Danneq
Headphoneus Supremus
I totally agree. This talk of custom-made Red Dragons that are tuned to sound like the Utopias is a total turn-off for me. It sounds sketchy on too many levels. Firstly, it's BS marketing. Even if they've somewhat tuned the FR to match that of the Utopia - and even if you wanted your headphones to have a nasty 5 kHz peak, THD, noise and transient response won't match those of an actual Utopia. Plus, I doubt Focal are being paid to license their product name.
Maybe these Red Dragons are awesome to the ears of their current owners, but we all hear things differently. (It was lucky I never recommended the Shozy BK buds to hawaiibadboy - I love them, but obviously he didn't.) Buying any headphones unseen/unheard is a crapshoot, but the Red Dragons look like a really expensive crapshoot.
I owned my pair for over 1 year without having the faintest idea that they were tuned to resemble full size headphones (Senn HD800S). I only learned it about 2 weeks ago when I asked Herry of Cypherus.
Until he told me of 2 more orders for Red Dragon where one wanted his pair to sound like Focal Utopia and the other like Audeze LCD 3, I just thought that the potential of the RD was maximized in regards of the material used and that there was a "set sound" for RD.
Cypherus or Herry (same thing) has never gone out and claimed anything about Red Dragon in regards to Utopia. It's just users here, like me, that does that. I have no doubt that if there is anyone who can make a pair of earbuds sound like a specific full size headphone, it is Herry. I don't know how he does it, but he does it well. All Cypherus earbuds have a common sound signature of being extended mainly in bass but also in treble without it being sharp or bright in any way. Herry says he aims for an "analogue" sound. That might be interpreted as a sound with treble roll off etc. Acoustic instruments sound exactly like they do in real life and that if one of the main positives about Cypherus buds.
And yeah, we do hear things differently. I do not like to sharp treble, which is why I quickly sold my pair of Rose Mojito. I like Moondrop Liebesleid from a technical aspect, but again, a bit too much focus on upper mids and treble for me. So up for sale they go. I worry a bit about SWD2+ since the treble is described as being a bit bright for some people. That "some people" might be me. But I still have to give them a chance and if I don't like 'em I'll sell them.
There are 2 great Cypherus earbud models for sale - CampFred 2 and ZoomFred, and I would recommend any of them before Red Dragon. RD is a sort of end game earbud for a very small audience.
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