Well I think the bezel and dampening system (it is all the same main piece) is the main sound sculpting piece, at least for the Atrium. It’s like the ported front baffle of a speaker casing. I think for other headphones it may take a little more of the cups flavor but i think they all get a zmf sound from the baffle assembly. It would be interesting to hear the same headphone and drivers on say maple baffles.
I think we will see or hear less of that with the Atrium.
The damping system will swallow a lot where the wood will penetrate as a note.
If so, it will probably only come in nuanced form.
At least that’s my guess.
I am interested in if he has an open or closed Verite. What wood he has now. And what aspects he would want to improve or wants the wood to improve.
He has both verites, Vc and Vo.
The VO is the Campur burl wood.
But that is certainly also a matter of taste and can be attributed to the chain.
But I have to say that I would also prefer soft wood.
I don’t hear much decay or reverb in the Ambrosia maple from the Auteur, that was different with the Cocobolo Aeolus.
You get used to it but it’s still irritating.
Depends on the objective. A resin or carbon fiber would give a sound that is more true to the driver’s output, especially if the baffle is also changed. Most likely faster, cleaner, think of a soloist in the spotlight vs blending in and complimenting the ensemble.
Maybe I’m old-fashioned in that respect.
I also don’t necessarily like drivers that are made of aluminium, they sound somehow unnatural.
For headphones, it would depend more on the implementation.
Especially with the Aeolus, it confirms my suspicions about the TPE driver.
It’s not bad, but it’s not exactly good for me either.
The lower midrange and the upper end are missing something for me personally.
Salop said even the Lcd 2 is my preference in that area.
I would be willing to do without a bit of bass.
It’s a bit of a silly example.
I have not, but yes, i think you even told me about the bass on an ebony pair. And gosh i wish i had a pair as an excuse to lawton mod because he has so many gorgeous cups right now. But it also gets doubled down since those are closed.
Stick with the Zmf, it’s the better Fostex in every respect.
But if you have the opportunity to listen to it, don’t turn it down. 
So this reminds me of a point i was going to bring up. Zach basically takes up the neutral stance of “burn in matters if you believe in it and doesnt if you dont”. He should stop riding the fence and just take one side, preferably that burn in does affect his headphones. Then he can support that and give info such as what to expect and a general timeframe of how long it takes to get to a more final sound.
As for break in, i tried many things over the years such as sweeps, above average volume music playing, long sessions, short rests etc. Tbh i dont judge anyone’s method and i dont claim to be any be all end all on it either. For me i play it like i normally would if i were actively listening but just keep it on my desk while working. I pick it up when a good song pops on or just here and there. I play all my music on random.
I agree.
You should represent a line and stick to it and stand up for it.
Of course, it can never do any harm.
But in most cases, it always turns out to be a good thing.
Even my Aeon r/T was better after 200 hours when it was new.
With the Lcd 2, I have to say that I hardly noticed it at all.
It was good right from the start.
With the Auteur it was the most blatant thing I have experienced so far. It also surprised me a lot.
After receiving the next Zmf, I’ll put it somewhere far away from me.
Everyone has told me to let it play in for at least 200 hours, better even 300 hours, and then it will be there.
With the method, I would say that everyone should do what they consider to be proven.
I simply prefer music with a low to medium volume.
That should cover pretty much every frequency range over time.
I find the playing in more important than the method itself.
There is no recipe for it, also because of many opinions.
The pads were just a tip, that also happens with Fostex listeners.
Checking again and again is good.
I thought it might explain your impression that you found it best at the beginning than after a certain amount of playing in and listening time.
That maybe something moved that shouldn’t have.
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