I tried driving my DCA E3 headphones and I can confirm the 332 does not have enough power for them. With this as a reference, I recommend getting something easier to drive,
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You are correct, comfort is paramount and head sizes vary so much.
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Thanks for the tip. I wasn’t at all familiar with Dan Clark Audio, having not heard of them before.
My closest (Naim) dealer appears to sell Focal and B&W headphones, so in order to be able to “try before I buy”, it looks like my choice is somewhat limited.
However, most people seem to rate their Focal headphones so it’s a good starting point!
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I will add that open backed headphones won’t be a problem as it’s really just so I won’t annoy the neighbours if I want to turn up my system a bit.
Sound leakage is not a consideration.
I found many years ago (tech may have changed) that closed back can sound rather boxy or boomy, but that might just have been the old headphones I compared to (40 years ago)
If you don’t want to bit the bullet on the new Utopia, then you better not test them. I wanted to like Mezes, but I came out from the testing session with the Utopia. On my 332 they are the perfect match. And you’ll have to get a cable too.
…for balance I really didn’t like the Stellia, which is the closed version of the Utopia. Sterile, fatiguing and over detailed. More HiFi than music. Grado are probably the other end of that spectrum! Very personal things headphones.
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If it truly is night and day better than it might be that I just have to bite the bullet after all!
Try some Meze 109Pros, you may be surprised.
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My local dealer stocks Mezes too, so I would certainly like to try them.
Headphones are a personal thing, YMMV, and all that. There’s this track of Lang Lang playing Debussy’s Clair de Lune, and you can hear both him sighing and the stool creaking. How clearly, that depends on the headphone (or the loudspeakers). Among other things, I ran this track with the Meze Elite, the Meze Empyrean, Dan Clark Expanse, Denon AH-D9200. The Utopia stood out immediately for me, not even close.
I know they’re expensive. But they also deliver accordingly: they get a very impactful musical delivery, with strong presence, huge dynamics, preserving detail at the same time. The only thing they came second (to the DC, if my memory doesn’t fail me) was probably the size of the stage. I’m not generally a big fan of Focal speakers, but these headphones are a gem in my opinion. And they go hand in hand with the headphone output of the 332.
The other downside is the stock cables: you get a short one with the 6.3 jack and a long one with XLR, for which you’d need an adapter. I got a good cable custom made, and those don’t come cheap either.
Again, do not try them unless you’re prepared to buy them.
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Thanks for this. I feel I really must at least try the Utopia.
I have heard Naim Statement and LOVED their sound but, I haven’t bought Statement.
I can be realistic and be happy with something a little less.
However, it seems that my closest Focal dealer doesn’t stock Utopia, so I might have to have a rethink, or consider travelling further afield to shop.
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