Both the Dragon and Lazuli are nicely balanced, detailed and sound clean compared to the other cables in my inventory. Both cables go low with good impact but I think the Lazuli has a bit more weight through the midbass / upper bass that seems to give a beefier presentation with a touch more sense of air being moved. Hair splitting differences here but I like the weight Lazuli gives to the sound.
I find the midrange on both to very close to ideal in terms of tonal reproduction. Width and depth are comparable with the Lazuli a hair ahead, not too forward, not too recessed, and very stable. A touch more detail retrieval with Lazuli also. Again, not night and day, small differences but meaningful enough to me.
The highs are where I hear the biggest differences. The Dragon is quick, crisp, and maybe a touch aggressive or over etched (very slight and certainly less than the DHLabs) by comparison with Lazuli. From day 1 with the Lazuli I kept saying to myself, where did the highs go? As the days went by it didn’t really change a lot in character to my ears. But I came to my own conclusion over seven days that nothing was missing so much as something was not being added. The Dragons are dryer and tighter, and sound slightly brighter to my ears. The Lazuli by contrast however are not wet or loose or dull. The best words I can come up with for the Lazuli is sweet and relaxed on top, and it handles dynamics with a great sense of ease providing better inner detailing and clarity for my ears.