The Elear look like they are the closest but they are equally hard to find now.
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Cool cool, thank you! Just for reference, do you remember which pads you tried that you didnāt like?
Yeah, Focal pads are weird. I ran into this with the OG Clear, the new MG pads seem like they would be the same, but they actually use a different kind of foam on the inside.
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As far as I can tell all the focal pads are different to each other, hence the mess with Elex pads (which are basically unavailable unless Drop is running a batch order) that are a lot like Clear pads but use slightly different foam and cloth.
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Iāve gone on what other people report or on graphs published by third party manufacturers. Since I really like how it sounds stock Iāve not bought any as I am looking for a reserve pair rather than to change the sound.
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Iām pretty curious about this though Iām very doubtful it will be as good as the stock pads (particularly for the utopia). I donāt really see anything that would need āimprovementā on the utopia that a simple pad swap would accomplish. Itās way way cheaper thoā¦
And if anyoneās planning on buying, please share your thoughts!
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Oh wow, thanks for the heads up. I donāt have a Utopia, but Iāve complained quite a bit about the OG Clear pads being discontinued and it would be awesome if these were as good or better for that use case. I honestly might buy some to try!
EDIT: In the Head-Fi thread, Zach says he tested the pads on Elex and Elegia and that he doesnāt have a Utopia, so thereās that.
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Nice! Iād still be curious on your thoughts. I use utopia pads on my og clear and it does sound similar-ish/closer to the utopia, fwiw.
Welpā¦ thatās uhā¦ not very reassuring. lol
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Headphones.com sells the OG Focal pads for the same price as these
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RIP 
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For a second I thought you meant the utopia pads and I got really excited 
missed it by that much.
Itās kind of funny, most of the new utopia reviews I browsed through today gave a lot of praise but have not actually compared it to the og utopia. Like, whatās the point then? Lol
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My tastes donāt align very strongly with Resolve, but he did compare the new Utopia to the OG:
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I mean, it is quite possible that some may not have heard the OG, so a comparison canāt be made.
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I just had a huge scare with my utopiaā¦ Turned on my dac and amp to let the tubes warm up while I went and did something else for about an hour. Came back and put my utopia on my head and, hold up the right side had a low constant crackle, wtf. Was not there the night before nor ever, this set has always been flawless even though it is one from 2016 and out of warranty, I have never had any issues. Thankfully after some troubleshooting I confirmed it to not be the utopia nor the lazuli reference cable.
I was relieved but also very scared that it could be the amp or dac both which cost way more than the headphoneā¦ I turned off the dac, crackle still thereā¦ okay well at least itās not the most expensive component in my system. So itās the amp shit. Well I ended up re-seating all the tubes and it went away! Not sure why but I guess over time micro vibrations on my desk did something funky to my tube seating and created the crackle. Itās just weird it appeared quite suddenly and the fact that I could not perceive it with a different headphone (HD 800s).
On a different note, I just want to take a moment to gush about how amazing the Utopia is. I have had it for a little over a year and consistently marvel at how perfect it is for me sound wise. I have passed many a TOTL set in favor of it, including Susvara, D8000pro, Diana v2, LCD-5, Mysphere 3.1 & 3.2, and Verite C.
All I can say is that if you have the right source and build your setup with it in mind it can be fantastic. With my most recent purchase of a lampizator baltic 3, it has only taken it to the next level and brought even greater joy in my listening experience. coming from an lampi amber 3 the B3 has a more forward presentation leaning on the warmer side of neutral signature wise in comparison. Most all technicalities is just further improved upon over the A3, more detail, more texture, more natural, etc. The standout improvement for me which is characteristic of this new engine being used in the B3, is the greater sense of space and forward nature of the dac. It really feels like being in the room, which I know is a cliche at this point but I really mean it here. The staging makes you feel so close to the music but at the same time the amount of depth leaves you gobsmacked at times.
With the release of the 2022 utopia (newtopia 
) I think we will see some crazy prices on the older models especially the ones out of warranty. Gonna be a crazy value and a great opportunity for some folks.
My full chain for reference:
PC ā FTA Calisto USB ā Lampizator Baltic 3 (stock tubes) (Shunyata Diamondback Power Cord) ā kimber kable Hero WBT RCA ā Eddie Current Studio B (EML 300B mesh, WE 396A, stock rect) (Shunyata Venom HC Power Cord) ā Danacable Lazuli Reference ā Focal Utopia
My next purchase will be a music server/streamer to isolate the system from my computer and then I will further refine from there. I canāt wait to start tube rolling the b3 as well I think it is time to check out another 300b for the studio bā¦ I heard some hype things about Elrog 300B recently 
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Any interest in a pair of acme 300b? Just interest check
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somewhat interested, I know theyāre considered to be some of the best 300b up there with WE, takatsuki, EML, and Elrog. But other than that I donāt know much about them sound wise. Iād definitely like to pick your brain on what you think about them.
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nUtopia
I hope so, i have seen one or two legit $1600 sets whichā¦ Yeah they went super fast.
My favorite chain right now is still the Cowon S > Radiance. I havent heard any other Focal, and i feel the Rad is an outlier of the focal family, buy it makes me interested in what their other cans can do.
I want to wait for that new 3F ravenswood to release with reviews of that and the new and old utopia. It seems like it could be a great chain.
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discussing a trade over head-fi for my VC and getting a Utopia pre-2020 instead.
The guy has three cables with it:
- DHC silver OCC litz 22awg, 6 feet, 1/4" termination
- Silver Dragon 10ft cable, XLR termination
- Black Dragon 10ft 4-pin, XLR termination
Any comments on the pairing? should get one of them? all of them? avoid the whole deal altogether lol
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You really want a copper cable for the utopia imo. But if you can try to find a danacable lazuli reference secondhand, you wonāt be disappointed. I think I saw some recently on headfi terminated for the utopia
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