This is a comparison between the Focal Utopia dynamic driver headphone and the Voce electrostatic headphone from Dan Clark Audio, formerly known as MrSpeakers. Both are among my favourite headphones.
I chose to do this comparison with the Utopia equipped with the Dekoni fenestrated sheepskin pads for two reasons. Firstly, because I personally prefer how they make the Utopia sounds and secondly, because it brings the tonality closer to the slightly warmer presentation of the Utopia 2022. The Voce used has the first generation of pads.
The Utopia is a normal dynamic headphone construction that can be run by normal headphone amplifiers or headphone outputs. The Voce needs a dedicated electrostat driver/amp/energizer or transformer box. It’s compatible with all 580V PRO bias STAX-compatible amps.
SETUP:
- DCA Voce with a KGSSHV Carbon electrostat amplifier
- Focal Utopia with Dekoni Fenestrated Sheepskin pads and the Sparkos Gemini hybrid tube amp
- The source for both is the RME ADI-2 DAC FS
SPECIFICATIONS FOCAL UTOPIA
- Circum-aural open headphones
- Driver Type: Dynamic
- 40mm pure Beryllium ‘M’ shape dome
- Impedance 80 Ohms
- Sensitivity: 104dB SPL / 1mW @ 1kHz
- THD: <0,2% @ 1kHz / 100dB SPL
- Frequency response: 5Hz – 50kHz
- Weight: 490g
- Cable connection to headphones: 2-pin LEMO
- Cables: 1 x 4ft OFC 24 AWG cable with 1/8″ (3.5mm) TRS Jack connector, 1 x 10ft OFC 24 AWG cable with 4-pin XLR connector, 1 x Jack adapter, 1/8″ (3.5mm) female – 1/4″ (6.35mm) male
- Carrying case 250x240x120mm
SPECIFICATIONS DAN CLARK AUDIO VOCE
- Circum-aural open-back headphones
- Driver Type: Electrostatic
- Driver Size: 88mm
- Capacitance with 2m Cable: 135pF
- Weight: 370 gr
- Ear Pad Material: NAPA Lamb Leather
- Shipping Dimensions: 18x14x19 inches
- Shipping Weight: 8 lb
- Frequency Response: Flat to 6 Hz
BUILD AND COMFORT
I will not go into much detail about anything else but the sound. However, both are very well built. They are both comfortable for me to wear, the Voce is even more so than the Utopia. It is also lighter. The Voce is maybe the best built headphones I have ever seen along with the similarly built Ether 2.
COMPARISONS
Terminal 7 by Tomasz Stanko Quintet
There’s a lot of fascinating percussion going on in this track and Voce is rendering it masterfully. The treble is extremely clean and the black space between the instruments is very black. There is a lot of air around the instruments. The effortlessness of the presentation is superb. The trumpet, the piano, the bass. It just flows.
Utopia is also very good here but it doesn’t sound as clean and effortless as the Voce. I am actually a bit surprised, because one of the real strong points of the Utopia is its great separation and pinpoint imaging. However, here it is beaten by the Voce.
Fading Sorrow by Marcin Wasilewski Trio
The saxophone is warmer and more up-front sounding with the Voce than with the Utopia. The percussion is effortlessly floating around but every sound is very precisely positioned. The bass is also very good. I find the presentation from the Utopia to be close but it is not as effortless.
Arco by Marcin Wasilewski Trio
The Utopia sounds beautiful also with this track. The small details are rendered truthfully. However, this track is also very beautiful with the Voce and it sounds even more organic and effortless.
Bored by Deftones
This track sounds pretty good on the Utopia. Lots of texture and great layering. With the Dekoni pads, it’s warm and has a full-bodied bass.
The Voce sounds quite similar except it is even clearer, with even better separation and layering.
Fly Forward by J.Higdon / Hilary Hahn
Orchestral music sounds great on the Utopia but it also sounds great on the Voce; in fact, it sounds even more fabulous. It’s spacious sounding and with gobs of detail and a liquid and refined treble.
Angel by Massive Attack
This is really great on the Utopia. The bass hits hard, there’s a lot of detail, and the presentation is very coherent. It’s also really great on the Voce. A little different voicing, but even better, even cleaner.
Almost Like the Blues by Leonard Cohen
The Utopia presents a deep, full-bodied bass. Cohen’s voice is very upfront and has lots of texture.
The Voce has a slightly different tonality. The bass is a bit boomy, maybe it’s just a bit too strong. Vocal’s are very nuanced but it felt a tad more natural with the Utopia.
As Before by Olga Konkova
It is beautiful on the Focal Utopia. It’s even more beautiful on the Voce.
FOCAL UTOPIA WITH STOCK PADS
I am not going to make a whole new comparison with the stock pads but I can say as much as that they are making the Utopia less full in the bass and generally brighter. Some prefer the stock pads, I don’t.
WRAPPING IT UP
Sound Signature
The Voce delivers plenty of bass. With the Dekoni pads, the Utopia is mostly on par and has a good amount of bass quantity (significantly less with the stock pads).
The mid-range is quite upfront with both headphones but the frequency response is different and you have to mentally adjust when swapping between the two. There’s a good amount of treble on both. I really like the frequency response of both headphones.
Treble
The Utopia has possibly the cleanest treble ever in a dynamic headphone. However, it cannot quite match the electrostat Voce, which is just extremely clean and effortless. Both have good treble presence, neither is dark or lacking treble intensity, neither is too bright.
Mids
They have similar mid-range but are slightly differently tuned. I tend to find them equal, but not identical. Sometimes I prefer the Utopia, sometimes the Voce.
Bass
The Voce has a very present bass, with great quality and texture, detail and punch. The Utopia is a bit bass-light with the stock pads, but with the Dekoni Fenestrated Sheepskin pads that I have used during this comparison, I find it almost on par with the Voce.
Soundstage, Imaging and Dynamics
They both have good sound stage and imaging and I have often stated that I am blown away by the pinpoint imaging of the Utopia. However, the Voce is even more precise in the pinpointing, there is an even blacker background and even better separation between instruments. Not only that, but the stage is also bigger.
Both are good at dynamics. Even though this is supposed to be the weak spot for electrostats, I cannot say the Voce is less dynamic. Especially microdynamics are excellent; the smallest of details are well articulated.
Timbre
This is a bit difficult because they have slightly different frequency responses and will of course sound a bit different from track to track. The treble, however, is always more natural and liquid with the Voce. The midrange is great on both, but it’s dependent on the track which one I prefer. With the stock pads on the Utopia, I definitely prefer the bass on the Voce. With the Dekoni Fenestrated Sheepskin pads, it’s more even.
AMPLIFICATION
The Voce needs a powerful electrostatic amp. My STAX SRM-007t2 amp didn’t do them justice. With the KGSSHV Carbon, however, sounds wonderful.
The Utopia is less demanding but it still grows with a good matching amp. The Sparkos Labs Gemini is very good, although there are even better alternatives. I have written a separate post about amplifiers for the Utopia. However, I must add that using any of the other amplifiers I have tested would not change the performance of the Utopia so much that it would really do much difference in this comparison.
CONCLUSION
They are both top of the line headphones that are hyper-resolving. Both have a nicely balanced frequency response with a generally natural sounding timbre. I do, however, find the Voce with the KGSSHV Carbon generally to perform even better than the Utopia.
The bass is excellently controlled with both but a little bit more plentiful with the Voce. I find the midrange mostly similar. In the treble region the Voce is even more resolved and effortless. The Utopia has a decently wide soundstage with supreme imaging, but the Voce has a larger soundstage with just as good imaging.
The big advantage of the Focal Utopia is of course that it can be used with normal headphone amplifiers. The Voce needs more than only a dedicated electrostat amp; it needs a really powerful one. I used the KGSSHV Carbon, which are amongst the most powerful electrostat amplifiers around. So, even if I found the Voce to perform better in this comparison, the Utopia comes very close and it’s definitely more versatile.
You can check out the Focal Utopia on Amazon here.
The Voce has sadly been discontinued, but it’s still available some places. The more expensive DCA Corina has taken over as Dan Clark Audio’s only electrostatic offering.
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