I normally prefer gold/brass over black (and don’t like stainless steel LOL) but there’s something about the contrast of the red material behind the black grilles that I really like, and I don’t think another grille would have had the same effect.
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What is your impression of the Atrium in the meantime?
I’m working on getting one of the beautiful bocote.
Although the Redheart is softer than the Bocote and I think I would like it too, I kind of prefer the Bocote.
@PaisleyUnderground Your phone looks very good,have fun with it and enjoy.
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I have the Verite and the Atrium both, they are different and it depends on what you are looking for and pairing them with…
The Verite is still a very good headphone that is really fun to listen to. It is an earlier design, and the soundstage isn’t as expansive as the Atrium. It is both enjoyable and revealing at the same time, it depends what you’re in the mood for when listening.
The nature of the driver (Be deposition process) gives it a bit more emphasis on clarity and definition, along the lines of a Focal but with a warmer tuning. It still has the ZMF “house” sound though, and I love it with a tube amp or perhaps a warmer amp or DAC. But it sounds great with many (most?) amps, and is pretty easy to drive. Obviously not with an amp that poops out at 300 ohms though.
The Atrium with the bio-cellulose driver has luscious mids, great bass, and very smooth treble. It’s maybe a bit “softer” than the Verite, and it sounds great (to me) with tubes or a good solid-state. I absolutely love it with my Burson Soloist GT/Yggy combination. Soundstage is a whole other level too…
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If Verité sounds like a Focal or HE6seV2(strong L/R presence, but minimal frontal depth), I think it’s likely not the headphone for me. Spatial performance/engagement/realism/accuracy is quite important to me(for music, games, movies, everything), so I don’t want it to sound like I’m always in a small room, or strangely shaped room/building/hall… Too soft of treble detail can be a problem, but I probably don’t need the detail microscope effect of HD800/HE1000SE/etc. So, Atrium seems worth trying, at least. Probably Caldera, too, if it beats *Susvara(never heard it, but HE6 6 screw is my fav HFM still).
Do any ZMF’s have angled drivers…?
I’m assuming you meant Susvara because that’s the tier it’s competing at but just in case… it’ll most likely blow the Sundara to pieces on all accounts of audio
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“strong L/R presence, but minimal frontal depth”
It’s definitely not minimal, just not as much as Atrium
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I think the Verite Closed might still be my favorite tuned ZMF… maybe even my favorite overall
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The best bass…? Nicest mix of warmth and detail? I wish they would offer more grill designs, and more general color options. More techy looks, I suppose. Wonder if they would sound the same if carbon fiber or metal or plastic was used instead of all this uber fancy wood… 
So your preference would be VC > Caldera > Atrium > VO?
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That would probably be my order from a preference standpoint. The order may change in the next week or so when I post my full impressions of all four.
The Caldera is still the “best” but I’m still not sure where I’d place it overall (probably top 3 with the Utopia and Susvara).
The VC has the best tuning and a bunch of bass. It also has the best center image and most natural impact. It sounds similar to the KPH 30i (dark and veiled but natural and enjoyable). I really like the KPH 30i.
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Interesting… I definitely prefer KSC75 over 30i, heh. And HD660 over HD600, and both over HD650.
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Me too! Go KSC75 Gang! LOL. I use the simple mod, just headband and Yaxis.
Use them every day for screening things, YT etc. and occasionally plug them into the “good rig” for a relaxed, enjoyable listen. Good SS and natural timbre, imo. Have given many sets away as gifts.
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Same LOL, with ¥aXi pads. Sent a bunch to my weirdo, non-audiophile friends for XMas. I use them at work whenever we have computer training to do. 
Great tone. Great, natural sense of space, with solid bass levels and crisp, non-fatiguing detail.
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Ohman am super excited.
It looks like the Atrium Bocote will work out.
I’ll be able to order it next week at the latest.
The excitement, the wait until it’s ready will be the worst but worth it.
I’m already looking forward to it, even though the order hasn’t even been placed yet.
I also had to do a bit of convincing with my wife.
Fortunately, she likes the Artrium Bocote as much as I do.
I also think that such a medium-hard wood will be a good mix between reverb and decay.
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What about Atrium VS HE1000V2? Atrium has the more enjoyable, bassier tuning and natural tone, but HE1000V2 has more detail, extension and thin neutrality?
Not sure which photo I like best, but the purple raiden background didn’t turn out as well as I hoped lol
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I like the bottom/last one. Looks good!
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Someone posted more pics of the Atrium Close-backed and man it looks sexy! I told myself I will only be getting 1 new headphone this year as I am planning to buy 2 more audio gear early this year (an almost 20-year-old DAC/Amp and a nice DAC+Amp combo). I think I might have to wait until next year on the Yamaha and just choose the Atrium Close-back as my headphone for 2023.
Close-back wooden headphones always make more sense in my brain since I always feel like the wood will have more of an influence on how the headphone will sound. I talked to a couple of people (like 3) that owned the Sony MDR-R10 and they think the reason the R10 sound signature is so unique and extremely hard to replicate is that the R10 is made out of 200±year-old Zelkova wood. I want to try to wait for some super special wood like the Kingwood, but honestly, I might just snag the first Atrium Close back that’s going to be released.
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Hey, I just copy and pasted what Zach said on the other forum below as Zach start talking about graphs and comparing FR with his different Caldera pads (Atrium Close-Back will be using Caldera Thin pads as stock). I kinda want to talk more deeply about this or at least on ZMF Caldera pads on how they affect sound at least to my ears when I had almost all of them.
Per Zach in the other forum:
OKOKOK so I took some measurements from the final Canjam sets. Here’s some graphs and quick thoughts to help. All taken on BK 5128 with DF weighting unless stated.
First - Atrium Closed VS Verite Closed
AC kind of zigs where the VC zags - very similar to the open versions. I will talk a lot coming up about my choices coming up at some point. The Atrium closed definitely sounds a lot like well, a closed version of the Atrium. So if you like the Atrium a lot and wanted one with isolation and more sub-bass, that’s how these sound.
And yes - I did at a point almost exactly like the Atrium open and gave up on that, as one VERY important note to make is that you can’t tune an open and closed headphone the same - to get the same perceived response. I don’t know if there’s research on this yet, but I’ve done it with all our closed vs open options, the perception and HRTF you get from the same response in open and closed backs is just not the same. So in AC VS AO tuning, they look different, but are perceived closer than they are. I will post much more on this later.
Also the AC damping system is ADS (Atrium Damping System,) but the ADS system for closed backs is slightly different than the open, and much harder to implement and perfect because of the closed chamber. Much of our time over the past year was spent perfecting this for production and repeatability.
AC_Suede Caldera (dotted) VS Thin Caldera (solid)
AC Suede auteur Pads (dotted) vs Caldera Thin Pads (solid)
The Caldera pads with their solid interior act a lot like solid pads but with more graduated slow dissipation of airflow. It really helps the high frequencies. The auteur pads are a good alternative, but the Caldera pads sound better IMHO. You can get a touch more isolation if you go to an all solid pad, but really not much because the interior wall is solid, and pertains mostly to isolation.
Atrium Closed VS Harman Target (uncompensated) - this is with Caldera suede, Caldera Thin are bassier by about 2 dB
I think most people know I am not a Harman Target follower, nor a dissenter. I am a “every driver and system has its course” er. BUT - while working on Atrium closed and knowing I wanted a headphone with more sub-bass a-la Eikon - it made a lot of my tuning choices be to get the “node” of the bass lower. You might notice that the baffle and cup of the headphone are VERY closed with little airflow, while the main airflow is through the Caldera pads. This is what helped bring the node of the bass down to about 50 Hz. So you get a fairly laid back sound with a little something up top and none of that “Harman Hash” that can come from adhering to the Harman curve in the 2-3KHZ area which I always prefer to end up in this area.
So anyways - I guess if you believe in the Harman curve, this may be the ZMF for you, or at least the closest one to it if you like how it look on graphs and all that.
And yes these are the same driver as in Atrium open. It’s 300 ohms, adjusts to your chain and so on.
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I will basically just copy and paste my impressions of the ZMF Caldera pads from what I wrote on the forum and just bring it hear. TLDR version is that the Caldera thin pads are a great balance, but buff vocals/clarity while still retaining a nice bass/sub-bass rumble for me. Caldera Cowhide is amazing for just bass (not sub-bass rumble, but a more quality sub-bass sound). Caldera stock pads were pretty flat to me (just a all-rounder). I didn’t like the Suede pads LOL. Suede pads did give more enjoyment for vocals, but I feel like it strips the other “fun” of the other sound region for me. So Zach going with the thin Caldera Pads for the Atrium Close-Back seem like the no brainer choice since its the perfect balance of everything while upping the clarity on the headphones.
If you want to hear my whole opinion, here my write up from the other forum (I didn’t enjoyed using the Caldera compared to my 2 favorite headphones, so I just compare the Caldera pads using the ATH-L3000 and Onkyo A800)
L3000 with the Cowhide impressions:
For the past 2 weeks, I had my fun with the Caldera. Then my body started getting pale and I needed my daily rotation headphone fix. So I went back listening to the L3000. People were talking about pad rolling the Caldera so I thought I give pad rolling the L3000 a try. Yo… I thought I don’t believe in pad rolling, but dang does the Cowhide (slim) ZMF pad fit so perfectly with the L3000! The bass guitars had more presence and I became more aware of it in the songs. Sub bass gets a little more slam. I feel like clarity might have lower just a tad bit and soundstage is a little more squish in. I overall really enjoy the Cowhide pad a lot with the L3000. I didn’t tried Caldera suede as that staying on my A800 and the Caldera thin pad were disappointing on the L3000. The thin pads loses too much bass for me on L3000, it kinda defeat the purpose of why I like the L3000 a lot.
Onkyo A800 Caldera Pads Impression (no Cowhide though, sold it before I tried it with the Onkyo A800):
Back with some more updates on my Onkyo A800 adventure. The central theme will be about trying the new Caldera ZMF pads on the Onkyo A800! Mainly the thin perforated pads and the suede perforated pads. I felt too lazy to remove the Cowhide (slim) perforated pads from my L3000. I order new ZMF solid pads to replace them, so I will probably try the Cowhide (slim) perforated pads on the A800 after I swap pads on the L3000.
I played at least 1 hour and 45 minutes on play time on my favorite tags in Roon for both pads. For the final test, I just chose 6 songs and swapped pads after finishing those 6 songs. Sorry, I just felt like listening to Jmusic today. Felt lazy, so I use Brambleton - Pusha T 1st 20 seconds to get a feel for the sub-bass.
Songs Use:
Party Rock Anthem - LMAO
未来の人へ Orchestra ver. - TRUE, FILMharmonic Orchestra Prague
Harmony of One’s Heart - Kairi Yagi
Shadowbringers - FFXIV Masayoshi Soken
あのバンド - 結束バンド
青春コンプレックス - 結束バンド
Gears: Roon > Mojo Audio Mystique EVO > Nitsch Magni Piety > 
Onkyo A800
Quick review:
I honestly think the thin pads did everything better than the suede. At 1st, I really enjoy the suede pads because they were very comfy and vocals seem to shine a little more from my previous pads. When I switch to the thin pads, I instantly realize that the suede pads have been decreasing the sub-bass slam. I never really notice because a lot of the songs I listen to don’t really have a slam and I’ve been using the Caldera for like the past 2 weeks while switching to the L3000 and A800 (suede pads). Electric guitar, bass guitar, and drums sound soooooooo much better on the thin pads. For the thin pads, the guitars have a more lasting effect (I guess a more echoing effect), especially noticeable in the first 2 minutes of Shadowbringers. Vocals sounded less veiled to me on the thin pads, that might be because vocals sounded way closer on the thin pads. With the suede pads, the vocals seem like the middle rows to me. Thin pads felt way closer, maybe the second front row. The A800 soundstage was never too impressive to me, so I like its more intimate soundstage with thin pads.
The A800 vocals, which I care about the most, shine the most using the thin pads. Going forward, I will probably use the thin pads for the Onkyo A800. I’ll probably compare the thin pads with the cowhide (slim) perforated pads when my ZMF solid pads come in for my L3000.
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The few pictures ive seen so far seem meh amd like they were more experimental units. I do know Zach will have some specialty ones at Canjam NYC. He keeps hinting he has Redwood Burl stored up and that is my favorite wood. I kiiind of want to go, to see if he has one in that wood and if the atrium closed is good enough to spend the money on, but tbh it is probably best i dont.
Very interesting. I wonder if it was cut and dried for that long or just the trees were that old. Old growth and naturally dried woods tend to be lighter and more resonant. And sometimes that is huge, especially for instruments.
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