not quite, might be a while until I can type up some impressions… waiting for a day off from work and I need to listen more got to many new toys in right now.
Received this stunning Atrium closed in Thuya Burl yesterday. I already have an AC prototype in Burmese teak, but the Thuya is a hrder wood type, so I’ll be comparing the two in my review
I always see people use the Caldera pads. Any chance you are going to use the ZMF solid Universe Lambskin pad? Interested in knowing how turnt up you can get with the Atrium Close back since most impressions people were impressed with the Atrium Close is with its subbass and fun energy. I like the solid Lambskin pad more than the Caldera pads when I using my L3000 (I know, different headphone, but the bass and energy did get turnt up with solid Lamb pads from my experience).
A very nice cut of wood you got, Zach put a nice glassy finish on it too it looks real deep. Is that wood an LTD or custom piece?
AFAIK It’s one of two, both of which were slated to be shown and sold at CJ NYC, but they didnt get around to finishing them in time for Canjam, but I’m not complaining.
TBH i’m not much of a pad roller. I did try the suede pads as Goldwerger raved about them in his AC review, but they didnt do it for me. They did lower the subbass some, but they also made my ears sweat.
I know Zach is working on a third pair of pads that will fall somewhere in between the stock and suede in sonic qualities. I would assume that if the Uni pads were a viable option he wouldve sent them along with the headphones.
Those look really great, looking forward to your review. AC are still high on my list for fun bassy headphones with quite good technicalities all around.
That burl looks great. I should be getting an AC on loan later this week, so I look forward to comparing notes.
Just got a couple of Atrium Closed to try out. I’ve had a Cherry for a couple of days and then got an Olive this afternoon.
@Monsterzero had given me some tips on these, since he also had two different woods, so it was interesting to hear exactly what he was telling me.
The decay of the softer wood Cherry made it too bass heavy for me, and I like bass. Switching from lambskin to suede pads tames the bass (but it’s still bass-heavy), and the frequency response is actually pretty great, but I’m not a huge fan of suede pads, because the music sounds a bit overdamped to me, and guitars sound too smooth, whereas I want them to be visceral.
The harder wood Olive AC has a tighter, less overwhelming bass, and I really like it using the lambskin pads, at least for guitar music.
I’ll post more once I’ve spent more time with them, but my first impression is that for me, the Olive AC is a really fun headphone.
Olive is on the left and Cherry on the right:
The olive looks like it might have some really nice chatoyance. The cherry has a very nice finish.
Lookin forward to sonic impressions.
Oddly the Olive look like more natural cherry in those pics. Both are lookers.
I’m testing out the mantle mesh on caldera with a variety of pads. This mesh is a similar concept to the titan mesh that would screw on top of the atrium driver for example. However this is more of a sticker and mesh combination. It comes with a vented metal mesh and a felt piece that has a sticky backing. You combine the felt and mesh together then stick it onto the driver. At least I think that’s how it’s done since there aren’t instructions out there yet. Here’s the result:
The sound seems to be mostly changed in the treble region where there is less air / sizzle / sss sounds, that sort of thing. I didn’t find the treble on the caldera fatiguing before but now it is even smoother. I think I like it but will have to go back to without mantle mesh at some point. You’re supposed to be able to un-stick and re-stick the mesh but will see how that goes later on.
I’m also testing it with a few different pads, thick lamb perf, stock lamb perf, and suede. With the thick pads, it feels like the effects of the mantle mesh are being amplified, more smoothness basically. It’s a bit too much for me but I do like the bass on these pads. The stock lamb and suede are both good although I prefer the comfort of the suede. I feel more engaged listening to these pads in comparison to the thick ones and there is a bit more air in the upper frequencies. I don’t hear as much differences in the pads on caldera as I remember hearing on the Atrium. Plus the mantle mesh made a more clear difference to my ear then any of the pads have.
I just took the mantle mesh off of my headphones and now it feels like the treble has some energy again. Before the headphone sounded too soft and were not engaging. Glad I tried it though, I like how ZMF offers a lot of ways to tune the headphone with pads and meshes.
Hello,
A colleague has also treated himself to the Caldera.
He listened to the Zmf standard tuning for a long time and was moderately satisfied with it.
Apparently, there is another mesh network where he also bought and used it.
After that he was happy with it, with some tube rolling on the Cayin ha 3a.
Just got a package in the mail and installed the mantle:
Giving it a good listen today and tomorrow hopefully. Install was very easy. In general my ears are delicate flowers that need to be protected from treble and sibilance.
@Christof do you happen to have the thick or thin pads in addition to the standard ones that you could take a picture of side by side. I was hoping to try the thick pads, but I think I just have standard and thin.
Edit: Nevermind, I think I figured out that I don’t have thick ones so I just ordered a pair
Which Alsera pads are these exactly, if you don’t mind me asking?
Just asking out of interest?
My ordered Atrium Bocote is in the making.
It feels like weeks have gone by and it’s only been a week since I ordered it.
Thank you very much!
The pads in the pictures I took are of the stock caldera pads which are lambskin perforated. And the thick version of the stock pads which are also lambskin perforated.
Question for any of you that own the Auteur Classic. Did you happen to notice a difference with burn-in?
Initially when I got mine back last week, they sounded pretty good. But after burning in for 5 days straight, I listened to them this morning. They sound a bit more tame in the treble, and the upper mids seem to have filled in a tiny bit more.
These are good changes to my ears, so im not worried about it. But, the reason I am asking is that this is one of the few times where the change after burning in a pair of headphones was more drastic and much less subtle compared to my previous experiences. The only headphones I own that changed more drastically after burn-in are my DCA Aeon 2 Noire.