I have to say I've watched enough of your videos now to say that one of my favourite parts of all your videos is where you say "excuse me a second" and take a sip of water. It always makes me smile. To me, it's like your signature moment... Keep it (but don't force it). And your reviews are great. I've got my heart set on an atrium now. I'll need to sell off a lot of my collection to get there but I think / hope it will be worth it.
Another outstanding review sir!!! Your comparisons are extremely helpful and the thorough review much needed with "nest" of $2K++ Headphones put now. Thanks Again!!
Good morning from the UK Hi William I hope you are well Sir Time here is 04:53am here. My first night off from work, I subscribed to your channel around two years ago and although I rarely comments after watching your video reviews, due to being in the right frame of mind, shift work and life in general. The reason why I subscribed to your channel is because you "clearly to me personally" take pride in all that you do. Your approach is quite rare and Valued, as you clearly have a depth of appreciation for headphones, sound, your a good man William. I get you and hear through your conveyances. Others on line can at times come across with a lack of connection with the viewer. "YOU MY FRIEND ARE CONNECTED" I am a Serious headphone user and have been for around 40 years. Keep doing what you are doing. Don't worry about your air-conditioning sound in the background. As this doesn't distract from your reviewing. Thank you for who you are. Kind regards from Mark
@@theheadphoneexperience-wil2250 Hello William. YOU Sir are Genuinely Welcome. Remember there are those of us who are fully aware that you have a life away from these in depth reviews. And you have a Family to support. Rest well and Please look after yourself. Kindest Regards From Mark
Great review and I appreciated the detail and depth of the review. I have the same issue with TMJ and it's crazy how those big cups on headphones like the Arya can just be killer. I completely understood when you mentioned it. Massages of the jaw and wearing two night guards helps me since mine is from clenching at night when sleeping. It's been a very slow improvement but worth it.
I haven’t watched the video yet but I too have a TMJ issue. I have owned nearly 20 high end headphones searching for comfort and TOTL sound. I cannot seem to find the balance. HD800S has been the closest but no bass and does cause TMJ fatigue. Utopia sounded the best but was heavy. My next purchase will be Diana TC Any recommendations?
@@Seconds84 For me the TMJ is triggered by strong clamp force along the jaw line (omg the Audeze headphones ahhhh). So big ear cups and strong clamps are killer. The ZMF Eikon did give me an issue with my TMJ and I had to sell it - although I loved the sound signature. I actually had an issue with the HD 800S as well bc it had a hotspot on my jaw line, but I've had no issues at all with the Focal Utopia, surprisingly enough. I currently use the Utopia's and love them. The weight does not bother me at all. One thing I forgot to add originally in this comment is that I changed the cable to one from CorpseCable which did help a lot because the original cable was so thick and unwieldy that it did affect me when trying to just sit comfortably. The CorpseCable just has so much less weight and sits nicely when not in use. One interesting note about the Utopia's is how much the bass is affected by the amp used. Like they aren't hard to drive but I've tried them with the Schiit Jotunheim, Meridian Prime, Benchmark DAC1 USB, Mytek Manhattan II, Niimbus US5 Pro, Chord Hugo TT (OG), and the Auralic Taurus MKII. Every single time the bass changed - on amps like the Jotunheim and the Niimbus too much body and bass; on amps like the Mytek and the Benchmark too thin sounding. I liked it on the Chord Hugo TT but it was just a tad too much body. I actually like it best with the Auralic Taurus MKII (balanced), yet a reviewer on Head-Fi that I hold in high regard (worked at Innerfidelity) hated the Taurus MKII combo with the Utopia's and prefers a tube amp with them. Strange hobby. One headphone I love for comfort is the Audioquest Nighthawk but the sound signature is STRANGE. But I do enjoy it when just listening to TH-cam, etc. It sounds dark and veiled (especially compared to the Utopia) but then your brain gets used to the signature and you end up enjoying long listening sessions. Pretty cheap too on the used market. I bought a pair from The Music Room for less than $200 about a year ago.
Thanks for the great review! Very detailed and informative. It’s just what I need as I wait for my Atrium to be built. I’ll probably watch the whole thing three or four more times over the coming weeks.
First time watching your review. Thank you for being very detailed, professional and passionate in making this video. It is easy to relate for me when you make comparisons to the Arya Stealth since I own 1. Without going through your list of videos, I’d like to know if you had review the Meze Elite or Empyrean or will you be reviewing them anytime in the future?
@@theheadphoneexperience-wil2250 thank you for replying. I’ll be sure to catch that review. I’ve been thinking about whether the next headphone for me will be the Empyrean, Elite or Atrium. There is no authorized seller of Atrium here. Would like to ask you about your preference if the Singxer SA1 is a worthy upgrade if I’d already have the Topping A90 amp?
William you are really selling it to me 😅 but first I must sell lot of stuff to get money. I think its the only TOTL headphone worth the money, beautiful wood work and quality overall is outstanding.
Watching your excellent review again, and I’ve got a quick question: When you were changing pads, did you notice whether the screen is solid or vented? Thanks!
The best atrium review I’ve seen so far !! So detailed and you even went over some ear pads, I liked and subscribed.
I have to say I've watched enough of your videos now to say that one of my favourite parts of all your videos is where you say "excuse me a second" and take a sip of water. It always makes me smile. To me, it's like your signature moment... Keep it (but don't force it).
And your reviews are great. I've got my heart set on an atrium now. I'll need to sell off a lot of my collection to get there but I think / hope it will be worth it.
Another outstanding review sir!!! Your comparisons are extremely helpful and the thorough review much needed with "nest" of $2K++ Headphones put now. Thanks Again!!
Thank you.
Good morning from the UK
Hi William
I hope you are well Sir
Time here is 04:53am here.
My first night off from work, I subscribed to your channel around two years ago and although I rarely comments after watching your video reviews, due to being in the right frame of mind, shift work and life in general.
The reason why I subscribed to your channel is because you "clearly to me personally" take pride in all that you do.
Your approach is quite rare and Valued, as you clearly have a depth of appreciation for headphones, sound, your a good man William. I get you and hear through your conveyances.
Others on line can at times come across with a lack of connection with the viewer. "YOU MY FRIEND ARE CONNECTED"
I am a Serious headphone user and have been for around 40 years.
Keep doing what you are doing. Don't worry about your air-conditioning sound in the background. As this doesn't distract from your reviewing.
Thank you for who you are. Kind regards from Mark
Thank you, Mark. This is one of the best comments I have ever received. Makes all the hard work worthwhile.
@@theheadphoneexperience-wil2250 Hello William. YOU Sir are Genuinely Welcome. Remember there are those of us who are fully aware that you have a life away from these in depth reviews. And you have a Family to support. Rest well and Please look after yourself.
Kindest Regards
From Mark
Review of sound starts at 32:00
It is my favorite Headphone.
Great review, I'm saving up for these right now and hope to buy them in March next year.
Excellent review, thank you 👍🏻
Great review and I appreciated the detail and depth of the review. I have the same issue with TMJ and it's crazy how those big cups on headphones like the Arya can just be killer. I completely understood when you mentioned it. Massages of the jaw and wearing two night guards helps me since mine is from clenching at night when sleeping. It's been a very slow improvement but worth it.
Thank you.
I haven’t watched the video yet but I too have a TMJ issue. I have owned nearly 20 high end headphones searching for comfort and TOTL sound. I cannot seem to find the balance. HD800S has been the closest but no bass and does cause TMJ fatigue. Utopia sounded the best but was heavy.
My next purchase will be Diana TC
Any recommendations?
@@Seconds84 For me the TMJ is triggered by strong clamp force along the jaw line (omg the Audeze headphones ahhhh). So big ear cups and strong clamps are killer. The ZMF Eikon did give me an issue with my TMJ and I had to sell it - although I loved the sound signature. I actually had an issue with the HD 800S as well bc it had a hotspot on my jaw line, but I've had no issues at all with the Focal Utopia, surprisingly enough. I currently use the Utopia's and love them. The weight does not bother me at all. One thing I forgot to add originally in this comment is that I changed the cable to one from CorpseCable which did help a lot because the original cable was so thick and unwieldy that it did affect me when trying to just sit comfortably. The CorpseCable just has so much less weight and sits nicely when not in use.
One interesting note about the Utopia's is how much the bass is affected by the amp used. Like they aren't hard to drive but I've tried them with the Schiit Jotunheim, Meridian Prime, Benchmark DAC1 USB, Mytek Manhattan II, Niimbus US5 Pro, Chord Hugo TT (OG), and the Auralic Taurus MKII. Every single time the bass changed - on amps like the Jotunheim and the Niimbus too much body and bass; on amps like the Mytek and the Benchmark too thin sounding. I liked it on the Chord Hugo TT but it was just a tad too much body. I actually like it best with the Auralic Taurus MKII (balanced), yet a reviewer on Head-Fi that I hold in high regard (worked at Innerfidelity) hated the Taurus MKII combo with the Utopia's and prefers a tube amp with them. Strange hobby.
One headphone I love for comfort is the Audioquest Nighthawk but the sound signature is STRANGE. But I do enjoy it when just listening to TH-cam, etc. It sounds dark and veiled (especially compared to the Utopia) but then your brain gets used to the signature and you end up enjoying long listening sessions. Pretty cheap too on the used market. I bought a pair from The Music Room for less than $200 about a year ago.
Excellent review
Thanks for the great review! Very detailed and informative. It’s just what I need as I wait for my Atrium to be built. I’ll probably watch the whole thing three or four more times over the coming weeks.
First time watching your review. Thank you for being very detailed, professional and passionate in making this video. It is easy to relate for me when you make comparisons to the Arya Stealth since I own 1. Without going through your list of videos, I’d like to know if you had review the Meze Elite or Empyrean or will you be reviewing them anytime in the future?
Thank you, and yes I did review the Meze Empyrean about 2 years ago.
@@theheadphoneexperience-wil2250 thank you for replying. I’ll be sure to catch that review. I’ve been thinking about whether the next headphone for me will be the Empyrean, Elite or Atrium. There is no authorized seller of Atrium here. Would like to ask you about your preference if the Singxer SA1 is a worthy upgrade if I’d already have the Topping A90 amp?
William you are really selling it to me 😅 but first I must sell lot of stuff to get money. I think its the only TOTL headphone worth the money, beautiful wood work and quality overall is outstanding.
Nice review.
Nice review! Did you get a chance to try the atrium with the Feliks Echo mk1?
Yes, and the Atrium, Echo combo sounds almost as good as the Atrium, Elise combo.
@@theheadphoneexperience-wil2250 I'm driving my Atrium with Elise mk1 (custom tubes thou)
Wonder why not much reviews by socall top reviewers reviewed the rognir
gorgeous.
Rognir vs arya stealth which has better image and overall sound ?
Rognir vs Atrium for melodic death metal - which one to choose?
Never considered audio gd master 9. I wonder how it does on a gs-x mini
❤
Phenomenal video
Thank you.
What are your thoughts on the Atrium vs Hifiman HE 1000 v2?
Unfortunately I have not yet heard the HE-1000.
Watching your excellent review again, and I’ve got a quick question: When you were changing pads, did you notice whether the screen is solid or vented? Thanks!
You rule William!
Thank you, and sorry this video took so long.
@@theheadphoneexperience-wil2250 Yo William why did you delete my comment? I was just inviting you to our discord? Thats not cool man.
@@Smood47 The only thing I deleted was a link to a porn site. I don't remember who posted it?
A video thats 30 min isnt quick short to the point , you can give a lot in 30 min
Had to skip through , for a review a hour is way to long
let him speak, its and elder in our hobby you have to respect that
@soulfulfool lol
Great review