Don’t know anything about the Auteur but the Atrium I had changed a lot to my ears as it burned in.
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I cannot speak for the CLassic.
With the Og it was rather flat at the beginning and then everything increased.
Mon had even recommended that I go to 300h, and he was right.
After 300h it was fully there.
What I can imagine is that the Classic is in a bit of a slump at the moment, and will come back again.
5 days is still a bit short. Did you run it non-stop for 24 hours or did you take a break?
My experience with headphones is that you should burn them in slowly.
It sounds a bit silly but the fibres of the driver can only return to their original state when you are not playing.
I usually do it in a 12-hour cycle, 12 hours of playing and 12 hours of rest.
I usually notice subtle differences, but not always.
Apart from that, everyone has their own burn-in method.
While others swear by pink noise etc, others just let music play over it.
I let music play over it at different volumes, sometimes more, sometimes less.
Because I think this is the best way to stress the fibres until they no longer change.
But I never overdo it with too high a volume because I think it is not good for the driver when it is still new.
Mostly from low to medium volume.
When I put it on, it can get a bit louder, but that’s still within reason.
My Aeon R/T at the time also had a similar rollercoaster ride.
I just burn-in continuously with normal music. I change the volume from time to time though.
I actually prefer these more now than I did when I got them. The treble mellowing out a bit is a good thing to my ears. The mids and upper mids sound a bit more full as well. So both of those changes are actually desirable to me.
There initially was some tinny-ness to the low treble as well…but that is completely gone now.
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Okay.
Take the headphones off the mains for 12 hours and try again.
You will notice that it gets better.
Even if it’s only subtle.
This gives the fibres time to rest and form.
And then move on to the next stage.
It sounds really stupid, I know.
It’s a bit like a shoe, a good shoe store will tell you to buy 2 pairs of shoes so that one shoe can “rest”.
Because when you wear them all day, the shoe gets stressed.
A little bit similar I see it in the burn in phase,
the goal is to shape and stretch the driver.
To the point where it’s good.
After that, it doesn’t work any more because the condition is reached at some point.
Personally, I don’t think that the way in which you burn in plays a role.
It’s more a personal thing, I have learned that certain things need time to “mature”.
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Same happened on my atrium, the difference being i enjoyed the burning in sound way better.
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Hello,
Here are some more pictures of the Atrium Bocote.
I’m still blown away after 2 days since I got it.It is also a cream piece from a sound perspective.
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Hello,
A small update on the atrium.
I’m still in the burn-in process.
I have a good 150 hours on it, I will add another 150 hours.
From hour zero to 100h everything was good.
The first 20h I had heard slightly unclean things that are now gone.
Otherwise it was a pleasure to listen to the Atrium.
From 100h to 110h I noticed a slump.
During that time it was really unattractive to listen to.
After that it was fine again and got better.
I don’t know what was going on, but I found it totally emotionless, a bit cold and undefined.
In the meantime I connected the Atrium through an older SS amp to the Gustard R26.I wanted to sell the amp and no one wanted it.
Which was kind of good, because the little thing with the Atrium is a bit of a blast.
And it’s better than the Singxer Sda2.
It has a tube sound touch to it that I hadn’t noticed before.
It’s a really cool little amp.
Beresford Capella is the name of this good piece.
I also spent a few hours with the Euforia amp which was great and very pleasant.
It’s still a bit early to get the hang of it, though.
It sounded amazingly good even on lesser tubes.
I left the pads as I got the Atrium with the Universe, although I still have the Auteur and Caldera Ultra perf.
Other than that, the Atrium didn’t disappoint.
It was a wow when I unpacked it, and sound-wise too, and well worth the money.
It completely leaves out the Meze Emyprean that I bought 6 weeks ago.
I haven’t noticed that the Atrium has changed in the burn-in process in the way that some have described and prefer the sound of the burn-in process.
That has not happened yet.
It plays down beautifully refined, had great wow moments, for R&B it is really really good.
I haven’t listened to much rock and pop because I’m so captivated by R&B.
This is definitely one of his domains where I would say it’s worth it.
Oh and before I forget he plays great analogue.
Not wet and humid, neither dry, rather sweet with delicacy.
Purely from the wood in terms of reverb and decay,
I don’t notice anything in the reverb and the decay is a bit more in the Auteur Og Ambrosia Maple. But with the Bocote it’s just right, not too much nor too little.
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Question for Auteur Classic Owners: which pads do you prefer/are you using?
I will preface this by stating that every ZMF I’ve owned or auditioned, I have always preferred whatever the stock pad was for that headphone. On the OG Auteur, I preferred the stock pads as well.
With the Auteur Classic, I keep going back and forth with the stock Lambskin Perf Auteur Pads and the Suede Perf Eikon Pads. I like both, but they are pretty different sounding from each other. The stock pads are much wider soundstage wise, more neutral. The Eikon Suede Perf have a midbass hump (modest), much more narrow/intimate stage, and a small upper mid bump, but lack the treble extension of the stock pads. The suede pads also smooth out the dynamics (not enough to be a dealbreaker though).
Both sound good in their own way. I’ve been leaning towards the stock pads though, mainly because I prefer leather versus suede against my skin comfort wise. Leather is easier to clean and doesn’t absorb everything like suede.
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Have a little free time before the airport, so writing various impression throughout the thread.
I tried the new ZMF transport headphone. I talked with the lady staff about the new headphone. I tried to get her opinion on the headphone and what genre she like on it. She told me that Zach tune it so many times that her opinion won’t be a viable, but she enjoy listening EDM and pop on it. I listen to the new headphone on one of the headfiers custom 45 tube amp to a DCS Lina system using Roon. 1st thing the stand out, vocals stand out like a sore thumb to me. I wanted to test out the other things in the song, but vocals sound very in my face, it was hard to notice anything else in the song like bass, piano, and violin. Like vocals was the only thing I can focus on and my brain just shut down on the other sound as just background noise. Test song was Woongsan - Windy Spring.
Didn’t spend too much time as I wanted to get out of the ZMF room as I didn’t feel too motivated to listen to it further. Sorry, I realize I should have tested instrumental songs to see what I could pick from it.
In terms of isolation, it did a pretty good job blocking out songs when I had the headphone on and playing music. The lightest ZMF headphone I ever pick up, weightless. The wooden cup is very thin, the staff told me it’s so it can fit into people headphone case easier. Comfy as always with ZMF headphones. I am not a big ZMF guy, so sorry I couldn’t give a better sound impression, just wasn’t motivated to listen to ZMF headphones.
Hope someone here can given a better impression. But, I’m that short listening session, I though it wasn’t bad for $1000 bucks. Enough clarity, bass bump, good isolation with music playing, and very light weight. I just rather buy the Hifiman Arya Organic in that price range if you are just looking for a headphone near the $1000 price range on pure sound quality. But the main goal isn’t just quality for the ZMF transport headphone, it’s balance of sound quality and how easy it is to travel with the headphone. I think in that aspect, it’s pretty good.
Pricing is going to be around $1000. Sorry if my memory off, I think the lady told me the release date is around fall, September. If I was remembering another product, sorry.
Here is some close up pics on the new ZMF headphone:
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Looks like they ditched the mini xlr cable for this one as well.
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I think I saw mention of that in Headfi. It looks like a 3.5mm connector.
@SaberPunch did you listen to any other ZMFs? I’m curious about your impressions of vocals on those relative to the portable prototype.
Zach’s tunings aren’t known for forward mids, so your comment was interesting, so I’m curious whether he’s developed a new mid-forward tuning, or if your preferences are different from mine.
For instance, I sometimes find that the ZMF mids are too recessed for my preferences (e.g.Verite Open and Atrium Closed with stock pads) or are just right for me (Caldera, Auteur Classic, Atrium Open with stock pads).
I live near ZMF, so I’m hoping I can borrow a pair to hear for myself at some point soon.
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From what I’ve read based on Zach’s head-fi post they are still working out the final tuning, and used CanJam as a means to gather feedback on the various tunings on hand.
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I listened to the Atrium Closed and Caldera (I use to own one) at the show. The Atrium Closed because I was interested in before, and the Caldera to confirm I don’t miss that headphone. At the Schiit meet earlier this year, I was able to hear the Atrium open and Verite Closed. The ZMF portable was definitely the most different sounding ZMF headphone I tried. Not sure if it was the amp or the source. Only hook it up to the LordGwyn (sorry if I spelled his name wrong) 45 tube amp connected to the DCS Lina stack.
The lady staff mention that the headphone is 90% done in tuning. The reason I couldn’t get her opinion is because she inform me that Zach is tuning it every week, so the sound is always changing from that headphone.
Yeah, they were asking for feedback at the show. The staff were really nice at the show making sure to bring headphones to you while you were just seated there to make headphone comparison.
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Out of curiosity, was it the lady on the right of this picture (Bevin, the co-owner of ZMF) or someone else?
No, I think it was a blonde lady.
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I happen to be on an Auteur classic tour, and just received it. I’m hearing the same as you with each set of pads, and prefer the stock lambskins by far, mainly because of their treble extension, which provides a bit more texture to instruments and female vocals. I find the suede pads smooth everything too much for my liking, whereas the stock pads are pretty much a perfect tuning for me. In fact I think that the Auteur Classic is a bargain at it’s $1500 price.
Interestingly, this is only the second set of ZMFs where I prefer the stock pads (Caldera being the other).
I actually like the stock pads on the Atrium Open but it doesn’t have enough treble extension for me, so I prefer the alternative mesh.
Atrium Closed has too much bass for me and the mids are a little recessed with suede pads., whereas I really love the sound with the suede pads.
Verite Open also has recessed mids, but I’ve solved that by switching to BE2 pads.
Having typed all that, I wonder if I like more forward mids and more treble extension than the average persion.
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After a lot of deliberation, I decided I’m going to keep the Apex Pinnacle 2 amp and my Atticus at least. I finally set the amp up again today and have been listening to both the Atticus and Verite C, swapping pads and just getting a feel for the amp and headphones again since it’s been so long since I’ve used any of them. Been comparing the same album over and over between the headphone and pad swaps and believe I’ve got each configured the best I can with the pads I’ve got.
I do not like the VC anymore.
I don’t know what it is, but there’s almost this painful glare/sheen over the sound all the time and pads improve or worsen it. Universe leather pads are the worst offenders, U suede are a little better, and Auteur leather are a little better than those, so I’m wondering if the VC are just in need of a warmer tube than the Psvane CV181-T Mk II I started with or if my ears just are not compatible with this signature anymore. This tube doesn’t have much use on it yet, so I’d like to let it burn in a bit more before rolling since the pair in my power amp really opened up quite amazingly after around 120 hours.
Regardless, is it just me? Is there a glare over the mids for anyone else? It was so fatiguing, the VC ended up sounding far less detailed than the Atticus and even the Shure SRH1840. I have been LOVING the Atticus, though. They sound better than ever and while this amp leaves a lot to be desired in the slam/impact areas, its staging, layering, and detail retrieval are incredible. The Atticus sound just about as wide as I remember the VC sounding in the past, and I’m using the Universe Suede on them.
As an aside, it’s honestly been kind of disappointing how little of a step up in performance this $12k amp (plus tubes) is compared to the RNHP. It’s obviously better, but not $11,300 (plus tubes) better. And it’s actually worse in terms of slam/impact. Or maybe I’m just over ZMF entirely and need to go back to Focal. 
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I personally didn’t find ZMF to scale all that well in comparison to other headphones, so I think that’s definitely an issue, like when I went from the RNHP → Pendant → Pass HP1, both the Aeolus and Verite Open I had just didn’t get the gains I was hearing from my other stuff at the time, like my Fostex or ADX5K, so could definitely see the ZMF being a limiting factor here, unfortunately.
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