used Utopia headphone for 2k or less!

  You have a nice day

That's funny you'll find a Utopia for 2k or less  like you'll find a Aybss for 2k or less and Aybss has been out for how long ?

[Rocket_Ronny]

Digital e.q. is awesome. How are you running your front end and e.q.  What I am searching for is a great e.q. To work with itunes and my iphone. Anyone found a solution. Rocket Ronny

[kingdeezie]

I disagree with so much of this I hardly know where to begin.  First, the suggestion that one should use a headphone as-is without EQ, assumes the sound is so perfect that EQ won't help.  Secondly, that there is nothing wrong with the Utopia's soundstage, it's just not ........, well, EQ does address that if you have enough experience in EQ.  Third, that a speaker presentation is somehow preferable or ideal, doesn't make sense to me.  Recordings vary a lot in their presentation, and very few modern recordings (since the ping-pong days of early stereo or 60's psychedelia) have an unrealistic presentation on headphones.  Speakers, headphones, or anything else make a facsimile of whatever the original "stage" was, so there you are.

Personally, I've purchased several flagship headphones and made them far more enjoyable with EQ.  And we shouldn't forget that there are audiophiles who are serious about sound but seriously short of cash.  You can buy an AKG K553 from Massdrop for $119 USD, and it sounds excellent out of the box.  With a little more effort in equalization, a user with no extra funds can achieve a really first-class presentation with good musical tonality.  Every aspect of the sound is addressable, directly or indirectly.  There is no aspect of the sound that's not addressable.

Dale,

Please actually read what I wrote instead of misinterpreting because of your inherent bias.

I never suggested people not use EQ. I said I don't. By "purist" I meant it simply as a pure playback chain without DSP or filtering. I also said I could understand people using EQ to tailor the sound to their preferences. Everyone hears differently.

I also never said speakers were better than headphones. I said headphones dont image like speakers. That is a fact.

I find it funny that you haven't heard the Utopias, but you already know they have soundstsge issues. That's amazing. Perhaps you should work with Focal to fix the problem.

[OzarkTom]

My bet, the $1K Utopia is at least 90% as good as the $4K Utopia. Is it worth $3K for the extra 10% in SQ?

[SearchOfSub]

Fiddling a bit with EQ is not guaranteed to fix soundstage. Phase discrepancies may also be present, but EQ will not fix that.

By that token, physical modding is no panacea either. Stuffing things into cups can often reduce reflections and resonances, which indirectly affects the perceived FR. If it's a very tight stuffing, then you might start affecting the acoustic impedance of the driver as well as effective cup volume, and then it's a different ballgame. Mass loading/dampening of the driver/baffle can potentially lower distortion.

EQ usually does fix most soundstage problems. Have you used EQ in the past with headphones? It works wonders IMO for headphones IMO.

[SearchOfSub]

I never expected it myself, since it's counter-intuitive.  But once a person figures it out and stops trying to just flatten the sound, they might be successful.  The key is looking for the worst emphases and suckouts and compensating those without changing nearby frequencies (parametric EQ does that).  Then the last step is fixing midrange colorations, but unless those are severe, they won't be a huge factor.

Hi dale. I actually used your EQ settings for Nighthawks and LCD because someone posted it at Nighthawks thread on headfi forum and imaging and staging improved alot. TY for the EQ settings. I am getting Ether C soon btw. Do you by any chance have EQ settings for the Ether C as well?

[Armaegis]

I think a lot of the overall quibbles here are in how we individually define soundstage.

[Armaegis]

Here's page one of 7 pages of EQ's for 130-plus headphones.  Soundstage and clarity was improved greatly for most of these.  I wasn't able to get completely satisfactory results for a handful of these, but it's a tiny minority and more work would have gotten a better result.  The thing about phase and other issues is, while EQ does not directly fix that, EQ can reduce or increase areas where the problems are most prominent due to the strength of the frequency response in those areas, and thus the overall sound improves as an indirect result.  I've been at this long enough to know very well how it works, and the results can surprise you.
 
http://dalethorn.com/Audioforge_01.html

My experiences with EQ differ from yours, but do not discount yours either.  I was simply stating that neither it nor physical modding are guaranteed fixes. I've been a part of the headphone modding community a very long time as well, and also serve as the local meet organizer and play my hand at amateur reviewer, though I'm not quite as prolific as you it seems. I would confidently state that I know my stuff just as well as you know yours. That doesn't mean they're contradictory.