Could be, anyone able to test that out?
The stock utopia 22 pads have a bit of a hybrid thing going on where the lower part of the inside pad is a cloth like material:
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If I get time this week Iāll try the radiance pads on the Utopia. Not expecting great results tho. Typically any changes in pads on focal headphones is a downgrade but Iāll try. And if I remember correctly the radiance has the same cloth material.
I tried utopia pads on the OG clear and it was a hard no. Tried a pad swap in the stellia too and it wasnāt great.
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Yeah, Radiance and Stellia both have cloth at base on the inside of the pads.
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The radiance doesnt have a weave, i think itās just an imprinted texture on the leather. Its a cloth backing on the side that clips in if that makes any difference.
Itās like a fabric behind the perforated leather.
Like on the bottom of the cross hatch leather? Yes that is fabric. I never had other focals so im not sure if that how theyre all attached.
But the cross hatch weave itself i believe is leather with that design/texture imprinted on it.
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Utopia and stellia were like this too.
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Tried the Radiance pads with the Utopia. Nope lol. Doesnāt make it better or different in a good way IMO. Much warmer, muddier, loses the air, depth takes a blow to my ears, detail is still there but blunted. Feels stuffy. Utopia pads are obviously where itās at. Allows them to come alive and just much more balanced. No surprise to me 
Edit: For clarification this is with the Utopia 22.
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Iāll be trying the ZMF perforated lambskin out today on Utopia, weāll see 
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The zmf perf may work but from all my experience with pad rolling focals itās always been a miss. Hope it works out for you.
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I think it will boil down to (a) what headphones did Zach test the pads on and (b) will pads for one Focal work for another.
For instance, the only closed Focal he owns is an Elegia, so that was the only model he could test the closed pads on. I tried them on my Celestee and they sounded fine, but on the Stellia, all the bass disappeared. Which I suppose could be a good think if you want a more linear Stellia.
I think the only open Focal he owns (going off his video) is the Elex, so it will be interesting to see how the open pad works on the Utopia.
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Indeed.
I kind of enjoy āpad rollingā after trying different ones on my ZMFs, and the thought of Utopia replacement pads going for $250 (? I think) from Focal really grinds my gears! 
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For what itās worth, I used ZMF pads on my Elex and my HD600 for quite a while, and though neither pairing is particularly bad or anything, theyāre still different enough that I ended up going back to stock pads on both.
Really interested to see how you find the ZMF pads on the Utopia!
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Now that Iāve had the Utopia 2020 for about 3 weeks, my brain and ears have had some time to get used to them, and with the stock pad vs ZMF lambskin perforated.
First off, when I first listened with them, I was truly stunned, I felt like Cletus the slack-jawed yokel from the Simpsons!
Iāve never heard anything so resolving and clear sounding, yet musical as well. They are truly next level, with dynamic slam and control Iāve never heard. You can actually feel sub-bass rumble as well when itās there. My other headphones are Rosson RAD-0, ZMF Verite, and Atrium. None of which are slackers, and are still very enjoyable, excellent headphones. But the Utopia is truly next level.
There are so revealing it made me think of a photographic analogy. Itās like youāre looking at an image where every detail is in focus, and with razor sharp resolution. You can pick out the finest details. I heard things in familiar recordings Iād never heard before.
They definitely demand high quality recordings, and make stuff with lots of distortion sound worse. For instance, some songs of the White Stripes (whom I like) have so much intentional distortion that I donāt enjoy them a lot anyway, and they are unlistenable on Utopia.
I can also see how they can be picky with gear pairing. I have a Burson Soloist GT, which is quite resolving (I think), and Utopia brought out yet more detail I hadnāt known was there before. I know many here have more esoteric and expensive stuff, but I donāt hear things in my chain that scream mismatch to my ear (Schiit Yggy OG dac/Burson amp)
TLDR;
The ZMF pads are definitely thicker than the stock ones, so they move the driver a bit further from the ear and seem to give a bit of bass/sub-bass boost, which is not a bad thing to me. They also seem to have expanded the soundstage some vs stock pads.
Iām not sure about treble changes, if any. Initially they seemed a tad brighter, but now Iām not sure. My ear/brain is now used to the ZMF pads, brain burn!
They donāt have that semi-hybrid thing going on with the inside ring of the pad that the stock ones do, itās all perforated lambskin. Overall, they seem like thicker, nicer Dekoni pads. Iām not unhappy with them in any case. The jury is still out, Iāll switch back to the stock pads at some point again and reevaluate.
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I tried the focal bathys and I think they are the best wireless by far but only for wireless use with eq and I usually dont like to eq
They are good for the price. They are very boomy and commercial sounding I liked the harman eq with them. They also a bit grainy.
Like a less detailed elear but not by much
So if you want fun and insanely good build quality and comfort, sacrificing clarity with a bit of grain, very fun headphones
They have some issues wired like they have to be turned on regardless
They sound absolutely destroys by far other wireless closed backs ive trier ar5bt, drop panda, momentum 3 shure aonic etc
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So the Utopia 22 I had on demo left last week. Wanted to add that although those solid dekoni pads added back some sub bass extension, I ended up preferring the stock Utopia pads since they expanded the sound stage and gave air to the treble. I think the solid pads took away too many good qualities from the Utopia that the slight lack of bass is not a big deal overall.
Despite the comfort issues I had where the clamp was a bit much at times these are a headphone I wouldnāt mind owning at one point and Iām also curious about hearing an OG Utopia with my home system too.
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I canāt comment on U OG vs U 22, but I also switched my pads back from the ZMF Focal pads to original stock pads on my Utopia 2020.
Not surprisingly, I think the factory pads are better overall. This how God intended Utopia to sound!
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Utopia on MZ3 is very fun and technical (with a few staging tricks) but not very emotionally engaging to my ears. Iām not moved by the slower music or intimate performances or acoustic stuff as Iām used to. Let it rock out or even if itās some smaller jazz suddenly a lot of details pop out and the spherical like staging makes it a very fun listen
This was great
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I experienced this too on the original Utopia, noticed most with live recordings at first, then the intimate and acoustic stuff. On the 2022 Utopia, this is a lot less of an issue on the same set up chain.
What did you mean by staging tricks off the MZ3?
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I actually think I prefer the OG to the 2022 from memory. The 22 was a bit more standard and when compared to something like the D8KP LE I see little reason to own it. The OG has its own thing going for it.
Itās also by far the better value with used prices and the headphone to beat under $3K imo
I think the holographic presentation is a little exaggerated with the MZ3. The stage isnāt large on any dimension but is emphasizes positioning with depth plays that is cool but isnāt necessarily in the track I think
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