I ordered mine with the more open titan/marv/sbaf mesh on the side. I havent rolled it yet but that was always my next step.
Tbh the decware taboo has helped that department despite the amp not being what i consider bright, sparkly, airy.
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Hello some news from Zmf.
The Eikon is back for a limited edition bocote wood,
.
The cayin amp ha3a is on sale.
In Headfi Forum Zach say good things about it.
And here the next Part 2 from Hit cup summer sale.
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Just removed the mesh from my Atriums and I like how they are sounding. No noticeable change to the low end but the treble has more air to it which was my main complaint with the stock mesh in place. Cymbals are perhaps too splashy but I’ll live without the mesh for a day or so before going back to stock. Maybe the more open mesh (titan radial vented I think) could be a good compromise.
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Did a brief comparison back to the stock atrium mesh after using no mesh for a couple of days. I still find that I prefer no mesh. The stock has a smoother sound with a midrange emphasis but the treble doesn’t have a ton of air or sparkle to it. Removing the mesh keeps the awesome midrange focus and smoothness but adds more treble air so you hear more guitar plucking noises, lip noises, stuff like that. Personally I like that stuff in the music but can see it being annoying too. I think it you want a relaxing sound then use the mesh but if you want a bit more energy then take off the mesh. I didn’t notice much difference in the low end but removing the mesh does seem to make the headphone at bit louder which makes sense.
Here’s a pic of no mesh on left vs stock mesh on right:
I did order the other vented mesh they sell so will try that at some point
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Once again, this motivates me to really swap to the more open mesh. Especially as i am looking at it in its bag right now across my room.
I also tend to think the majority of people really do like a more rounded off subtle top end. But like you said that cuts out a bunch of the tangibility to me, plink, plucks, and sizzle.
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The radial vented mesh came in this week and I’ve been testing it for a couple days in comparison to no mesh.
Recently I had compared the stock mesh to no mesh (see last post above for picture of this) and found that I preferred no mesh as it removed the lack of upper treble energy that felt missing to me in the stock configuration. The difference between the radial mesh and no mesh seem less significant than the difference between the stock mesh and no mesh. But in this case the radial mesh softens the treble energy a bit compared to no mesh making it easier to listen to but strikes a nice balance between the stock mesh and no mesh landing closer to no mesh in terms of treble presentation. I still find that I’m missing some sizzle on cymbals and noises from guitar string plucks and vocals with the new radial vented mesh though. I don’t really hear any difference in mid range or the low end. All the meshes keep the nice midrange presence and fun bass response.
I will continue to use no mesh for now as I like the extra treble information. For me I would rank it as no mesh > radial mesh > stock mesh. But if you are sensitive to treble then you might find that the radial mesh and no mesh are a bit too energetic in the treble.
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That’s good stuff, just be cautious with light colored woods. It can leave a bit of an orange tint/stain.
I’ve used their products for years. They used to have a “Naturals” line that didn’t use orange oil and it smelled of sandalwood. That was an amazing product.
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For my Atrium i know it is tru-oil so if it needs it i may use a little wax. I also have some left over Virtuoso cleaner and polish from my guitar days. It was safe on Nitro finishes.
What you have looks like what they provided with the old audeze wood cans. Wax and a little oil.
The naturals line sounds pretty nice.
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Thanks for the head’s up about the light colored woods. My wife bought it to use on our Eames stuff, coffee table, chairs and lounge. Everything is darker walnut so no issues with the staining potential.
The whole point of this, leather cleaner/conditioner, and wood conditioner, polish is if you take care of the stuff it will look beautiful forever. So many people just neglect the hell out of their stuff.
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@dB_Cooper mmm…all the leather, all the wood. Enjoy all you have now…i hope it’s not in my lifetime but i believe the time will come, sooner rather than later where some of the luxuries you and i have enjoyed in life will be unattainable by the average person…
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We all die and no one can take it with them. If I play my cards right, I’ll have spent my last nickle on my death day. 
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I’ve liked the Eikon with the lambskin Eikon pads, lambskin Auteur pads, and lambskin Universe pads, so I thought I’d give a different material a try.
I recently picked up some suede Universe pads, and I’ll be honest, I kind of hate them, lol. And it’s in a way that’s not super-easy to describe, because it kind of just kills the whole headphone. Probably not super-helpful to anyone here, but I thought I’d mention it just in case.
I’ll also try to give them some time just in case it’s a thing with my ears or with some particular synergy or whatnot, but yeah, at the moment, my recommendation for the Eikon is definitely to stick with lambskin. (P.S. If someone wants a deal on some Universe suede pads, send me a message!)
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Has anyone here bought the caldera?
If he doesn’t mind sharing, I know @bpcarb has one
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I’m planning to try one once used prices will start dropping as happens with most ZMFs from my experience
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yeah same, it looks pretty interesting
lots of reviewers have them in hand already FWIW. Pete from Double Helix Cables, GoldenOne (from his yt channel/website), and Skedra from viking weave cables all have had them in house for a while. Im sure they would be happy to share brief impressions if you message them. Im fairly certain pete posted his on eth ZMF facebook page as well.
Just a heads up though, all 3 of them love ZMF, so take their opinions with a grain of salt. My experience with their ZMF impressions is as follows:
- Pete doesnt often talk about technicalities
- skedra tends to find them more technical than I do (I also cant quite pin down his general prefrences tbh)
- GO seems to be inline with my thoughts on ZMF technicalities but cares less than I do in my experience.
FWIW, I got some quite time with caldera on M1SE → A&S Nautilus at canjam (we got a demo set to bring back to our house) and they were the most technical of the ZMFs I have heard, but I am still skeptical about new pricing from a technical perspective.
@DanMellinger @SpeleoFool and a few others here got the same chance to listen I did and may be able to comment.
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Hello all, thanks to @hifiDJ for the invitation. I used to be more active on the headphones.com forum and some of the names here are familiar.
About me:
My current headphone system: Audiolab 6000N streamer > Spring 3 KTE > DNA Stratus > Double Helix Molecule Elite silver > ZMF Caldera Bocote | Rosson RAD-0 bright tuning | Sennheiser HD580 Precision Black Silk
While I appreciate the excellent technical performance, transparency, resolution, speed, and staging of certain estats, ribbons, ear speakers (yet to hear the MySphere, but in contact with Hans for an in home audition), or detail monsters, I prefer a presentation with adequate richness, tonal weight, and physicality. I don’t consider myself a basshead and my RAD bright tuning and tube selections reflect such.
System building considerations. Some gear is too tubey, warm, thick, sluggish. Other gear is too sterile, dry, analytical, clinical, polite, uninvolving. I would rather the performers be in the room, as opposed to me being present in the studio.
Similar to how I prefer canvas paintings/prints over aluminum, I prefer natural, engaging, you are there, toe tapping as opposed to excavating every ounce/inch of detail or soundstage - while meeting my technical performance prerequisites.
All of my selected cans have a natural timbre and relatively even tonality across the frequency response particularly the mids where most instruments and vocals reside. They can be driven off of Class A single ended triode headphone tube amps - directly heated, tube rectified, transformer coupled, no feedback.
About my purchase of the Caldera
I showed up to CanJam not expecting to like anything enough to buy, although wanting to get ears on the Caldera and 2022 Utopia vs 2020 Utopia (comparison not in scope). I brought my RAD just in case to do side by side comparisons. The 2020 Utopia is my favorite dynamic headphone - while it has higher technical performance and its presentation makes more of an impression than the RAD, it can be too flamboyant and high energy for my day to day preferences where I’d reach for the RAD 70% of the time to listen to music. I had previously done an in home demo of the Atrium, which is my favorite ZMF dynamic to date. I used to own a Verite Closed and Eikon. I prefer the RAD’s technical performance over ZMF dynamic drivers. The Caldera was best in show for me, especially considering my intended gear pairing. While some might prefer the high energy and incisiveness of the Utopia, I preferred the spaciousness, timbre, even tuning, and sub bass extension of the Caldera.
About the Caldera (with lambskin pads unless otherwise noted vs RAD-0 bright tuning)
Caldera soundstage is wider, taller, deeper with more separation between the instruments. Caldera has more clarity and microdetail. RAD is more intimate and has more slam. While timbre sounds true on each, RAD is richer. The RAD sounds like it is more apt to be used as a tool in the studio (consistent with Alex’s background). Such isn’t in Zach’s DNA, even with a planar, preferences vary. One of the biggest differences is the increment in staging, openness, and separation with the Caldera - which reminds of estats and ribbons.
They are different enough where I can see the Caldera serving as my primary generalist and the RAD being used for more intimate presentations and when I want more impact and slam (e.g., electronic, hip hop, metal). That seems to be consistent where Zach has an acoustic music background (building guitars) and Alex produces electronic music? Hearing the Caldera makes me appreciate the immediacy and voicing of the RAD, not that either are deficient. Caldera has rounder edges to the notes similar to the Atrium, compared to sharper edges with the RAD, Verite, and Utopia.
Switching to suede pads, the edges to the notes are sharper and the frequency response is more U shaped. With lambskin pads, notes have more zip and less sparkle. Lambskin sounds like an appropriate ZMF stock tuning - the presentation sounds correct, not clinical, not overly fun. At CanJam, the cowhide pads were my favorite pads due to the distinctness of the stage presentation. Zach agreed that the cowhide pads do something distinct with the staging, while not measuring the best. I have cowhide pads on the way as they weren’t previously ready to be shipped.
The Caldera excels at detail (flagship level but not seeking to be class leading), spaciousness, physicality, and natural timbre, with a ZMF neutral tuning featuring a touch less warmth and rumble than its dynamic brethren, leaning a couple notches toward energetic (Verite) versus relaxed (Atrium). For someone who evenly prioritizes each of those criteria, the Caldera is on a short list. For someone who places more weight on certain criteria, there are inevitably more suitable specialist cans to choose, with tradeoffs.
I see the Caldera winning over those that like the ZMF dynamic drivers sound but want elevated technical performance, or those that find other flagships and detail/soundstage monsters to be lacking in natural timbre, richness, or engagement. The Caldera isn’t for those looking for the ultimate fun factor/slam. Thus, cans that excel at bass presence or have an intimate presentation are suitable complements. Some might also prefer the vivid and energetic presentation of the Verite over the staging and technical performance of the Caldera. Others might prefer the relaxed, weighty, and natural presentation of the Atrium. The Atrium is most suited to tame a hot chain.
I reach for the Caldera most of the time, especially when my preferences or the recording call for spaciousness, spatial information, resolution and I want to explore what’s in a recording and experience the venue/room.
I reach for the RAD-0 when I value physicality/dynamics, a more intimate presentation, sharper edges to the notes and I want to zoom in on the instruments and vocalists.
I reach for the HD580 for forgiveness, relaxed and less critical listening, and where comfort and <260g lightweight are a priority.
The Caldera pairs well with the Eddie Current Black Widow 2, Pass HPA-1, Bryston BHA-1, and Whammy. I also listened to it with the ECP DSHA at CanJam. While some are skeptical of or don’t prefer tubes driving planars, the transformer coupled Stratus capably drives my high sensitivity planars with a 5U4GB rectifier, or as one would expect for a single ended triode presentation. Does a solid state yield a different presentation? Yes (as does single ended vs push pull, OTL vs transformer coupled, solid state vs tube rectified, etc.), but not unequivocally better.
The following may reflect my preferences and observations. If I had to choose 1 headphone to cover most genres and moods, it would be the Caldera. For a 2-headphone collection, I’d add Utopia 2020 (however, see above for direct comparison with the RAD). For a 3-headphone collection, I’d add RAD bright tuning. However, based on my current usage and reduced listening time, I’m sticking with the HD580 BS instead of acquiring Utopia 2020. That said, I’ve heard just about all of the flagships of interest except the MySphere and Warwick Bravura (although I’m less interested in an all-in-one system).
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One heck of a first post! Welcome to Sonus!
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