[GreenBow]

I agree with this. I own the Utopia's with the Lazuli Reference cables and it is a marked upgrade in bass response and overall clarity.

Going off the desription of the Utopia being a little bright, lacking some warmth, and sounding timbre light. That being the signature with someone's equiment.

(Obviously some equipment will be e.g. a warmer source would make Utopia sound perfect.)

However going from what I would guess is a neutral position of source, and the Utopia decribed as above. Does the Lazuli Reference (LR) make the Utopia then sound balanced? Sort of make the Utopia a neutral reference point.

This is how I imagine the LR to be:
I imagine the LR to add timbral reality, and make the Utopia more full-bodied. To give a netural tonal balance position to the Utopia. .. An increase in detail, due to better quality cabling and better tonal weight. (I think open backs suffer from a some tonal weight anyway, due to the open-back nature.)

For reference I have the Shure KSE 1200 (electrostatic IEM), and they are full bodied. (They probably gain some tonal weight from being IEM and sound isolating.) However they maintain a full level of staggering detail. They are 100% straight down the middle to me, in terms of bass-treble tonal balance. Not thin, not fat, and not bloated sounding - just right. Emotionally beguiling to my, by their incredible timbre. ... Only drawbacks are some cable noise, but if I am sat, that rarely becomes a problem. Secondly the IEM soundstage size. However the esoundstage on the KSE 1200 is deceptively bigger than first impressions. They often chuck sound around in their soundstage with some real ghusto. They are overall way better than first impressions.

When I plug my KSE 1200 into Hugo 2, I am gone.)

 

[mitchb]

I’m enjoying the Lazuli Reference Plus cable on my LCD-XC. I find the Ref+ a nice improvement over the standard Reference cable. The added silver in Ref+ adds extension of the higher frequencies without sacrifice of the low frequencies. More plainly put I find the Reference Plus sounds better on my LCD-XC headphones. The Reference sounded good but the Plus sounds better. Both excellent cables. They are headphone and system dependant.

 

[Progisus]

Lazuli Reference FC on order for Utopia. Anticipating.

 

[GreenBow]

Please by the way , I hope not to be annoying as I have made a few questions about the Lazuli Reference.

I am by a tiny margin, still in a return window for a pair of Focal Utopia that I have here. .... Am going round in circles trying to decide what to do. Whether to keep and buy new cables for the Utopia, and which cable i.e. Danacable LR, or Moon Audio Black Dragon. Or both cables. .. Or return the Utopia.

 

[jackpersonne]

Please by the way , I hope not to be annoying as I have made a few questions about the Lazuli Reference.

I am by a tiny margin, still in a return window for a pair of Focal Utopia that I have here. .... Am going round in circles trying to decide what to do. Whether to keep and buy new cables for the Utopia, and which cable i.e. Danacable LR, or Moon Audio Black Dragon. Or both cables. .. Or return the Utopia.

Your questions are very interesting for me as I have the same but a poor english. It's strange : I very rarely see Moon Cables mentionned here and I don't know why : not good enough or not expensive enough ?

 

[mitchb]

The Reference Plus cable is Glorious on my LCD-XC. I don’t know what more to say. My LCD-XC’s with the Reference Plus sound better than my LCD4’s with lesser cables.

 

[iamoneagain]

Please by the way , I hope not to be annoying as I have made a few questions about the Lazuli Reference.

I am by a tiny margin, still in a return window for a pair of Focal Utopia that I have here. .... Am going round in circles trying to decide what to do. Whether to keep and buy new cables for the Utopia, and which cable i.e. Danacable LR, or Moon Audio Black Dragon. Or both cables. .. Or return the Utopia.

I mentioned this before but the Danacable LC improves the Utopia more than going from the Focal Arche to Chord Dave w/mscaler. I don’t miss the Dave since I sold it but I did miss the Danacable when I sent it back to get balanced connection. Got cable back within a week.

I know these kind of things get said a lot but it really is like a filter being lifted. The detail you hear with the pluck of a guitar string. Mids gain a nice rich sound. The bass is very clean and clear. But for me, I missed the rich mids the most when I had to go back to stock cable for a week.

 

[GreenBow]

I mentioned this before but the Danacable LC improves the Utopia more than going from the Focal Arche to Chord Dave w/mscaler. I don’t miss the Dave since I sold it but I did miss the Danacable when I sent it back to get balanced connection. Got cable back within a week.

I know these kind of things get said a lot but it really is like a filter being lifted. The detail you hear with the pluck of a guitar string. Mids gain a nice rich sound. The bass is very clean and clear. But for me, I missed the rich mids the most when I had to go back to stock cable for a week.

Thank you.

I do fully understand your point about timbral rich sound. It's actually why Imade the longer post above Post #166 of 172 at the top of this page.

I was using my Shure KSE 1200 to express that I liked full sounding timbre. For reference Jude's review of the KSE 1500 he concluded the sound was rich - neutral, definitely neutral. The KSE 1500 and 1200 are the same, except the 1500 also has a DAC.

The KSE 1200 are very full sounding, but not in way bland, dull, or boring. When Just said rich-neutral, it's how I hear the 1200. Every sound is fully resolved. The electrostatic nature of the KSE 1200 gives them lightning quick speed, so all transients and dynamics are full. Crispness and full treble is all there, yet it's impossible to provoke brightness. They are tuned right in the middle. ... I think the are perfect, and that I am incredibly lucky to have them.


Anyway back to the Danacable. Yeah the timbral richness of the Lazuli cables will be fine.

With the Utopia it's tricky to work out, if just rich cable wil balance them. (You know, by filling out the sound, and focusing the treble while gettting more detial overall.) I think the Utopia may still need some bass increase, but not sure based on my previous sentence. Anyway I asked and told the Lazuli Ref gave a marked upgrade in bass response. Hopefully all will be fixed with the Lazuli Ref. The Utopia does seem to be lacking bass treble neutrality, with a tilt up in the treble. As well as being lean.

I just hope I don't end up having to EQ. I can't write what I would feel about that. I think writing about that sort of distress would be against Head-Fi posting rules.

 

[iamoneagain]

Thank you.

I do fully understand your point about timbral rich sound. It's actually why Imade the longer post above Post #166 of 172 at the top of this page.

I was using my Shure KSE 1200 to express that I liked full sounding timbre. For reference Jude's review of the KSE 1500 he concluded the sound was rich - neutral, definitely neutral. The KSE 1500 and 1200 are the same, except the 1500 also has a DAC.

The KSE 1200 are very full sounding, but in way bland, dull, or boring. When Just said rich-neutral, it's how I hear the 1200. Every sound is fully resolved. The electrostatic nature of the KSE 1200 gives them lightning quick speed, so all transients and dynamics are full. Crispness and full treble is all there, yet it's impossible to provoke brightness. They are tuned right in the middle. ... I think the are perfect, and that I am incredibly lucky to have them.


Anyway back to the Danacable. Yeah the timbral richness of the Lazuli cables will be fine.

With the Utopia it's tricky to work out of just rich cable wil balance them. (You know, by filling out the sound, and focusing the treble while gettting more detial overall.) I think the Utopia may still need some bass increase, but not sure based on my previous sentence. Anyway I asked and told the Lazuli Ref gave a marked upgrade in bass response. Hopefully all will be fixed with the Lazuli Ref. The Utopia does seem to be lacking bass treble neutrality, with a tilt up in the treble. As well as being lean.

I just hope I don't end up having to EQ. I can't write what I would feel about that. I think writing about that sort of distress would be against Head-Fi posting rules.

With the Focal Arche, the Utopia is perfectly balanced. Bass hits hard, has warmth and weight. No EQ needed. The Danacable basically takes away the dullness of the stock cable so hopefully should bring out the best of your amp and dac. You should hear more texture in the bass as well. Feels like it’s got more energy.

 

[GreenBow]

Had to edit this sentence because I forgot the word not, and described the KSE 1200 in an opposite manner.

The KSE 1200 are very full sounding, but not in way bland, dull, or boring. ..... (I left out the word 'not' from this sentence. I do that mistake all the time. No idea why.)

With the Focal Arche, the Utopia is perfectly balanced. Bass hits hard, has warmth and weight. No EQ needed. The Danacable basically takes away the dullness of the stock cable so hopefully should bring out the best of your amp and dac. You should hear more texture in the bass as well. Feels like it’s got more energy.

I don't have the Focal Arche. However some poeple say that the Utopia needs the Arche when using Chord DACs. I use Chord's DACs. I think they like the Arche to fill out the sound, and mostly in bass and warmth I think.

If Lazulie Ref is neutral with Arche, it might not still be neutral with Chord. Although I would not bet money on that.

 

[iamoneagain]

Had to edit this sentence because I forgot the word not, and described the KSE 1200 in an opposite manner.

The KSE 1200 are very full sounding, but not in way bland, dull, or boring. ..... (I left out the word 'not' from this sentence. I do that mistake all the time. No idea why.)



I don't have the Focal Arche. However some poeple say that the Utopia needs the Arche when using Chord DACs. I use Chord's DACs. I think they like the Arche to fill out the sound, and mostly in bass and warmth I think.

If Lazulie Ref is neutral with Arche, it might not still be neutral with Chord. Although I would not bet money on that.

I had the Chord Dave w/mscaler and it was also perfectly balanced. I would have kept if didn’t listen to the Arche and see how well it it also sounds with the Utopia.

Now with the Hugo 2, it sounds a touch thin but I didn’t get a change to hear them with the Danacable. Not sure what the results would be. Because the Arche and the Dave both make the Utopia sound full even with stock cable.

 

[mitchb]

Tomorrow I get my Lazuli Nirvana cable. My LCD4 headphones are still with Audeze for repair so I’ll try my new cable on my LCD-XC for now. The Lazuli Reference Plus sounds very good on my XC’s so I don’t know what to expect with the Nirvana. They are supposed to be an experience within themselves.

 

[silversurfer616]

Have the Lazuli Reference with Utopia and actually was quite enthusiastic first but now I prefer the original balanced Hedd cable( which I kept after selling my Heddphone and use it with adapter for Utopia) over stock and the Danacable.
The latter is rich in texture and body but I prefer the analytical precision and clarity of the Hedd cable with the Utopia...just personal preference.

 

[mitchb]

With only a couple of hours play the Nirvana cable already sounds good. I am using the Nirvana cable with my LCD-XC’s until I get my LCD4 headphones back from repair. The Danacable cables have changed how I listen to headphones.

 

[thecrow]

Just got my Lazuli Reference cable and my Utopia headphones sound incredible.

I have the Lazuli Reference cables on my Utopia and LCD-XC headphones and they change the way I experience music. The upgrade is like getting far better headphones or like getting an amp and/ or dac upgrade. I will be getting the Lazuli Reference Plus cable for my LCD4 headphones. The cables are in fact a component upgrade.

Cardas, Stephan Audio Art,Audio Art HPX-1SE,ALO Chain Mail 8, LCD4 stock cable. These are the cables I can remember as I’ve gone through many headphones. The Lazuli Reference cables are a game changer. I’m losing sleep for listening to my headphones. I’m tripping like the ‘70’s

I have 2 Lazuli Reference cables so far with one of the cables on my Utopia and one of them on my LCD-XC’s. Later today I will be getting a Lazuli Reference Plus cable for my LCD4 headphones which are in for repair at Audeze. I will try my new Ref+ cable on my XC’s for now and will compare them to the standard Lazuli Reference cables. I will report back with initial findings and then as the cable further settles I will report my findings. Instinctively I would think the standard Reference cable to be ideal on the XC’s as they are a brighter sounding headphones.

I just received the Lazuli Reference Plus cable and am listening to my LCD-XC’s with it. It sounds nice new with 2 minutes play. I have a good feeling about this cable. I believe it will be glorious on my LCD4 headphones as it is nice new on my XC’s.

So far it sounds livelier on my LCD-XC’s. The cable is still new but my first impression is that it is a more extended sounding cable with the range of sound being greater top to bottom. So far so good.

The Ref+ is beginning to sound scary good on my LCD-XC’s. The cable is not to bright at all. I’ve never heard my XC’s sound so beautiful. The Nirvana I ordered for my LCD4’s will be nice!

I’m enjoying the Lazuli Reference Plus cable on my LCD-XC. I find the Ref+ a nice improvement over the standard Reference cable. The added silver in Ref+ adds extension of the higher frequencies without sacrifice of the low frequencies. More plainly put I find the Reference Plus sounds better on my LCD-XC headphones. The Reference sounded good but the Plus sounds better. Both excellent cables. They are headphone and system dependant.

The Reference Plus cable is Glorious on my LCD-XC. I don’t know what more to say. My LCD-XC’s with the Reference Plus sound better than my LCD4’s with lesser cables.

Tomorrow I get my Lazuli Nirvana cable. My LCD4 headphones are still with Audeze for repair so I’ll try my new cable on my LCD-XC for now. The Lazuli Reference Plus sounds very good on my XC’s so I don’t know what to expect with the Nirvana. They are supposed to be an experience within themselves.

With only a couple of hours play the Nirvana cable already sounds good. I am using the Nirvana cable with my LCD-XC’s until I get my LCD4 headphones back from repair. The Danacable cables have changed how I listen to headphones.

Just checking in as I’m not 100% certain - are you enjoying the ref and ref+ cables?