[Taveren]

Anybody who ordered during the promotion period received their ZMF's yet? 

 

[satwilson]

Quote:

I'm not really a headphone addict - in fact the last pair I bought until now was Koss ESP-9s almost 20 years ago  (which are right now back at Koss getting worked on!) But I stumbled upon head-fi.org and got my interest piqued.  Maybe things had changed some since I last went headphone shopping for anything other than other than noise-cancellers for travel.  After reading up, I took my first plunge back into these waters with the Zach modified Fostex T50-RPs.  Wow!  I got the V1 models and at first was unsure of my choice, but - despite the claims that they are bass-shy, they are definitely NOT.  The bass is there and is appropriate. I think the perceived "problem" has more to do with source rather than the phones themselves.
 
I started out using an iPod for testing - with a Nuforce Icon mobile headphone amp.  Nice, though not outstanding. Then, after realizing that my main system preamp (Threshold FET-10) doesn't have headphone output, I went to the bedroom system and hooked up to a very vintage, though re-worked, Sony TAE-8450 pre-amp.  This monster is still a superb unit, but I was not aware of any kudos for the phones output jack.  It was, nonetheless, better than the iPod (no surprise there) but still lacking.
 
So, I moved a bit farther into the world of "headphonia" and bought a Schiit Lyr, which I just got today.  HUGE improvement ! (just out of the box - no break-in.) Despite the fact that the Fostex phones (like the Audeze and others, and unlike the Hifiman products) can be driven with modest power, they just do SO much better with more available current.  Much like large planar speakers (Magnepans, Apogees) perhaps planar 'phones like that extra oomph that high-power/high-current amps can provide.
 
The detail provided by these is extraordinary - perhaps even on par with the electrostatics that I've heard (but no direct comparos until my ESPs come back home!) The treble soars skyward and the bass, as noted earlier is certainly there, but not obtrusive.  These are not for Bass-heads, they are for accurate music reproduction.
 
What did I listen to so far?  Admittedly not much, but enough to form an opinion and post, so here are a few samples"
 
- Fleetwood Mac, "Tango in the Night" and "Big Love."  This is a very slickly produced recording, and these tracks are the audio equivalent of a Ridley Scott movie - "dense."  There is a huge amount of acoustic information here - beyond the basic melody - and the T50-RPs separate things beautifully.  (I want to try the classical equivalent - something Wagner - but need to move things around in order to get a phono source.)
 
-Cyndi Lauper, "Into the Night."  An unabashedly over-thumped disco selection.  The bass is massive, and is easily reproduced without any "one-note bass" effect.  Even so, Cyndi's voice is natural and cuts through with aplomb.  Again, the phones are able to resolve things competently.
 
-Marvin Gaye, "Got to Give it up Part I."  Another mover with rather high acoustic density.  It's easy to get lost in the bass line on this track, but with proper reproduction, it can't happen.  Marvin's vocals are splendidly resolved and soar above the rhythm below.
 
-Doris Day, "Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps."  Doris Day?!?!  Recorded 1964.  Despite the recording limitations of the day, this track brilliantly captures the husky beauty of her voice - and the phones allow you to hear that this was definitely a studio recording.  The manipulation of the signal is all too apparent, but fun all the same.
 
-William Orbit, "Water from a Vine Leaf." I love the material, but it's hard to reproduce faithfully - lots of electronica plus dainty voices - with fiendishly wide dynamic and frequency ranges.  No prob for the modded T50s.
 
So, I'm hooked, and will no doubt look at and listen to - and probably buy some more headphones.  The experience is so different from in-room listening, and has definitely changed for the better over time.  It's an enormous departure from the ear-bud experience too.  Bottom line, these headphones are outstanding and a superb value too!  Maybe I'll find better reproduction form Sennheiser or HifiMan, but the bang for buck would be hard to match.  Highly recommended. 

funflyer, welcome to the ZMF thread! I also own the Koss ESP 950's and love mine. Although the Stax stuff gets more attention here on HeadFi, those of us that own the Koss know what a great unit and value it is. My first experience with the Koss vs Fostex was with my personally modded T50RP's, and the Koss was hands down the better phone. Now that I have some ZMF's, the choice of what to listen to has become a toss up. I still think the Koss is a little more detailed and accurate, but the somewhat warmer sound and better bass ( to my ears ) of the ZMF, has me reaching for either one and being happy. You are right in that the Fostex really need some power to shine. Keep breaking in the ZMF, I look forward to your thoughts after your Koss returns. satwilson

 

[Taveren]

Guys, I have received my shipping confirmation from Zach and in anticipation for the ZMFs I have been reading a lot on entry level tube amps. Now my initial plan was to just get a Bravo Ocean just to try out the tube experience but after tons of reading I am more confused than ever. 
 
Please bear with me here, I would appreciate inputs from guys here rather than the amp thread. As of now I am considering either a Little Dot MK2 (http://www.ebay.com.sg/itm/170509319710) or try one of this (http://www.ebay.com.sg/itm/190815147000).
 
thanks in advance.

 

[maz0r]

I got my shipping notification on Friday, it's currently waiting to fly over the big green by the looks of USPS's website.
 
@ Amps, i'm going to try with my E7+E9 combination firstly, but i've got my eyes on an Oamp, or potentially Project Sunrise II from Garage1217 in the event the current setup isnt up to the task.

 

[Taveren]

why not go straight for the PS II?

 

[maz0r]

why not go straight for the PS II?

cost for the most part.

Lamp is £100 PSII is 240$ + import duty (£180)

 

[zach915m]

Has anyone tried one of the bottlehead cracks?  Very tempting...!  Seems like they would power anything that needs some juice though.

 

[funflyer]

Update:
 
I still don't have my Koss ESPs back, but found a co-worker who is a headphone fan.  So, one night, he brought in his Audeze LCD-2s and Headroom DAC/amp and I brought in my ZMF Fostex phones and Lyr amp to work.  We tried all combinations and lots of different music.  Bottom line:  the LCD-2s are better than the Fostexes - but by rather slim margins, and the law of diminishing returns is in full force.  Both 'phones sounded much better with the Lyr - fuller, rounder and with a markedly bigger soundstage.  He wants a Lyr; I am happy with the Fostex T50RPs.  Now as for the ESP-950s, we'll just have to wait....

 

[Taveren]

Guess what the post man delivered today....... 

 
There she is, my first Orthos. after travelling from the other side of the world to this small dot. I finally got my ZMF V2 with Gold re-jack and mogami cable! 
 
I was a bit worried on the connection around the strain relief of the cable, must be deformed a bit during shipping, hope its fine since the feel of the mogami cable is really nice. 
 

 
Zach put in the carbon sticker ala "darth dogs" (which is a very nice touch) though this side with the gold re-jack was not cleanly finished. a better 3.5mm plug would have made it more elegant IMO. but hey It's just me nitpicking here 

. 
 
I would suggest a small "ZMF-v2" in on the right side just to acknowledge the mod of this fine headphone. 
 

 
There are some double sided tape inside, I guess to act as spacer for the HM5 pads. I will test it first with this then try out the rope spacer mod.
 

 
The headband actually surprised me to be really comfy 

 

 
pardon the dust specs, I did not notice until I uploaded the pics 

 

 
I won't comment yet on the SQ as I would like to spend some time getting acquainted with my ZMF's. but with initial listening all I can say is thank you Zach for this!

 

 

[maz0r]

I also received a package this morning, and having just arrived home from work and dug out the cable I made during the shipping wait
 
I was expecting customs fees, but they were marked up at cost rather than the modified cost (Nice one)!
 

Shiny.... Microphones are a bit annoying thanks to the flex so I'll probably remove this and replace it with a nylon sleeve, probably replace one of the connectors with a right angle'd jack too.
 

As with Taveren I have the Gold Rejack and Carbon decals which are a nice touch, a little messy around the jack, but I'll be wearing them most of the time, so who cares
 

 
I was surprised how small the box was to be honest but as they say, good things come in small packages.
 
I spent the past hour comparing various tracks on my PC and the Kenwood Series 21 Downstairs and my conclusion is my PC need a new DAC / AMP combo.
The E7+E9 combination just doesn't have the power to drive these in the Lows when directly compared to the Kenwood.
 
As I do most of my listening on PC ill look at an AMP first. I'll then return and review
 
Thanks Zach

 

[Taveren]

Congrats maz0r! How come you have a different cable?

We are on the same boat right now, I noticed I needed to crank my desktop dac/amp pass 12'oclock to get the slam from the bass but the sound is generally smooth.

Hence, I am looking for a good desktop amp but hoping for to find a tube amp instead of SS (so that I can justify getting another amp)

 

[Fearless1]

Congrats maz0r! How come you have a different cable?

We are on the same boat right now, I noticed I needed to crank my desktop dac/amp pass 12'oclock to get the slam from the bass but the sound is generally smooth.

Hence, I am looking for a good desktop amp but hoping for to find a tube amp instead of SS (so that I can justify getting another amp)

A few of my amps that sound really good with the ZMFs are the Lyr, the Audio GD SA-31, EF-5, Bellari HA540 and the DarkVoice 337SE. If I had to pick just one it would be the Audio GD. A vintage reciever would be a good choice if there is a limited budget involved.

The common factor of all of the mentioned is power, not to blast them on your ears, but for dynamics at lower volume. The Alpha pads on them really add bass and a bit of soundstage.

I must say, the ZMFs really grew on me. The are comfortable for long listing sessions, warm and relaxing at lower volumes, and really bloom bass wise and dynamically when you throw some power their way. They see a lot of head time in my realm.

 

[zach915m]

 A few of my amps that sound really good with the ZMFs are the Lyr, the Audio GD SA-31, EF-5, Bellari HA540 and the DarkVoice 337SE. If I had to pick just one it would be the Audio GD. A vintage reciever would be a good choice if there is a limited budget involved.

 
I got a Schiit Mjolnir recently and I have to say I'm not sure I'm in love with it!!!???  I found it used and got a great deal on it which is the only reason I bought it, but I was originally leaning towards one of the Audio GD amps...now I'm wishing maybe I had gone in that direction especially after your thoughts!  Maybe it's the tubes in the LYR but I get just as much if not more enjoyment out of my LYR than the Mjolnir.
 
I do suppose though that if I got the Audio GD I'd be feeling the same way (vice-versa) as is usual with audio stuff.
 
Anyone else have experience with the Mjolnir in general?

 

[Fearless1]

   
I got a Schiit Mjolnir recently and I have to say I'm not sure I'm in love with it!!!???  I found it used and got a great deal on it which is the only reason I bought it, but I was originally leaning towards one of the Audio GD amps...now I'm wishing maybe I had gone in that direction especially after your thoughts!  Maybe it's the tubes in the LYR but I get just as much if not more enjoyment out of my LYR than the Mjolnir.
 
I do suppose though that if I got the Audio GD I'd be feeling the same way (vice-versa) as is usual with audio stuff.
 
Anyone else have experience with the Mjolnir in general?

 
I borrowed the Mjolnir from a friend for a week and did not like it at first, then it grew on me. I guess I was expecting immediate gratification, but appreciated it more after he gave me back the Lyr.   I only listened to the LCD-2s with it based on that is my only can with a balanced input.
 
The Audio GD amp is pretty warm and "tube-like", it may be right up your alley. You can add a set (or two) of jumpers to make it more warm, but there is a synergy with tubes that certain head phones have that can't be replicated. I like your creation with the SA-31 more then the Lyr(and I am a Schiit fan-boy)

 

[zach915m]

 I borrowed the Mjolnir from a friend for a week and did not like it at first, then it grew on me. I guess I was expecting immediate gratification, but appreciated it more after he gave me back the Lyr.  

 
I think that's part of the issue....I bought the LYR did a bunch of tube swapping and fell in love with the sound of the 2492 Mullard's, now I just compare everything to that sound when in reality I should probably just listen to the Mjolnir for a while and get used to it.  INSTANT GRATIFICATION PLEASE!  Thanks for the thoughts much appreciated.  I'll keep the SA-31 in the back of my mind for now...I find it interesting that Audio GD lists them on their website as "Musical Flavor."