Well, I see the HD800's as king in comfort, not necessarily as king in music reproduction. Saying that, I am using them every day for many hours since they are so comfortable when wearing my reading glasses. I also think they are unbeatable for movies, media and gaming. I do enjoy their sound(stage) for orchestral music sometimes, but if I compare it to the Utopia, the latter have the much superior separation, imaging and also punch. So, two different pair of shoes. For pure music enjoyment - Utopia. For movies/gaming, zoom conferencing and long listening while working/writing - HD800S. But each to their own.
You mean the cable from the 2020 2nd gen packaging? I never used the balanced one, but I used the 3.5mm one quite extensively when I was stuck somewhere (long story). I found it surprisingly nice. There is some room for improvement for sure, but I did not think it was bad at all. It is also not microphonic as long as one is not rubbing it to check if it is microphonic