Audio Cables

Audio Cables

Dragon Cables

You’ve heard the saying that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, right? Well, the same applies to your brand-new audiophile-grade headphone or other audio components. The weakest link, in this case, is your stock cable or the cheap interconnects the manufacturer threw in the box just to get you up and running.

Why is the cable always an afterthought, when it’s just as important as the rest of your system? At Moon Audio, we use the best raw materials in our cables to unveil your music. We believe the materials matter and your audio cables should have the same care and craftsmanship that manufacturers put into their audio components and headphones. Audio cables are ultimately the connection to your music. The fact remains that cabling is often considered the last priority to that of the main product and a means to cut down the overall production costs. It’s as simple as that.

Generally, stock audio cables are manufactured with subpar materials, metals with impurities, poor geometries, and an overabundance of layers to make them look and feel like a fire hose. Inconsistency and lack of quality control in stock cables can lead to poor sound quality and a veiled sound vs what the musician intended for you to hear and feel from the music. Dragon cables are handcrafted with the highest standards and made to order according to your specific needs.

At Moon Audio, we create a custom cable for you using the highest quality UP-OCC silver or copper conductors that can be manufactured. UP-OCC metals are void of impurities and are optimized for signal transfer and sound quality. We have one of the largest collections of audio and headphone connection options available online and we create limitless audio cable options depending on your specific gear and needs.

Correcting bad sound with audio cables

Materials matter. Copper and silver conductors can craft the signature and affect the overall tone of your music. If your headphones are too forward sounding for the kind of music you like to listen to, don’t worry – pairing them with a Black Dragon cable will bring out more warmth and create a music presentation that should counter-balance the troublesome higher frequencies of your headphones.

On the other hand, if your headphones are too warm sounding, then pairing them with a Silver Dragon headphone cable will add more detail and resolution, plus tighten up the lower frequency response. There is always a perfect cable pairing depending on what sound signature you prefer or what music genres you listen to, we have audio cables to improve and enhance the sound quality of your headphones and audio gear.

There may be some instances where you want uncolored sound, a more neutral and natural sound signature. In this case go with the Blue Dragon. The Blue Dragon will lift the veil, clean things up and improve detail but without tipping it forward or adding warmth.

The Dragon Cable Experience

We customize cables for virtually every pair of headphones on the market. From connectors to sound signatures, the possibilities are endless. Each line of our Dragon Cables has been engineered to bring out the best in headphones with specific characteristics.

FAQ

Do high-end cables make a difference?

High-end audio cables use higher quality materials. Materials matter. Better materials mean better performance and longer life. The materials used in premium headphones and audio cables are irrefutably better quality than the materials used in OEM cables. This can translate to a number of improvements including better shielding, lower noise floor, natural dB boost, and overall improvement in clarity, soundstage, and definition of audio.

Do cables affect sound quality?

They can, depending on the types of materials they use. Factors like shielding can legitimately affect the amount of interference and noise that the audio signal will be subjected to. Long cable runs can act as antennas and shielding is quite important. Materials like copper and silver conductors and the quality of those conductors will affect the sound signature of the audio. Oxygen-free conductors also sound different from cables with oxygen-laden conductors. There are many factors that can affect the overall audio quality of your cable.

We use what is called UP-OCC. This stands for Ultra Pure Ohno Continuos casting. This is a process developed by Dr. Ohno of Japan. Conventional methods of extruding copper results in multiple and fractionated crystalline structure. Oxygen Free Copper (OFC) has a distinctive effect on your audio quality that some might find lacking. The OCC process uses a heated mold for extruding, whereas other processes involve a cooled mold. The cooling process in OCC takes place separately, resulting in larger crystal sizes and increased purity. So, from a materials perspective, the OCC process is far superior to OFC.

Are good audio cables important?

Cables are the connection to your music, so having good audio cables is especially important to improve sound quality. Poor quality cables and poor connections can lead to noise, static, audio cutout, and much more, negatively affecting the quality of your music.

Are balanced cables better than unbalanced?

Balanced cables are not necessarily better than unbalanced or single-ended. Again, it depends on the gear circuit design of the products in your sound system and how they are configured. To learn more about balanced versus single-ended, check out our guide HERE.

Why are there different Dragon Cable variants? 

Our Dragon Cables feature different metal configurations, each having different audio sound signatures when paired with your speakers or headphones. The Silver Dragon lends more detail and soundstage, making it a great pairing for warmer headphones. Black Dragon cables add more warmth and body to make them a great pairing for forward sounding and analytical headphones. Blue Dragon cables are a great value, improving the clarity, staging, and detail on any headphones. Lastly, the Bronze Dragon improves thin-sounding headphones and IEMs, warming and rounding out a flat signature.

There are also USB, digital, interconnects, speaker, and power cables that are also handcrafted to your specifications. Each of these cable types have specific audio signature properties that can help to lift the veil of your music on any device and connection type.

Is copper or silver better when choosing an audio cable?

Each has its own sonic properties that can positively or adversely affect your music, depending on the genre, headphones, or amplifier you are listening to. Silver is more conductive than copper but can also thin out your music if paired with a forward sounding headphone. Likewise, copper can fill out the low end and create a warmer and more musical presentation, which is great for non-bass-heavy genres. One is not necessarily better than the other, but there is a better option (of the two) depending on your system and the type of music you like to listen to.

What is sound signature?

Every piece of gear in your sound system has a sound signature. Your DAC, the amp, your pair of speakers or headphones; they all have their own material properties that can affect the coloration or resonance of your music, altering the way it sounds from the original. The sound signature of a piece of equipment can be forward, warm, musical, or bright, just to name a few. To learn more about sound signatures, check out our guide HERE.

How do I compare audio cables?

The best way to compare audio cables is to test them. A-B testing is a way of simply comparing one cable to another. Using the same song and audio gear, it will become easy to tell how the cables affect the overall sound quality and soundstage of your music.

How do I know if one audio cable is better than another?

It really depends on your listening preference. Through an A-B test, if one cable brings out more sonic properties that are appealing to you, then that would be considered the best cable for you. It's important to understand that everyone hears differently, and what someone might consider better sounding might not be the case for you. That’s okay. The priority is figuring out what sounds best to you so that you can enjoy your music to its full potential. There is no right or wrong to this.

Are certain cables better for specific genres of music?

Silver or bronze copper conductors can bring out specific qualities in your music that can either be complementary or adverse. It depends on what you like to listen to and how you like to listen. For instance, regarding classical music, some people like to listen with a Black Dragon cable, which lends a warmer and fuller presentation to for the performance. Others prefer a Silver Dragon, which opens the music and expands the soundstage, providing more detail and air to the individual instruments. The other factor to consider is the headphones or amplifiers you use, since each offers its own sound signature and will affect the music differently. There are generic rules to follow such as we typically do not pair Silver Dragon cables with forward-sounding headphones and Black Dragon cables with warm or darker presentation headphones (although there are always exceptions to the rule).

How does the material in the cable affect the sound?

Materials like copper and silver conductors and the quality of those conductors will affect the sound signature of the audio. Oxygen-free conductors also sound different than cables with oxygen-laden conductors. Copper conductors are going to lend a warmer and more musical tonality to your music whereas silver will bring out more details and tighten up lower frequencies. There are many ways in which materials can affect the overall audio quality of your cable.

Can you measure if one cable is better than another?

Without getting into subjective differences, there are ways to measure a cable’s shielding effectiveness and noise floor, as well as overall conductivity and signal gain. Better shielding and higher quality conductors will always result in better overall performance. There are objective factors that you can measure to determine if one cable is better than another. A great place to start is to determine the quality of the metal used for the audio cable. At Moon Audio, we use UP-OCC silver and copper, assuring the highest quality for your sound quality. If you have any questions about cable quality, feel free to Contact Us and we'll be happy to help in any way we can.