I remember listening to the v1 HEK (when it was new & noteworthy) and thinking that not only was it overly warm/soft, but also it somehow had just enough of a rough spot somewhere in the treble region to cause me notable listening fatigue. Never got to hear a v2 unfortunately, but the v1 didn't impress me enough to pursue -- especially after witnessing my friend holding the bag with his quickly old-hat v1.
The Utopia hasn't caused me such fatigue in 2 short auditions, so I'm hoping that holds up long-term when I get my pair. There are lots of reports of folks finding the Utopia fatiguing. But then, I'm also a guy who thinks the Stax SR-009 (properly driven) is basically fatigue free and has nearly perfect treble. Even though it has a lot of upper-range energy overall, I think it must have to do with sensitivity to certain regions of treble that the 009 (and hopefully Utopia) dodges. Seriously, an SR-009 driven by BHSE (NOS tubes) is easily the lowest fatigue I've ever experienced from a headphone setup. I can listen for hours at a loud level with zero issues.
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