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Focal Utopia General Discussion
Feb 27, 2017 at 3:45 PM Post #2,359 of 20,644
Doesn't silver cable take the tonal balance a little brighter (because silver is shiny and bright, right)? Would that throw the tonal balance of the Utopia off a bit?
 
Anyone know what the stock cable is made of? I'm in the process of making a cable for my Utopia using lowly mogami copper wire, which I used successfully for other headphones, but I'm curious what to expect.
 
Feb 27, 2017 at 4:35 PM Post #2,360 of 20,644
allanmarcus said:
Doesn't silver cable take the tonal balance a little brighter (because silver is shiny and bright, right)? Would that throw the tonal balance of the Utopia off a bit?

Anyone know what the stock cable is made of? I'm in the process of making a cable for my Utopia using lowly mogami copper wire, which I used successfully for other headphones, but I'm curious what to expect.
Click to expand...


Stock cable is all copper.

The Danacable I am using at the moment is all copper as well.

IMO silver does give off a brighter sound.

There are tons of arguments going around about copper vs silver cables. I feel like it all comes down to synergy. If you have a fairly bright source/amp already then silver cabling will enhance that even further which might be too much.
 
Feb 27, 2017 at 7:23 PM Post #2,361 of 20,644
Just got my Focal Utopia.
Going to be a long night of listening...
 
It's a great headphone, that's for sure.
 
Took some shots of it with my Abyss and Moon Neo 430.
 
Feb 27, 2017 at 10:01 PM Post #2,362 of 20,644
kukua said:
They are spectacular per my evaluation.
However ella cable out of texas is almost as good albeit relatively cheaper but a longer wait time.
Click to expand...


Do either of them offer a balanced option?  I bought a Lavricable for my iPhone to Mojo, and it stopped working with an iOS update.  However, he fixed it very quickly and I am inclined to buy from him again because of the excellent customer service.  I do want a balanced cable though. 
smily_headphones1.gif

 
Feb 27, 2017 at 10:59 PM Post #2,363 of 20,644
allanmarcus said:
Doesn't silver cable take the tonal balance a little brighter (because silver is shiny and bright, right)? Would that throw the tonal balance of the Utopia off a bit?

Anyone know what the stock cable is made of? I'm in the process of making a cable for my Utopia using lowly mogami copper wire, which I used successfully for other headphones, but I'm curious what to expect.
Click to expand...


All my cables except for power, are made of 7N OCC silver. Balanced XLR, USB cable and of course headphone cable. All from Signature Serie of Audio Sensibility, a canadian cable maker. Tremendous quality of materials and craftmanship. I can't say enough good thing about Steven Huang the owner of Audio Sensibility. Extremely knowledgeable and down to earth guy.

I just received today the first ever made Signature cable made for Utopia. It's a 21 AWG OCC silver cable. Steven Huang made it with the material of my old Audio Sensibility Statement headphone for Audeze that was a 24 AWG OCC silver cable. He simply doubled the silver bringing it from 4 to 8 conductors. Without proper burn in (half of the silver is new and the rhodium connectors are new), it simply sounds amazing tonight. Good full clean sound with incredible deep and controled bass. And of course, tons and tons of details!

Good quality silver is revealing but certainly not harsh or bright unless your system is. It could be smooth as butter with the right gear. It certainly shine in my R2R PCM 1704UK based system. Silver will give better resolution, openess, air and tight, precise bass.

I never read a comment of anybody that prefer copper after comparing with OCC silver.

If I had a magical and simple way to make you listen to my actual cable, I will have save lots of words!

Cheers
 
Feb 28, 2017 at 1:52 AM Post #2,364 of 20,644
lappy27 said:
All my cables except for power, are made of 7N OCC silver. Balanced XLR, USB cable and of course headphone cable. All from Signature Serie of Audio Sensibility, a canadian cable maker. Tremendous quality of materials and craftmanship. I can't say enough good thing about Steven Huang the owner of Audio Sensibility. Extremely knowledgeable and down to earth guy.

I just received today the first ever made Signature cable made for Utopia. It's a 21 AWG OCC silver cable. Steven Huang made it with the material of my old Audio Sensibility Statement headphone for Audeze that was a 24 AWG OCC silver cable. He simply doubled the silver bringing it from 4 to 8 conductors. Without proper burn in (half of the silver is new and the rhodium connectors are new), it simply sounds amazing tonight. Good full clean sound with incredible deep and controled bass. And of course, tons and tons of details!

Good quality silver is revealing but certainly not harsh or bright unless your system is. It could be smooth as butter with the right gear. It certainly shine in my R2R PCM 1704UK based system. Silver will give better resolution, openess, air and tight, precise bass.

I never read a comment of anybody that prefer copper after comparing with OCC silver.

If I had a magical and simple way to make you listen to my actual cable, I will have save lots of words!

Cheers
Click to expand...

I have an audio sensibility cable hooked up to my LCD's that I have used for years.  He's a good alternative for Canadian customers who don't want to get gouged by the USD/CAD exchange rate.  His cables might lack a bit of ergonomics compared to more pricey cable makers, but he's pretty good value for dollar.  I was a little gun shy with his new silver cable though as it was priced very close to other more well-known cables.
 
Feb 28, 2017 at 2:15 AM Post #2,365 of 20,644
Thanks for the music suggestions. Follow on Chris Jones recommendation I found "The Last Fallen Leaf" from him and I really liked it.
 
I swapped out my RCA cables from my Yggy to my WA5 this weekend from Mogami to AudioQuest Mackenzie. I expected nothing, or even negative expectation. But I think I'm surprised. I know it's not an easy way to plug/unplug and bias and all that... Could swear things are a little clearer/focused. I felt like there was slightly improved instrument separation and I could hear into the music better than ever. Can't call it night and day but I think it was a noticeable improvement. Either yeah! or I drank the kool-aid and now I'm really in trouble...
 
Feb 28, 2017 at 4:39 AM Post #2,366 of 20,644
doggiemom said:
 
kukua said:
They are spectacular per my evaluation.
However ella cable out of texas is almost as good albeit relatively cheaper but a longer wait time.
Click to expand...


Do either of them offer a balanced option?  I bought a Lavricable for my iPhone to Mojo, and it stopped working with an iOS update.  However, he fixed it very quickly and I am inclined to buy from him again because of the excellent customer service.  I do want a balanced cable though. 
smily_headphones1.gif
Click to expand...


Check out Norne   http://www.norneaudio.com/litzheim/   (good value, bit of a wait time though) cables or Nordost Heimdall 2   http://nordost.com/norse2/heimdall2/heimdall2-headphone-cable.php   or take a looky around here   https://www.thecableco.com/Catalog/Headphone-and-Accessories
 
Beautiful dogs by the way   
wink.gif

 
Feb 28, 2017 at 9:11 AM Post #2,367 of 20,644
doggiemom said:
Do either of them offer a balanced option?  I bought a Lavricable for my iPhone to Mojo, and it stopped working with an iOS update.  However, he fixed it very quickly and I am inclined to buy from him again because of the excellent customer service.  I do want a balanced cable though.  :)
Click to expand...
all my cables are balanced, yes they both do
 
Feb 28, 2017 at 3:34 PM Post #2,369 of 20,644
For people who tried various of head amps to drive Utopia. I'm very keen to ask for your opinions: which headphone amp are best fit to Utopia?

I have the GSX MK2, but planing to get another amp in order to improve my Utopia, current list: Moon Neo 430, V281, or straight out from DAVE?

Best Regards
Archer
 
Feb 28, 2017 at 3:54 PM Post #2,370 of 20,644
allanmarcus said:
Doesn't silver cable take the tonal balance a little brighter (because silver is shiny and bright, right)? Would that throw the tonal balance of the Utopia off a bit?

Anyone know what the stock cable is made of? I'm in the process of making a cable for my Utopia using lowly mogami copper wire, which I used successfully for other headphones, but I'm curious what to expect.
Click to expand...


DHC silver cables are not bright. They are smooth, yet very detailed.
 
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