Moon Audio Dragon Cables
 

Has anyone anything to say about Moon Audio Dragon series cables for headphones?

https://moon-audio.com/media/catalog...speakers_2.jpg

I have them on my HD700 and the are a nice upgrade in total sound. Much clearer highs and mids and the bass tightened up too.

Only thing that is not huge but a bit of a downside is they are heavy compared to stock and the WW cables are very lite in comparison on other cans I own.

But if the cans are not portable and are home or office I say they are a great for the money investment upgrade. Bang for the $$$ is IMOP better than the WW cables. BUT think for cost no object then go WW top not etc.

Drew makes supper nice cables, I won a lot of his Dragon cables, even for my Oppo to Ipod etc :)

Thanks for info! I'll give them a try. :thumbsup:

I think the blacks from Drew are very similar in nature the silver WW cables. PM me or update us on your results.

PS has many upgrades for terminations you an upgrade and choose too.

best
Dave :)

Will do thanks. :yes:

I've got Moon's latest-version Silver and Black Dragons for my HD650. Years ago I had a Sony Qualia 010 (pure unobtanium now) with the original Black Dragon, and I heard his old V1 Silver Dragon w/ HD650 back when it was still the new hot headphone (2004).

I like the Black Dragon a lot. It improves on all aspects of the stock cables without restricting musical flow or significantly changing tonality. My feeling is also that it's definitely better than the old (original) Cardas and Equinox cables from olden head-fi days. It is more neutral than the Zu Mobius, which changed the tonality DRASTICALLY (though frankly it was a very appealing effect). I honestly can't get into the Silver Dragon as much as the Black, even though the latter is pitched as an ideal match for the HD650. And I'm also a guy that generally prefers silver; I currently run ALL solid silver cabling in my 2ch rig.

But also -- I have a local friend that's HUGE into the high-end headphone scene, still keeps up with the latest and greatest, and though he also likes the Dragon cables he feels that there are some slightly better alternatives now, e.g. Norne Audio (no affiliation). I haven't had a Norne cable to try myself, yet.

Very helpful. Thank you. I am also considering the Black to try first. It is for my HD600s but I have other cans in mind for the near future. :yes:

I think Black Dragons are a great cable, and the sweet spot in the Dragon lineup. I’ve used them on all my headphones, even my Shure and Westone IEMs (the IEM cables are lighter). Also service and quality are excellent.

Sounds like everyone is happy with their Dragons. :thumbsup:
Time to bring a Dragon egg home and see what hatches with my HD600. :D

I have the black dragons on my Beyerdynamic T5p and they do a very nice job with them. I had them made with a balanced adapter and connectors for 3.5mm (for Chord Mojo) and balanced for my Centrance Mini-M8 amp, either of which really make business flying more civilized. I also have Silver Dragons for my Shure se535 Ltd. The difference between stock and the Silver on the 535s is like having your thumb over the end of a garden hose (stock) and taking your thumb away (Silver Dragons).

They work great on my HD700s too opened them up and a little less harshness :)

The Dragon Cables arrived this morning. I ordered them in "Balanced" for the Sennheiser HD600/650 and the Bryston BHA-1 to try them out.

I'll give them some days to burn in and share my findings. :thumbsup:

Hell yes they scale!
Normally I keep headphones to strictly digital media, and 2ch to just vinyl, but not long ago I hooked up my Headroom Maxed Balanced Home w/ HD650 to the big 2ch to help track down a grounding issue.

That was 110 lbs. of turntable and a Koetsu Platinum cartridge feeding into the HD650, haha. Wow! Definitely the best I've heard HD650. They keep scaling! I have half a mind to hook it up again sometime just for listening pleasure. Though the ATH-L3000 "Leatherhead" and Stax SR-009 are still my favorite headphones overall, cost no object.

https://i.imgur.com/EybvEpK.jpg?3

How cool is that?! :thumbsup:

Very cool, indeed!

Just received my 2nd pair of Black Dragons. This time for the Focal Utopia. 10FT with Furutech XLR termination. Yikes! Liquid midrange, blacker background, lower noise floor allowing for an even deeper listening and holy cow, did I mention the LIQUID midrange? These are seriously good straight out of the box... :drool:

Moon Audio makes nice cables and I’ve owned or tried all 3 Dragons. However, I’ve moved on and found cables that I like better from Norne, Double Helix, and Wywires. When I bought my Utopia, I bought the Black Dragon and the Wywires Platinum both in a balanced configuration. I ended up returning the BD. Both were good but the Wywires provided a larger soundstage and more precise imaging without any added brightness. The downside is that Wywires Platinum cable is more expensive.

I also had the BD hardwired by Drew for my T1 and a BD speaker amp cable for my HiFiMan HE6 and they sounded excellent. In both cases, the BD did a great job of taming bright sounding headphones. On the other hand, the Silver Dragon is just not my cup of tea. I tried it years ago when I wanted to to make the LCD 2 more lively sounding but it actually went too far and made a dark sounding headphone way too bright. I owned the Blue Dragon for many years for my HD650 and it’s a good all around medium priced cable. Drew does high quality work and I’ve never had a problem returning one of his cables if it didn’t work out for me.

The best I have experienced so far is the Wireworld Nano Platinum Eclipse for my LCD3. I will do a write up on them once I get some more burn in time. Simply outstanding cable.

I have 3 main balanced headphone cables, a Wywires Platinum, Norne Draug 2, and a Double Helix Complement 2. All are terminated with mini XLRs on the headphone end. I had Alex from Wywires make 2sets of short adapters with the Platinum wire (with a Utopia connector, the other with a plug for the HiFiMan HEK v2 and AQ Nighthawk), to plug into the mini XLRs.

The adapters allow me to use any of the 3 main cables with my Utopias, HiFiMan HE1000 v2, Audioquest Nighthawk, and any Audeze LCD series headphone. My new HE1000 v2 is on its way to me.

That is a neat idea. The multiple connectors in the cable is perhaps a slight sonic penalty and using different cables in line with each other is a bit questionable in my mind... but it does make it easy to use with multiple headphones.

What are your thoughts on the HiFiMan HE1000 v2?

I heard my friend's HEK v1 and I liked it better than my LCD X. However, I liked the Utopia just a bit more than the v1 so I ended up buying the Utopia late in 2016. The only issue I had with the v1 was it had a slight softness to it. It was very musical, large SS, excellent imaging and deep extended bass. I have not heard the v2, I just ordered it last night. The v2 supposedly addresses the issues with the v1. Nearly everyone in the HEK thread on Head-fi that owned the v1, likes the v2 better. We shall see. I hope to get it next week.

Looking forward to your impressions! :yes:

Oh, and I forgot to mention, the HEK v1 was much lighter than my LCD X. I have the carbon fiber upgrade headband on my X which helps tremendously but it's still heavy. The HEK v1 is very comfy and the v2 is even lighter and supposedly even more comfortable. I like the SQ of my 2014 LCD X but if I like the HEK better, I'll sell the X.

I remember listening to the v1 HEK (when it was new & noteworthy) and thinking that not only was it overly warm/soft, but also it somehow had just enough of a rough spot somewhere in the treble region to cause me notable listening fatigue. Never got to hear a v2 unfortunately, but the v1 didn't impress me enough to pursue -- especially after witnessing my friend holding the bag with his quickly old-hat v1.

The Utopia hasn't caused me such fatigue in 2 short auditions, so I'm hoping that holds up long-term when I get my pair. There are lots of reports of folks finding the Utopia fatiguing. But then, I'm also a guy who thinks the Stax SR-009 (properly driven) is basically fatigue free and has nearly perfect treble. Even though it has a lot of upper-range energy overall, I think it must have to do with sensitivity to certain regions of treble that the 009 (and hopefully Utopia) dodges. Seriously, an SR-009 driven by BHSE (NOS tubes) is easily the lowest fatigue I've ever experienced from a headphone setup. I can listen for hours at a loud level with zero issues.

I am still baffled by the stereotypical labels when it comes to the headphone community. Headphones are discussed as a separate entity as if the amplification, cabling, DAC, none of it comes into play when we all know that is the furthest from the truth. If a headphone has serious deficiencies, ok, perhaps nothing will save it but when discussing reference grade headphones? The top players know how to build a good headphone and the results speak for themselves. True that some offer different flavors for different tastes and purposes but you would be hard presed to find a terrible set overall from the brands we typically discuss here on AA.

As far as the Focal Utopia. It has tremendous resolution and speed, not too far from electrostatics. It does bass better than most electrostatics but not a bass heavy set and it has weight and body to the sound instead of the lightweight presentation. I can clearly hear all the differences between all the amps and cables. My favorite amp so far with Utopia is the smooth and weighty, full bodied sounding Violectric but tubes are showing incredible potential as well. I just don’t have a great tube amp to partner them with yet. I could never call Utopia bright but simply jaw dropping resolving and detailed. A wrong amp may simply produce grain and the lean sonic signature will definitely show through. As does intentional guitar distortion in music, tube vs solid state guitar amps, dynamic range compression, all becomes very clear and audible. I didn’t pay the crazy money for Utopia for them to sound colored. My euphonic and romantic set is the LCD3 and I also enjoy them but it is a different flavor for sure.

It would be unwise to invest that kind of money into Utopia and not go through the motions of finding a great partnering amp paying attention to your source/DAC. Fantastic headphones but require care in matching with other gear.

The Sennheiser HD800 is probably the most debated and complained about headphone set as of recent memory. I owned them when they first came out, yes it was very resolving and sounded lean to my ears but I didn’t have the proper matching amp for them nor did i explore the possibility of cables. I simply sold them after owning HD600 for many years before knowing that I was not going to go to great lengths to find the right balance for the 800 at that time. So while some still whine about them, others are enjoying them to their fullest with the right amp/cables/source/DAC.

I’ve heard the hd800 a bunch of times with many very fine balanced amplifiers, and it still remains a huge disappointment to me. Sure I’ve heard it sound like something approaching very good on a couple amps, but not good enough to perform in the top tier IMO, and it shouldn’t be that hard to find a match for a headphone. In a typical case, it’s almost impasible for me to enjoy music through them. It always reminded me of a poor Sony Qualia 010 clone, with perhaps less severe weaknesses, but also with greatly weakened strengths.

I love to complain about the hd800 btw :)

I didn’t find my friend’s HEK v1 fatiguing at all when I had it and Jude’s Utopia for 3 days in my own system. I sold my SR-009 last week after owning them for 5 years. Although they’re very transparent, I found them a bit lean and too analytical even out of the BHSE that I heard at Axpona. I don’t find the Utopia fatiguing in my system. The stock HD800 with stock cable is fatiguing to me. I have a 19ga OCC Cu cable wired directly to the drivers. Also I modded the HD800 with the SDR mod. My modded HD800 sounds much fuller and I can listen to it for hours with no fatigue.

I've had my HEK v2 for over a week now burning in 24/7. I'm really enjoying this headphone way beyond my expectations. I like the v2 much better than the v1. The issues that I had with the v1 (softness) have been addressed by the v2. Owners of the v1 and v2 report that the v2 is slightly brighter but I don't find the v2 bright at all. In relative terms of brightness of the headphones that I've owned, I think the HD800 is the brightest, followed by the SR-009, Utopia, LCD X, HEK v2, AQ Nighthawk (the NH being too dark). The HEK's soundstage is larger than the Utopia in terms of width and depth. The HEK's bass is the best that I've heard in a headphone. It's well textured, and deeply extended but it doesn't intrude into the midrange. The Utopia's midrange was the best I've heard in a headphone and it still may be but the HEK is no slouch in this area and may be equal (just not sure yet).

Oh and comfort, the HEK v2 is king here. The Utopia is very comfortable but the HEK is even more so. It sounds like I the HEK v2 better than my Utopia and that may be true but it's too soon to make that judgement. In a few months I may add a headphone amp to my main speaker system that will be primarily for the Utopia. Since I like tubes, I may get a tube amp for the Utopia or a slightly dark SS amp. My Luxman P700u that I used for this comparison, has a very expansive soundstage, and neutral signature. I think the P700u is perfect for my HEK. I think the Utopia would mate well with a slightly, but not overly dark sounding amp of high pedigree.

I'm extremely happy with my new HEK v2 and I'm glad I picked it over the LCD4. I've never heard the LCD4 and it may be a great headphone but I'm done with heavy headphones. Even though the carbon fiber headband makes heavy headphones like my LCD X much more tolerable, it doesn't make them much lighter and the heavy weight still detracts from the listening experience. The HEK headphones almost disappear on my head which makes for an enjoyable listening session. For reference, the source that I used was my new Aurender N100H 4TB connected by a Curious USB cable to my new Bryston BDA-3 DAC that is in my basement system.

Thanks for the feedback! Sounds like you are enjoying your HE1Kv2s! :music: I'd love to audition them when the opportunity presents itself. :yes:

You are right, the 120-150gm (HE1Kv2 and Audeze LCD series) may not sound like much of a weight difference but it is certainly noticeable in long term comfort for most. I find the weight doesn't bother me with any of my headphones but the headband does make a big difference in comfort. I just upgraded my LCD3 to the Carbon Fiber and it is much more comfortable for those extended listening sessions.

As far as partnering amps, do consider the V281 from Violectric, I am pretty sure that is exactly what you are describing and looking for. ;)

The V281 and the HA430 are on my short list. What volume control did
you go with on your V281?

I went with the loaded up model V281. XMOS DAC section which is actually pretty good in itself and the remote relay option which besides the obvious volume remote control gives you the option of switching between inputs and muting the amp with the remote.

The DAC is an option right? I don't need a DAC. Either way, V281 or HA430, I would go without the DAC. I already have a Bricasti M1SE in that system. Thanks.

Yes, DAC module optional as is the remote relay. A base V281 is just as good if you don't need the bells and whistles.

smatsui324... Moon 430HA recommended. But needs long ‘burn-in’ time.

I have a Blue Dragon cable for my HD650 and will say it is a quality cable that brings out more of everything the headphones are capable of doing. That I got the cable and the HD650 for about 50 bucks more than just the cable certainly helps. :D

Most people seem to prefer the Black Dragon to the Blue and Silver with just about all headphones. The Silver strangely seem to be geared toward specific cans. Moon Audio doesn't even make a Silver Dragon speaker cable; it's Black Dragon only.