ZMF thread, Atticus / Aeolus / Eikon / Auteur / Verite / Verite Closed / Atrium

These were my camphor burl VC

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Thanks!

And to add to pretty Camphor burl shots these were my Aeolus in Camphor Burl.
It’s one of his prettier woods, but they tend to vary a lot, These were darker in person

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Those are literally identical to mine! LOL!!

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Hence the use of the word “were” :stuck_out_tongue:

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May not be the best sound out there but damn pretty.

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@ckhirnigs how are you enjoying your Aegis so far?

It’s the best amp I’ve ever heard. I haven’t been to any Can Jams or other meetups where really expensive amps can be demoed, so the closest thing I have to compare it to is the memory of my Quicksilver tube amp. I also briefly had a Cen.Grand Little Silver Fox, but that was before I had my Yggy, so I didn’t get to hear that amp’s full potential.

Right now, I’m comparing it to my Mjolnir 3 and it’s good enough that I have already listed the MJ3 for sale. It’s highly resolving with a very wide and 3D soundstage. It is completely silent with all my headphones when no music is playing. It has lots of options to play with in regards to output impedance as well as the huge variety of tube types that can be rolled in the amp. Supposedly, it also has enough power to drive Susvara or Tungsten, so it has all the wrappings of an amp I won’t need to upgrade from.

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That sounds very promising. If you can ask him about the soundstage and separation on the CC Hybrid TP only pad compared to the Caldera Suede Perf pad?

To me, the Caldera Suede Perf pad soundstaging and separation makes the AC sounds like an open back headphone which was my goal with this headphone. My goal of purchasing this headphone was to get a closed back headphone for isolation, but I still wanted a good soundstage and separation for it. The Caldera Suede Perf pad doesn’t sound boxy and confine as the other 2 pads I tried and I really enjoy its overall tuning as well. The Caldera Suede TP pad sounded similar to the Caldera Suede Perf pad, but it did still sound boxy and have less separation compare to the Caldera Suede Perf. The Caldera Suede TP pretty much had the sound quality like the Caldera Suede except in bass, but with the soundstage similar to the Caldera Lambskin thin pad. What makes the Caldera Suede TP unique though as its own pad is that it had the most Subbass rumble to me.

The biggest con for me for the Caldera Suede Perf pad though is the tradeoff in isolation. Because the Caldera Suede Perf pad sounds open, the isolation on it also sounds similar to an open back. It can still block sounds when music is playing, so it’s not as bad an actual open back. Another issue for me is the noise leak. The Caldera Suede Perf pad noise leak like crazy compare to the other pads. So, now I’m back on the fence to either settle with the Caldera Suede TP as a good middle ground since it has good isolation and pretty similar sound characteristics with the Caldera Suede Perf, or hope no one says anything when I’m listening to music lol. I gotta test it out in real world situations to make that judgement.

Sorry for the rambling, looking forward to your impressions of you do try the Hybrid Caldera pads TP only. Zach is probably already selling them under as “Bokeh” pads. His team told me they are in the transition to renaming Bokeh pad to Caldera pad for less confusion. But, it’s always best to double check and sending a email to ZMF because talking to the ZMF team always brighten up my day!

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I also have the Bokeh Suede pads, but I didn’t find them as comfortable as the Caldera Suedes. The Bokeh Suedes were a bit thinner, but they did sound nice with a little more sub-bass than the Caldera Suedes.

I haven’t had much of an issue with a lack of isolation while using the Caldera Suedes. I find they still isolate way more than my open-backs, and they also leak sound far less. I assume the Hybrid Caldera TP-only pads will isolate better while also improving the sub-bass over the two Suede pads. I’ll ask about the effect on soundstage and separation.

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Which Zmf headphones are you actually talking about?
Either my translator is translating the headphones wrong or I’ve lost the thread.:sweat_smile::sweat_smile::sweat_smile::sweat_smile:

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Haha, all the pad talk can certainly get confusing. The headphone we’re discussing is the Atrium Closed!

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Hey, was there an African Blackwood Verite Closed before? If so, how did it sound compare to the other wooden back Verite Closed? I was curious because Zach recently put out this statement,

“There will also be Atrium Closed LTD sets that are 1 of 1 in various woods and those Blackwood sets which as usual are stunning, heavy and sound like only Blackwood can.”

That made me very tempted to sell my Olivewood Atrium Closed to pick up a Blackwood Atrium Closed…

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Yes, there have been production runs of African Blackwood Verite Closed. I own one and really like it. I prefer the BE2 lambskin pads

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Along with a matching African Blackwood VO, which I have and also like a lot with BE2 lambskin pads. :laughing:

The Blackwood is really stunning in an understated way in person, and it gives the headphone a really “fast” sound, with quick transient attack/decay.

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Anybody here listen to the Bokeh Open yet at any of the CanJam or Audio shows? If so, what’s your sound impression of it? I just really like the way it looks and kinda just want one. I’m thinking of picking one up at the launch date just to pair it with my Magni Piety setup.

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Tomorrow is the sale of November Sale Stabilised versions in case you missed it.
There are some nice calibres optically.

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Zmf B sale are online,take a closer look,there are some beautys online who ate really great,:+1:.

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Today is launch day for the Bokeh Open if anyone is interested.

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Could be interesting if he gets assigned a nice wood next year.
I would have been interested otherwise, but the look of the launch is not my cup of tea.
In any case, nice headphones to get into the Zmf world.

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