Very nice, i know people tend to like the amorphous more, but mostly say “it is more musical”.
I assume the decware will still beat it out.
Looking forward to see if you pick anything up.
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@ckhirnigs hello! I saw you mention owning the Auteur and how you have essentially sold the VC three times lol. Question! How would you compare the VC to the Auteur?
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Just to set the record straight, I have bought the VC 3 times, but I’ve only sold it twice…so far! I owned the Aeolus twice as well and ended up selling it both times. I had two Auteurs at the same time and ended up selling the Blackwood version in favor of my current Manchurian Ash.
I never thought the Auteur was going to be the ZMF I liked the most after reading for years that it was the most “neutral” of Zach’s headphone models. I think what won me over was the mids. The bio-cellulose driver is so smooth and natural sounding. I switched to tube amps about a year ago and it really made all my ZMFs sound better, but the Auteur kept winning my over time and time again.
The VC is no-doubt faster and more detailed than the Auteur. Its bass is more defined and punchier than the Auteur’s. Overall I could easily stick with either headphone as my only set, but the Auteur just fits my preferences more than the VC. I will be seriously considering do the upgrade on my Auteur whenever it becomes available to make it an Auteur Classic.
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Did you try the Atrium?
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I’m in line get the Atrium on a loaner tour, but it might be a couple months before it’s my turn. I look forward to comparing them to my Auteur.
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From what you’re writing, I think you’d love it.
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Hello,
Um, how is the Atrium to be viewed if you have already heard all the Zmf headphones as a comparison?
My hope is based more on the midrange/treble of the Auteur and bass of the Aeolus.
At least that would be my wish probably.
If I had to choose between Verite closed or Atrium, I would probably have a hard time deciding which one to go for.
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I had both the Atrium and VC here and ended up selling the Atrium and still considering my VC future. Those are the only two ZMFs I heard but can try and compare them for you if that helps
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Hello,
Yes, I’d love to. 
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Tha Atrium is my one and only ZMF so I sadly cannot help. I will drop this here:
I dont 100% agree with everything, but I also havent pad rolled or mesh swapped yet. I also have the Auteur pads and not the Be2 perf suede ones DMS likes, but i would be willing to try them. We can see if I agree with DMS or SA on the Be2s.
A small note is that it seems with more time the Atrium is calming down and is less exaggerated with its macrodynamics and overall energy. There are still times these stay huge but it seems to be letting more facets through.
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Now I haven’t watched the video, and I haven’t heard the atrium, but please, please can people stop the “650 but better” shit. Every other new headphone it feels like is billed as a direct upgrade to the sennheiser 6 series, and they almost never are. Why won’t people stop, it gets old real quick
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I listened to it passively last night but i dont remember him making direct comparisons actually in the video. But that is one of the points i disagree with, that and his thoughts about details. And agreed, it feels like a clickbait thing at this point.
The Atrium made me think of selling my HD6xx but they are different. I still think the Senns are the midrange timbre king and do the lush thing better while maintaining texture and definition. Bass and treble are totally different, which makes me say that when (most) people talk about the hd6xx they only mean the mid range.
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I just skimmed it, there was a comparison of the atrium and 6xx graph and he says something like “it is quite literally a 6xx with better bass” or something of the sort. Also ugh “the best”
Yes I can see some headphones being something that cause people to move away from a 6 series, but the problem is when people say it sounds like a 6 series. Very seldom to headphones actually have direct upgrades from themselves outside of the same mfg trying to make a direct upgrade or the model being a cut down version of a higher end one. It’s just that I can see a headphone like the atrium or any of the zmfs filling the role that a 6xx would have had, but none of the zmfs I have heard sounded remotely close to the 6xx or 600, it can just end up filling a similar role
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This is what ultimately made me sell them. With my gear and to my ears they became just too smooth. It ended up not serving any purpose in my collection other than just being a fun headphone to listen to, which is obviously the minimum requirement to even be considered but not enough to justify the expense for me.
I had a really nice honeymoon period with the Atrium. Its soundstage is terrific, wide and accurate. Midrange presence is accurately represented, the timbre separation and detail are all high quality.
Over time it became a bit too slow for me, dynamics dropped and energy level wasn’t up there with my music and desires. It’s also a bit bulky and for a pair that is so easy going from a listening standpoint I suddenly found myself thinking about that too much.
Bottom line, it landed on the same spot as my Susvara only less technically capable and less favorable to my ears. I stopped picking it up and just went back to the Sus. Granted my entire chain was built around the Susvara and it’s my favorite headphones so ymmv
I do think the Atrium is a really really good headphone and for some would be end game and cover all needs. It’s capable, versatile and mostly works without being aggressive on anything. It’s neutral - not from a tuning standpoint as it’s a bit warmish but from the perspective of just not forcing itself on you in any way.
Now the Atrium was my first experience with ZMF but it immediately led me to get a VC. This headphone is a different beast.
For a closed back it feels quite open. It’s very fast and dynamic, enjoys a cleaner dryer chain and just punches its way forward. Its stage is narrower but still good instrument separation and a lot of details. Never heard a better closed back although my experience with those is limited. Only reason I’m not sure I’ll keep it is again bulkiness. This won’t be something I travel with nor bring to an office space, so not sure how much use I’ll have for it later. But my oh my the Olive version I have is by far the prettiest I’ve seen lol it’s a gorgeous headphones to look at.
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Oops. Oh yes, i guess FR graphs with both headphones plotted on them would be a direct comparison. 
Apologies as i think my brain dismisses graphs at this point unless i am looking at them for a very specific reason.
He also looks to have a Koa pair, which may out a little more into the mids. And maybe it magically makes it the most “detailed dynamic” somehow magically beating an hd800s or matching a utopia.
Also fuck him for not having a key for his graphs showing which color is which.
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I don’t understand why it’s usually compared to the Sennheiser.
But that has been the case for years with many other headphones.
This is a point that I have never agreed with and is also very annoying.
The whole construction of the headphones, driver selection, pads etc… are so different that you can’t even compare them, even Zmf says so.
For me I just wanted to know how the Atrium/Vc compares to the other Zmf headphones.
Since I have the Aeolus on loan here, I would only be interested out of interest.
Not looking for an upgrade at the moment, I found it a bit hard to imagine the Zmf sound when you have no idea about it to begin with.
With the Auteur I think I made the right choice thanks to some members here.
With the Aeolus I don’t know,spontaneously I would say for me personally the Atrium or VC would probably be more what I’m looking for if the sound signature was a bit more expressive.
Or the question of whether it would be worth the extra cost instead of going for the Aeolus as a second pair of headphones.
I’ve only had the Aeolus for a few days and there are good things but also bad things.
But I have to say that I got the Aeolus with the Suede Universe Pads and the wood is also very hard.
It’s not really my cup of tea at the moment, although it was my first choice as my first Zmf purchase.
At the moment I am glad to have listened to some people and also thankful to have borrowed it to get an impression myself.
You won’t get such a chance with the Atrium or Vc.
Knowing the Auteur and Aeolus, it would be a little easier for me to narrow down the VC/Atrium if it suits my taste or not.
One of the two would probably be my next wish, I guess.
Maybe even a closed Atrium by then who knows.
@orrman
Thanks for the impressions,I’ve been hearing them a lot lately.
If I were to buy one again today it would probably be a VC in a Ltd version.
Somehow the Atrium sounds a bit like an experiment among the Zmf aficionados who have already reached the pinnacle of headphones.
I wonder why that is?
Seems like a lot of people had a lot of expectations for the Atrium.
I’m curious how the Auteur upgrade will do, since it shares the same damping system as the Atrium, it sounds to me like there’s not much room for manoeuvre.
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Yes. If i could freeze it at its ~1 hour break in sound i would. I will say I am at ~150 hours at this point and the overall taming helped my complaint regarding the treble. It is more “neutral” and less overboard now but, at least at this point, it still makes something like my Radiance feel very tame, civilized, proper.
Yes, the loose fit and cozy pillow feel opposed to tight clamp can make it clumsy. I really hate that the cups swivel 360 degrees as they are big enough that they can smack into each other and damage the wood. And the swivel and height adjustment is a bit loose.
It is a music only chain headphone. I wouldnt use it at my pc, it is not portable, i mostly use it relaxing in bed or laid back in a chair.
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If the VC resembles the VO then I can see why having both the Atrium and Verite make sense in ZMF’s lineup. They can serve different purposes and different tastes.
I can assume from the little I know about ZMF and its fan base that Zach thinks a lot of people would own both eventually and that having the two won’t hurt sales of the other. At the end it’s the same price point and he wants to sell as much as possible. Having options sometimes makes it clearer for you which one to pick vs comparing it to other companies.
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And that begs the question of what other headphones you have that serve that purpose and is it worth keeping. In my case, Susvara made more sense.
Funny thing if you’d ask me that question a few hours into having them, answer would’ve probably been “I’m never selling these”…
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For me, i dont have much else filling that niche or at least at that tier. So as long as I dont buy anything else ill have no need to sell them.
Also looking at potential chain upgrades, things that look good for the HD800s look to have good synergy with the ZMF too and vice versa. My 24 is the one that is a little more of an outlier and isnt getting the use it should ::sees @dB_Cooper pop up in the corner::
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