Utopia vs Mysphere 3.2 vs Susvara vs 1266 Phi TC

Good, but I liked the 3.2 more on that setup personally, but I would be happy with either one on that setup

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very interesting, link?

Just realized I never responded to this. Sorry. Iā€™m pretty sure you just email heinz

Question on the 394ii with the susvara. I get that the pairing isnā€™t worth it alone, but assuming you are buying the 394 for other cans how well does it actualy work with susvara? The 428 for example is pretty damn dynamic with easier to drive cans (hd800s, utopia, etc). Does the 394 have enough juice to at least maintain this quality with susvara? Or just flat out not enough on tap?

Itā€™s enough to have enough range with a hotter input, and it drives them pretty enjoyably, but you will notice it sounds strained and not as large and grand as you think, lacking a bit from a macro perspective perhaps. I think it is something the susvara is enjoyable off of, but itā€™s just for the money you could do better

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Have you tried the Questyle CMA 800R Golden with the Utopias @M0N?
I was curious how it might fare against the other amps you mentioned here since theyā€™re marketed as ā€œmatched with Utopias.ā€
Thanks!

I have tried 2 regular 800r with the utopia and it was pretty enjoyable imo. I have tried a golden system but only with an 800s. I think the dual 800r was a pretty great pick with the utopia (although not with other headphones here), Iā€™d prob place it in the upper range of the nice shit category

Generally signature wise it was very clean, very dynamic, gave a nice boost to body, although midrange took a slight hit, very detailed and nuanced, larger stage which was helpful. Might have pushed too far forward at times for my liking tbh

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Was the difference noticeable running each in mono vs just one of them?
And the golden ones are supposed to be noticeably better right?

Am I understanding right that this amp seems to be similarly voiced to MK stuff? Maybe different in staging but everything else seems to be a match for the 428 at least

Yes, you gained a lot more overall control, reduced some of the softness, became a bit dryer, spatially larger while depth was just as good, overall better dynamics, at least those were the main standouts. It depends on the headphone if itā€™s worthwhile to go to 2 though

They are, but they become a hard sell at their price imo

Iā€™d disagree, I think itā€™s softer and smoother than the mk, it is a bit more tonally dense than the mk,

Iā€™d say a 428 offers overall better technical ability outside of stage width and tonal density compared to a single 800r, and still somewhat competes with the dual stack too, depends on the headphone though.

But I donā€™t know if Iā€™d say they are all that similar, although they work well with similar headphones

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oh, very very interesting actuay. Thats actually something I can demo at my local dealer so Iā€™ll give them a shot at some point. IIRC you liked the mysphere (dont remember if it was 3.1 or 3.2 tbh) with the 424. I would have guessed from descriptions that the bit of smoothness tonal density would have worked infavor of the mysphere. Is the preference for the 428 more so because of the lack of quality choices portable than a pure great synergy match?

3.2, and correct

It does, but it also lacks control and the slightly recessed midrange doesnā€™t work well

No the mass kobo stuff is legit a good match with the mysphere, the 394 ii is one of my faves with it, the 428 offers an experience that of course isnā€™t to that level but still actually good at itā€™s price point, but itā€™s a game of more trade offs

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Completely glossed over that comment at first. That makes more sense now.

speaking, complete tangent here, but any idea what the hell makes amps sound recessed in certain areas when its completely not an FR thing? Ive obviously come across the situation a few times were an amp sounds lackluster or even veiled in certain parts of the FR range but its also just not something you see in more simplistic measurements. I know with dacs it can be caused by IMD humps, but no idea at all in amps in case anyone here knows.

I really wish the 394 would handle sus tbh. It seems like a fairly easy pick for me given my fair love for the 428 but alas I need amps that will let me at least properly experience sus/1266 right now instead of more shit that limits me to what ive already owned. Guess Ill just hope I find a 406 well under 1/2 price some day :sweat_smile:

Just not enough juice for 3.1? or is 3.1 actualy just voiced differently enough it doesnt work as well (tbh I would have thought the architecture of the 428 would handle the load of 3.1 better than 3.2)

Thatā€™s a question I canā€™t answer and I donā€™t really think anyone can give a good answer to, same for dacs lol

Given how limited they are itā€™s unlikely to find one, believe me Iā€™ve been trying lol. I will say the 394 ii will handle the 1266 no problem, the sus is more a question though

Itā€™s both voicing and I also donā€™t think it has the real power and grip the 3.1 needs to be successful. It can pull it off and sound nice but it will be kinda lean, clinical, and more dull so Iā€™d really say 3.2, the mass kobo will do a better job driving the load the 3.2 presents

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lol, true. Outside of obvious stuff like non-linearities high-order harmonic noise none of this stuff seems super well understood (by the public at least Iā€™m sure there is lots of info some manufacturers have that they want to keep under wraps to protect IP if audio is anything like most niche fields). Just didnt know if maybe we had someone with a lot more experience here that may be able to throw out a few theories as to what was going on.

lol, I mean, there are like 8 out there so far, right? TBH I did email him to lightly prod if the price on the site was the real one or not (I feel like you just never know in audio until you ask). Didnt get a particularly kind response soā€¦ thats out for the foreseeable future. and honestly, I feel like im less worried about 1266 than I am about sus (maybe because Iā€™m not expecting to like it as much? not sure, just not as high on my list. Hell tbh I think im more currious about valkyria than 1266).

interesting. Just to be honest I 100% would have expected the 428 to handle either load perfectly fine (not like myphere are hard to drive from a power perspective) but I guess I can see it not working as well if you are just too low on the voltage scale of the pot. When you get your 3.1 frames in I would be interested to hear how well the 428 works if you say, drop LO of the p6p to 30 instead of full scale so the amp has a bit more to play with.

Am I correct in assuming the 394ii works fairly well with both? or does 3.1 really just like a different synergy than 3.2? (tbh I still dont know a ton about the myspheres)

The quoted price is what it is from what I know, or higher if you are trying to get it out of the country, doesnā€™t like to sell to people out of the country. Gotcha gotcha then about the 1266

But they are, the 3.1 really stresses the amp a lot more from my experience, can suck up current easily

Oh I had to buy another pair entirely, they wonā€™t sell the frames separately. Also will do

Still would go 3.2 easily, the 3.1 and the 3.2 have very different needs and the 3.1 is more hit or miss. Iā€™d just go 3.2 unless you have very specific amplifiers where the 3.1 excel

Interesting. I know power calculators arent everything but whenever i see like sub 100 mA I just tend not to get worried. Maybe the stress is because the impedence is so low at that sensitivity level? Its kinda like running an insensitive IEM I guess.

fucking lol. GG m8. Thats so wierd to me tbh. Dont they sell an ā€œall in oneā€ where you get both frames and all the pads anyways?

Sounds good. 3.1 just way more picky in general it seems.

Do they? If they did I must have missed it lol. I donā€™t mind having 2 pairs that much tbh

Yes

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It may have just been something done for earlier buyers, but they have certainly done it before.

In the ā€œShitā€ rankings would it still be considered a stretch to substitute Niimbus with v550 ?

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