I find the NCF-R to be better then the Black in Transparency, bass with a holographic soundstage. I hadn't really thought of musical until David Pritchard mentioned it above.
Im preferring the NCF-R currently, to be honest Im running NCF IEC in all my components along with the FI 50 NCF on the FP S55n PC cables. As of now I really enjoy the Furutech flavor throughout in my system. Just amazing transparency, layering,bass, detail, finesse and holographic soundstage.
The one downside with the NCF takes 700 hrs vs the Blue of 15 days.