when work is done do you actually listening to anything or is peace and quiet is a blessing? (which for me it is lol)…if not what would be your slack ass chill go to …plug 'em in and kick back audio choice set up be?
Mine’s my FH7’s and the Micro iDSD easy as a Sunday Morning.
I mean I am always listening to music whenever I can, but I think that if I am going to completely chill, I kinda treat my living room speakers as a special occasion and just kinda go from there
Do you (@Ohmboy too) have a go-to artist/track/album you go to on your living room speakers(FH7’s for ohmboy)? If not, what would you choose if you had to go and listen right now?
This…
So I personally don’t have constant go to tracks, I just listen to what I want to depending on my mood, I think the last album I listened to on my living room speakers was a somewhat newer album from Owen Pallet, Island, but if I had to pick right now I hate to say that I am finding some enjoyment in the new Gunna album Wunna (even though it’s def not the best thing I have heard recently lol)
What are your default headphones / stack?
Don’t really have one, it changes fairly often lol. I do have specific amp dac headphone pairings that I prefer over others for certain combos, but I don’t really have a default for listening for fun imo
Haha, I’ll rephrase, what is your most listened to pairing? Or if its truly random, what are you listening to right now 
Don’t have that option 
we live on a barge but not David Gilmour’s sadly but yeah speaker system would be my first go to for sure 
If you want the answer for what I listen to the most, it’s actually the koss ksc75 because that’s what I wear after I get out of the shower every day for like an hour while my hair dries, I do enjoy them for what they are lol (absolutely recommended if you want to try out something really really good without spending much and don’t mind a bit of bass roll off)
Right now I’m using Susvaras with an Oji Special BDI-DC44B G Tune and Totaldac D1-direct with the D1-driver. Earlier this morning I was using the 1266 Phi TC with the Viva Egoista 845 with a Nagra HD DAC + MPS. I guess today is beefy planar day for me lol
I was thinking about getting some ksc75x’s for my mom as she works from home and is always on her laptop, in conferences with other people or watching crime shows on her phone. I know her current headset is pretty cheap and I think one of the ear pads is completely destroyed and isn’t on any more. Can’t seem to find the x version for sale anywhere though 
So they seem to be out of stock on massdrop unfortunately, when they are in stock they typically have them on amazon too, but it seems they stopped making them?
Perhaps also look out for a sale on the porta pro with a mic as those aren’t drop exclusive (I do slightly prefer the ksc75 but the porta pro is also very solid)
I don’t even know what these amps and source gear are, but there’s no price listed next to them on the website so I know they’re fucking expensiveeeee.
Quick question, Susvaras or Utopias? Preferences?
Very different headphones, entirely preference for sure. So both are great, but go for pretty different things. I think it would depend on what I am listening to and what amp and dac I have for what I would prefer. I actually don’t own utopias even though I liked them, but I actually feel like the verite closed took the place of utopias for me (but for a bit different reasons). I spent a week with the focal lineup, and ended up coming out with the clear and the elegia so that was interesting lol
hmmmm. Okay. Would you say the Stellias/Utopias are not huge improvements over the previous items in the line, just different, or are there just better items in their price range?
Also, initial impression of Elegias is realllllllllly good. Definitely had a bit of ear adjustments or just burn in for the first few hours. I’m thinking of the next high end thing I might get in the future and Focal has now jumped to a primary contender in that area.
Verite opens? Closed? Any particulars as to why the Verites over the Utopia?
So they are a bit different but def improvements, I personally just didn’t feel like buying the utopia right away, I was very satisfied with the clear and the elegia was impressive for being closed. I was planning on grabbing the utopia, but the verite interrupted that lol
So I actually don’t like the stellia tuning, I think it’s kinda unrefined and I don’t find that I enjoy it, but some really like it, the technicalities were there for sure, but the signature was a miss for me, I preferred the signature of the elegia to the stellia personally.
A direct upgrade is the clear, and they scale like hell with amps, the higher you go, the higher they go, the elegia is more happy on whatever. The elex would be a slight upgrade but sidegrade with a more exciting w shaped signature
I think both the closed and open. So the main difference between them and the utopia is that the presentation, focal have very unique staging and presentation and dynamics, they are very 360 around your head, and recreate an interesting sound, the dynamics help with this as well. Extremely open sounding for the utopia as well in terms of like not having a headphone on your head blocking the sound, the verite open sounds more semi open in that regard (as do most zmf open imo). The verite staging can depend on the stranger angled pads vs the flat pads with the angled pads giving a strange but interesting presentation (not focal like but artificially increased with strange but engaging positioning), but I prefer the flat pads here so I will be going off that. I think some similarities would be timbre, with a somewhat common timbre but I think with the right pads the zmf has more natural timbre. I think detail is similar but the presentation does make it sound a bit different. Speed is also similar. Both are more fun headphones but the utopia is fun bright neutral and the verite is more fun neutral or fun slightly warmer depending on the pads. The verite closed is more fun than the open is imo
Haha I can see why. Verite’s are definitely the sexier can imo (and also a bit more than half the price of the Utopias). Also ZMF.
That complaint about the Stellia seems pretty consistent with what I’ve read about them. I definitely need to try a pair in person at some point just to really get it.
With the history of QC issues with the Elex I just can’t really go for it rn. Would be cool to listen to though. Seeing the Clear is a direct upgrade to this on the other hand…time to add that to the deal hunting list.
If I do end up going that far I think, from what you’re describing them as (and what I’ve found my preferences to be so far), the verite closed is probably my go to. You think the wood really makes a big difference at all? Read all the stuff about the wood choices, but I’ve only heard my Eikon in Paduak, so I have no personal base comparison.
The angling the Elegias have is weird, but I’m finding I really like the way they’re staging, layering, and separating so far. Especially in comparison to my Eikon.
Used they actually go for similar prices, you can find both in the same price range
So from my experience that has mainly been from one batch, but perhaps you would want to step higher anyways lol. Although do plan on investing in a higher end amp in the future to get more out of the clear
So I haven’t tried enough wood types to say, but most of the different wood types have been a bit different in sound but relatively consistent. I had a vertie open, but sold it for the closed ltd leopardwood, mainly because it was a bit more fun sounding with really not many trade offs going closed so I could use it more easily at work (but I have my own office anyways so it didn’t matter that much)
For me it took a few days before the focal presentation really wowed me, it just kinda hit me and I understood it, I thought it was different and interesting at first but then I got really hooked
Out of curiosity you guys keep your car stereo stock?
I didn’t for my nicer car (stock burmester was actually solid) but I do have a pretty nice system in my h3. It’s not totl nor is it competition ready, but it’s very balanced and really acoustically treated. A car isn’t the ideal place acoustically for a high end system in the traditional sense, but it is a place for great fun lol