[strangecargo]

My Moon Audio Black Dragon cable just arrived. Seems to have fattened up the sound a little, but most importantly, it's only 5ft long and has a 4-pin XLR termination (for those imperceptible channel separation gains). I no longer have to worry about rolling over the cable now

 

[dreambass]

Since when "burning" headphone is doing anything to the metal! C'mon... It's a super solid metal on top of that!! It's all the moving parts that are getting somewhat more flexible (rubber) but certainly not the metal itself! 

There is far to much BS circulation.

 

[dreambass]

There is far to much BS circulation.

Adding to that I think the only way I know of metal changing it's structure is via heat, cold or metal fatigue (not good).Still you never know, Excellent stuff this is lol.

 

[buzzlulu]

cables (metal) treated cryogenically - it makes a difference

 

[strangecargo]

  My Moon Audio Black Dragon cable just arrived. Seems to have fattened up the sound a little, but most importantly, it's only 5ft long and has a 4-pin XLR termination (for those imperceptible channel separation gains). I no longer have to worry about rolling over the cable now

Hmm. I'm not really into the sound of this cable at all. The "fatness" and the way it's smoothed out sound of the Utopias obscures the detail and nuance that they're capable of. It's also seemed to soften up some of the dynamics. The smoothness doesn't seem to extend completely into the upper registers, so there's a certain unevenness to the overall sound. I may hang onto the cable as something to try with other amps, but it feels like a bad match for my current audio chain. I've got a couple other Moon Audio cables on order to see if I like them any better; I'd really prefer not to keep using this 14ft cable, though I now have more appreciation for the stock sound.

 

[jlbrach]

  Hmm. I'm not really into the sound of this cable at all. The "fatness" and the way it's smoothed out sound of the Utopias obscures the detail and nuance that they're capable of. It's also seemed to soften up some of the dynamics. The smoothness doesn't seem to extend completely into the upper registers, so there's a certain unevenness to the overall sound. I may hang onto the cable as something to try with other amps, but it feels like a bad match for my current audio chain. I've got a couple other Moon Audio cables on order to see if I like them any better; I'd really prefer not to keep using this 14ft cable, though I now have more appreciation for the stock sound.

I own the black dragon as well and i only wish cables could have the impact you speak of..at best it is subtle...i owned the danacable for a while and sold it because i couldnt convince myself it was worth the cost difference between it and the Black dragon.....

 

[strangecargo]

  I own the black dragon as well and i only wish cables could have the impact you speak of..at best it is subtle...i owned the danacable for a while and sold it because i couldnt convince myself it was worth the cost difference between it and the Black dragon.....

I blame my new amp. Ever since I got it, I feel like I've been able to hear just about everything in the chain *but* the amp.

 

[boomtube]

They're great, can't wait until you try them.

First impressions...they are SO revealing and on the bright side, in general tone.
 
I'm a huge believer in burn-in...I'll be taking note of the changes over the next few weeks. I'm loving the detail and am expecting the sound to fill out as they mature. I'll chime back after 100 hrs.

 

[strangecargo]

  First impressions...they are SO revealing and on the bright side, in general tone.
 
I'm a huge believer in burn-in...I'll be taking note of the changes over the next few weeks. I'm loving the detail and am expecting the sound to fill out as they mature. I'll chime back after 100 hrs.

I have ~120 hours on mine now, the harsh opacity I initially noticed with percussive snapping noises (finger snaps, hand claps, hi-hats, snare rimshots, etc) is nearly gone and now I can hear into them. I've got Blue/Silver Dragons on order, and I'm working on getting a shorter-than-standard Danacable. Hopefully one of them will work out for me.

 

[boomtube]

I'm looking into an upgrade cable...just not sure what type of wire to get?
I'm really hearing how poor a lot of my mp3 files are compared to FLAC. Too early to know which way to go as far as any upgrades.

 

[Lappy27]

First impressions...they are SO revealing and on the bright side, in general tone.

I'm a huge believer in burn-in...I'll be taking note of the changes over the next few weeks. I'm loving the detail and am expecting the sound to fill out as they mature. I'll chime back after 100 hrs.

Believe me, the Utopia will seems like another pair of headphones after a couple of hundreds of hours. I found the mark of ~ 500 hours to be the most significant. They sound is now much smoother, refined anf fuller. But still with incredible transparency, clarity and details.

After only about 100 hours or so, I didn't really like them and I would have desribe the sound as really similar as you are experimenting right now. Bright, revealing and a bit thin and bass shy. I would even go as far as saying sterile. At a point that I put them on sale on a canadian forum as I was a bit in a panic with the disapointment of such a big purchase. I received good and serious offers for them. Some members of this forum wrote to me to say to be patient and I will be rewarded. I also remember my own experience with my Focal Utopia car speakers with Beryllium tweeters. It took about 3-4 months to sounded really excellent in the high frequencies.

I'm really glad that I have been patient.

 

[boomtube]

Believe me, the Utopia will seems like another pair of headphones after a couple of hundreds of hours. I found the mark of ~ 500 hours to be the most significant. They sound is now much smoother, refined anf fuller. But still with incredible transparency, clarity and details.

After only about 100 hours or so, I didn't really like them and I would have desribe the sound as really similar as you are experimenting right now. Bright, revealing and a bit thin and bass shy. I would even go as far as saying sterile. At a point that I put them on sale on a canadian forum as I was a bit in a panic with the disapointment of such a big purchase. I received good and serious offers for them. Some members of this forum wrote to me to say to be patient and I will be rewarded. I also remember my own experience with my Focal Utopia car speakers with Beryllium tweeters. It took about 3-4 months to sounded really excellent in the high frequencies.

I'm really glad that I have been patient.

I'm fully expecting to hear them change...I don't know how many TOTL IEM's I thought were overrated garbage the first 20 hrs or so. After a good burn in period and a cable upgrade they're phenomenal. 
I only have a few hrs to listen in the evening, so I was looking for suggestions on 'burn-in' music or 'pink noise' that I can let play at low volume while I'm at work. I don't want to wait 6 mos. to hear the full potential.

 

[Lappy27]

I'm fully expecting to hear them change...I don't know how many TOTL IEM's I thought were overrated garbage the first 20 hrs or so. After a good burn in period and a cable upgrade they're phenomenal. 
I only have a few hrs to listen in the evening, so I was looking for suggestions on 'burn-in' music or 'pink noise' that I can let play at low volume while I'm at work. I don't want to wait 6 mos. to hear the full potential.

I let my Utopia burned nearly 24/24 for about 3 weeks at fairly mid-high volume with various content but I make sure some good bassy tunes were there to move all the drivers assembly.

And it seems they loved that!

 

[strangecargo]

  I'm fully expecting to hear them change...I don't know how many TOTL IEM's I thought were overrated garbage the first 20 hrs or so. After a good burn in period and a cable upgrade they're phenomenal. 
I only have a few hrs to listen in the evening, so I was looking for suggestions on 'burn-in' music or 'pink noise' that I can let play at low volume while I'm at work. I don't want to wait 6 mos. to hear the full potential.

I've been choosing random pop music and EDM and just letting Roon's radio feature take over after the track/album is over. I figure between all the heavy bass lines and synthetic waveforms with sharp attacks/edges, the surrounds are getting a workout. I've been playing at normal listening volume... The downside to this is that the Utopias are so open, I can often make out the lyrics from other rooms in my apartment (I keep the doors open because there's only one heater for the whole apartment). They're starting to sound really good now after around 120 hours. I hear I still have a few hundred more before they're really there though.

 

[budx3385]

I received my Focal Utopia headphones 6 wks ago. At first I thought the sound quality was not sufficiently better than my HD800, but after 500 hrs music burn-in the increased performance was without a doubt the best I've ever heard. I am really enjoying listening to my favorite music for the first time again!
 
I would like to replace the stock cable. After lots of searching, this thread seems to contain the most comments about aftermarket cables for the Utopia. I've seen references to the Moon Audio Black Dragon, Nordost Heimdal, Whiplash TWau Litz, and Dana Lazuli Reference. One listener uses DIY silver-gold cables.
 
I would appreciate very much any further comments on re-cabling the Focal Utopia. Thanks in advance.